I’d like to make you a promise. I promise that you will say “mmmmm” after each bite of these meatballs. If not, I guarantee a full refund.
In all seriousness, we’ve been making these meatballs ever since a trip to Ikea a couple of years ago. Does anyone else go to Ikea for the Swedish meatballs?
I wanted to try and recreate them since we don’t have an Ikea near us. I’d say they are pretty similar (without the jelly garnish). I also wanted a Paleo version so these are made with coconut milk and almond flour instead of cow milk and breadcrumbs.
Are you craving something hardy and savory to warm you up? What about a quick 30 min meal? After the Holidays Kyle and I usually do a Whole30 or some type of food challenge to help us get back on track. We aren’t doing one this year but we still try to keep our weeknight meals on the healthier side. Intro this tomato soup with Italian meatballs.
The Holidays are hard to eat healthy, and it should be! You’re spending time with friends and family and sharing meals together. You don’t want to worry about all the calories and it’s fun to indulge from time to time. Nothing wrong with that! But if I keep eating the way I do during the holidays I know that will not have a great end result. Recipes like this make it easy to eat healthy.
It’s made with just a few ingredients and minimal chopping involved! Win win.
The best part about this soup is it uses canned tomatoes. My favorite tomatoes are fire roasted Mirl Glen tomatoes. Just a few simple ingredients that won’t leave you regretting opening a can. If you’ve never swapped fire roasted tomatoes for regular tomatoes, you’re missing out. It adds so much flavor. Try them next time in chili or spaghetti sauce. The meatballs are simple and baked instead of pan fried for easy clean up. If you can tolerate dairy, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese would be a great addition.
Happy Holidays everyone! Wow, it’s been a minute that I’ve made a post and I’ve been missing it. It’s such a busy time of year but it’s such a special time of year.
During this Season, it’s really hard to eat right. It’s jam packed full of Holiday parties and social events that’s surrounded by food and drinks.
During weeknight dinners I try to eat healthier meals so that I feel that I can enjoy those indulging moments during the Holidays. Today I have a fun one for you that is super easy to make for the family!
I don’t know about you but I’m always looking for ways to incorporate Mexican flavors into our week. We eat Mexican at least once a week (maybe twice!) There is just something about the flavors that is comforting.
This dish has all of those flavors jam packed into one complete dish. And it’s a great way to get in your veggie servings.
You start this one out by roasting a medium spaghetti squash. There are several ways to do this. My favorite is the Instant Pot! It cuts back on the time and you can put it in whole without cutting it in half. Just pour 1/4 cup of water in, put your rack in the bottom, stab a few holes with a fork in your squash and place it on the rack. Set it to manual and cook for 12 minutes.
Once done, cut it open and scrap the seeds out. While your squash is cooking start on the meat mixture. This recipe also uses the homemade Taco seasoning which is another reason you need to make this seasoning and keep on hand for quick dinners!
Don’t forget to top it with your favorite toppings like, avocado, cilantro, sour cream, or tortilla chips.
Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think!
Arkansas has finally got their first Trader Joe’s and everyone is going crazy over it (including myself). There is just something about TJ’s that makes people excited. I don’t know if it’s the cheaper prices, unique items you can’t find anywhere else, or the 2 buck chuck (more like 3 buck chuck) wines. Honestly, I think it’s all of the above.
One of the items that they are having trouble keeping in stock is the Cauliflower Gnocchi. It’s super simple and clean ingredients.
It really is worth all the hype. Kyle and I had tried this before it came to AR and failed the first time making it. The directions on the back are not correct. You see how the gnocchi is crispy and browned on the front of the package? If you follow the directions on the bag, they will not turn out like that. I’m just going to go ahead and save you some time and tell you to not follow those directions unless you like gooey gnocchi.
Throw them frozen into a skillet with your favorite cooking oil.
They crisp up really nice and it only takes about 5 minutes or so. Then I like to make a brown butter sauce. Hang with me here, it’s very simple.
After your gnocchi is browned, set them aside to make the butter sauce. Put your butter (good quality salted butter is preferred for maximum flavor) into the hot skillet and watch it bubble away. At this point you might need to take the skillet off the heat for a few seconds and swirl it around so it doesn’t burn. You do want it to turn an amber color.
While you are waiting on that amber color add your seasonings. In no time you should see that magic happen and your butter is done. Add your gnocchi back in and toss.
