Sweet and Sour-licious Meatballs

Thanks to my great friend Amy, I was able to make something new for dinner tonight without have to resort to spaghetti.  These sweet and sour meatballs are fantastic!!!  I served them with brown rice and peas.  However, after dinner Amy told me they are good served with green beans. So next time, I'll try it w/ green beans.  Here's the recipe I used:

2 lbs ground beef, thawed

Italian style bread crumbs  ( I don't measure, but it was probably about 3/4 c.)

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

1 Egg

1 bottle sweet and sour sauce

A splash of barbecue sauce

Salt and Pepper

Mix all of that together like you would meat loaf.  Preheat the oven to 375.  Cover a cookie sheet w/ some foil.  Make little meatballs and place on the foil.  I should have lightly sprayed my foil w/ some spray because my meat was very lean and the meatballs kind of got stuck in some places.  Bake them for 35-40 minutes until done.  Then put them in a pan on the stove w/ some sweet and sour sauce (you can also add in some barbecue sauce).  I used Maui Mountain Sweet n Sour (what Amy uses).  Let the sauce get hot and then serve them over rice.  They are wonderful - a great twist to meat loaf.  Hope you like them!

Thanks to my mom...

I haven't said much about anything else but food on here but I really want to talk a little about my mom.  She is the reason I LOVE to cook.  My mom let me help in the kitchen ever since I was little.  My grandma tells a story of how my parents weren't home and my aunt and grandma were home with us kids.  We were going to make spaghetti and I guess I was the little boss telling them where everything was and how to make spaghetti.  (I'm guessing I was about 7 or so).  Ever since I can remember I have loved helping my mom in the kitchen. She is an excellent cook and almost all my recipes are from her. So thanks mom for all your love and instruction in the kitchen!!    Love you mom!!

Now I want to post a few pictures of my favorite little man :) Our wonderful friends, Greg and Amy, just had a baby a little over 5 weeks ago.  Jace Gregory Tonagel is adorable and I just can't get enough of him. They are so sweet to let me see Jace almost every day! It's so fun to see Greg and Amy as parents and they are truly wonderful at it!  Love you guys!  

Banana Bread

My mom used to make banana bread for us when we were younger and I just loved it!  Then my mom told me to try a recipe from Lois (a special lady I used to work with).  This is not a new recipe (I've made it for the past 3 years or so) but it's one of my FAVORITE things to make!!  

2 sticks butter, melted

2 c. flour

2 c. white sugar

6-7 ripe (or over ripe) bananas

2 tea. baking soda

2 tea. baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 tea salt

1 c. nuts (optional)

As you can see, it's almost a recipe of 2's.  Pretty easy to remember. Preheat the oven to 350 and I spray my loaf pans with a little cooking spray.  This makes 2 loaf pans so you can half it if you only want to make one loaf.  Mix everything together with a mixer.  Bake for 50-60 min or until the middle is fully cooked (until the toothpick comes clean). Jeff and I can go through a whole loaf in 2 days.  YUMMY!

A New Recipe!

Southwest Turkey Burgers:

Well folks, I decided to try a new recipe tonight for dinner.  I had been thinking about trying ground turkey for awhile now but had just not bought any.  Early this past week I decided to get some and then figure out a recipe to use it in.  I love watching Rachel Ray, and I know she uses a lot of ground turkey in her recipes. So I looked online and here's the link to the recipe:  

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/southwest-turkey-burgers-recipe/index.html

It's basically ground turkey, a lot of different spices and seasonings (cumin, garlic, red pepper, thyme, parsley(or cilantro), hot sauce) and some pepper jack cheese.  The recipe calls for a jalepeno pepper but they were expensive and I knew I wouldn't use all of it.  So I didn't add that one in.  But as far as the taste goes, it was pretty good.  I think it will take a little while to get used to ground turkey.  We loved the flavor and I think next time I will grill them on the grill instead of the skillet.  But if you like ground turkey, I think you will really like these. 

Jeff and I switched out our summer clothes for winter clothes today and I love the feeling of when that gets done.  I love fall and love watching the colors change.  Thank you Lord for your beautiful creation! Love you all!

Hoopa Chalupa

Chicken Chalupa 

 I must pay tribute to my wonderful Aunt Jen who gave me this recipe...Thanks Aunt Jen!!!  

This dish is one of my favorite things to make on a tight budget.  Most of the ingredients you have on hand already.  You can make it as spicy or as mild as you like.  This dish comes in handy when I need 40 minutes to pick up the house, do the laundry, workout, or catch up on my Tivo.  You can even make this ahead of time!  

3-4 chicken breasts, seasoned, cooked, and shredded (I put the chicken in a crockpot on low all day with my favorite seasoning)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 small can green chiles

1/4 c. milk

shredded cheddar cheese

4-6 large flour tortillas

1/2 packet of taco seasoning (I use the hot and spicy)  You could try a whole packet but I think it may be VERY spicy

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream soups, sour cream, milk, taco seasoning and chiles.  Lightly cover a 9x13 dish with cooking spray/oil.  Tear up 1/2 the tortillas into ~ 3-4 in strips and lay on the bottom.  Spread half of the soup mixture on the tortillas.  Spread  1/2 the chicken on top of the soup mixture.  Cover the chicken with shredded cheese.  Repeat the layers:

1. Tortillas

2. Soup

3. Chicken

4. Cheese

Bake on 350 for 40 minutes.  I like to cover the the dish for about 15 minutes at the beginning so the cheese doesn't get too crusty.  I serve this with taco rice and corn.   

Enjoy! :)