Sweet BBQ Meatballs

Always a hit, this recipe started out from my Mom's kitchen. Mary has tweaked the recipe some, and has cooked them up many dozens of times. Our children love them, Mary and I love them, and the requests for making them are received throughout the year. Mary has made them for many dinners, ward and neighborhood functions, and family gatherings. If you want something tangy and beefy that will satisfy the most voracious of appetites, look no further then this recipe! Serve them over potatoes or rice, add a salad and drink, and your family will request it again. They also work great for finger foods, shish-kabobs, and remind me of bite-sized meatloaf! Homemade Meatballs: * Combine 3 lbs of Ground Beef with: * 12 oz. can Evaporated Milk * 1 cup raw Oatmeal * 1 cup Cracker Crumbs * 2 large Eggs * ½ cup chopped Onion * ½ tsp. Garlic Powder * 2 tsp. Salt * ½ tsp. Pepper * 2 tsp. Chili Powder Meatball Sauce: * 2 cups Ketchup * 1 cup Brown Sugar * ¼ cup Onion * ½ tsp. Garlic Powder * ½ tsp. Tabasco Sauce (optional) Directions: * Shape meat mixture into walnut sized balls. * Make in advance and freeze on Cookie Sheet w/ wax paper for 30 min. * Meatballs are now ready to use, or transfer to freezer bags and use later. (Freeze up to a year) * Arrange Meatballs evenly in a 8" x 8" pan and cover with sauce. * Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour (with sauce). NOTES: If you wish to save time, you can purchase meatballs pre-made in the frozen section of your grocery store. Mary used to make them by hand, but discovered it to be a very time-consuming part of the meal. Buying them frozen not only saves time... they are actually less expensive to buy! The taste is comparable to homemade meatballs, assuming you purchase the correct brand. I'll update this recipe with the type Mary prefers. WARNING: Once you prepare, cook, and introduce this tasty dish to your family, a craving is born that never really goes away. You and your family will be forever haunted by the insatiable taste that this recipe creates. You have been warned...

Mary's Honey-Lemon-Mustard Chicken

Mary picked up this recipe from one of the sisters in our BYU young married student wards. It's a quick, easy recipe that has a great sweet & sour tang to it! It's perfect for serving over potatoes or rice, and we all enjoy it. Boil up some frozen or canned vegetables for a side, open a can of pears or peaches for your fruit, and voila! Instant dinner when you have less than an hour to prepare it!

Here is the recipe, if you choose to accept it! Enjoy.


Main Ingredients:

• 4-5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thigh's
• Paprika
• Sprinkle of Lemon Juice
  

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. Curry
• 1 cap Lemon Juice (1½ tsp.)
• 3/4 cup Honey
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup Mustard
  

Directions:

• Line a small or medium sized pan with tin foil. Apply light cooking spray
• Place Chicken in the pan and sprinkle with lemon juice and paprika.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and cook for 20 - 25 minutes, until lightly cooked.
• Remove pan and drain most of the juices.
• Pour sauce over the top of the chicken and cook another 10 - 15 minutes, or until tender
  

NOTE: We like to spoon the excess sauce over mashed potatoes as a fun alternative to gravy!

Shepherd's Pie

I'll post this since we made it for dinner a few weeks ago at Mom & Dad's. Such a good comfort food!

Pre-heat: 350º

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 packets brown gravy
12 oz. mixed vegetables (corn, peas and green beans are good)
2 lbs potatoes

Half fill a large pot with water and set to boil.

On a low to medium heat setting, cook the onions until the onion pieces are soft and translucent. Then brown the ground beef in the same pan at the same heat setting.

While the onions &/or meat are cooking, cut the potatoes into smaller pieces (small enough that they will cook quickly but shouldn't spend a lot of time on this) and dump them in the water.

Make the brown gravy - boil a cup of water and stir in the gravy until it thickens. The ground beef should be done. Pour in the gravy, and add the vegetables. Stir until it's all mixed and the veggies are warm.

Distribute the mixture evenly at the bottom of a casserole dish. Make the mashed potatoes -- drain the potatoes, and mash (with butter and milk, as desired). Layer the potatoes on top of the meat mixture.

Pop uncovered in the oven for about half an hour.

Alison's Chicken Chalupas

This is a casserole my mother made often for my family and also happens to be one of Thayne's favorites.

1-2 chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1 chopped onion, sauteed
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 to 1 pint sour cream
2 cups cheese
1 can olives
1 can green chiles (optional)
Seasonings - Curry powder, Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Chile Powder
6-7 flour tortilla shells

Saute onions. Cook chicken cubes. Combine all ingredients in a bowl to make a lovely mix of flavors. Spread a dollop or two of the mixture onto the bottom of your 9x13 pan so the tortillas don't stick (or you can use Pam, w/e you prefer). Spread two spoonfuls into each tortilla shell, roll up, and place into the prepared pan. Be sure to save enough of the mixture to spread on top to keep shells from drying out and burning. Sprinkle some extra cheese on top, too. Mmmm, cheesey goodness! Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour until nice and bubbly. Devour! You can add some salsa, guacamole, and/or more sour cream on top/side if you'd like.

