Miracle Meatballs

This recipe for meatballs is easy because you do NOT fry them.
They are great for potluck meals and feeding a large crowd.  People always ask for the recipe once they've tried them.

Miracle Meatballs

Ingredients

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

3 lb hamburger meat

2 cups quick cook oats

2 eggs

½ cup chopped onion

½ tsp garlic salt

½ tsp pepper

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 baking dish.

Combine all ingredients. Prepare meatballs about 1 ½ inches round. Do not pre-fry meatballs. Prepare sauce and pour over meatballs. Bake uncovered for 1 hour.

Sauce

2 cups ketchup (can use a little more to taste)

1 ½ cups brown sugar, not packed (can use a little less to taste)

½ cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp liquid smoke

½ tsp garlic salt

Combine in saucepan and stir until boiling. Pour over meatballs and bake for 1 hour.

Linking up to Tip Junkie

InstaFriday {January 2014}

My weekly phone dump has a little bit of everything.

Milk Glass--I found this pedestal dish for only a $1 at the local trade days.

I really wanted this quilt, but I didn't end up buying it.  It was in great shape if I was looking to buy a quilt, but I decided to save my money instead.

 

We took the boys to see Frozen.   I'm a fan of Disney movies, especially the ones with princesses.  Since I'm  a boy mom, we don't watch a lot of princess movies.  I didn't know that Frozen was a typical Disney princess movie based on the movie trailer.  Once the singing started, Mark looked at me with the "are they going to sing the entire movie?" look and I nodded yes.  I loved it!  The guys--not so much, ha!

After the movie, we had ice cream for dinner.  Weekends are the best!

Breakfast for dinner, anyone?  Blueberry French Toast is easy and yum. 

Recipe {here}

We had really nice weather earlier in the week and the boys had the best time playing outside.  Ben has on pajamas, of course.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the boys this week.  Will looks so big in this photo.  Someone on Instagram said it seems like your kids just grow up overnight.  I couldn't agree more!

Poor Bed had a cold and runny nose.  He wiped his nose so much that it was raw.  We tried a breath right strip on his nose, his Yoda blanket and the humidifier to help him get a good night's rest.

Last photo.  I've been really busy with school stuff, and my mind is preoccupied.  When I have a lot on my mind, I start things and don't finish the task.  Here's an example: I made a cup of hot water for tea at lunch and came home after school to this.  I forgot to steep the tea bag.  Definitely ready for the weekend.

I'm @redbirdblue on Instagram.

Linking up to Life Rearranged

Snow, Small Town, Etc.

Snow is such a big deal for Texans.

We had snow earlier this week.  It wasn't as much as we got on Christmas, but it was still enough to get excited about.  Will had a hard time concentrating on walking into school.  He wanted to stop and play along the way.  I don't blame him.  I wanted to play in it, too.

The cold weather is the perfect reason to wear my favorite, cozy infinity scarf.  It was made by my talented SIL.  I sure wish I had a crafty talent.  Maybe I'll take up embroidery.

Life in a small town is great.  

You see things like "onion sets and taters are here" written on the lighted marquee sign outside of  the local hardware store.  Let me give you city folks a lesson in country grammar, taters are potatoes.  Onion sets are tiny onion bulbs you set out in your garden in the winter and early spring.  (I had to ask my father-in-law just to be sure I described it right.)

Another neat thing about small town life is our local newspaper.  A friend was cleaning out her house and found some old newspapers she'd saved from her daughter's years in high school.  One of the papers happened to have our engagement announcement in it.  She cut it out and laminated it for us.  I thought that was so sweet.  I can't believe that this was almost 11 years ago! 

We don't have a dog, but my in-laws do.  Coco is such a good dog.  Will says that we will get a dog when we move to the land, and we'll name our dog Lad. 

Speaking of good dogs...

Will's had this puppy towel for a long time.  Even though he's getting pretty big we still use it.  I'll be sad when he's too big for it.

Ben LOVES pajamas!

  He's all about wearing his pajamas and he would wear them 24-7 if we'd let him.  He's moved on from his superhero-costume-phase to the pajama-24-7-phase.

My little digital natives.  Isn't life different for our kids than for us when we were their age?

I'm so tired on weeknights that the last thing I want to do after work is prepare a big meal for dinner.  Thank goodness my family likes to eat breakfast for dinner aka brupper.  It's so easy.

I took some frozen blueberries and mixed them with a little water, sugar and corn starch and brought it to a boil.  Once it cooled it was yummy on top of the waffles.

This was yummy too! 

My SIL gave me lots of my favorite tea for Christmas.  

Tea in my favorite Anthro mug is always a good idea.

My good friend, Kacie, let me borrow her beloved copy of Wuthering Heights. I started reading it on Christmas break, but sprained my ankle and didn't get around to it.  I've gotten back into it now.  I love a classic.  Today I had a doctor's appointment (routine visit for my allergies) and I had about 20 minutes to spare.  I ended up at Starbucks and had a lovely moment of peace and quiet that I usually don't get during the day.  It was so nice to drink my white chocolate mocha and read.

I joined the Barefoot Book Club ;)

My first recipe to make was the Raspberry Crumble Bars.  Mark and I loved them.  The almonds on top added just the right texture and crunch.  Ina really knows what she's doing...well, that's obvious!

Have a wonderful weekend!

