Name: Easy Monday Night Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1lb ground hamburger, sausage, turkey or meat of your choice; 1 large sweet onion; 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced; 1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce; 1 large can of tomatoes (stewed, diced, sliced - whatever is your favorite); salt/pepper to taste; parmesan cheese; 1 box or package of your favorite pasta; OXO Ground Meat Tool; OXO Vegetable Chopper with easy pour opening; OXO Silicone Ladle

Instant Pot Soup with Pork, Smoked Sausage and Beans

Dinner, RecipesOctober 4, 2018October 4, 2018 Betsy Eves

Don’t wait hours for soup to be ready! This recipe Instant Pot Soup with Pork, Smoked Sausage and Beans is ready in 45 minutes and is the perfect dinner on a cozy fall night!

I don’t know about you, but on a week night I loathe cooking dinner. By the time 5:30 pm rolls around, I’m tired, the kids are tired and my husband isn’t even home from work yet but dinner has to be started!

With just a few ingredients and 45 minutes, this recipe for
Instant Pot Soup is the best solution for those nights you just don’t want to cook!

One of my favorite parts about this Instant Pot Soup is that the pork is precooked and the tomatoes and beans come ready in a can.

All I need to do to prep this meal is saute the veggies and dump the rest in the Instant Pot!

A few minutes of prep and only 30 minutes of cook time, this Instant Post Soup with Pork, Smoked Sausage and Beans is my go-to dinner on a cold Fall night!

The pork, smoked sausage and beans are hearty and the broth is full of flavor. I love taking a big piece of crusty bread and soaking up the broth.

So yum!

Instant Pot Soup with Pork, Smoked Sausage and Beans | The JavaCupcake Blog https://javacupcake.com

To be honest though, this is the first Instant Pot Soup recipe I’ve ever tried. In fact, this is the first Instant Pot recipe I’ve ever made period!

I know, crazy, right?! How I have survived this long without an Instant Pot?

Must Try Instant Pot Recipes

What are some of your favorite Instant Pot recipes? Here are a few I’m dying to try…

Shredded beef filling for tacos
From Taste of Home: “Create a taco or burrito bar! For a variation, I make beef and bean burritos by mixing a can of refried beans into 3 or 4 cups of cooked beef filling.—Hope Wasylenki, Gahanna, Ohio”

Pressure Cooker Shredded Beef Burrito Filling

Faux Rotisserie Chicken
From Cooking with Curls: ”
Do you ever find yourself at the grocery store buying a week’s worth of food, then reach for a rotisserie chicken because you no long have the energy to go home and cook what you just purchased? I admit it, I am guilty. But have you ever looked at the ingredients label on that chicken? Yikes! My Instant Pot Faux-tisserie Chicken is pure goodness…..”

Your family is going to love this Instant Pot Faux-tisserie Chicken just as much as the ones you buy in the store, but you get to control the ingredients | cookingwithcurls.com

Sweet Potatoes
From Add a Pinch: “Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe – Cooking sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker makes cooking sweet potatoes so quick and easy! Perfect for enjoying as baked sweet potatoes as a side dish or for cooking to use in sweet potato casserole and so many other dishes!”

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe - Cooking sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker makes cooking sweet potatoes so quick and easy! Perfect for enjoying as baked sweet potatoes as a side dish or for cooking to use in sweet potato casserole and so many other dishes! // addapinch.com

TJCB recipes to try as Instant Pot Soup!

Now that I have this Instant Pot, I think I need to reinvent my favorite JavaCupcake soup recipes to make in the Instant Pot!

Chunky Potato Soup

Ham Hock & 15 Bean Soup

Yuengling Beef Stew

Instant Pot Soup

Below you’ll find my recipe for Instant Pot Soup with Pork, Smoked Sausage and Beans. Let me know if you try it… I’d love to hear what you think!

Easy Monday Night Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Dinner, Recipes, SponsoredFebruary 22, 2016October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

After a relaxing weekend, getting back into the swing of a new week can sometimes be difficult. This Easy Monday Night Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is the perfect way to simply and deliciously start your week!

OXO provided me with the products mentioned in this post, but the opinions are all mine.

I have been wanting to try out a ground meat tool for about 10 years now but just have not gotten around to buying one. My sister has one and when I saw her using it for the first time I was intrigued by how well it worked to cook ground meat.

