My husband is running a half-marathon in Cleveland Sunday morning. That’s 13.1 miles as fast as he can go. It’s his third or fourth “half,” which is what the runners call it.
He’ll go to bed Saturday at 9 p.m., and leave our house at 4 a.m. Sunday drive into Cleveland in time for the race. I plan to be where sane people are at 4 a.m. — in bed.
Yes, he’s out of his mind. But I know running John and nonrunning John, and I prefer running John. (He’s a lot less cranky, for one.) So I do what I can to encourage his habit.
In this endeavor, tomorrow I will make protein-rich meatballs in the Crock Pot to serve over whole wheat pasta for carbs. He really likes sauce, so I’ll double the mixture for that. It only takes 5 hours in the slow cooker, rather than 8 to 10 for other recipes. So I guess you could consider it my “half.”

SLOW-COOKER SPANISH MEATBALLS
2 pounds ground pork
2 medium yellow onions, half of 1 scraped over the small holes on a box grater. The rest finely chopped
3 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
3 teaspoons hot smoked paprika, divided
5 tablespoons plain dried breadcrumbs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/2 teaspoon each coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1. In a large bowl, combine pork, the grated onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika, breadcrumbs, eggs and 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, salt and ground pepper.
2. Combine gently with a wooden spoon and roll meat mixture into 25 1 1/2 inch meatballs.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. In 2 batches, brown meatballs on all sides, 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
4. Add chopped onion to the skillet and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker, along with remaining seasonings and tomatoes.
5. Cook on low until meatballs are tender, 5 hours.
Serve over cooked pasta.
– adapted from Everyday Food