Italian Meatball Stew

I love this meal for four reasons. 1. It's delicious. 2. It's nutritious. 3. The ingredients are totally interchangeable and regardless of what you toss in, it will be tasty. 4. All of the ingredients are pantry basics that you should have on hand at any given time. Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. These are just what I used this time, but if you have other vegetables that you want to toss in, go for it. This is the beauty of the recipe. Oh and you can make it in the slow cooker too if you want to make it before you leave for the day. I guess that makes five reasons I love this recipe.


Ingredients:
-1 lb ground beef
-1 egg, whisked lightly
-1/2 cup almond flour
-2 tbsp dried italian seasoning
-1 onion, diced
-4 stalks of celery, diced
-4 carrots, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 bell pepper, sliced
-8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
-4-5 small potatoes, medium diced
-1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade. Get the recipe here.
-1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
-2 bay leaves
-1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:
-Start with the meatballs. Toss the ground beef in a large mixing bowl. Add in almond flour, whisked egg, 1 tbsp dried italian seasoning, 1 tsp salt and some pepper. Mix it all together with the best tools God gave you (your hands!) until well incorporated, but be careful not to overmix, as the meatballs will be dense and tough.
-Roll the meat into bite-size balls and brown them in coconut oil in your stock pot over high heat. Watch them closely- they will go quick! Do it in batches if you have to- you don't want to overcrowd the pot or else the meatballs will steam, not brown.
-When the meatballs are finished browning, remove from the pot and set aside. If you have a lot of extra fat in the pot, pour some of it off. Just leave enough to saute your veggies in. You don't want an oil slick on the top of your stew.
-Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery to the pot and saute over medium heat until onions are transluscent, about 3-4 minutes. *Note- these are the only 3 veggies that are required, the rest are optional.
-Add in whichever addditional veggies you are using in your stew. I used mushrooms, red bell pepper, and potatoes. Also at this time, add in 1 more tbsp of dried italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste, and saute for an additional 3 minutes. Make sure you take the time to do this to wake up the herbs!
-Add in your stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Pop the lid on, bring it up to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, crack the lid and let it simmer for an additional 30-45 minutes.
-Just before service, stir in the red-wine vinegar. This cuts the richness and adds a nice tang. 
-Optional, garnish with fresh basil. 

So, here's how you make this slow-cooker and busy-working-person friendly. The night before, prepare your meatballs and brown them. Let them cool and store them in the fridge. Cut up all your veg the night before, and store it all in a ziplock bag in the fridge (go ahead and throw your spices in the bag too). In the morning, you literally just throw everything (except the vinegar) in the pot and turn it on low for the day. When you come home it will be delicious and make your house smell wonderful. You can also do this WAY ahead of time, freeze it and just pull it out the night before you want to cook it.

This is really just a method guys. You do not have to follow this recipe. You can change out the herbs, veggies, etc. Feel free to experiment and find out what you and your family like!

*Please use all organic ingredients when possible.


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