I don’t always crave heavy meat and potato meals like this one but recently I picked up a package of short ribs from Costco and wanted to treat my husband with something a little different than what we usually have for dinner. He loves short ribs and it’s something he would typically order out. My friend Julie has posted some pretty amazing looking short rib recipes over the years and I’ve always wanted to try making them myself. These Slow Cooker Barbecue Short Ribs turned out absolutely amazing – I was pretty proud of myself considering how inexperienced I am with cooking cuts of beef like this. Let’s be honest though, it’s hard to mess up tender beef like short ribs in the slow cooker.

I quickly browned the short ribs before setting them to cook in the slow cooker for several hours. If you are in the market for a new slow cooker I highly recommend this Crock-Pot Slow Cooker with Stovetop Browning, I’ve been using it for the past year and it has been so awesome to skip the whole brown in a skillet step when it comes to slow cooker recipes!! Seriously, a game changer. Love it.

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(This post is sponsored by Naturally Fresh.)

So apparently Super Bowl is just over a week away. And according to my FB feed there may be some drama regarding one of the teams who’s playing in the game? Can someone fill me in? I guess I could always ask 1 of the two devoted sports watchers in the family, my husband and my oldest son. I enjoy sports, I love the Gators and the Magic and will cheer loud and proud for both my teams, but I just can’t keep up with all of it 24/7 like the sport fanatics out there (and in my family).

And that’s totally ok!

I’ll be ready for Super Bowl Sunday, because for me, any big sporting event like the Super Bowl means food, drinks and more food. Right? In case you are wondering, I’m usually in charge of the food and drink category in our house.

How do you typically spend Super Bowl? In the past we’ve had a few people over here and there, but with our kids having to go to school bright and early the next morning, for us it is a bit more low key now. We still watch, and we eat, but the party winds down close to 9pm for the younger set in our house. I may or may not make it much longer after that.

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The last couple of months, I’ve gotten into the habit of using my slow cooker at least once a week. It has truly been a lifesaver! I’ve been mostly making a variation of chicken, with some Slow Cooker Chicken Sausage and Peppers thrown into the rotation a couple of times.

Every time I cook chicken in the crock pot, I really try to make enough leftover to throw on salads for lunches throughout the week. Since I’ve become pregnant, I have found that I can not skimp on protein like I used to. I used to get by with a little bit of hummus, an egg or some beans or even nuts thrown in for protein with most of my meals, but not anymore. I find myself craving/needing to eat chicken all the time. I don’t even really like chicken people. I’m curious if this will continue come fall after the baby’s born.

This Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken Melts recipe is nothing genius, just a way to change things up if you are just used to serving shredded bbq chicken as rolls as sandwiches (like we normally do). I personally love open-faced sammies made on English muffins so this was my kind of dinner. My kids, however, have something major against English muffins – it kinda makes me nuts. They don’t like them, and don’t want them – ever. Which tends to put a kink in my plans on those nights where I would love to just make English muffin pizzas for dinner (I always loved those!). They ate one of these melts to humor me, but preferred the chicken on it’s own on the plate, with no additional sauce. Weirdos.

For the barbecue sauce I used a combination of two of our favorites – Rufus Teague Honey Sweet and Stubbs. I served these barbecue chicken melts along a nice big salad full of greens, radishes, baby carrots, avocado and cherry tomato halves, with ranch dressing. Great dinner!

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I don’t make meatloaf – of any kind – very often, for no other reason other than it just doesn’t come to mind when I think of what to make for dinner. That’s probably because I didn’t really grow up eating meatloaf, so it doesn’t really fall into the everyday comfort food category for me. Does it for you?

There are two meatloaf recipes that I have made over the years when I have made meatloaf and they have become my go-to meatloaf recipes. They are both very different from each other and it just depends on whether or not I want a more traditional recipe like this copycat Boston Market Meatloaf recipe, or a lighter but oh so delicious one like Barefoot Contessa’s Turkey Meatloaf (I love this one!!).

Anytime I do make meatloaf, my meat loving husband is a happy man. And after making these Mini Cheddar-BBQ Turkey Meatloaf Muffins apparently now I know that my children are both fans as well. I guess I know whats going into the dinner rotation more frequently (along with this Mini Honey Mustard Meatloaf recipe we love).

I was inspired to make this mini versions of meatloaf from my friend Liz, who writes the blog The Lemon Bowl (I’ve been finding myself stalking her blog for dinner ideas quite frequently, along with Melanie’s blog, Nutritious Eats). It’s nice to get ideas from other busy moms that like to eat food you like to eat, and have to still feed young children food that they will like as well – I’m always inspired by both ladies!

These turkey meatloaf muffins came together super easily and quickly, using ingredients I always have on hand.

Side Dish Recipes For Mini Turkey Meatloaf Dinner

Oven roasted potatoes like these Roasted Red Potatoes with Smoked Paprika or Dill Potato Wedges are always great side dishes for this meatloaf recipe.

Other veggie side dishes for this dinner:

Corn, Tomato and Basil Saute

Roasted Green Beans with Almonds

Honey Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

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Celery seed made a random appearance in tonight’s dinner. It’s not a spice I really pay much attention to, but for some reason I always happen to have a small jar of it hanging around in the spice cabinet. I find myself using it most often when I am putting together a dressing for the occasional slaw or salad (like this one) and it always adds a little extra something-something as far as flavor goes. Would you agree?