Top it with a sprinkle of parmesan and you are done.
Let me know if you like this recipe! I also want to hear what you have been making with your Trader Joe’s finds.
Hi Friends! This weekend we had our annual Halloween party and I thought I would share a little of the party with you. My mom asked me this weekend why Kyle and I were so in to Halloween. It made me think…. I told her I don’t think that it’s the Halloween holiday that I love so much but it’s a holiday that is a great time to get together with friends and dress up. And who doesn’t love dressing up for Halloween and going to a party?
As you know, I love to cook and I love being with friends and family. This is our way to cook for our friends and have them all over for a backyard movie night. We have a bonfire, s’mores, Halloween themed movie, Hicks Homebrew and chili. It’s always a good time to spend with everyone.
I LOVE snail mail so I always like to send the invitation out by mail and try to have a fun invitation made. This year I found a girl on Etsy to do them for us. Letterboxink Custom Invitations. They turned out really cute.
This year we showed the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie. It’s a 1992 comedy horror film. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth a watch. We had these amazing cookies made by Sara’s Cookies for a Cause. She is so creative and always knocks it out of the park!
This is also an opportunity for Kyle to brew a couple of beers to share with friends. He has been homebrewing for quite a while now and a few years ago we installed a keg freezer. He has 3 taps and we can’t drink all of that on our own. So we like to share with others! He brewed a Blood Sucker: Blood Orange Pale Ale and Hicks Hard Cider. We always have the hard cider each year but the beer changes from year to year. If you’d like to follow along on our homebrewing adventures, Kyle has an Instagram called “Hickshomebrew”.
We ordered these cute cups to serve the drinks in this year.
And new this year we set up a Halloween photo booth that was a blast and made for some great pictures!
Now for the good stuff… the food! Our menu consisted of:
Chocolate Chili and all the fixings, Cornbread muffins, homemade parmesan crackers and hummus, homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate, S’mores, and chocolate covered pretzels.
As much as I love taking pictures of my food, I somehow didn’t get to snap any photos of the food table.
The chili is a classic. It has simple ingredients with a spice mix that really steals the show. It’s best when it’s slow cooked and even better the next day. I hope you enjoy the recipe and create your own memories with a good bowl of chili in hand and good friends and family around.
I’m a big soup lover. But my husband has this thing about only eating soup if it’s chilly outside. Well… guess what, IT’S BEEN CHILLY OUTSIDE! I could eat soup anytime but let’s face it, it’s much more savory when the weather fits. How about a nice warm and cozy soup to fill your bones?
I hear a lot of people around this time talk about how Fall is their favorite time of year and honestly, I feel the same. But in Arkansas it just doesn’t stick around for very long. We are either too hot or too cold. Right now it’s just perfect!
This recipe is back from the archives and tweaked just a little. I use coconut milk rather than half and half but feel free to substitute with your dairy of choice. I’m not big on coconut flavor but simmering it takes most of the coconut flavor out leaving it rich and creamy. It’s also filled with lots of veggies and broth to warm you up and give you a little added nutrients.
Have you ever had Olive Garden’s chicken and gnocchi soup? This reminds me of that soup but just with a healthier twist.
Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Servings 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories638
% Daily Value *
Total Fat42.4g66%
Total Carbohydrate28.8g10%
Protein27.7g56%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Happy Fall Y’all! It doesn’t actually feel like Fall just yet here in Arkansas but I am sitting here sipping on this pumpkin spice latte that I’m about to share with you and it is getting me in the Fall mood already. There is just something about Fall flavors that are so savory. Apple pies, pumpkin everything, soups and stews.. They all are a favorite of mine.
I also love how it’s the start of the holiday season. Family and friends gathering around good conversations and good food is so very special!
Starbucks blows up around this time of year with their pumpkin spice latte. As I mentioned to you in my previous post, I am going to revive a few of my old recipes in the next few posts. This is one of them. I was a Starbucks fanatic! But I was also very calorie cautious. This recipe only contains 86 calories per cup verses 300 calories (Tall latte) at Starbucks.
Make sure to use !00% pure pumpkin puree
It’s super simple to whip up and I promise you, you are going to want double this recipe and keep the creamer in the fridge for your daily cup of coffee this Fall.
