happy friday!
can you believe next weekend is Memorial Day? i can’t fathom that we are already at the end of May… spring where did you go??? i hope you guys are planning epic cookouts full of all the good early summer produce! i have no cookout recipes for you today, but i do have a great weeknight grill meal that’s sure to be a hit!
also sharing some of our go-to costco buys and a little garden update for everyone interested!
asian meatballs with onions and peppers
we had this for dinner earlier this week and i knew it had to go in the newsletter right away! it’s delicious, easy, and has so much flavor! you can even mix up the meatball mixture and store it in the fridge on sunday night to make on monday. OR go ahead and form the meatballs, freeze on wax paper, and then they are ready to cook whenever you want to eat them.
ingredients:
for the meatballs:
~1lb. of ground beef
2 heaped tbsp. of soy sauce (or tamari for GF)
2 heaped tbsp. of sweet chili sauce (we use this kind)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
skewers for grill
veggies:
1 bell pepper, sliced for the grill (medium chunks)
1 yellow onion, sliced for the grill
avocado oil
salt and pepper
bok choy, sliced lengthwise
optional creamy asian chili sauce:
1/3 cup mayo
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
3 dashes sesame oil
a splash of cold water
sriracha to taste (for your heat preference)
make it:
first, prep the meatballs.
mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and form into meatballs.
give each meatball a quick sear in a hot pan. the goal is not to cook them through, just to sear the outside so they don’t fall apart on the grill. ** another option is to pop them in a 375 oven for about 10 minutes, but they will not be as moist**
while the meatballs are searing, slice up all your veggies and toss with oil and salt and pepper.
build your skewers: add onions, peppers, and meatballs to each skewer.
for the bok choy, you can place it straight on the grill or cook on the side of the grill in a cast iron pan (we did a combo of grill and cast iron).
grill over direct flame for about 10 minutes or until you get a nice crust on the outside of the meatballs and a good char on the veggies.
remove from grill and serve with sauce and white rice!
costco favorites
we only go to costco every 3 months or so, but got to chatting with some friends the other day about our favorite things to buy there! so i figured i would share a little costco must-haves list. most of these are on here for the great prices. we are just 2 people (soon to be 3!) and just don’t need to buy much at one time.
spindrift. it’s our favorite sparkling water — just sparkling water and fruit juice, no “flavors” or “oils”. they are so fresh and yummy, and SUCH a great deal at costco.
italian sparkling mineral water. this water is so good. it’s just a plain sparkling water, but again — great price.
local craft beer. i am not sure if every costco has this, but our costco regularly has 24-packs of our local craft beer for a great deal.
simple mills crackers. a staple in our house!
mary’s gone crackers. they don’t always have these, but they are so yum with hummus or avocado on top!
rao’s pasta sauce. our favorite jarred spaghetti sauce, and it has no added sugar and very good ingredients!
fruit / frozen fruit: we stock up on lemons, limes, bananas, and strawberries when we are there!
kerrygold butter. simply the best butter for an unbeatable price.
laundry detergent. we use the brand ecos. it’s a little pricey so we always get it at costco.
i’m sure there are more things, but those are the basics that we always get. what are your favorite things to get at costco?
garden update!!
we are SO excited about our garden this year. we are growing some veggies for the first time, and wil has been learning so much and doing so much research to educate us on planting correctly and taking good care of our soil. check out a few photos of what we have going on, and hopefully i can keep y’all updated as our plants grow and produce fruits and veggies!