Paula Deen's Spaghetti and Meatballs

Casey loves spaghetti and meatballs, but I've never been a big fan of meatballs. I decided to try this recipe from the Jan/Feb edition of Cooking with Paula Deen magazine a few weeks ago, and it was delicious! This is a new favorite of ours. The recipe below makes 2 servings plus leftovers. We used 1 pound of ground chuck and left out the ground pork.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
1/2 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
Spaghetti sauce
1 (8-ounce) package spaghetti, cooked

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a rack inside baking sheet. Spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine ground chuck, ground pork, onion, bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, oil, garlic, salt, and egg; stir gently to combine. Form mixture into 3-inch meatballs. Place meatballs on prepared rack in baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
Add meatballs to spaghetti sauce; simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over hot cooked pasta.

Spaghetti Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Add wine, and cook until wine is reduced by half. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday...2010

I went back to work today, and tomorrow my precious kindergarten students will be back. I am refreshed and looking forward to seeing them!
I am excited about using my slow cooker a lot this week. It will be nice to not have to come home and do all the work to cook a big meal while I'm settling back into my routine. See lots more menus at orgjunkie.

Breakfasts - Chocolate Chip mini muffins, Amish Baked Oatmeal, Simple Baked Apples
Lunches - Sandwiches on homemade honey wheat oatmeal bread, left-overs

Dinners:
Sunday - Chicken pot pie (This is my new favorite chicken pot pie recipe. Delicious!)
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Slow cooker green pepper chicken
Wednesday - Baked potato soup (I'm making this again this week b/c it's SO good, and my vegetarian friend is coming over. I think she will love it too!)
Thursday - Salsa chicken and black bean soup
Friday - Date Night
Saturday - Shredded beef tacos (Chipotle has yummy shredded beef as an option for burritos, so we to try this at home. We'll see how it turns out.)