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Today’s salad is another Instagram inspired meal (like this one). I caught a glimpse of this Tropical Shrimp Salad from an Instagram friend The Foodie Physician one evening and instantly fell in love. Now, it’s pretty obvious that my salad isn’t exactly like Sonali’s. I basically used her marinade and dressing recipes with what I had on hand and this grilled chicken salad was born.

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Life got a little busy last week. My little munchkin turned 5 over the weekend so I was in party (prep) mode most of last week along with the other usual and unusual (All-Star Games in Orlando!) festivities…our schedule was pretty packed up with fun stuff and it was all good.

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Over the last few years, I have found myself making more and more food gifts for my family and friends for the holidays. Cookies and other sweets are usually a given but I like to get a little creative and try something different…like this homemade bbq rub and peach barbecue sauce I gave the men in my family last year.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on any homemade holiday gifts you may have made over the years. This year I would love to make a hot sauce and bottle it up for gifts so if you have a recipe please share it with me!

I started a Homemade Foodie Gift series over at Family Kitchen where I’ll be sharing ideas for homemade gifts for the upcoming holidays. I’ll be posting a couple ideas a week for the next few weeks and have already shared this great Pumpkin Pie Spice and Cinnamon Honey Butter, if you missed those be sure to go check them out!

Have a great weekend!

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One of my favorite go to dinners any night of the week. Flat Out pizzas. It’s one of those meals I can always count on. I can make them my way, their way, everyone’s way. And it’s not too much trouble either.

My latest Flat Out pizza creations are on Babble today. Have a great weekend!

Check out my Pinterest board for more pizza recipes.
Follow Aggie’s Kitchen’s board Pizza & Flatbread on Pinterest.

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Earlier this summer I was contacted by the editor of CBSNews.com asking me to contribute a healthy recipe to their Health section.  Of course I was totally flattered and thrilled by this request considering how much I love to talk about food and share healthy recipes with just about anyone and everyone who crosses my path…and let’s be real, it’s CBS!!  My first assignment was “sliders” and I decided to recreate a tried and true turkey burger I’ve been making for some time now.

To me, a slider is basically a mini burger.  I think sliders are genius because if you are really trying to watch your portions, it really forces you to eat less.  That is, if you stick to the one slider…which I really try to do.  That’s the whole point in my opinion…you get a “taste” of the good stuff and then fill up on the actual “good for you” stuff on the side.  But that’s just me…

What makes these BBQ Turkey Burger Sliders awesome is the sauteed green onion and celery along with the smoky Chipotle Tabasco and paprika that is added into the ground turkey mixture before being shaped into patties.  The combination of all those ingredients really adds flavor to the normally pretty bland turkey.  Also, adding shredded cheese directly to the mixture adds a little fat to the lean meat and keeps them juicy.

Visit the Health Section of CBS.com to read the article for this recipe along with a newer one featuring Summer Vegetable Gratin and Baked Zucchini Fries.

Smoky BBQ Turkey Burger Sliders

Ingredients:

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large Vidalia (or sweet) onion, thinly sliced
• Pinch salt and pepper

BASTING SAUCE

• 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
• 2 TB mango chutney

CHIPOTLE SAUCE

• 1-2 TB Chipotle Tabasco sauce
• 1/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt or reduced-fat mayonnaise

PATTIES

• 1.25 lb extra-lean ground turkey
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 TB Chipotle Tabasco sauce
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• good pinch salt and pepper
• 8 whole wheat potato rolls

Directions:

1. Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or pre-heat a gas grill to medium-high. For best results, use a non-stick grill which helps to avoid adding oil.
2. On the stove, heat 2 tsp olive oil in a non stick skillet. When oil is hot, place celery and green onion in pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool. We are going to add these to our burger mixture later.
3. In the same nonstick skillet, heat 2 tsp olive oil in . When oil is hot, place sliced onion in pan. Season with good pinch of salt and pepper and cook. Saute onions until browned and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While onions are caramelizing, prepare basting sauce and Chipotle Sauce.
5. Combine Greek yogurt (or mayo) and Chipotle Tabasco in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
6. Combine barbecue sauce and mango chutney in small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make patties:

1. Combine ground turkey, Chipotle Tabasco, smoked paprika, low-fat cheese and cooked and cooled green onions and celery in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Gently combine and mix using hands or large spoon. Form into 8 even sized patties, do this by scoring meat mixture in half, then quarters, then eighths.
2. Use a non-stick canola oil spray, to prevent patties from sticking to grill.  Spray patties directly with spray before placing on grill.
3. Place patties on grill rack, cover and cook until bottoms are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Using spatula, flip patties and cook additional 4-5 minutes. After flipping, use brush to baste turkey burgers with mango BBQ sauce. After cooking for 4-5 minutes, flip and baste other side.

To assemble burgers:

1. Spread chipotle sauce on both sides of open potato rolls. Place patty in bun and top with caramelized onions. Take a big bite and enjoy!
2. For those sauce lovers (like my hubby!), can be served with additional Mango BBQ sauce on side!

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