Tag: pasta

Huge Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE (Slow-Cooker) Oozing With Melty Cheese (Gluten-Free Option)

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE by Give It A Whirl Girl (Slow-Cooker)

 

I have a special recipe to share with you all today! This past weekend I invited my mom over for a special Sunday dinner. I love having family over and preparing a tasty dish for them. So today I am sharing my Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs recipe to my loyal readers. This recipe is a family favorite and this meal will surely fill you up! These meatballs are stuffed with oozy mozzarella cheese pearls and they are mighty huge meatballs! This Italian meatball recipe might just become a family favorite in your home too. There is a gluten-free option for my gluten-free readers.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE by Give It A Whirl Girl
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE

This mozzarella stuffed meatball recipe is the perfect meal to whip up in your slow-cooker. Once you do all of the work to prepare the meatballs it is smooth sailing after that. The meatballs should take about 15-20 minutes to create. I have also included a pasta sauce recipe for these mozzarella stuffed meatballs, but you can feel free to skip that part and use the pasta sauce of your choice. I often avoid the jarred pasta sauces and create my own sauce with some crushed tomatoes.

If you want a great jarred pasta sauce I highly recommend Rao’s. They make an excellent marinara and if you like bit of heat in your sauce, Rao’s has a fabulous Arrabiata Sauce.


The pasta!

The best pasta to go with these mozzarella stuffed meatballs is the spaghetti noodle. You can go thick or you can go thin. We went thick!


The Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs homemade sauce

You have to have a great pasta sauce to go with your mozzarella stuffed meatballs. I have included a great pasta sauce recipe to go with the meatballs. The pasta sauce is simple and easy to create. If you want a sauce that tastes great you have to use good tomatoes. I used DeLallo’s crushed tomatoes and they were some of the best I ever had. Muir Glen is also another great brand to go with.

And a blend of ground beef and ground Italian sausage is essential to this dish. The mix of meats is going to give you a flavorful, zesty meatball. Ground Italian sausage always lends awesome flavor to Italian pasta sauces.


Gluten-Free Options

If you are following a gluten-free diet and still would like to enjoy this mozzarella stuffed meatballs recipe, simply swap the breadcrumbs out for some gluten-free breadcrumbs. You would then serve the meatballs over the gluten-free pasta of your choice.



Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs (With Gluten-Free Option)

This recipe is for my famous mozzarella-stuffed meatballs… a family favorite! These hearty meatballs are stuffed with mozzarella pearls. When you dig into these meatballs you will love the oozing melty cheese! This is a slow-cooker recipe that serves approximately 8 people. Serve with the pasta of your choice. We love spaghetti noodles with this recipe!

Meatballs

  • 1 pound Ground beef (I use grass fed beef)
  • 1 pound Ground Italian sausage
  • Mozzarella pearls (You can stuff each meatball with 1 or 2 pearls (depending on how large you make the meatballs))
  • 1 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs (Use gluten-free breadcrumbs if you are gluten-free)
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons Minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup Milk
  • 1/2 tablespoon Garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon Onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

Pasta Sauce

  • 28 ounce Can of crushed tomatoes (I used DeLallo)
  • 6 ounce Can of tomato paste (I used Muir Glen)
  • 2 tablespoons Minced garlic
  • 2 Shallots (Diced)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • Salt (To Taste)
  • Black pepper (To Taste)
  • 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil

Meatballs

  1. Use a large mixing bowl for the meatballs. Place all ingredients (except for the olive oil) for the meatballs into a large mixing bowl. Use clean hands to mix and incorporate all of the ingredients. 

  2. Form large balls (approx 2 – 2 1/2 inches across) and stuff the meatballs with either one or two mozzarella pearls. Make sure the meatballs are tightly formed so the cheese does not melt out of them. Set aside the meatballs on a large cookie sheet.

  3. Warm two tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan. Once the oil has warmed place the meatballs in the pan and brown all sides of the meatballs.

  4. Set aside the meatballs while you prepare the pasta sauce in the next step.

Pasta Sauce

  1. Warm a bit of olive oil in a saute pan and then add your minced garlic and diced shallots. Cook until translucent and fragrant. Add to the slow-cooker.

