Mushroom Meatballs

As I said in my post earlier today, I used the wrong meat last night and had to go get the correct meat for this meal. Well, I sent my hubby out for it, he's such a great guy!  I made these Mushroom Meatballs with the help of my young man this afternoon since my girl was getting ready for ballet and couldn't help by the time the meat arrived. Dinner was served a little later this evening, but it was worth the wait!

This was a simple recipe to throw together.  Throw the meatball ingredients in a big bowl, mix it up, then form into meatballs (the medium Pampered Chef scoop worked well.)  Heat some EVOO in a skillet, add the meatballs and turn to brown each side.  I needed to get my meal going since it was running a bit late due to having to buy more meat so I already had my crock pot turned on to high.  As each meatball finished browning, I added it to the crock pot.  By the time all of the meatballs are finished cooking, there is a good bit of yummy brown stuff on the bottom of the pan.  Add some chicken (or beef) broth, stir it up, add some Worcestershire sauce, stir a little more, then pour over your meatballs in the crock.  Add a bay leaf and the mushrooms to your crock then stir gently as the meatballs aren't thoroughly cooked and may fall apart a little.  Cook the meatballs for about 4 hours on high.

Here's where I changed the recipe -- and my first noticeable difference in a recipe.  45 minutes prior to the end of cooking, add 2 cups of coconut milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of arrowroot starch.  Well, as per the theme of this blog, no coconut milk here.  I used 2 cups of almond milk and my "sauce" wasn't very thick.  Even with the arrowroot starch in the sauce ingredients, it didn't thicken at all.  I may up the amount next time around.  

Verdict:  This was so very good!  Everyone loved the meatballs.  3 of us loved the sauce.  The little lady still has an anti-mushroom agenda so she skipped the sauce.  It was delicious though.  I served these with a baked sweet potato and 4 or 5 meatballs were quite filling.  

MUSHROOM MEATBALLS                                    adapted from Make Ahead Paleo

Makes Approximately 22 Meatballs

Meatball Ingredients:

½ pound ground beef

½ pound ground pork

½ cup diced yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 egg

2 TBSP arrowroot starch

¾ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp allspice

2 TBSP EVOO

Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups chicken or beef broth

2 cups sliced white button mushrooms

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

2 cups almond milk

1 TBSP arrowroot starch (May want to up the amount to make thicker)

Garnish if desired:

½ cup chopped fresh parsley