beef – Page 3 – Jo McVey Photography

Easy Peasy Spaghetti & Meatballs

When I was little, spaghetti was the first thing I learned how to make. It’s probably one of the easiest meals you can make. Just boil some water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente. Back then I liked my spaghetti topped with only butter and Parmesan cheese. Marinara sauce was nasty to my young taste buds. Luckily I’ve expanded my palate since then, and I decided that tonight I should go back to the days of my youth and make spaghetti and meatballs.

Here’s what you’ll need:

spaghetti noodles

1lb ground beef (or your ground meet of choice…turkey is a healthy option)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 whole eggs

salt & pepper

your favorite pasta sauce (normally I would have made my own from scratch, but Steve and I were super hungry, so I just decided on the quick store bought version)

Start by putting your ground beef (or meat of choice) into a medium bowl.

Add the minced garlic. Garlic belongs in just about everything as far as I’m concerned….except dessert probably.

Add the bread crumbs. I used Italian bread crumbs that were already pre-packaged. You can make your own bread crumbs by finely chopping a few bread slices in a food processor.

Next comes the Parmesan cheese! If you have freshly grated cheese that would be best, but since the only fresh grated cheese I had was cheddar, I opted for the store bought Parmesan in a can. I love finding the large clumps and popping them in my mouth. Yum! Takes me back to the days when I was a youngster in my mom’s kitchen.

Add the eggs and the salt and pepper.

Then get your hands all grody and squish and mix that bowl’s contents until everything is thoroughly combined. I always have trouble with this because the meat is so cold that I can’t keep my hand in there for long periods of time without freezing my fingers off.

Next pre-heat your oven to 400° and get out a large cookie sheet. Roll the meat into 2 inch balls. You can adjust the size depending on how big you want your meatballs. Then pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Now boil some water in a large pot. This was the pot that burned my wrist the other night! Bad pot! To see the picture of my burned wrist click here and scroll to the very last picture.

Toss in some spaghetti noodles. In my case, Dreamfields Pasta, which is a low carb pasta. 5 net carbs per serving. Can’t beat it! For those of you on a low carb diet, this will really help with the carb cravings. You can usually find at least a couple variety of pasta shapes in this brand at your local grocery store. You can also visit their website: Dreamfields Pasta

Here’s where we cheat and use pre-made pasta sauce. Shhh…don’t tell The Pioneer Woman!

Heat sauce in, what else? — a sauce pan!

Drain pasta when al dente (when it still has a little bit of a bite to it….not completely soft and smooshy), and add it back to the pot.

Pour sauce over pasta, but make sure to reserve some to pour on top when everything is plated.

Toss to coat everything evenly.

Remove your meatballs from the oven. See how the cheese is oozing out of them? Yum!

Add spaghetti to a plate and place several meatballs on top. Then use your reserved pasta sauce to cover the meatballs. Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and you are good to go! Enjoy!

Sloppy Jo's (skip the "e")

illinois lottery

If there’s one go-to meal that I know is sure to please at our house it’s Sloppy Jo’s….skip the “e”….cuz I’m a girl, and girls’ names aren’t spelled J-O-E, their spelled J-O! Good, now that that’s settled, let me give you 2 reasons Sloppy Jo’s are a main staple at our house. #1: Steve LOVES them, and #2: They’re SUPER easy to make. Growing up, I had never been a big fan of Sloppy Joe’s, but now that I’m the ripe old age of 24….(25 in 21 days…yikes), they’ve kinda grown on me. No need to make these Jo’s from scratch. They’re just as good with the pre-packaged mix you can get for super cheap at any grocery store. And if you’re on a low carb diet like me, just use high fiber sandwich bread instead of a normal bun. I found this amazing bread with only 3 net carbs! It’s Nature’s Own brand and it says Double Fiber with Omega 3s on the front with a blue stripey thing, in case you were gonna go out and buy some for yourself…..which I highly recommend if you’re doin’ the low carb thing.

Now back to the Sloppiness. Start by adding a pound of ground beef (or however much you need to make for your family’s needs….in my case it’s less than a pound) to a hot skillet.

