Meatball Subs

My mom gets me a subscription to Women's Day.  I rarely have time to read them so they are in a heaping stack by my bed.  One night I flipped through this one.  I thought this recipe sounded so good and like something maybe the kids would like.  It was really good!  We will for sure be making this one again.  I also love that the meatballs are made without egg or gluten!  Win!

We served our meatballs and sauce on toasted and broiled hoagie buns with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  Mmmmm.

Beef and Sausage Meatballs in Tomato Sauce - click to link to recipe

Dairy-free and gluten-free notes:  To make dairy-free, simply omit sprinkling with cheese and serve on a dairy-free bread.  To make gluten-free, make sure your tomato paste is gluten-free and serve on your favorite gluten-free bread or pasta.

Mexican-Style Roast Chicken {Slow-cooker}

I combined flavors from two of my favorite chicken recipes, to season this whole chicken.  I was very happy with the results.  Plus, my house smelled AMAZING as it was cooking.  You can serve this shredded for tacos or sliced with some Spanish rice and beans.  Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, you may also like Shredded Chicken {Slow-cooker} (EF, DF, GF) and Shredded Chicken Tacos (EF, DF, GF).

Mexican-Style Roast Chicken {Slow-cooker}

1 whole chicken

2 t salt

1 t black pepper

2 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

1 T cumin powder

1 T chili powder

¼ t cayenne pepper

In a small bowl, mix all spices together and set aside.  Roll about four foil balls and place in bottom of slow cooker.  Rinse chicken and drain.  Place chicken over foil in slow cooker.  Rub seasoning all over top and under the skin of the chicken.  Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.

Shepard's Pie

Shepard's pie is such a comfort food for me.  My mom made it growing up.  I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It is suppose to be a copycat of the recipe they use at the Cheesecake Factory.  I have eaten this at the Cheesecake Factory.  They are both really good but I am not sure how close this recipe comes to the restaurant version.  I really, really liked this recipe.  It was just what I need on a cold dreary day!!  Mmmm.

This recipe took longer to make than described.  So, by the time I got it put together and in the oven, dinner was a little late.  We were starved!  So, I totally forgot to take a picture until we had already eaten half!  This is not the greatest picture and does not do it justice.  Click on the link to see a much better picture and the recipe.  But this recipe is worth the time it takes to make it.  So good!  I think next time I will try to make it much earlier and refrigerate it until closer to dinner time.

Copycat Cheesecake Factory's Shepard Pie - click to link to recipe.

Recipe notes:  I obviously omitted the egg wash at the end of the recipe.  It cooks up just fine without it.
With a little more effort, I also think this recipe could be made gluten free.  To make it gluten-free, I would recommend making sure you have a gluten-free tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.  I would also substituting corn starch in place of the flour.  You likely won't need as much corn starch.  Try two teaspoons but be sure to dissolve in a little water before adding it in.

Snow Play Dough

I think pretty much everyone has had a little snow this winter!  One of our snowy days, we made some snow play dough.  I found a great play dough recipe on Pinterest to make play dough with a stand mixer!  It is SO much easier for me than cooking it over the stove.  As inspired by a different play dough recipe, I just omitted the food coloring and added white and silver glitter!  I even added a teeny bit of vanilla flavoring to make it smell good...

Homemade Playdough Recipe - Click to link to recipe.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream {Egg-free}

For Christmas, I got the ice cream bowl attachment for my stand mixer!  Yay!  I am so excited about this.  I have been experimenting with a few recipes.  So far, this is my favorite!  Who doesn't love chocolate ice cream?!

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream - click to link to recipe.

Southern Cornbread {Egg-free, Gluten-free}

I just pulled this cornbread out of my oven.  The picture below was taken as it is cooling.  I also made this recipe over Christmas, as written.  But I took note that the egg was 'optional'.  So, this time I made without the optional egg.  I do not have a cast iron skillet.  It is on my wishlist.  As you can see, I made the cornbread in a round cake pan.  I still preheated the pan but I used one tablespoon of butter in place of the bacon grease (also not readily on hand).  I found this recipe to be a teeny bit salty for my taste, even with using unsalted butter.  In the adaptation printed below, I also reduced the salt.

You have to try this the next time you make soup or chili this winter.  It isn't as sweet as my other cornbread recipes but is more authentic with true southern style cornbread.  Yummy!

Southern Cornbread Recipe

Adapted from Southern Cornbread Recipe by Simply Recipes

2 c cornmeal

2 t baking soda

¼ t salt

2 T sugar

1 ¼ c buttermilk

6 T unsalted butter, melted

1 T bacon drippings or unsalted butter

Preheat the oven 400°.  Put the bacon fat or butter in a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet or cake pan and put into the oven.  Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix in buttermilk. Stir in the melted butter.  Add the cornbread batter to the hot pan and making sure it is evenly distributed.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown.  Let cornbread rest for 10-30 minutes before cutting.