If you want to follow me on instagram I'm @redbirdblue

Easy Pico De Gallo

Since starting Weight Watchers in February, I've been preparing more food with fresh ingredients.  We love Tex-Mex so this version of Pico de Gallo goes well with tacos, enchiladas, burritos or on top of black beans.  It's perfect with chips or it can even be eaten all by itself.

Super easy Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

4 tomatoes

1 onion

1 jalapeno (more if you like it hot)

Cilantro (I like a lot so I used almost the entire bunch!)

1 lime (for juice)

1-2 tsp garlic salt

Directions

Chop tomatoes, onion, cilantro and jalapeno and mix together.  Squeeze lime and pour juice on top of mixture.  Add garlic salt.  You can increase the amount of ingredients by adjusting as you make it.  For this batch I only used one onion, but if you prefer more it's an easy change.  I also removed all of the seeds from the jalapeno pepper so it wouldn't be too hot.

Cookie Exchange 2011

I love cookies, link up parties and new recipes!

And, I adore Mel's blog!

Her virtual cookie exchange party is the perfect combination of my favorite holiday things.

Last year my friend Jami and I hosted a real cookie exchange party for the ladies of our church.  You can read all about the festive fun here.

I took these delicious cranberry orange cookies to the cookie exchange.  They were a hit in real life so I figured you guys out in the blogosphere would enjoy them, too.

I found the recipe here.   I Googled "cranberry orange cookies" and this was the first recipe on the search results.  It looked easy enough so I gave it a try.  I highly recommend the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped cranberries

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2.In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and if using, walnuts, until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.

3.Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

4.In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.



Old Standby

My old standby when it comes to cooking a meal in the crockpot is a packet of onion soup mix and a can of golden mushroom soup (and a *secret ingredient). 

It's not gourmet, but it's good. 

This combination works well with pork tenderloin, pork chops or roast beef.  I've had the best success cooking the meat on low heat for 6-8 hours.  Once the meat is fully cooked and tender, I usually serve it with a side of steamed veggies, salad, brown rice or mashed potatoes.

I rely on the crockpot during the busy school year when I don't have time to spend hours preparing a meal for my family.  I am trying to be more creative in the meals I'm preparing, but it takes a great deal of planning and effort.

My old standby, golden mushroom soup and onion soup mix.

*The secret ingredient I mentioned above.

The bottle is almost empty, which shows that I use it a lot.  I've only found this at Whole Foods.  It makes the old standby more flavorful.  Just add a little, maybe 1/4 cup.
This combo isn't new to anyone, but it works for me.

I'm linking up to Mel at the Larson Lingo.  Go check out her fun link up party
Crocktober
you'll get so many good ideas for easy, delicious meals in your crockpot.

Summer Salad Swap

Oriental Cole Slaw


Ingredients
1 head of cabbage (I like to buy pre shredded cole slaw for convenience.)
3 green onions (optional)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 package slivered almonds (4oz. or 1 cup)
1 package chicken Ramen Noodles
3/4 cup oil
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions
Break up and separate Ramen noodles. Brown sesame seeds, slivered almonds, and Ramen noodles in oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, check frequently to avoid burning. Remove and cool before adding to cabbage. Chop cabbage and green onions. Add toasted sesame seeds, almonds and noodles to cabbage; stir together.

Dressing
Mix oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and chicken flavor mix from Ramen noodles. Mix ingredients well and add to salad about 10 minutes before serving. If you add the dressing to the salad and it sits too long it can lose some of its crunchiness.


Here's the "Pioneer Woman Shot" of all of the ingredients.
The bag of slivered almonds that was available was just a little bigger than the normal amount I use, but I added them all to this salad and it was just fine.


Toasted sesame seeds, broken Ramen, slivered almonds

Maybe the secret ingredient, this little packet adds a lot of flavor

Oriental Cole Slaw

Crisp, crunchy, tangy and sweet.  Enjoy!

Thanks to Mel at The Larson Lingo for hosting the fun salad swap!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Poppy Seed Chicken

This is my go-to casserole. I can't tell you how many times I've taken it to church fellowship meals or potluck meals at work. The best thing about this casserole is that it's so easy. It's also great for picky eaters.

Ingredients

1 ½ or 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 oz sour cream

2 tsp poppy seed

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

40 Ritz crackers (about one sleeve)

1 stick butter

I like to crush the crackers in a ziploc bag.  

Add the poppy seed to the crushed crackers and shake.

Shredded chicken

Cream of chicken soup mixed with sour cream

Add this mixture to the shredded chicken in casserole dish

Pour crushed crackers and poppy seed over the chicken and soup mixture

Pour melted butter over the topping

For this meal I served the Poppy Seed Chicken with homemade mac and cheese.  Yum!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients

1 ½ or 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 oz sour cream

2 tsp poppy seed

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

40 Ritz crackers (about one sleeve)

1 stick butter

Directions

Preheat over to 350°F. Boil chicken until tender; cut into small pieces and place in a greased casserole dish. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken and mix together. Crush crackers and combine with poppy seed. Sprinkle crackers and poppy seed over soup mixture. Melt and pour margarine over the top. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until brown and bubbling.

I'll be linking up to one of my favorite blogs Remodelaholic.

  Also sharing at Kelly's Korner SUYL--Main Dish Recipes