  2. Add the rest of the pasta sauce ingredients to your slow-cooker. Stir well.

  3. Place the meatballs in the slow-cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.

Final preparations

  1. Prepare the pasta of your choice. Spaghetti noodles work best with meatballs.

  2. Serve, eat, and enjoy your meatballs!

If you are gluten-free, sub the Italian breadcrumbs for a gluten-free breadcrumb. Serve over gluten-free pasta.

A big plate of mozzarella stuffed meatballs served over spaghetti noodles
A big plate of mozzarella stuffed meatballs served over spaghetti noodles
Mozzarella stuffed meatballs oozing melty cheese!
Mozzarella stuffed meatballs oozing melty cheese!



RELATED:

Zesty Spaghetti Sauce RECIPE With Ancient Harvest Pasta, Bell Peppers, & Italian Sausage

Final thoughts about the mozzarella stuffed meatballs recipe

These mozzarella stuffed meatballs were loved and enjoyed by all of us at the dinner table! You just can’t go wrong with a recipe like this. This recipe is a keeper! This is a fabulous meal to create when you have guests over for dinner. Because you use two pounds of meat to make the mozzarella stuffed meatballs there is a lot of food to go around! And these meatballs are huge! I could only pack in two of these gigantic mozzarella stuffed meatballs. How many will you eat? 3 might just be the limit with this dish. A lot of meat!

 

Question Time! Do you have a family favorite recipe that you would like to share? I would love to hear all about your family favorite meal!

 

Other posts that you might enjoy at Give It A Whirl Girl

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Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE by Give It A Whirl Girl (Slow-Cooker)
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs RECIPE by Give It A Whirl Girl (Slow-Cooker)

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Cheeseburger Casserole From SkinnyTaste – Tried It Out Tuesday

Cheeseburger Casserole From SkinnyTaste

I recently came across a Cheeseburger Casserole recipe from SkinnyTaste and I was intrigued so by it, I just had to give it a whirl! I would have never even thought of enjoying a cheeseburger in casserole form until I saw this brilliant recipe of hers. My family really enjoys their cheeseburgers and we love our pasta too so this seemed like a winner winner cheeseburger dinner!

If you are not familiar with SkinnyTaste be sure to check out her website for some brilliant recipes that will help keep you on track with a healthy lifestyle. I made a gluten-free version of her Cheeseburger Casserole and my family enjoyed this recipe. I will be whipping up this dish again in the near future. Keep reading to hear more about this unique casserole dish.

Cheeseburger Casserole is a simple & easy recipe

What I really loved about this recipe from SkinnyTaste was the simplicity of creating it. The recipe was easy to follow and the ingredients were very simple to prepare. I started out by boiling the pasta and browning the beef. There was very little prep involved. I used two shallots in this recipe and had to slice those, easy peasy! The recipe calls for garlic as well and I just use my trusty Spice World squeeze bottle. I love simple recipes… who doesn’t?? They are wonderful on busy weeknights or when you are feeling too lazy to cook.

 

Ingredients I used for the SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole
Ingredients I used for the SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole

Gotta have my grass-fed beef in my Cheeseburer Casserole!

I recently made the switch to grass-fed beef. Grass-fed beef is not only more beneficial to your health but I believe it tastes better than regular beef. The grass-fed beef that I purchase at Kroger is also organic. That means that the cows graze on pesticide-free grass. Grass-fed cows also mean that the meat is free from added hormones that are typically given to cows. Sometimes I think of my body as an automobile. Your body needs good to fuel to run. You don’t want to put crappy fuel into your car so why would you want to put bad fuel into your body? Grass-fed beef costs a bit more than regular beef but I believe that the added benefits are worth the extra cost.

A few modifications to the Cheeseburger Casserole recipe

I made a few modifications to her recipe for my family. Instead of using an onion I used two sliced shallots. I discovered shallots earlier this year and prefer their taste and often swap onions for shallots now. I also incorporated some onion powder to the meat while browning it. I love the added flavor that onion powder lends to ground beef. Also, instead of using Dijon mustard I went with my favorite mustard by Boar’s Head. The mustard is a Delicatessen style and it gave the dish a wonderful flavor.

