Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This recipe was passed along to me by one of my dearest friends, Sarah. (I've also posted her Chinese Salad recipe...oh, so good!) This recipe makes a lot of meatballs, so I cut it in half when I made it and used a 9 x 9 pan. (I suppose I could have made the whole thing and then popped half of it in the freezer, but I didn't.) I also used onion powder instead of chopped onion. This recipe can easily be assembled ahead of time which is a plus in my book. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.

Meatballs:

2 lb hamburger
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp chopped onion (or 1/4 tsp onion powder)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp pepper

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

10 oz jar grape jelly
1 tsp lemon juice
12 oz jar chili sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix meatball ingredients and shape into small balls. Place in a 9 x 13 dish.

Combine sauce ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour over meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees (do not cover) for 30 minutes or until meatballs are fully cooked.

Sarah, thanks for another keeper!

Fastest Homemade Mac n' Cheese

For lunch today I was looking for something new to make that my preschooler might actually eat. He's one tough customer who thinks a great meal consists of plain bread and a cup of strawberry flavored milk. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try because it was at least something I would eat so it might not be a total loss. I also had all of the ingredients on hand. (My husband had already eaten lunch at this point.) Anyway, this was really good and worthy of being posted. I would like to note that I used 1 3/4 cups of cheddar cheese (a combination of mild and sharp because that's what I had open) and this was some seriously cheesy mac and cheese. I also used a combination of mini bow tie and mini wagon wheel pasta because I had just enough left in each box to make two cups. The original recipe also called for a splash of hot sauce, but I omitted it. Remember, I fixed this for a child that likes plain white bread. And did he like it? Yes! And he even asked for seconds!

2 cups water
1 can Campbell's Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
2 cups uncooked pasta
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix water and soup in saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta. Cover and cook over medium heat until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese. Mmm, mmm, good.

Apple BBQ Sauce

Two weeks ago I made a cajun pot roast with veggies in the slow cooker. It didn't turn out well, but I did manage to salvage the roast part. The beef was seriously lacking flavor and the bottle of BBQ sauce I had on hand was expired, so what was a girl to do? I made yummy beef BBQ sandwiches with homemade sauce using ingredients already in my pantry.

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

In a saucepan over medium heat mix applesauce, ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Bring mixture to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Sweet & Spicy BBQ Brisket

I made this last weekend and it was really good...very moist and tender. I served it with fresh baked rolls and made mini sliders. My brisket was about 3 1/2 pounds and it was done after 4 hours. I love easy recipes that actually taste good.

1 trimmed beef brisket (3-5 pounds)
Ground black pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 cups Pace Picante Sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Season the beef with the black pepper. Place into a 3-quart shallow baking dish. Stir the garlic powder, picante sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire in a small bowl. Spread the picante sauce mixture over the beef. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight.

Bake, covered, at 300 degrees for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours or until the beef is fork-tender. Slice or shred the beef. Divide the beef and sauce among the rolls.

You can view the original recipe on Campbell's website.

Beef Stew with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I've made this recipe many times. I got it from Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook. For some reason I thought it was a bit too oniony (is that a word?) when I made it last week, but it was still good and deserves to be posted here on my blog. I like to eat it over biscuits. My husband thinks that's weird.

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 bag (8 oz) baby carrots (about 30)
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup cold water
2 Tbsp flour

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker except for 1/4 cup water and the flour. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or until beef and veggies are tender.

Mix 1/4 cup water and flour and gradually stir into beef mixture. Cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken

I have tried a lot of new recipes lately, but haven't really found many keepers. Except for this one. My husband has been begging me for the longest time to cook him some fried chicken. I finally agreed to give it a try last week. It was a bit messy and I'm pretty sure I washed my hands a thousand times during the process, but my hubby was so darn happy that I guess it was all worth it. Oh, and don't let the cup of hot sauce scare you off. Paula Deen knows what she's doing! This is finger lickin' good.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Note: If you make this much House Seasoning, you will have a lot left over for future recipes. I scaled it back quite a bit because I don't have an extra salt/pepper shaker to store it in.

Southern Fried Chicken:

4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot red pepper sauce (I used Frank's)
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp pepper
House Seasoning
2 1/2 lb chicken, cut into pieces (I just used a package each of wings and breasts)
Oil, for frying, preferably peanut oil (I used vegetable oil)

To make the House Seasoning, mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs with the water and add the hot sauce. Stir well. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the chicken with the House Seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg mixture, and then coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil in a large pan or Dutch oven. (I used my 5 quart Dutch oven and poured enough oil in until I had about an inch and a half of oil on the bottom.)

Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp on both sides. Dark meat takes longer than white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes. (The chicken breasts I bought were huge and took about 15 minutes.)

Click here to see the recipe on the Food Network's site.