Grape Jelly Crock Pot Meatballs

 This was another appetizer I made for a party I held last night and people were raving about these meatballs.  They kept saying the flavor was so unusual, like nothing they'd had before.  What I did not tell them was that this was 1000% the easiest recipe I've made in forever, because it did not taste "easy."  That's my favorite kind of fancy food!  These soak up more sauce overnight and reheat extremely well.  

Ingredients:

• 2 packages, about 32 oz, pre-cooked frozen turkey meatballs (yes, you can make your own meatballs if you're feeling fancy, but these are really good and a whole lot easier!)
• 1 jar, 15 oz, grape jelly
• 1 jar, 12 oz, Heinz chili sauce

Instructions:

• Put the meatballs, grape jelly, and chili sauce in your crock pot.
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2 hours.  Stir every so often.

That is literally, it. 🤩

Serves 10 - 235 calories, 6 g fat, 733 mg sodium, 33g carbs, 1g fiber, 22g sugar, 10g protein

Crab & Cheese Stuffed Mini-Peppers

I made these for a party last night, and MAN, were they good!  Not that hard to make either - the toughest part was slicing & de-seeding all the little peppers.  I did these with dairy-free Boursin cheese, which was kind to my lactose-intolerant guests and had the bonus of giving the peppers a nice roasted garlic flavor.  I might add either a little tabasco to the filling or top the peppers with parmesan before cooking them next time - those feel like they could be fun experiments.  I suspect these will not reheat well, but I'll letcha know because they will be part of dinner tonight.  I'll make these appetizers again for sure.

Ingredients:

• 12-14 sweet mini-peppers
• 1 TB olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 5 oz scallion or garden flavored cream cheese
• 8 oz lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
• Cut the peppers lengthwise and remove the stems, seeds and ribs. If needed, trim a small amount off the bottom of each pepper half so that it will lie flat when cut-side up (making them steady is important so the filling stays intact during baking). Chop the trimmings into small pieces and set aside.  
• Toss the pepper halves in a medium bowl with the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper. Set aside. 
• Stir together the softened cream cheese and reserved pepper trimmings in another medium bowl until smooth. Gently fold in the crabmeat and season with salt and pepper.
• Fill each pepper half with about 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture so it comes over the top of the pepper slightly. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake until the filling is beginning to brown, about 18 minutes. Serve warm.  

Serves 6 - 173 cal, 13g fat, 600 mg sodium, 6 g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 9g protein