When OXO asked if I wanted to try out their Ground Meat Chopper and Turner to create a recipe for them, I jumped at the chance! Just after I moved to Fort Belvoir, VA from Bavaria, Germany, the package from OXO arrived with the Meat Chopper along with a Vegetable Chopper and Silicon Ladle and I knew it would be the perfect time to make my families favorite spaghetti with meat sauce.

(PS… None of my household goods had arrived at this time either, so please pardon the photographs not being up to my typical standard! Living out of a suitcase has proven to be a difficult transition for my blog!)

This recipe is easy because it combines store-bought and fresh ingredients and is very flexible. You can use any type of meat, sauce, canned tomatoes, or pasta with this recipe. Onion and garlic are added for extra flavor but nothing else is needed!

In the picture above, you can see how well the OXO Ground Meat Chopper works to break up the meat into chunks. I love a chunky meat sauce, but you can cook the meat to any size you prefer.

The OXO Vegetable Chopper with Easy Pour Opening is one of my favorite tools. I’ve always loved a good veggie chopper, but my favorite thing about this tool is the opening in the back of the bowl. This pour opening makes it so easy to chop then dump into the pan to cook!

Whatever can alleviate a few steps in the kitchen while I’m cooking… I’m all for it!

Finally, the OXO Silicone Ladle is the perfect size to scoop the finished sauce over the noodles. Whether you’re making individual plates for your family or you’re serving the sauce at a potluck, the ladle is the perfect tool for the job.

So, next Monday when you’re needing something simple and delicious for your family, try out our families favorite spaghetti and meat sauce!

And make sure to get the OXO tools to help you do it!

OXO provided me with the products mentioned in this post, but the opinions are all mine.

Easy Monday Night Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Yield: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1lb ground hamburger, sausage, turkey or meat of your choice
1 large sweet onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 large can of tomatoes (stewed, diced, sliced - whatever is your favorite)
salt/pepper to taste
parmesan cheese
1 box or package of your favorite pasta
OXO Ground Meat Tool
OXO Vegetable Chopper with easy pour opening
OXO Silicone Ladle

Instructions

Meat Sauce

Over high heat, add ground meat to a large pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use the OXO Ground Meat Tool to break up the meat into very chunks. Cook the meat until there is no more pink in the meat.
Use the OXO Vegetable Chopper to dice the onion. Add the onion to the cooked meat and stir. Cook until the onion becomes translucent in color. Add the minced garlic and stir to combine.
Add the canned tomatoes and jar of pasta sauce and mix to combine. Bring the sauce to a light simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Do not boil, you don't want to reduce the sauce.
While the sauce is simmering, prepare the pasta according to the directions on the package. Strain the pasta when ready.
Place a scoop of pasta onto your plate then spoon the sauce over the top using the OXO Silicone Ladle. Garnish with parmesian cheese.

Emmentaler Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Dinner, RecipesSeptember 29, 2015October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

You may have had a grilled cheese sandwich before, but I guarantee that you’ve never had one quite like this Emmentaler Grilled Cheese Sandwich!

A few weeks ago, I went to the Nuremberg Food Truck Round-up and had the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich called “The Swiss” from the Gorilla Food food truck. It was seriously so good that we actually ate two of them and decided we needed to immediately recreate this sandwich at home!

This sandwich starts with thick sliced white bread covered in butter then placed on a lake of bacon grease. Yah, you read that correctly… butter and bacon grease. The butter is to help the bread toast to a golden brown and the bacon grease, well that’s just for flavor.

Mmmmm bacon grease.

After you put the first piece of bread down onto the hot skillet it’s time to build your sandwich. This is the fun part!

Emmentaler cheese is a mild white cheese that’s popular here in Germany and although the sandwich we had at the round-up was called “The Swiss”, we really prefer the Emmentaler to Swiss.

After the cheese comes the unusual mix of toppings that make this sandwich so amazing.

Bacon. A little crispy but still chewy is my favorite way to cook the bacon, but whatever you prefer is how you should cook it.

Fried potatoes. We used sliced canned new potatoes and fried them in a pan before adding them to the sandwich. Soft in the middle and crisp on the outside, these potatoes add a unique flavor to the sandwich.