Browning the grass-fed beef
Browning the grass-fed beef
Grass-fed beef, tomatoes, shallots, and minced garlic
Grass-fed beef, tomatoes, shallots, and minced garlic

 

Gluten-free eating

Another swap that I did with this dish was that I used gluten-free noodles. I use Kroger’s ClickList and wanted some rotini pasta but they were out of stock and they gave me penne pasta instead. That was fine with me but I do think that rotini would have been best. I used Ronzoni brand and I believe that they do make a very tasty gluten-free noodle. I don’t think they taste much different than regular pasta. This dish would have been great with Banza’s chickpea pasta as well. They are another one of my go-to brands for gluten-free pasta.

Getting cheesy

A great cheeseburger has to have great cheese. I love Tillamook’s shredded cheese and I ended up pouring the entire bag of cheese all over this Cheeseburger Casserole. The recipe calls for 2 cups of cheddar and the one bag of cheese was equivalent to two cups. I used a sharp cheddar and this was a great choice for the casserole. Tillamook creates some damn good cheese. It is my go-to brand for shredded cheese. I also use their mozzarella on my homemade pizzas. They take great pride in creating their cheese and I can always rely on Tillamook to deliver a quality product.

Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese
SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole before going in the oven
SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole before going in the oven

Pickles on a casserole?

Who would have thought that pickles would be an acceptable topping on a casserole dish? I’m telling you guys, this works and the pickles actually turned out to be my favorite part! Any type of pickles will work well with this casserole. I ended up going with bread and butter pickles. Dill pickles would we splendid on this as well!

Giving it a whirl

I was so excited when my oven beeped and my casserole was ready to dig into. Check out that ooey, gooey melted cheddar, OMG! I love anything with melted cheese on it and this recipe did not disappoint. When the casserole came out of the oven I topped it with some bread and butter pickles. This dish was love at first bite. The cheeseburger really translated well into a casserole dish. I was amazed! This is a dish that I would gladly make for my family again since we all enjoyed it.

Cheeseburger Casserole from SkinnyTaste
Cheeseburger Casserole from SkinnyTaste

 

Kid-friendly meal

My daughter, Chloe, really enjoyed this recipe and she really got a kick out of those pickles that we topped the casserole with. Pickles are an ingredient that you wouldn’t normally use in a typical casserole. For us, the pickles were actually our favorite part of this dish! The more the merrier! The next time I whip up this recipe I will definitely be adding an abundance of pickles on top!

Who is SkinnyTaste?

SkinnyTaste was created by Gina Homolka. She is an author, recipe creator, and a photographer. She is a pro when it comes to the recipe world. SkinnyTaste began in 2008 and now has 3 million monthly viewers on her website… can you say goals?? I would love to someday achieve greatness like her. Her philosophy of eating is to eat seasonal, whole foods and to maintain portion control while eating. Her website has a wide variety of recipes for several different diets. I am sharing this with you today because her recipes are top-notch. Yes, I am a food blogger and yes she is a food blogger. I don’t see her as competition. When I fall in love with something I feel the need to share it with the world. I am sharing her recipe website because I believe in her philosophy and I like to encourage people to eat the right way.

Does this look like a recipe that your family would enjoy? What other SkinnyTaste meals sound great to you? Leave me a comment and fill me in!

You can see all of the recipes at SkinnyTaste on her website. The Cheeseburger Casserole recipe can be found HERE.

 

 

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Halloween Fiesta At Macy’s Shopping Guide – Friday Faves

TGIF! It is Friday so you know what that means… FRIDAY FAVES! This week I am so thrilled to present to you the line of Halloween Fiesta items available at Macy’s. I have a huge addiction to Fiestaware. I recently got my first set of Fiesta products in the summer and I am head over heels in love with it all. If you are looking for beautiful and durable dinnerware, Fiesta is the way to go. This is a shopping guide to the best Halloween items available.

Halloween is hands down one of my favorite times of the year. It is a time to cut loose and have some fun. Last year my family was a pack of rainbow unicorns. This year my daughter is going out as a creepy babydoll in one of my favorite vintage dresses.

