Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back! :)

Wow, going back to school was a rude awakening for me! I thought, "Yeah, I can totally do it! No sweat! How hard can it be?" Um, hard. Really hard. Now I'm juggling 3 hats -- Mom, Wife and Student. But as hard as it is, it's still great to be doing something for me!

Anyway. This recipe we tried for the first time last night. I got it out of my Healthy Cooking magazine back in December of last year and finally remembered to try it. It was really tasty and SO easy. It's also a great meal to have on hand in the freezer. You can have it completely prepared and then just pop it in the oven on a busy day. Fabulous! You could also easily make this in the crock pot. And if you wanted, you could even turn this into a great appetizer for a party. Just omit the rice and serve the meatballs on toothpicks with extra sauce for dipping!

The only thing I changed was that I omitted the raisins. We didn't have any anyway, but I thought that sounded really gross to put in the meatballs. My husband says he thinks it would be really good, so we'll try it with raisins next time, I guess.

Ingredients:
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water, divided
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 cup egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups hot cooked rice

In a saucepan, combine tomato sauce, 3/4 cup water, raisins, brown sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, seasonings, egg and milk. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Put meatballs into sauce. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until meatballs are no longer pink. In a small bowl, combine flour and remaining water, then stir into meatball mixture, cooking for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Serve with rice.

What's your favorite meal to have on hand in the freezer?

Our apologies!!

So sorry for our absence! I recently went back to school, and it has been CRAZY getting back into the swing of classes and homework and tests. We'll be back up and running by next week, I promise!

Paula Deen's Ultimate Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

This is sooooooooooooooo yummy! I can't say it enough. I have to give my mom credit for the preparing on this one but they are just so delicious I had to post it anyway. Breakfast, snack... you name it... YUM!

Here's the recipe... ha ha. I thought I was pretty clever there.







16-18 unbaked frozen dinner rolls
1 pkg (3 oz) regular butterscotch pudding mix, not instant
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (we omitted these)
1/2 cup melted butter

The night before, place frozen rolls in well-greased Bundt pan. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over rolls. Sprinkle brown sugar over pudding mix. Sprinkle pecans over sugar. Pour melted butter over all. Cover with a damp towel or tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise overnight at room temperature, 8-10 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Uncover; bake 30 minutes. Remove; cool 5 minutes. Invert pan onto serving platter; remove pan. Serve by pulling aparty with forks. Makes 6-8 servings.

                                                    Can you say YUM!

Pork Chops with Blue Cheese Sauce

This came from my Healthy Cooking magazine. It is so simple, super fast and really tasty. Even if you're not much of a blue cheese fan, I think you'd still like this because the sauce is very mild. We love blue cheese, so I added a bit more than the recipe called for. My kids gobbled this up, and my husband said he wished I'd made more because he wanted a second helping.

My other favorite part of this meal was that it only used a small pot! The chops are cooked in the oven. I lined my baking sheet with foil, so all I had to wash was the pot I cooked the sauce in. Gotta love that!

Ingredients
4 bone-in pork loin chops
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon white wine or chicken broth

Sprinkle the pork chops on both sides with pepper. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 4-6 minutes each side, or until meat thermometer registers 160*. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Sprinkle with flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add cheese and wine (or broth). Stir until heated through. Pour sauce over chops and enjoy!

Are you ready to have your kids back in school yet? ;)

Not sure what to do with the extra blue cheese?
Blue Cheese Dressing
Walnut Blue Cheese Salad
Buffalo Chicken Salad

New Year's Eve Snack Ideas

It's been crazy around these parts! Take today, for example. The day started off with an earthquake and ended with a trip to the ER with my 3 year old (she sliced her lip, and luckily she's fine and didn't need stitches). It'll stay crazy for me until the 14th of January, but then I hope to return to normal. Whew.


Are you wondering what to serve for New Year's Eve? Oh, and can you believe 2009 is over?!

Here are some quick and easy snack ideas!
Cream Cheese Tuna Spread
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip
7 Layer Bean Dip
Guacamole
Veggies (and/or chips) with Ranch Dip
Veggies (and/or pita chips) with Wanna-be Hummus
Deviled Eggs

Want a main course instead?
Baked Potato Bar
Tacos/Nachos/Tostadas/Fajitas
Chili and Cornbread
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
Gnocchi
Taco Soup

Want to really impress your guests?
Lasagna
Chicken in a Basil Cream Sauce

Don't forget the Martenelli's! It wouldn't be New Year's (for us, anyway) without it!