Now, if you have an adorable furbaby like me, (or in my case, 5 of them) give him a hoof or pig ear to chew on. He will love you long time!

Cook the beef til it’s completely browned, then transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain the fat off. Dump the meat back into the skillet.

Now just look at all that fat that is now on the plate instead of in your belly. Your arteries will thank you.

Look at that big ball of love laying patiently at my feet while I cook. Doesn’t even beg for food! Such a good boy Camelot is!

Now, take your Sloppy Jo mix that you bought from the store….cuz we’re time savers like that, and sprinkle onto your meat.

Since I’m only using about a half a pound of ground beef I’m only going to use an 8 oz can of tomato sauce. If you were making a whole pound you would use a 16 oz can. You can also use tomato paste and water.

Pour onto meat and stir until combined.

Let simmer for about 10 minutes on very low heat and stir occasionally. In the mean time, heat your oven to 450° and put your favorite frozen fries on a baking sheet and bake for 15 min. Or, if you’re on a low carb diet like yours truly, heat up some broccoli.

While everything cooks, you have time to look at your sweet baby boy who is being such a good helper by just laying there. Don’t you just wanna snuggle with him? After he stops barking of course, which he will do non stop for about 15 minutes when you arrive at HIS house. Such a good guard dog I tell ya…but only to alert, not to inflict any harm. 🙂 And yes, I made this picture extra big so you could get a good look at him in all his glory.

Now that your food is almost done cooking, pop your buns and/or low carb bread into the oven to get a little toasty. Cuz no one likes soft buns with their Jo’s.

Season your fries with — what else? — seasoned salt, and dish everything out! This is Steve’s plate. 2 Sloppy Jo’s, tons of fries, and a minimal amount of broccoli.

My plate is the exact opposite. Low carb bread (with the crust cut off) houses my Jo, and my plate is LOADED with broccoli, and has only 4 fries on it. Sigh…the things I do to fit into a wedding dress!

Beef Bites and Broccoli

lottery

I was browsing through The Pioneer Woman’s blog….as usual, and I stumbled upon these delectable looking beef bites. And let me tell you, they were as mouth-watering as they looked! And so simple! All you need is beef, butter, salt, and pepper. I decided to pair it with some fresh broccoli…mostly because it was on sale at the grocery store, but it tasted great! Here’s how I made it.

Start with some standard beef, top sirloin would work great. I found these nifty beef strips in the butcher section, and I figured, the less chopping I had to do the better!

If you didn’t buy the beef already in strips, go ahead and cut them into strips yourself and line them up in a nice row.

Then cut the other way so that you create nice little bite sized pieces.

Season generously with salt and pepper, and then roll them around so every side gets an equal amount of seasoning. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty…that just adds to the fun!

Next heat a pan over medium-high heat. You want the pan nice and hot to sear the meat pretty quickly so it’s nice and crisp on the outside and soft and wonderful on the inside. Add the butter BEFORE THE PAN IS SCREAMING HOT!!! I didn’t do this at first and completely burned my butter as you can see. Had to wash the pan and start all over. Oh well, you live and you learn!

Ahh, this is much better. A nice slow melt. You do want the butter to get a little brown, though. The more butter the better in my opinion. 🙂

Next, when the pan is nice and hot, add the meat. It should sizzle really loudly when it hits the pan. You may want to turn on the fan and open the windows.

Let the meat sit for about 45 seconds without touching it. You want it to get nice and brown and crispy on that side. After 45 seconds has passed, take a spatula and flip the meat over to sear the other side.

You want to leave a little pink to give it a soft, wonderful texture with an amazing flavorful crispy outside.

Transfer to a plate and drizzle remaining butter from the pan onto the meat. Next, use your fingers and pick up a piece of meat and insert it into your mouth. Try not to eat the entire plate….it’ll be hard bu you can do it!!!

Now for the broccoli. Chop broccoli into bite sized pieces, or maybe a little larger. Boil some water and add broccoli. Cook for about a minute or two. You want to cook the broccoli all the way through but maintain it’s crunchy texture.

Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the same pan you cooked the meat in. You should still have a little butter on the pan, and that will add SO much flavor to the broccoli.