Chicken Divine Alternative Rock #1

For a little while, we had to avoid feeding eggs to Lizzy due to a luckily short-lived allergy. That meant avoiding some salad dressings like Mayonnaise. Oh dear, mayonnaise is in daddy's Chicken Divine! Well, have no fear, we'll just oust from the recipe! I also experimented with a few other changes. We were out of broccoli, the main and really only veggie in the dish. Well have no fear, we'll just use some other veggies like oh, a can of corn and a can of green beans!

2 cups cooked rice
1-2 chicken boobies, cut up and cooked (sorry, old habit from my Aunt Jane)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 large dollops of sour cream (hehe, I love the word 'dollop'!)
A splash or two of milk
Handful or two of cheese
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Curry powder (daddy would be heartbroken if forgotten)
Mrs. dash (addicting stuff)
Lemon pepper (also addictive)
Any other seasonings you see fit to use
More cheese

Layer the cooked rice into a 9x13 pan. Mix together soup, sour cream, milk, cheese, veggies, seasonings, and chicken in a bowl and spread over rice. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top (mustn't forget or else I'll be heartbroken). Warm in oven at 350 degrees until bubbly and cheese is gooey. Now devour the divine stuff!

Chicken Enchiladas (Mary)

With Mary's dictation and permission, I'll post her famous recipe...Mom mentions that Mary often makes these for our Park City condo vacation in the summer and we all love it!

Start by cooking 2 cups of diced chicken. To keep it extra moist, Mary suggests steaming it a bit by throwing a bit of water on and the pan with a lid.

Mix 1 cup sour cream and 1 can cream of chicken soup.

While the chicken is cooking, melt 1 T butter in a large pan. Add 1 c. fresh chopped onions and 1 t. chili powder. (You can optionally add a 4 oz. can of green chiles. Mary says she will if she doubles the recipe, but otherwise it's over-powering.) Caramelize the onions in the butter and chili powder mix.

Add the cooked chicken to the onions and throw in about 1/3 to 1/2 of the sour cream/soup mixture. Turn the heat to Low and stir all together until it begins to bubble. Now trace lines on the mixture to divide it into 8ths. (Each eighth will be about 3 spoonfuls)

Spray a casserole dish and spoon a very thin layer of soup/sour cream mixture on the bottom. (This keeps the enchiladas from being hard on the bottom.) Spoon 1/8 of the mixture onto each of 8 flour tortilla shells. Roll up without folding in the ends. Cover all 8 with the remainder of the soup/sour cream mix.

Cover with foil and bake at 375º for 15 minutes.

(Optionally, you can also spread mild red enchilada sauce before the cheese.) Sprinkle 1 c. of grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese on top.

Bake uncovered for 5 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Cherry cherry Yum Yum

This is another recipe from Mom's stuff. I used a pie tin and it fit well.

Crumb Mixture

Mix 3 c graham cracker crumbs (this is about 8 or 9 oz of crumbs) with 1 1/2 sticks of melted butter.

Cheese MixtureCombine an 8-oz package of cream cheese (soften the cream cheese before this or it will be too stiff to spread -- I ended up using a mixer so there wouldn't be any lumps) with an 8-oz tub of Cool Whip.

Layer 1: Spread half the crumb mixture on the bottom of a pan.
Layer 2: Spread half the cheese mixture on Layer 1.
Layer 3: Spread 1 can cherry pie filling on top of Layer 2.
Layer 4: Spread the second half of the cheese mixture on Layer 3.
Layer 5: Spread the second half of the crumb mixture on Layer 4.

Alison's Sunday Crock Pot Pork Roast

Ingredients:
Onion
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
Pork Loin
Seasonings (Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Salt, S&P)
1/2 to 1 cup Water

I didn't list how much of each ingredient to use because it really depends on the size of crowd/family you'll be feeding. Since it generally is just me, hunnybun, and the goobs, I chose a small pork loin out of the freezer, 5 potatoes, and a handful of leftover carrots and celery from the relish container that needed using up. It also depends on the size of your crock pot.

Defrost the pork loin in the microwave, if needed, while you prep/cut up the vegetables. Layer about half of the potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion on the bottom of the pot. Add a little seasoning. Place the pork loin on top and surround it with the rest of the vegetables. Add the water. Season with your choice of seasons. Put the lid on and turn the crock pot on to high for four hours or low for eight hours. (I generally choose high depending on the time of day.)

Cut into the middle to check for doneness (is that even a word?). If you like gravy, take some (or all) of the drippings left in the pot and mix with a packet of gravy (yup, I cheat sometimes, but that's okay).

Momma Mackay's Cheesy Potatoes

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream (use less if trying to be healthy)
2-3 cups shredded cheese
green onions, sliced finely (optional, for color)
1 bag frozen hashbrowns (shredded or cubed)
Leftover ham, cubed (optional)

Mix it all together in a large bowl and spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until it's all bubbly and you can't control your drooling any longer.