If I had the funds all of this Halloween Fiesta would have a place in my home. The frightful designs are delightful! For those that are in the Halloween spirit year-round you could most definitely use these fine pieces throughout the year. I know that I would. I have a love affair for anything with a skull or skeleton design. The Fiesta Skull and Vine pieces are my favorite out of this collection. They are available in white or black designs and my eyes are in love with the black line.

Fiestaware is dishwasher safe, oven-safe, and microwave-safe. It also comes with 5-year chip protection. I have had my Fiesta since summer and have not gotten a single chip or scratch in any of my dinnerware and I use it for each and every meal. These are some very well-crafted pieces.

Click the links below, images, or banner to shop!

macys.com

Fiesta Skull and Vine Sugar Lunch Plate

This Fiesta plate has a Dia de los Muertos-inspired design on it and there are several coordinating accessories to go with this plate. You can grab the coordinating pieces for your collection:

Fiesta Skull and Vina Lunch Plate
Fiesta Skull and Vine Lunch Plate

Fiesta Skull and Vine Sugar Border Chop Plate

This is a generous-sized plate. This would be perfect for serving up your next big slab of ribs or whole chicken. Dimensions for this particular plate are diameter 11 3/4 Inches, and height 1 1/4 Inch.

Fiesta Skull and Vine Chop Plate
Fiesta Skull and Vine Chop Plate

Halloween Fiesta Moon Witch Lunch Plate

This spooky witch plate is the perfect size for your next Halloween meal. Fiesta lunch plates are 9″ Dia. x 1.125″H. This green plate depicts a witch on a broomstick flying over the moon. There is also a coordinating coffee cup to go with this witch plate.

 

Fiesta Witch Plate
Fiesta Witch Plate

 

Continue reading “Halloween Fiesta At Macy’s Shopping Guide – Friday Faves” →

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Kitchen Gadgets You Need For Next Level Cooking – Top 10

Kitchen Gadgets - Give It A Whirl Girl

It is time for another one of my top-lists that I enjoy putting together for my readers. Today I will be talking all about kitchen gadgets that can simplify your life and take your cooking to the next level. There are so many gadgets available now in 2018 and I wish I had space and storage to hoard them all. I searched Amazon to bring you some of my current favorites.  Some of these products just blow my mind. So grateful for the brilliant minds that come up with these gadgets.

These items are all in stock and ready to be shipped with Amazon Prime.

Not a Prime member? You can sign up for a free 30-day trial. I am telling you, you will be hooked once you try out Amazon Prime. I can not imagine my life without it.

Non-Stick Burger Press Patty Maker by Twisted Chef

Let’s kick things off here with this burger press kitchen gadget. I love whipping up burgers in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen and this sure would come in handy. This will also help you make stuffed burgers! Love sliders? This kit also includes a press for little slider patties.

All-In-One Sushi Making Kit | Sushi Bazooka, Sushi Mat & Bamboo Chopsticks Set + 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer

A long time ago I tried making my own sushi and failed miserably. Well, it is 2018 and what a time to be alive! Now we have a kitchen gadget to help with the painstaking process of making perfect sushi. May I present to you the Sushi Bazooka! With this gadget you simply open the device, fill it up with your favorite sushi ingredients, close it up, and then squeeze out the perfect sushi roll! It doesn’t get any easier than this folks! And to sweeten the deal it also includes an avocado slicer so you slice up your avocado with ease.

KitchenAid KSMPEXTA Gourmet Pasta Press Attachment with 6 Interchangeable Pasta Plates

I own a KitchenAid stand mixer and I love how versatile it is with the attachments that are out there. This kitchen gadget for your mixer will help you crank out some fresh pasta. It includes six different plates:

  • Spaghetti
  • Bucatini
  • Rigatoni
  • Fusilli
  • Large or small macaroni

This would be a wonderful gadget for making some gluten-free noodles at home. Nothing beats fresh pasta!

KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper, Guava Glaze

This KitchenAid kitchen gadget will simplify your chopping routine in the kitchen. Yes, it is another KitchenAid product… huge fan over here! This is a versatile kitchen gadget and it is capable of chopping up anything from onions to nuts. It has 2 different speeds and a pulse option. Not digging that pink color? There are 19 different colors to choose from.