Caramelized onions. The sweetness of these onions adds the perfect flavor to this sandwich. Plus, who doesn’t love caramelized onions? Seriously.

Honey bbq sauce. Now, you could probably use any flavor of bbq sauce you wanted but the tang and sweet flavor of the honey bbq sauce really brings the entire sandwich together. Each bite that has a bit of this sauce in it is pure perfection.

More cheese. Because duh, cheese.

Finally, another slice of buttered bread goes on top to complete the sandwich.

Now we wait… wait until the bottom is golden brown and the first layer of cheese is soft and gooey. The ingredients will already be slightly warm because you probably cooked them right before you assembled the sandwich so they don’t need any cooking.

Flip the sandwich over and cook the second side until golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy the most epically delicious grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever had!

A big thanks to the Gorilla Food food truck for the inspiration for this sandwich! We had a nice chat with the owner of the truck and gave him a few tips on how we make our grilled cheese sandwiches at home. I’ve eaten grilled cheese my entire life, but never quite like this!

Enjoy!

Emmentaler Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Yield: 1 sandwich

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

Ingredients

2 slices of thick white bread
2 slices of Emmentaler cheese
2-3 pieces of thick sliced bacon, cooked (reserve the bacon grease for later)
9 slices of canned new potatoes, fried until slightly crispy
1 heaping tablespoon of grilled onions
1 Tbsp honey bbq sauce
bacon grease
butter

Instructions

Cook the bacon, grilled onions and fried potatoes to your personal preference of doneness. Be sure to reserve the bacon grease for cooking the sandwich.
Heat a skillet to 350F degrees.
Butter one side of each piece of bread. Place 1 Tbsp of reserved bacon grease onto the hot skilled and spread around the size of your bread. Place the bread, butter side down, onto the bacon grease.
Trim the cheese so it is just smaller than the bread. Place one slice of cheese on the bread.
On top of the cheese, arrange the bacon in three rows. Trim the bacon so it does not go over the edges.
Place 9 slices of fried potato in three rows across the top of the bacon.
Spread the gilled onions evenly over the top of the potatoes.
Dab the bbq sauce over the entire sandwich so that each bite will get a bit of sauce.
Place the second piece of cheese on top.
Put the second piece of bread, buttered side up onto the sandwich.
Flip the sandwich over when the bottom of the first piece of bread is golden brown and the first piece of cheese has started to get melty.
Once you flip the sandwich, cook that side until it's golden brown and the cheese is soft and melty. You don't want the cheese or ingredients to ooze out the sides.
Remove the sandwich from the griddle and allow it to cool for about 1 minute before cutting and serving.

Mango Pineapple Salsa

Dinner, RecipesSeptember 4, 2015October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

Squeeze every last ounce out of summer by making my Mango Pineapple Salsa! It’s sweet, spicy and so delicious!

I’m so excited for Fall, but I’m really going to miss the flavors of summer. So this week, I made a big batch of Mango Pineapple Salsa to keep summer going! I got the idea for this salsa from a Mexican restaurant we like to eat at here in Germany. I know that sounds strange… good Mexican food in Germany but this place had a sweet salsa that was made with mangos and I wanted to recreate it at home!

The first time I made it, I only used 1 mango and half a pineapple and the salsa was gone in one day. Yeah… I ate it all and was stingy about it too. I had no intention of sharing with my kids or my husband. Ha! My son loved it so much that I knew I needed to make it again so he could enjoy it. I doubled the batch this week and shared it with everyone!

I used my Nicer Dicer to chop all the fruit and veggies so the salsa came together in about 10 minutes! If you don’t have a Nicer Dicer, you really shoudl get one… it’s perfect for chopping and dicing, especially when you have a lot to do!

I love this sweet salsa so much, that I found myself eating it straight from the bowl. I mean, chips were good too but the flavors in this salsa are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. I love it. And I don’t feel guilty at all about eating this salsa because there is nothing in it that’s bad for you. Fruit and veggies. Can’t get better than that!

As I was trying to decide who I was going to photograph the salsa I brainstormed different ways it could be served. I scanned my cabinets for props and came up with the idea to serve the salsa in a mason jar. I also had a metal round tray and thought the two would work perfectly together. I filled the mason jar with salsa, set it int he center of the tray with a serving spoon and surrounded it with chips. Perfect!

