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Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil, divided 1 onion, diced well 1 lb ground beef 1 lb pork or sausage 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs 2 large egg yolks 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp nutmeg Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup butter 1/3 cup flour 4 cups beef broth (kitchen basics preferred) 3/4 cup sour cream Salt and pepper to taste 2 tbsp chopped parsley Instructions Heat some oil in large, deep skillet over medium heat and saute onion until translucent (2-3 minutes) In large mixing bowl, combine meats, panko, egg, spices, AND cooked onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, make meatballs ~1.5" diameter meatballs and spread back on skillet with some more oil (should be ~24 of them) Saute meatballs until browned, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate In same skillet, melt butter and whisk in flour until slightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in beef broth and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Stir in sour cream and season with salt/pepper to taste Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated though and thickened, about 8-10 minutes Serve immediately Notes Leftovers go well mixed with beef stew Serve with something green by golly. Sauteed asparagus and a salad is nice

Example photo for half size quesadillas Ingredients 1 package LARGE Flour Tortillas (comes in pack of 8 or 10) Few tbsp oil 1 large yellow onion, diced 1 poblano, diced 1-2 jalapeños, diced 1 bell pepper, diced Meat (if desired), cook first if using 1-2 tbsp cumin 1-2 tbsp chili powder Pepper to taste Garlic salt to taste 4 cups shredded mexican cheese Salsa, avocado, fresh diced tomatoes, greens Instructions Cook meat/veggies with spices in large frying pan. Add spices near end of cooking to preserve flavor (especially important for cumin and chili powder) With veggies cooked, add half the cheese and mix together well. It will melt quick Set aside and now to make the quesadillas On cutting board, prepare as follows: one tortilla → thin layer of cheese (think few pinches) → some mixture as made → thin layer of cheese again → another tortilla. Do this for each as you go Add a little oil to same pan over medium heat. Cook on each side until browned (do not flip too early or it will fall apart). Also pressing down with spatula helps the cheese stick/melt to tortilla Cook one at a time and cut into 4ths to serve Top with salsa and other stuff

Ingredients 3 pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs 2 - 14 ounce can full-fat coconut milk 5 tablespoons peanut butter (or almond butter) Whole jar Thai red curry paste 2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce optional 3 teaspoons garlic powder 3 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ginger powder 1 teaspoon cayenne, adjust to taste Optional Toppings: Handful of fresh Thai basil and/or cilantro chopped Crushed peanuts or almonds 1 lime cut into wedges or just lime juice Instructions Add the coconut milk, chicken, peanut butter, curry paste, chili sauce and spices to an instant pot and mix well Pressure cook at high heat and pressure for 5 minutes then natural release for another 10 minutes. (Or just set to cook for 10-15 if you don’t want to deal with multiple actions here) Remove, shred and replace chicken in pot Serve with optional toppings in a bowl over rice or rice noodles

Broth: 1 tbl vegetable oil 1/2 cup onion (or shallots) thinly sliced 1 tbl ginger minced (~1 inch knob) 2 tbl Thai green curry paste 4 cups low sodium chicken broth (kitchen basics is best) 1 can coconut milk 2 tbl fish sauce 4 packed tsp brown sugar 2 tbl lime juice (1 lime) 1/2 tsp turmeric For serving: 4 oz thin rice noodles 2 cups shredded chicken (from a rotisserie chicken ideally) Handful fresh cilantro 3 bunches of green onions, only the white part sliced Siracha Lime wedges Instructions: In a soup pot over medium low heat, cook onion and ginger. Stir frequently until softened. Add curry paste and cook, stirring constantly for ~1 minute more. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and turmeric. Bring to simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles according to package directions. Serve. Divide chicken and noodles in bowls. Ladle in broth. Add as desired: green onions. Cilantro, Siracha and lime wedges.

Ingredients (meat) 2 lb ground turkey 2 tbsp mayonnaise 2 tbsp dijon mustard 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp onion powder 2 tsp smoked paprika 1 cup chopped parsley (1 bunch) Few tbsp olive oil Toppings Sourdoubh sliced bread Sliced tomatoes Mayonnaise Avocado spread Lettuce Red onion sliced thin Plain mustard Instructions: Mix all meat together well using hands and make patties (should make ~7). Grill until cooked through. Serve over toasted sourdough bread with toppings above as suggested.

Ingredients Olive oil 1 large sweet onion diced well 1 green bell pepper diced well 1/2 red bell pepper diced well 1 carrot shredded well 6 large cloves garlic minced 2.5 cups broth (veggie or whatever you got) 1 cup dried red lentils 5 roma tomatoes chopped well 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce 2 tbsp chili powder 2 tbsp yellow mustard 4.5 tsp apple cider vinegar 2 tsp worcestershire sauce (vegan version if you got it) 2 tsp maple syrup (or sub honey) 1.5 tsp tomato paste 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper Hamburger buns (optional) More sweet onion thickly sliced to be a topping (optional) Sliced pickles for topping Instructions: In large skillet, heat oil over med high heat and saute onion, peppers, garlic and carrot until tender. Add broth and lentils, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until lentils are tender. Add rest of ingredients up to pepper and bring back to simmer on low heat. Simmer until it thickens (~10 min). Make sure to stir every few minutes or it will burn. Serve on toasted buns with optional toppings. Mayo and mustard on the bun is not a bad thing either.

