Italian Meatball Soup

 

Italian Meatball Soup

50 minutes to prepare serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (20 oz) package frozen meatballs
• 1 (24 oz) jar marinara
• 4-5 red or new potatoes, quartered
• 2 carrots, sliced into ½-inch rounds
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 5 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 3 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1 dried thyme seasoning
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 8 oz spaghetti noodles, broken in half
• Fresh thyme, for garnish
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat marinara, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, garlic, dried thyme, and crushed red pepper over medium-high heat until sauce reaches a low boil, about 10 minutes.
Add meatballs to stockpot and cook for 15-20 minutes before adding pasta.
Add pasta and stir. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until pasta is fully cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
Just before pasta is done, add frozen peas and continue to simmer until peas are warmed through. Top with fresh thyme sprigs.
To serve, ladle soup into a bowl. Add more salt, to taste. Garnish with fresh cracked black pepper, if desired

Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps

 

Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used a little more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
• pepper and salt to taste
• 5 flour tortillas (the larger ones)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• sliced tomatoes
• yellow mustard

How to Make It:

Brown ground beef in large skillet and drain. Add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, dried onion, and salt and pepper to the beef and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese down center of each tortilla. Add a few heaping tablespoons of the beef mixture on top of the cheese. Spread some mustard on top of the beef along with some slices of tomato. Roll up tortilla burrito-style and place wraps on preheated indoor grill (I used my George Foreman).
Grill wraps for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Cut on a diagonal and serve immediately!

Mom’s Swedish Meatballs Recipe

 

Ingredients

MEATBALLS

• 3 lbground beef
• 1white onion, diced
• 2eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cseasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cfresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tspcoarse ground salt
• 1 tspcoarse ground pepper

GRAVY

• 4 Tbspall purpose flour
• 2 10.5-OZ can(s)beef consomme
• 1 TbspWorcestershire sauce
• 2 cmilk
• 1 tspcoarse ground salt
• 1 tspcoarse ground pepper

SERVING/PLATING

• 12 ozmedium egg noodles, cooked according to directions
• 1/4 cbutter
• 3 Tbspfresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

 DIRECTION

Place a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. While pan is heating, thoroughly mix together ground beef, diced onion, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Form mixture into 3/4- to 1-inch meatballs.
Brown meatballs on all sides, in batches if necessary. Use a slotted spoon to remove browned meatballs to heatproof plate, leaving drippings in pan.
Sprinkle flour over drippings and whisk until combined. Cook for 3-4 minutes or just until flour turns light golden brown.
Slowly whisk in consommé and Worcestershire. Add milk, salt and pepper while whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or just until gravy starts to thicken. Add meatballs back to pan along with any accumulated juices; gently toss to coat meatballs. Lower heat to medium and simmer for uncovered for 10-15 minutes or just until meatballs are cooked through.
Toss hot cooked egg noodles with butter to coat. Divide noodles among six dinner plates. Top with 4-6 meatballs and some of the gravy; sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley

 

Mexican White Cheese Dip/Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound white American cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup milk, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilies
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• cayenne pepper to taste

Directions

Place cheese, milk, and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook until cheese has melted, stirring frequently. Stir in green chilies, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper to taste. Add more milk if dip is too thick. Heat through and serve immediately.

Make delicious apple pie filling to keep on hand all winter long

 

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

• Makes 7 quarts
• About 35 medium apples
• 9 1/2 cups water
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup Clear Jel* or cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Directions

*Clear Jel is a modified food starch that is more stable when use in canning. Regular cornstarch can separate or become watery.
1. Mix spices, Clear Jel, and sugar in large saucepan and add water. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add lemon juice, if desired.
2. Slice apples directly into jars, adding layers of syrup as you fill each jar. This helps eliminate air pockets. Leave at least 1 inch headspace.
3. Tighten lids and process 25 minutes in boiling water.
To make pie with canned pie filling: Fill unbaked crust with filling. Put dabs of butter on top and add a top crust. Bake pie just until crust is lightly browned and filling is bubbly.
You can also freeze pie filling. Fill freezer containers (or an unbaked pie crust), exclude air, and seal.
What are good pie apples?
People have different opinions, but in general you should choose tart, firm, juicy apples. For canned pie filling, you also want apples that will hold their shape when cooked. Examples: Cortland, Jonathan, Rome, Winesap, Stayman, Golden Delicious, and Grimes Golden