So don’t rush into Fall too quickly, there’s still a few days left of summer and you should definitely treat your family to this delicious and healthy salsa!

Wanna know more about my Nicer Dicer? You can buy one here!
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Mango Pineapple Salsa

Yield: 8-10 cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 large mangoes
1 large pineapple
1 medium/large red onion
2 bunches of cilantro
1-3 medium jalapenos
2 limes
sugar
salt/pepper

Instructions

Peel the mangoes. Cut the flesh of the mango away from the seed in the center in large pieces. Dice the large pieces of mango into small chunks. To do this quickly, I used a Nicer Dicer using the smallest square blades to dice them into small, even pieces. Put the diced mango in a large bowl and sprinkle with 2-3 Tbsp of sugar.
Peel and core the pineapple. Dice the pineapple flesh into the same size chunks as the mango. I also used the same Nicer Dicer chopper for the pineapple. Add the pineapple to the mangoes and toss to combine.
Peel the skin off the red onion then dice it into small squares. Again, I used the Nicer Dicer for this step. Add the onions to the fruit.
Depending on how spicy you want your salsa deseed the number of jalapenos you want to use. For less spicy, only use one jalapeno. For more spicy, use three. After the jalapenos are deseeded, dice them finely. I did this by hand because I wanted a finer dice. Add it to the bowl and toss it all together.
Zest and juice the limes and pour it over the salsa then toss together.
Remove the stems from the bunches of cilantro then chop the leaves. Add this to the salsa and toss together.
Sprinkle 2-3 Tbsp of sugar over the salsa.
Salt and pepper to taste (I didn't measure this, but I was generous). Toss the salsa together again.
Taste the salsa. If you think it needs to be sweeter, add more sugar. If it needs more seasoning, add more salt/pepper. There is really no wrong way. What tastes good to you is how you should make it!
Store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Roasted Carrots and Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Browned Butter

Dinner, Recipes, SponsoredAugust 31, 2015October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

This post is sponsored by Hebrew National® via Mode Media.

As we say hello to fall it’s hard to put the grill away and say goodbye to summer. My Roasted Carrots with Garlic Browned Butter pair perfectly with Hebrew National® All-Beef Franks making this meal the perfect marriage of summer and fall.

My kids love Hebrew National® All-Beef Franks and we’ve been enjoying them all summer long. With fall knocking at our door, I am getting so excited for roasting vegetables and enjoying the fresh flavors of the colder season. As the farmers markets are winding down to a close, the deals get better and better. Just last weekend, I was able to score these fresh picked purple, yellow and orange carrots at the Weiden Farmers Market for only €2!

Seriously, how gorgeous are these carrots? I knew I needed to include these in dinner for my family this weekend and decided to dress them up a bit with a garlic infused browned butter drizzle.

If you’ve never made browned butter you really need to try it. It’s so simple to make and it smells amazing while it’s cooking. Browned butter has a nutty aroma unlike any other and is so heavenly. I’ve used brown butter in cookies, cakes and on bread, it’s really quite versatile.

After the carrots roasted in the oven, I drizzled the garlic browned butter over the top of them. Since the carrots are baked with oil on them, not much butter is needed but it definitely adds a richness to the carrots that’s unparalleled.

I also cut up sweet potatoes into bite size chunks and tossed them in the same oil and spices I used for the carrots. Combining both vegetables on the same roasting pan made these side dishes easy to prepare.

So come fall when your kids are begging you for grilled hot dogs, pull out a package of Hebrew National® All-Beef Franks for the grill then roast carrots and sweet potatoes and you’ll have the best of both worlds!

Roasted Carrots and Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Browned Butter

