French Onion Meatballs

I found this recipe a while back on Six Sister's Stuff.  If you haven't visited their site, go take a look.  They have lots of recipes and they look wonderful! 

I love using my slow cooker, but I have trouble finding new recipes for it.   So many call for some kind of cream soup and those recipes just don't appeal to my tastebuds (or waistline for that matter)!  So I was pretty excited when I found this one!  It only has two ingredients and there was no cream soup!!  I served these meatballs on rolls, but I think they would also be great for an appetizer or even served over noodles with a veggie on the side! 

We all seem to have different tastes in our house so I'm very happy to add this to our menu rotation!  We ALL liked these!

 

You will need 2 (10.5 oz.) cans of French Onion soup and a 32 oz. package of fully cooked frozen meatballs.  I used the Italian style.  Spray your crockpot with nonstick spray. (Next time, I will use a slow cooker liner- I was out. . .)  Place meatballs in slow cooker and pour soup over meatballs.  Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or high for about 2 hours.  I cooked them on low and they were done in about 3 hours and I just turned my slow cooker to WARM until we were ready to eat. 

 

 These are the rolls I served them on!   These would also be great on the smaller Hawaiian rolls for party size sandwiches!

 

 . . . or just pick up some fancy toothpicks and serve them straight out of the slow cooker as a yummy appetizer!

This is such a family friendly recipe!  Loved this one!

French Onion Meatballs
source:  Six Sisters' Stuff

1 (32 oz) package Italian style frozen meatballs ( the original recipe calls for 24 oz. but I couldn't find that size- the 32 oz. worked out great!)

2 (10.5 oz.) cans French onion soup

Spray your slow cooker with nonstick spray.  Place meatballs in slow cooker and pour soup over the meatballs.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours OR on high for about 2 hours.

Special K Bars

I've had this recipe for quite a few years.  When I was teaching, the mother of one of my students shared this with me.  I'm so glad she did because these are so good!!  It's been a while since I've made them and I forgot just how yummy they are!!  I was glad when they were gone because I couldn't stay out of them!  So yummy!  These are so quick to make and super scrumptious!!  Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Over low heat, cook light corn syrup and sugar together, just until sugar dissolves. Add peanut butter and stir until melted. Put cereal in a large mixing bowl and pour sugar/peanut butter mixture over cereal. Mix well and press into a 9x13 pan

 

 

For the topping, you will need 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips and 1 c. butterscotch chips.  Melt in microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring in between until completely melted.  Pour and spread evenly over bars.  I popped the pan into the fridge for about 10 minutes to allow the topping to set. 

 

 

Cut into bars and watch them disappear!

 

 

 

 

Special K Bars

 

1 cup white Karo syrup

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

6 cups Special K cereal

1 cup semisweet chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

 

Over low heat, cook syrup and sugar together, just until sugar dissolves.  Add peanut butter and stir until melted.  Put cereal in a large mixing bowl and pour sugar/peanut butter mixture over cereal.  Mix well and press into a 9x13 pan.  For topping, melt both kinds of chips together in microwave (in short intervals until melted) and spread over cereal mixture.  Allow topping to set before cutting into bars.



 

 

 

Cheeseburger Pie

I started making this recipe a few months ago and I've actually made it several times.  Everyone in my family seems to have their own taste so it's very hard to find something we all like.  This dish seems to fit the bill where that is concerned so it has become a regular recipe in my menu rotation.  It's easy to make and so delicious.  I almost always seem to have all the ingredients on hand as well!  Serve with fresh fruit or a veggie and dinner is served! 

Note:  I found this in a Bisquick cookbook.  I use the reduced fat version of Bisquick and also use the frozen onion seasoning blend (rather than chopping onion) that you see in many of my recipes.  That makes this recipe even easier to make!

 

Cheeseburger Pie

 

Source:  Bisquick Cookbook

 

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup chopped onion (I use the frozen onion seasoning blend.)

1/2 t. salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar

1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix (I use the reduced fat version.)

1 cup milk

2 eggs

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until meat is browned.  Drain and stir in salt.  Pour meat mixture into a greased pie plate.  Sprinkle cheese over meat mixture.  Mix remaining ingredients and spread evenly over all.  Bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Let pie sit for about 5 minutes before slicing.



M&M Pretzel Bark

I picked up some bags of those pretty Valentine M&Ms a few weeks ago and have been wanting to make something with them.  I decided a chocolate bark would be delish and I was right.  I added pretzels for a little crunch and some sprinkles for some extra bling.  This bark is so good and will be perfect for your Valentine!!

 

 You will need about 20 oz. of chocolate melting caps (I used about 4 cups), 1 1/2 cups of pretzel twists, 1 cup of M&Ms, divided, and some sprinkles for a little bling!

 

 Break the pretzels slightly to get smaller pieces.  I broke them in half.  Lay out a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Notice I forgot to do this.  Get the cookie sheet under there.  You will need to be able to carry this to the fridge.  Fortunately, I was able to get the cookie sheet under later without messing up my finished bark.   Lay all the pretzels and 1/2 cup of the M&Ms (save the other 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top) on parchment in a rectangle.  My rectangle was about the size of a sheet of paper (8 1/2x11). 