Strawberry Slab Pie

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (11 oz.) package refrigerated pie crust

Filling:

• 32 oz. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 2 1/2 cups lemon lime soda (we used sprite)
• 6 oz. strawberry jello
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Frozen whipped topping or whipped cream, garnish

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 450º F.
Turn both pie crusts out on a lightly floured surface and stack one on top of the other. Roll them out to roughly a 12×17-inch rectangle, then transfer crust to a large baking sheet (10×15-inches).
Tuck any excess crust under itself, then crimp edges as desired, pricking the bottom and sides all over with a fork.
Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown, then remove from oven and let cool.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together jello packet, sugar and cornstarch, then pour in sprite and lemon juice.
Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until thickened, then remove from heat and let cool 10-15 minutes.
Once crust has cooled, arrange sliced strawberries on top, then pour (cooled) filling carefully on top.
Refrigerate slab pie for 2+ hours, or until set, then slice, serve and enjoy

Delicious French Treat

 

Ingredients:

THE DISH :

• 3 potatoes, peeled and boiled
• 1 white onion
• 1 package of ground beef
• 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley
• 1 pinch of paprika
• 1 large bag of shredded mozzarella
• bechamel sauce
• salt
• pepper

BECHAMEL SAUCE:

• 5 tablespoons of butter
• 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 4 cups of milk
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Directions :

Before anything else, we’re going to make a basic béchamel sauce for use later in the recipe! First, get a medium saucepan and melt your butter over medium-low heat. Add in flour and stir it all up until it gets smooth. Keep cooking your mixture until it all turns a light golden color, for about six or seven minutes.
In the meantime, heat your milk in a separate pan until it’s almost at a boil. Once it’s hot enough, gradually add your hot milk one cup at a time to the butter, continually whisking the entire time until it’s smooth. Once all the milk is incorporated, bring the whole thing to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring it constantly. Season it at the end with salt and nutmeg and you’re good to go!
Now that your sauce is ready, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Next, get a big bowl and throw in your package of beef along with your chopped parsley and paprika. Add a little bit of salt and pepper as well. Once all the ingredients are together, mix together all the ingredients until they’re evenly combined.
Next, peel three potatoes and boil them until they’re semi-soft, around seven minutes. Once they’re ready, take them out and chop them into slices, arranging them around the bottom of a round glass baking dish. Lay one layer flat on the bottom and arrange another layer around the sides as well.
After that, get your meat mixture and work it into ice cream scoop-sized meatballs—the entire thing should form about 15 meatballs. Next, arrange them on your slices of potato that you laid out earlier.
Once you’ve got your meatballs placed together, use your remaining slices of potato to put walls between the meatballs so each one has its own compartment. Pour your béchamel sauce into each one of the “compartments” until it’s relatively full and top the entire thing with a thin layer of shredded mozzarella.
Finally, throw the entire dish in your preheated oven for 15 minutes. Once it’s done, you’ll have a deliciously cheesy and creamy French casserole-style dish that the whole family will love

FRITO CORN SALAD – A Crunchy Crunch Salad

 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (15 oz.) cans whole corn kernels, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 (10.25 oz.) bag fritos or your choice of corn chips, plus more for garnish
• 1 green pepper, seeds removed, diced
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning

PREPARATION

In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice and taco seasoning until combined.
In a large bowl, toss together corn kernels, cheddar cheese, green pepper and red onion, mixing until combined.
Pour mayonnaise dressing over corn mixture, tossing until everything is thoroughly coated, then, before serving, top with fritos.
Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.