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

24 carrots with the stalks on them
2 large sweet potatoes
oil based cooking spray
olive oil
salt/pepper
Italian seasoning
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Spray baking sheet with an oil spray or coat with oil.
Cut the stalks off the carrots leaving 2 inches of the stem. Cut the larger, thicker carrots in half long ways to ensure even roasting.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks
Lay the carrots and sweet potatoes out on the prepared baking sheet then drizzle olive oil over the top.
Generously salt and pepper the carrots & potatoes then sprinkle with the Italian seasoning. There is no right or wrong amount to season the vegetables. If you don't have Italian seasoning, use dried oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley or any other dried green herb you have in your pantry. Toss the vegetables to coat them on all sides in the oil and seasoning. Arrange the carrots & potatoes so they are flat on the pan so none are overlapping completely.
Roast on the middle rack for 35-50 minutes or until tender. Flip the carrots & potatoes over after about 25 minutes. If you like a darker roast on your veggies, bump the heat up at the end to 425F for another 5-10 minutes.
While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the garlic browned butter. Remove the skins from the garlic cloves and press with the back of your knife onto the cutting board until the cloves have smashed. You want to smash the cloves so that the oils release from the cloves. Give the smashed cloves a rough dice.
About 10 minutes before the vegetables are done roasting prepare the garlic browned butter. In a small pan over medium-high heat, add the garlic and butter. Melt the butter in the garlic stirring gently until all the butter is melted. At this point, let the butter bubble without stirring for a few minutes until it becomes nutty in smell and it turns an amber color. NOTE: This browning of the butter happens quickly and you'll need to watch it carefully. Remove the browned butter from the heat as soon as it browns to prevent it from burning.
Strain the garlic from the butter and allow it to cool slightly. Pour the garlic browned butter over the plated roasted carrots just before serving.

What makes a Hebrew National® kosher hot dog premium? It’s all about what makes the cut (And what doesn’t). We’re choosy about what goes into our franks – we use only premium cuts of 100% kosher beef from the front half of the cow and then choose the best from that. No artificial flavors, colors, fillers or by-products. When your hot dog is Kosher, that’s a hot dog you can trust! For more summer fun with Hebrew National®, visit facebook.com/hebrewnational.

Summer Sides for your next BBQ

Dinner, Recipes, SponsoredAugust 3, 2015October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

This post is sponsored by Hebrew National via Mode Media.

Boost your summer BBQ up a notch with these three delicious Summer Sides!

You’re having your favorite Hebrew National All-Beef Franks for dinner again, but you want to spice things up a bit with the sides. I’ve got three perfect sides for you that are light, fresh and delicious!

Living in Germany, I get inspired by my German friends who bring traditional side dishes to parties and cookouts. Someone always brings potato salad. German potato salad on the surface may look like American potato salad, but I guarantee you it’s not the same.

This potato salad recipe comes from my friend Mareile who is half German and lives near me here in Germany. She’s from the North of Germany and this recipe is unique to that region!

This family recipe goes back at least four generations in Mareile’s family and is nothing short of spectacular and makes the perfect addition to a summer BBQ.

Get the recipe for this Bavarian Potato Salad here!

Summer means there are always fresh, in-season vegetables available at the grocery store. My son Matthew loves cucumbers and I love tomatoes, so I whipped up this light Cucumber Tomato Salad to go with our BBQ.

Fresh cucumbers, seeded tomatoes and a red onion are dressed in olive oil and red wine vinegar with salt and pepper. It takes only a few minutes to whip up and is the perfect summer side.

Get the recipe for this Cucumber Tomato Salad here!

We have to have something sweet on our plate with our BBQ too so I sliced and grilled a pineapple then drizzled a brown sugar based glaze over the top. It’s uncomplicated and delightful.

NOTE: The combination of franks and these toppings may not be Kosher.

Grilled & Glazed Pineapple

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Total Time: 11 minutes

Ingredients

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into long slices
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
50ml bourbon or whiskey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Skewers

Instructions

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat, combine the brown sugar, bourbon and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a bubble, keep whisking then remove from the heat to cool.
Slice each slice of pineapple onto a skewer then set the slices onto a hot grill.
Grill each side a few minutes until grill marks start to form. You just want to warm the pineapple and get grill marks, do not burn them!
Once you like how they look, remove them to a serving dish.
Drizzle the glaze over the top of the pineapple slices.
Serve immediately.

So if you’re in need of the perfect Summer Sides for your next BBQ, try my Bavarian Potato Salad, Cucumber Tomato Salad and Grilled & Glazed Pineapple!

What makes a Hebrew National kosher hot dog premium? It’s all about what makes the cut (And what doesn’t). We’re choosy about what goes into our franks – we use only premium cuts of 100% kosher beef from the front half of the cow and then choose the best from that. No artificial ﬂavors, colors, ﬁllers or by‐products. When your hot dog is Kosher, that’s a hot dog you can trust! For more summer fun with Hebrew National, visit Hebrew National All-Beef Franks.