Pour all of the ingredients into a sauce pan, simmer for a minute or 2 and you’re done. It can be made dairy free, just use your favorite type of milk (coconut, almond, cashew)
And if you’re not ready for hot coffee just yet, try it over ice. Pro tip – give the creamer a good shake before you pour it into your coffee. After it has cooled it may separate and need to be mixed up again.
After making your creamer, put 1/4 to 1/3 cup into your already brewed coffee. I like a good bold coffee for this recipe.
Hi foodies, it’s been a minute. Some of you may not know this but about 7 years ago I started the Keep it fun and healthy blog. I fell off from blogging for quite awhile but I dug back in to some of my old recipes and thought that I would revive some of them for you. Things were different 7 years ago. Including the way I ate. 7 years ago I wasn’t married and was a borderline vegetarian. I say borderline because I wouldn’t not eat meat. In reality, I still had a burger from time to time! I just made a lot of dishes that didn’t include meat in them. Looking back at how we eat today, I don’t think there is ever a meal that I cook that doesn’t include meat. in fact, most of the meals are planned around the meat.
Honestly, I don’t think I ever thought that meat was bad but it did get a bad reputation back then. Today, I just look at it a little differently and try to choose the best type of meat for us (lean cuts, local when possible, moderation). I was quite hard on myself and Kyle when it came to food. I would feel guilty for indulging and really didn’t indulge very often. My relationship with food has changed quite a bit. Food and I have a healthier relationship now.
All of this to say, over the next several blog posts I’m going to revive a few or my favorite recipes that I’ve blogged back then. Bring them back from the dead per se. New pictures and a new twist!
A couple things to look forward to is the award winning cornbread recipe! (Yes, I entered the AR Cornbread competition one year!) And a homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer (up next!). Just for kicks, here’s the foodie Ramona 7-9 years ago.
I was a daily Starbuck goer. Tall nonfat, peppermint mocha with just 1 pump of peppermint and 1 pump of mocha. (I was watching the calories VERY closely back then)
Some type of salad. Always trying to do my best.
Making a salad at home for a dinner party.
To start this blast from the past series off, I have an Asian Lettuce Wrap recipe for you. You are going to LOVE this one! I haven’t made it in awhile and just about forgot about it. I have no idea why! It’s super easy and delicious!
This recipe was inspired by PF Changs lettuce wraps. Kyle and I’s first date ever was at PF Changs and it was one of our favorite dishes which is why I decided to recreate it with a healthier twist.
It’s made with ground turkey, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and lots of flavor.
There is minimal chopping and loads of flavor. What’s not to love. Let me know how you like it!
I’m one of those that could eat Mexican every day of the week. Like literally. It’s. Just. So. Good.
I call this taco a breakfast taco because it has eggs but lets face it, you can eat eggs anytime of the day!
The star of this taco is….well really, all of it. Every single thing. The crispy potatoes are great, the chorizo is awesome, the eggs are delicious, and the toasted tortilla just rounds it all out.
Start out by chopping your potatoes. I chose the Yukon Gold potatoes because I think they have the best buttery flavor. Dice them into small pieces so they crisp up and cook a little quicker. Drizzle with olive oil and taco seasoning. I have a easy taco seasoning recipe here.
Toast the tortillas. If you have a gas stove like me, I like to toast them right on the burner. But don’t fret if you don’t, just place them on a baking sheet and stick them in the oven for a few minutes.
Scramble your eggs to your liking and assemble your tacos.
I like to top off my tacos with lots of lime, cilantro, and avocado!
We’ve had an abundant of cucumbers lately in the garden. I’ve had to get a bit creative on using them up before they go bad.
Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE cucumbers. Our favorite way to eat them is sliced with a little sprinkle of salt with dinner. My mom used to serve them this way in the Summer time as well. I’m pretty sure the cucumbers where almost always gone before she got dinner on the table.
This is just a fun and different way to serve them.
It’s just a few simple ingredients and super easy to whip up. This would be a great simple side to those quick Summer dinners or a great side item to bring to a cookout!
Chop up your veggies and pour the sour cream mixture on top and toss!
What other ways to you like to eat fresh cucumbers? Does anyone else like salt on their cucumbers? Yes, I’m also one to put salt on my watermelon. Don’t hate me!
I hope you enjoy! Remember to keep it fun and healthy!
