Slow Cooker Veggie-Full Spaghetti

Slow Cooker Veggie-Full Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 bell peppers, chopped
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk of celery,sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbls olive oil
• 1 lb Italian Sausage
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 28 oz can tomato sauce
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, Italian recipe
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1-2 cups water
• cooked spaghetti

Directions

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add onions, bell peppers, shallot, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until tender and onion is translucent. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Brown sausage and green beef in the same skillet, drain fat, and transfer to slow cooker.
• Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, sugar, and Italian seasoning.
• Add one cup of water and stir. Liquids do not evaporate in the slow cooker so if the sauce is still too thick, add water, 1/4 cup at a time, until sauce reaches desired consistency.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
• Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.

Crescent Veggie Christmas Tree Recipe

Crescent Veggie Christmas Tree Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used light)
• 1/2 c sour cream (light)
• 1 tsp dried dill weed
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3 c finely chopped assorted veggies (broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, green onion, cucumber)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Removed the dough from the can without unrolling. Cut each can into sixteen slices (8 from each roll).
• Place the slices on a lightly greased cookie sheet to form a tree. One slice at the top, two slices in the next row, three in the next, then four slices, and five slices for the last row. There will be one remaining slice that can be used for the trunk. After you have formed the tree, lightly roll out to flatten a little bit. I didn’t do this and the crescent was a little too thick after it was baked.
• If you are making two trees, refrigerate the other tree while the first one bakes. Baked for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool for 1-2 minutes and then carefully loosen from the sheet and move to a cooling rack. Bake the second tree.
• Move the cooled tree to your serving platter prior to decorating.
• Combine the sour cream, cream cheese, dill, and garlic. Mix until smooth. Spread the mixture over both trees and decorate with the veggies.
• I used a yellow bell pepper to cut out a star – too cute! Keep refrigerated until it’s time to serve. The slices will pull apart from the tree so one tree has 16 servings.

Out of the Park Baseballs {Recipe}|veggieworld |spon

Out of the Park Baseballs {Recipe}|veggieworld |spon

• The recipe is super simple and I was hoping to help Reece get over his fear of peppers.  I love how simple it is to add Country Crock to veggie recipes and it adds so much flavor!  The recipe calls for a red bell pepper which I love to eat raw.  I let Reece see me munching away on them as I was preparing the recipe.  You basically make up mashed potatoes using Country Crock, sour cream, garlic, and salt and pepper. Mash it up until you get a consistency that will allow you to mold the potatoes into spheres (flat on one side).
• I let the potatoes cool slightly while I prepped the red bell pepper.  I seeded it and then slices it very thin for the laces and cross-stitching.
• I used an ice cream scoop to make the potatoes into a half sphere and placed them on a plate.
• Finally I added the pepper strips and voila!  We’ve got baseballs folks!
• They turned out so cute!  I love serving my kids food that are fun and I especially love being able to serve veggies to me kids without hiding them.  I want them to know what they are eating so they can see that the veggies taste good and there’s nothing to be afraid of.   Now the true test – will Reece eat a pepper?