sweet & sour meatballs...

meatballs (click for recipe)

cooked rice

*sweet & sour sauce*

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.

Again with the meatballs! Hey, I promised recipes for your freezer full of meatballs...and I will deliver (you have made them...right?) I'm not going to say that this is my all-time favorite sweet & sour sauce. It's good, just not my fav. I like sweet & sour sauces that call for pineapple juice instead of sugar, I just couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Anyways, there were no complaints from the judging recipients (my family)...the only comlpaint was that one of my kids wants to know why dad's dinner plate is always photographed, not his.

mac & cheese...

2 cups dry elbow macaroni

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 slices bread, made into crumbs

1 Tbsp melted butter

Cook pasta in water about 8-10 min until tender, but still a little firm. Drain. In a medium saucepan cook onion in butter on med heat until translucent. Stir in flour, salt & pepper and cook & stir about 1 min. Add milk all at once, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over med heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese, stirring until melted. Add macaroni to cheese sauce (or vice versa). Put in a greased baking dish. Add bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min.

This is no boxed mac & cheese! This one is for the adults...but the kiddies will love it, too...bonus! I use dried, minced onions (I do that in a lot of recipes) that way you get the flavor, but the kids don't even know it's there. As far as the amount of the dried onion...you really only need a large pinch...vague, huh? For the cheese...I'm not too much of an ingredient snob...but on this one, since it is the main ingredient, use a good one. I like Tillamook (sharp or medium cheddar). If you have less mouths to feed than I do, you can easily cut this recipe in half. Try this one...talk about comfort food!!

french dip sandwiches...

chuck roast (any size)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic; minced

1-2 cans beef broth

minced onion

seasoned salt

rolls

provolone cheese

1 envelope onion soup mix

1-2 beef bouillon cubes

Heat (med heat) olive oil in med pan. Add garlic. Brown all sides of roast; approx. 1 min per side. Place in slow cooker. Add minced onion, salt & beef broth. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker, cover with foil, and let rest 10 min. Shred with a fork. Heat soup mix according to pkg directions with bouillon cubes. Place desired amount of meat on roll, add a little cheese and set under broiler until cheese is melted. Serve with soup on the side for dipping.

*roasted cauliflower *

1 head cauliflower

olive oil

salt

pepper

Cut cauliflower into florets. Place all ingredients on a baking sheet and toss with hands to combine. Roast in 4oo degree oven 10-15 min. until fork tender (depends on size of florets and desired tenderness). Turn once or twice during cooking.

My kids do not like pot roast...???? Something about all of the meat & veggies cooked together served with gravy is not appealing to any of them...I don't get it. BUT, they will eat/devour these sandwiches. So, we all get what we want! You can use any cut of roast, and cook it whatever way you like to cook roast. I just chose the no fail/easy route. I bought little hard rolls for these...they are the perfect size for kids, and then the adults can have as many sandwiches as they want. I toasted the rolls a tiny bit under the broiler first (soggy bread thing). You may even be able to buy "au jus" (the dipping liquid) pre made, or a packet mix...the soup worked really well, though. If your little people don't like the onion bits in the soup, they can be easily spooned out.

If you have a small number of eaters in your house, just cut the meat in half before cooking and freeze one half for another time.

And as far as the cauliflower is concerned...YUM! I am pretty much convinced that ANY vegetable roasted with a little olive oil, salt and pepper is fabulous! It gets all brown & crunchy on the outside...I don't see anything wrong with that!

enchiladas...

1 lb ground beef

minced onion (I use dried)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can red enchilada sauce

8-10 flour tortillas

Brown ground beef with onion; drain out any fat. Add 1/2 of the enchilada sauce and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Cook over low just until cheese is melted. Spoon meat into center of tortillas (a line down the center) and roll up. Place in a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce and remaining cheese. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees 20-25 min.

I used to make chicken enchiladas, but I didn't like how time consuming and/or fattening they were...(very creamy and cheesy...yum) One day my husband requested enchiladas with "that red sauce." I tried it, and haven't made the chicken enchiladas since. Nothing against chicken enchiladas...I think they are quite good...this recipe is just much easier, and well liked by my family. The sauce pictured is my favorite brand for this. I can't remember how many ounces this can is...I just know it is the medium sized can. Sorry if that is confusing...There really isn't an exact amount on how much sauce you need to use...just make sure there is enough to make the meat saucy, and enough to cover the enchiladas. I serve them with a little sour cream, and refried beans or black beans on the side. GOOD!

rustic apple tart...

pastry:

1 cup flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 pound (1 stick) very cold butter, diced

2 tablespoons ice water

filling:

1 1/2 pounds baking apples (3 large)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) cold butter, diced

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough becomes a solid mass. Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.
For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into chunks. Toss the chunks with the lemon juice. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the butter and combine until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
Bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is FABULOUS!! Another winner from Ina. The pastry crust is amazingly delicious. Yum, yum, yum...

If you do not have a food processor, a pastry cutter, or even two forks will do the job. The most important part is that the butter and water have to be cold. It is what makes the pastry flakey and not too dense. I actually did this a little different than the recipe suggests...I combined all of the filling ingredients together with the apples, and just dotted the top with a little butter, instead of making it a crumb topping. Either way, you can not go wrong with this baby. Have I mentioned how good it is? (If you look closely at the photo you can see the bubbly goodness...)

calzones...

premade pizza crust dough

pizza toppings

pizza sauce

Seriously...could this be any easier? All you need to do is flatten/roll out the pizza dough to desired size (a little flour on the counter helps this process along) Cut into rectangles...this part is up to you, I got 4 small-med sized pieces out of one pkg of dough and 2 x-tra large out of the other pkg. Put pizza toppings (not sauce) in the center of each rectangle and fold it in half, creasing/pinching edges together. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake according to pizza dough baking directions, or until golden brown. Serve with pizza sauce on the side.

My kids love these!

meatball subs...

meatballs

hoagie rolls

spaghetti sauce

provolone cheese

Warm meatballs in spaghetti sauce over med heat until warmed through. Place 4-5 meatballs with sauce on a hoagie roll. Put provolone cheese over meatballs and broil until melted.

Remember those meatballs? It's time to put them to use. This is such a great dinner for a busy weeknight. Just pull the meatballs out of the freezer (as many as you need) and defrost in the microwave. My kids loved this dinner. The only thing I didn't do that I will do next time is toast the haogie roll a little under the broiler (just barely) before adding the meat & sauce. The bread was a little soggy...good, but soggy.