Ingredients (sauce) Olive oil 2.75 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth) 3 cloves garlic minced 1 tsp italian seasoning 1 tsp each salt and pepper or more to taste 1, 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (drain the liquid and use it, do not discard). 1 bell pepper diced large, 0.5in pieces or so 1 cup orzo pasta ½ cup frozen peas 2 cups cauliflower florets 8 green onions cut into thirds 1 cup broccoli florets Instructions In med to large pot, bring broth to simmer with garlic and italian seasoning. Drain the tomato juice from the fire roasted tomato can and add to broth. Add salt and pepper plus more to taste In a separate frying pan, get hot with minimal oil and sear tomatoes (without juice) and bell pepper. This is quick, 30 seconds or so, if you have the pan already hot. This will not cook them, just sear. Set aside veggies in bowl for a minute. Add orzo to searing pan and slightly brown, <30 seconds, do not burn though! Add pasta and peas to broth pot and stir. Without stirring, add cauliflower florets on top as well as green onions, tomatoes and bell pepper pieces arranged colorfully. Do not stir! Cover and simmer lightly for 11 minutes. Turn off heat, add broccoli to top (without stirring), cover, and let sit for 10 minutes to finish cooking and steam the broccoli. If you don’t want slightly undercooked broccoli, keep the simmer going for the first 5 minutes of this section. Serve

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, chopped well 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 cups frozen corn, rinsed and drained (or 1 can) 2 zucchinis, chopped 1 poblano, chopped 1 jalapeno, diced small (optional) 1 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp cumin 1 can black beans 2 cans (10 oz) enchilada sauce (green with green chilies if available) 1 lime, for juice Corn tortillas (10+) 4 cups Mexican blend cheese For topping (after cooking) 1 cup quartered grape tomatoes 1 avocado sliced 1/2 cup diced finely onion Small bunch of cilantro Pace Medium Salsa Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F. In large sauce pan over medium heat, cook onion, zucchinis, peppers with oil. When tender, add spices, beans, 1 can enchilada sauce, lime, and 2 cups of the cheese. Continue to stir with heat until everything is mixed together (1 minute). Turn off heat. In large, deep baking dish (or multiple smaller ones, doesn’t matter), layer bottom of pan with can of enchilada sauce. Now to assemble. Tip for corn tortillas, place on plate and with damp paper towel on top of them (fully covering), put in microwave for 1 minute. This is a ease and fast way to steam tortillas which works OK. After steaming tortillas (so they don’t crumble apart), one at a time, coat them in the enchilada sauce in the pan. After each one, put a dollop of the mixture in each one with more cheese as desired. Roll each up with fold on bottom. Fill pan this way but save about a cup of the mixture to spread on top at the end. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese on top of enchiladas. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes (or everything is well melted together). Remove tinfoil and bake another 10 minutes or so. Serve and have topping ingredients available as desired.

Ingredients 1 tbsp butter 3.5 cups finely diced onions (two onions) 2-3 large carrots, finely chopped 12 oz sliced mushrooms (1 package) 1 medium potato, finely diced 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth 1 cup milk (can be almond or whatever) 1 cup frozen or canned baby green peas 1/4 cup chives (green part of green onions) 1/4 cup parsley 1 tbsp white vinegar 1 large egg yolk 7 oz store bought puff pastry or pie dough, defrosted Instructions Preheat oven to 400°F Melt butter in large sauce pan on medium and add onion, carrots, and potato. Cook until soft (a few minutes). Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook 5 or so minutes until mushrooms are fully shrunk Sprinkle flour over veggies, stir to coat and cook until raw flavor is gone (1-2 minutes). Slowly add broth and milk stirring constantly until smooth. Bring to simmer and cook until slightly thickened Remove from heat and add peas, herbs, and vinegar. Stir to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put into 8x8 deep baking dish Meanwhile whisk egg together with 2 tsp water and a pinch of salt until mixed Cut dough to fit on top of baking dish (it is OK to fold in edges on corners and sides if slightly oversized). Cut a couple slits. Then top with egg mixture Place baking dish on baking sheet (so spill over is caught) and bake for 30 minutes Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving

Ingredients 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 large onion, diced small 3 large carrots, diced small 1 tsp dried thyme 1 cup brown or green lentils 4 tbsp red wine (or less of red wine vinegar) 1.5-2 cups water 1-2 tsp salt 2-3 lbs yukon gold potatoes (buy a 5 pound bag and sort out quantity, see below) Few tsp salt 3 large garlic cloves, peeled but left whole Butter or olive oil (if vegetarian or making vegan) Black pepper 4 cups chopped kale (2 bunches) 2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly Parmesan cheese Instructions (do filling and mashed potatoes concurrently to save time) Filling: In small sauce pan on medium heat, saute onion, carrot and thyme until softened (~5 minutes). Add lentils and wine and stir well, bring to lively simmer. Add 1.5 cups water and bring back to simmer. Lower heat, cover and cook until tender (~40 minutes). Add more water if necessary. Taste at end and add salt if needed. Set aside Mashed potatoes: Get a large/wide soup pot and fill one layer (only one layer) densely with potatoes. Then add water until just the last millimeter of potato is above the water line. Add whole garlic, plenty of salt/pepper and simmer for ~30 minutes or until potatoes are well cooked (more time does not hurt) Remove potatoes and garlic from water (DO NOT discard water or drain) and mash in large mixing bowl. Add butter (or olive oil if making vegan), salt and liquid from pot until you have a good consistency and flavor of mashed potatoes. Add black pepper to taste With final bit of garlic and chopped kale, heat more oil in frying pan and saute garlic briefly before adding kale (as much as you can fit). Add more kale as it shrinks until all is cooked. Stir constantly to avoid burning garlic Combine kale mixture with filling mixture and put in greased baking dish (pick a size so filling is only ~1/2 inch tall in dish and evenly spread). Add mashed potatoes and spread evenly on top with spoon (this layer can be thicker). Sprinkle heavily with parmesan cheese. Cook at 350°F for 25 minutes. During final 2 minutes, set oven to broil and brown the cheesy top (watch carefully so no burning) Remove from oven, slice and serve. It cools quickly enough