Here's to a truly wonderful 2010! Thank you all for making this blog such fun for us!

Egg Drop Soup

This is a super easy and cheap dish to make for a crowd. I love it because it's so easy and comes together in a flash! We served it with potstickers from the frozen section of the grocery store for a really fast meal.

I'm not a huge Chinese food fan, but I do really like egg drop soup. The problem with soup from every restaurant I've been to is that it's usually really greasy. This soup doesn't have that problem, and I think it tastes just as good as any soup I've ordered at a restaurant. Next time I make it, I think I'm going to add mushrooms.

If you want, you can make it totally vegetarian by using vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock! It's an awesome meatless meal.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
green onions, sliced

Pour 3 cups chicken broth into a large pot. Add ginger, green onions and salt. Bring to a boil.

In another bowl, combine remaining chicken broth with cornstarch, mixing until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside. Whisk eggs together, then pour slowly into the boiling broth mixture, stirring constantly.

After the eggs are poured in, then add the cornstarch. Serve immediately.

Are you ready for CHRISTMAS?!
I can't believe we're down to 2 days now!

Cream Biscuits

Christmas is coming! I can't believe it's this Friday. Crazy how fast this year has gone! In honor of Christmas being this week, I thought I'd post recipes that will make your holiday entertaining easier. There's almost nothing worse than having a house full of guests and not knowing what to feed them that is quick, easy and cheap!

These cream biscuits are quick, easy AND cheap. They come together in a flash and are really tasty. I love biscuits but never thought I could make them. My mom always told me it's tricky to make biscuits, so now I'm wondering what recipe she uses because this is seriously easy!

There are only 2 things to remember when making biscuits. First, don't over-knead the dough. Knead it as little as possible, otherwise the biscuits will be tough. And secondly, if you use a biscuit cutter, DO NOT (I repeat DO NOT!) twist the cutter. Just push it straight down, then pull it straight up. If you twist it, your biscuits will rise all wonky and will look really lopsided.

If you want to make these ahead, you can. But they'll only be good in the fridge for up to 2 hours. Just prepare the dough, cut out the biscuits, put them on the parchment-lined baking sheet and then cover with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

**This recipe will make about 10 biscuits.**

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead until the dough becomes smooth, about 30 seconds.

Roll the dough into a 3/4 inch circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a biscuit cutter or into wedges using a knife.

Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Then bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Serve with butter, jam, honey butter or sausage gravy!

Do you have company coming for Christmas?
Any special holiday meals you like to make?

Homemade Blue Cheese

I know we usually do Meal Plan Monday today, but I don't have my menu put together this week. Plus, it's just going to be super cheap stuff to save some moolah. Today is my birthday, and my hubby made me a fantastic steak dinner, complete with twice baked potatoes (recipe coming!) and a salad. He also bought a large tub of blue cheese crumbles so we could make our own blue cheese dressing. We've never done this before, and it was so good! And so, so easy!

I know blue cheese is a funny thing that not everyone likes. I used to hate it actually. But I've come to love it over the last year or so, and I'm stoked to have a great dressing recipe now! Oh, and the recipe came from our trusty America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. Of course. ;)

Ingredients:
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Using a fork, mash the blue cheese, buttermilk and garlic together in a bowl until the mixture resembles cottage cheese.

Stir in sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.

Are you a blue cheese lover or hater?

Not sure what to do with the rest of the buttermilk?
Buttermilk pancakes
Ranch dressing
Avocado salad dressing
Ranch dip

Meal Plan Monday

Hey, hey! I know things have been s-l-o-w around here lately. Sorry about that! It's been kinda crazy at our house. I applied for college classes (haven't started yet, but I've had some issues with the college that have taken up some time), homeschooling with my 2nd grader, babysitting a 1 year old a few days a week, we all had this flu/stomach bug that I'm finally getting over today, etc. It's just been lovely!

This week's meal plan comes from my America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I think there are a couple of meals that don't, but pretty much all of them do. Yes, I'm putting in yet another plug for this cookbook. Hey, it's almost Christmas, so you could totally ask your hubby/family/friends to get it for you as your gift! Everything I've tried, I've loved. The ranch dressing I posted a few weeks ago seriously is THE best ever, and I just made another batch over the weekend. It's always in my fridge now. I only rant and rave about this cookbook because it's so rare to find a cookbook where you really and truly like every recipe you try out of it. And this is one of them!