Melt chocolate in the microwave for 25 second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in between times.  Spread chocolate evenly over pretzel and candy mixture.  I drizzled the chocolate around the edges first to sort of hold everything in place.  Do this slowly so the pretzels and candy don't move around too much.  Spread chocolate evenly over all.  I wish I had spread mine just a tad thinner through the middle.  It was a little too thick but still delicious!!  :)

While the chocolate is still melted, sprinkle on the remainder of the M&Ms and some sprinkles!

 

Chill in the refrigerator until set and break into pieces!

M&M Pretzel Bark

20 oz. of melting chocolate ( I used melting caps and added a couple of cubes of chocolate bark because I didn't have enough of the caps)

1 cup M&Ms, divided

1 1/2 cups pretzel twists, crushed

decorative sprinkles

Spread broken pretzels and half the M&Ms on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Melt chocolate in microwave for 25 second intervals until melted.  Spread melted chocolate evenly over pretzel and M&M mixture.  Then sprinkle with remainder of M&Ms and some decorative sprinkles.  Chill in refrigerator until set and break into pieces.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Apparently, bananas aren't so popular around my house at the moment.  This week I had four brown bananas sitting on my kitchen counter.  The first two went into a loaf of my chocolate chip banana bread and you can find that recipe HERE.  The other two sat another day on my counter before I found this recipe in an old cookbook.  It was a cookbook that was written by a ladies group in my nearby hometown (many years ago).  You know the kind of cookbook - the ones where a familiar person's name (maybe even a relative) is under each recipe.  Those are my favorite cookbooks!!  When I found this recipe, I knew I had a way to use those bananas.  The original recipe called for the bars to be baked in a jelly roll pan, but as I was mixing the batter I knew that might be a problem.  It just didn't seem like enough batter for such a large pan.  I decided to bake them in my trusty 9x9 brownie pan.  They turned out to be the texture of a snack cake and were so scrumptious!!  So moist!!  You've gotta try this one!

 

Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, 1 egg, and 2 mashed bananas.  Add in dry ingredients.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

 

 See how they are golden brown and pulling away from the edge of the pan??  Perfection!  I did the toothpick test too!  These are so good and my 2 year old loved them!

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

 

3/4 c. butter

3/4c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

2 mashed bananas (overripe bananas will work well for this recipe)

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 cup chocolate chips ( I used Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips - just because I like them!!)

 

Cream first six ingredients.  In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually incorporate dry ingredients into wet mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Spread batter evenly into greased 9x9 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool completely and cut into bars.

 

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Festive Frosted Brownies

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook a few months ago.  My mom had a stack of these books for me to take a look at and I immediately copied the page that had this recipe.  They looked so pretty and delicious too.  I loved the added touch with the sprinkles on top.  I've wanted to make these for months and had the opportunity to make a batch last week.  They were so worth the wait.  These days I tend to prefer the darker chocolate, but the lighter chocolate flavor in these is heavenly.  The lighter chocolate frosting also helps those sprinkles stand out!!  I have a feeling these are going to be a favorite for many years to come!

 

Festive Frosted Brownies

 

Source:  adapted from Taste of Home

 

1 cup butter or margarine, softened (I used salted butter.)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 t. vanilla extract (I used 1 1/2 t.)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

6 T. baking cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

 

 

FROSTING:

 

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (I used salted butter.)

1/4 cup evaporated milk (I used 2 % milk-same amount)

1 t. vanilla

2 T. baking cocoa

3 cups confectioner's sugar

 

Sprinkles

 

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt;  gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

 

Spread into greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

For frosting, in a mixing bowl, beat the butter, milk and vanilla; add cocoa.  Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar until smooth.  Spread over cooled brownies.  Decorate with sprinkles if desired!

 

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Spinach Tortellini Soup

When I was living in my first apartment, I began to take an interest in cooking. Around that time, my mom gave me my very first Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. They were and still are my favorite cookbooks. This is the one of the first recipes I tried. I loved it and made it several times. It was perfect for a quick supper and the leftovers were great for lunch. I was teaching at the time and my colleagues began to notice this soup I would I bring for lunch. Soon, many of them were asking for the recipe and making it themselves. One of the teachers even added chicken to hers (hint, hint!). It's been many years since I've made this and decided I needed to make it again. I tweaked the recipe a little by adding some onion and more tortellini and chicken broth. It's been so long since I've made this recipe that I wondered if I would still like it. . . The answer is YES! This was so delicious! Just wish I would've had some homemade bread to go with it!

 

 

 

Spinach tortellini soup

adapted from:  Gooseberry Patch Hometown Favorites

3 cans chicken broth

1/2 c. onion seasoning blend  (This contains onions, celery, red pepper, and parsley and can be found with the frozen veggies.)

2 cloves garlic

1 T. butter

1 1/2 c. frozen spinach, thawed  (I measured out this amount from a large bulk package.  You could also use a small package -I think it's 10z. size and that would work well.)

1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1/4 t. black pepper

2 c. frozen tortellini

In a large pot, saute' onions and garlic in butter over medium heat.  Cook 3-4 minutes or until veggies are tender.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add  tortellini and cook about 4-5 minutes.  Then add tomatoes, spinach, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Simmer on low for an additional 5 minutes.  Makes 6-8 servings.

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