Homemade Crock Pot Meatballs

Homemade meatballs have got to be a million times better than store bought ones. Here is what you will need.


 l lb Hamburger meat
2 tbsp Ketchup
1/4 c italian breadcrumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)

Your favorite pasta sauce (I used Food Lion brand because there are no chunks of tomatoes in it)


First start by putting your sauce into your crockpot and turn it on low.


Combine all ingredients. Then form into about 1 inch balls. Place the meatballs into the sauce. (I made 22)

Cover, and cook for about 6-8 hours. I cooked mine for 6 hours on low, and they turned out amazing. If you like your meatballs to "fall apart" then I would cook between 8-12 hours, stirring about every 2 hours.

Serve alone or over your favorite pasta!

Bacon Wrapped, Cheese Stuffed, Hotdogs!

3 of my favorite foods, wrapped into one? Yes please! :-)

First slice your hotdogs length wise, but not all the way thru. 

 I used medium cheddar here, and cut pieces off a block of cheese I had in the fridge already. Place these pieces inside the hotdogs.

 Take a piece of bacon and a toothpick, place the toothpick thru the bacon, into the hotdog. Then wrap the bacon all the way down, securing with another toothpick

 Place them on a pre heated grill, and cook for about 3 minutes on each sides (turning to crisp all the bacon)

These are the finished product. I made ours a little crispy, because that is how we like ours! Make sure you remove the toothpicks. You can eat these on buns, or not, totally up to you!

Amazing Baked Mac & Cheese!

There really aren't many words to describe this mac & cheese, but pure deliciousness in a pan. The quantity I use, usually feeds my whole family, (aunts, uncles, cousins), so you can definitely reduce this if you need to.


1.5 lbs elbow or small shell macaroni 
1/4 cup butter
1 lb Velveeta (regular)
1 lb Queso Blanco Velveeta 
1 lb Sharp Chedder Cheese
3 eggs
about 2-3 cups of milk (this can vary)
1 bag (2.5 cups) shredded cheddar cheese


First, make sure you cube all of you cheese. This can be a very tedious task, so I normally do this the night before I plan on making this dish.

 

Cook the macaroni on the stovetop. Drain and then add the butter to keep from sticking together. Now, this is where you need to layer you noodles & your cheese. 

Mix your eggs & 2 cups of milk together. Pour this over your noodles. Now, you should be able to see the milk about halfway up your pan, if you can't add more until you do. This helps keep the noodles from drying out.


Put this in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. At about 20 minutes, add the shredded cheese on top. It is finished when it starts to brown on top. 

(The picture posted here is when I doubled the recipe for Thanksgiving.)

Easy Peezy Cupcakes

So, did you ever remember at the last minute that you needed to bake something for an event? Not to mention that the normal boxed mixed are sometimes entirely toooo much for what you need it for? Well, here is a simple solution for you. 

1/2 box cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil


Mix, and you have about a dozen big cupcakes. I normally make mini cupcakes, and this makes about 36-48 minis, which can still be entirely too many. So, here is another halfing recipe for you.


1/4 box cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
3 tsp of vegetable oil


Mix and you have about 6 big cupcakes, and about 12-18 mini cupcakes. 


I hope this helps meet your cupcake needs!!!

White Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies

First let me start by saying that these cookies were a HUGE hit with my family. Needless to say, there were none left over!

White Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped

2 Tablespoons of liquid from cherries

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares, finely chopped
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 drops red food coloring 
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (if needed)
White nonpareils, sprinkles, and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well reserving 2 Tablespoons of cherry liquid for the batter later\.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained and chopped cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped white chocolate. Stir in the 2 Tablespoons reserved cherry liquid, almond extract, and food coloring. Mixture will be very dry and look like crumbs. Don't worry. That's normal. Using your hands, knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. The cookies do not spread much so make sure your balls are well formed. Having slightly damp hands helps here. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Do not overbake! Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. Microwave the white chocolate; melting in 30 second intervals stirring in 
 between. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in sprinkles and/or edible glitter. (I didn't add any sprinkles to the cookies, but I did add a red chocolate drizzled over them, and they were amazing!) Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 48 cookies.

Here is a picture of my dessert spread I had for my family.

Breakfast Cupcakes

I found this recipe on Martha Stewarts website. I made it the way she did, but after having these gorgeous breakfast treats, I would do one thing different. I would not use the flattened bread, and I would use a flakey biscuit. I think this would make the recipe sooooo much more worth it!

Now, for the ingredients, there really isn't a set number, it just depends on how many of these you depend on making. Plan on making 6, you need 6 of everything. 12-you need 12 of everything. Now, in my pix, you will notice 2 pieces of bacon, I LOVE bacon, so I doubled that! :-)

First, preheat your oven to 350. Then, fry your bacon...just a little bit, you don't want it too crispy when you put it in the oven... Or you will have burnt bacon.

So, take your bread (I used potato bread) and flatten it nice & flat! Then you place it in your greased cupcake pan, making sure the ends of the bread come up over the edge of the cupcake holder.

Place a piece of bacon (or 2 !) on top of the bread. Then crack open an egg on top of the bacon. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place in the over for about 20-25 minutes. Depending on your oven. Make sure the egg is completely set, you don't want a runny egg cupcake!

There ya go! Yummy breakfast! This is a good night before meal. Make them, and put them in the fridge. Pop them in the microwave, and viola! Meal! :-)

Fool Proof Caramel Sauce

 (This is 2 batches of this recipe)

 

This is virtually a fool proof homemade caramel sauce! I have tried dozens of different recipes, & all of them seemed to fail; either they were too runny or it turned into a brick. But this one will work every time!

What you will need:

1/2 Cup of Sugar

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp butter (room temp)

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (warmed)

 

Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan with high sides. Do not stir. 

 

 

 

Cook over medium-high heat to a dark caramel color, swirling the pan as it begins to brown to distribute the sugar. While the sugar and water are bubbling up, heat up the cream in the microwave just until warm.

 

 This is the color you want the mixture when you remove from heat and add the butter.

Take sugar off the heat and add your room temperature butter. Whisk the butter in, being sure it’s totally combined. 

 

 

 

Add your warmed cream and whisk vigorously

 

 

 

Mixture will bubble, (I suggest wearing oven mitts, as this can produce alot of steam) then settle down to a velvety caramel.

 

 

 

 This recipe can be doubled for larger recipes. 

For a salted caramel sauce: Add 1/8 tsp of Sea Salt.