Gourmia 3 In 1 Handle Push Cutter, Mango, Apple Slicer & Corer With Bonus French Fries Blade, 3 Stainless Steel And Interchangeable Blades

This kitchen gadget has three uses. It can cut a mango properly (cutting mangos is so hard!), core an apple, and create French fries out of your potatoes.

Continue reading “Kitchen Gadgets You Need For Next Level Cooking – Top 10” →

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Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles – Awesome Sauce With Chef Shamy

Sometimes there is a dinner so phenomenal I just have to share. My husband and I had an appetite for some Fettuccine Alfredo. That is a dish that I used to make often and I have made it so much that I now have my sauce totally perfected. My secret to a great cheesy sauce like this is to use quality ingredients and you gotta have some fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Homemade Alfredo sauce just can not be beat! Keep reading to learn more!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles
Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles

I have been trying to eliminate as much gluten as possible from my diet. It seems to be improving my health both mentally and physically so I am sticking to it. I have not reached a point of total elimination of gluten but I have cut down significantly. I needed a gluten-free, thick noodle to go with my alfredo. I ran into some difficulty at Kroger finding such a noodle and then I found it! I found some freshly made noodles that are made out of sweet potatoes. How perfect! I did have some fear in the back of my mind, though, that Joe would not approve. I took a leap of faith and added it to my ClickList anyway.

Now the details on the sauce. I have been going on and on lately about Chef Shamy’s gourmet butters.  I have a variety of flavors stocked in my fridge at the moment and figured my best bet was the Chef Shamy Garlic Butter with Parmesan Cheese and Basil. I can not say enough good words about this butter. Seriously guys, order some of this butter on Amazon and you will not regret it! I think that this butter really made my homemade Alfredo sauce shine. The butter gave it a marvelous flavor!

20180813_1632481760893926.jpg

I used about 1/4 cup of that butter in my sauce along with one pint of Horizon Organic Heavy Whipping Cream.  Once I had the butter and the heavy cream well incorporated I added a great big squeeze of my favorite minced garlic from Spice World. My knife skill are no good and I do not enjoy mincing garlic so I go the easy route with my trusty squeeze bottle. I also added in some Italian Seasonings, salt, and a good crack at a peppercorn medley. I continued warming the sauce and then very slowly added some Simple Truth Organic Parmesan Cheese.

All of my ingredients were then well integrated and I almost had the perfect sauce. What I like to do to my alfredo Sauce is use the lemon juice from a freshly squeezed lemon (no picture here but you probably know what a lemon looks like). I simmer my sauce a bit more and let that lemon juice infuse the sauce.

The Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Fettuccine noodles were simple to cook. Just boil up the water, separate them well, and drop them in. The noodles were nice and al-dente in 3 minutes. I then drained the noodles well and I mixed the sauce and noodles up in one pot to ensure that every noodle was smothered in my cheesy sauce.

I like to put black pepper and red pepper flakes on top of my pasta and serve some lemon slices as a garnish, just in case you need another squeeze of that zingy lemon.

Homemade Alfredo Sauce With Garlic & Lemon Served With Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Noodles

So how does it look? I think it looks marvelous and I’m going to give myself a pat on the back for this dish. I am pleased to say, as well, that Joe 100% approved of these sweet potato noodles. He and I both agreed that they didn’t have a bit of funkiness or weirdness to them. I am being sincere here when I say that you wouldn’t have an idea that they are gluten-free unless I told you so.

I would also love to give a shout out to Chef Shamy for hooking my fridge up with a bunch of their tasty gourmet butter. I will most definitely be experimenting more with them in the Give It A Whirl Girl Kitchen. You can find out more about Chef Shamy by clicking this nice little link HERE.

Do you have any tips or tricks on making a decent alfredo sauce? Feel free to share here and let us all in on your secrets!

Grab two tubs of Chef Shamy’s Garlic Butter on Amazon. Give it a whirl!

 

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. PROCEEDS FROM THE AMAZON AFFILIATE PROGRAM HELP MAKE THIS BLOG A BETTER BLOGGING EXPERIENCE FOR MY READERS.



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