So, on the menu this week, we have:
Shepherd's pie
Lemon and thyme pork with roasted red potatoes
Chicken enchilada soup
Spaghetti and oatmeal rolls
Pizza
Black bean soup and quesadillas

The rolls I'm especially excited about! We went to Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor's house, and another family that was there brought these rolls. They were the BEST rolls I have ever had, so I asked her for the recipe. She told me they're made with oatmeal! So I Googled it and found a really yummy recipe. I'll share soon!

Talk to me! How was your Thanksgiving?
Any fun holiday plans?
Any holiday recipes you'd like to see us feature?

Meatless Chili Bake

I must apologize to Hillary for my lack of participation in this blog. It's tough when I don't cook often anymore due to my work schedule. But I found a recipe that was really good. We had it a while back when I did have more time to cook. :)

Meatless Chili Bake

2 ½ cups uncooked spiral pasta

1 can (15 oz) vegetarian chili with beans

1 jar (12 oz) chunky salsa

1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine the chili, salsa and corn. Add pasta; toss to coat.

Transfer to a greased shallow 2-qt baking dish; sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

This Recipe comes from The Busy Family Cookbook.

Meal Plan Monday

It's just another manic Monday. (Do you have that song running through your head now?) Ready for yet another week? Are you busy with Thanksgiving preparations?

I guess one good thing about living far from family is that we get to have a nice, quiet holiday with just our little family. That makes it nice and low-key, and I'm not running around like a mad woman trying to make everything perfect.

This week will be a little crazy for me, though, because my baby turns 3 on Friday! I can't believe she's turning 3. How can time seem to go by so quickly and so slowly at the same time? So since I'll be busy with party planning, my menu theme this week is quick and easy meals.

Mexican-style pork stew
Homemade pizza (either BBQ or garlic chicken, not sure yet)
Smothered pork chops
Egg drop soup and pot stickers
Fajitas

Any exciting plans for Thanksgiving?

Zuppa Toscana

This post will hopefully convince Arizona's weather to turn fall-y so I can enjoy incredible soups like this WITHOUT running the air conditioning!

Whenever I go to Olive Garden, I always have to get this soup. It's so insanely fantastically delicious. Several years ago, I had a wicked craving for this soup but couldn't go get my Olive Garden fix. I decided to look it up online. I wasn't expecting to find a recipe nearly as good, but I found one! I love it even more, because it costs way less to make and I get several meals of this soup instead of just a single bowl.

The only problem I had with this recipe was that the original said you can use spinach or kale. The very first time I made it, I used spinach. It. was. disgusting. The spinach got completely slimy in the soup and didn't hold up well at all for leftovers. So do NOT use spinach as a substitution. It's gotta be kale.

Now that I'm on blood thinner medication, I have to be super careful about eating foods high in Vitamin K. When the pharmacist tole me that kale has the highest Vitamin K out of any of the dark greens, my mind instantly started mourning the fact that I won't be able to eat this soup as much as I normally do in the winter. Well, as much as I used to eat it in the winter, before I moved to the gosh dang desert.

Ingredients:
1 pound hot style bulk sausage
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
5 cans chicken broth
6 potatoes, cubed
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 bunch kale

Cook sausage and red pepper flakes. Drain excess fat and remove sausage from pan. Using the same pan, cook bacon. Remove bacon, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings in the pan. Cook onion and garlic in bacon drippings until tender. Add chicken broth and potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, then add cream and sausage. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in kale just before serving. Serve with rolls or breadsticks!

What's your favorite soup?

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday to you!

I've decided I really hate living in the desert. It's almost the middle of November, and it's still 90 degrees here! I seriously turned on the air conditioning the other night! I love fall and I love fall food. This weather doesn't make me want to curl up on the couch under a blanket with a nice bowl of comforting soup! And that's what I want to do. Blah.

Enough whining. Here's the menu for this week!

Baked potatoes
Mexican-style pork stew
Tuna melts
Lasagna and rolls
Homemade pizza
Chicken in a basil cream sauce
Smothered pork chops

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

K, the more recipes I try from my new cookbook, the more I love it. It is so awesome! Seriously, go get a copy! Are you sick of me raving about it yet? Go get a copy and I'll stop! ;-)

A couple of days ago, I was so busy that my day flew by, and it was dinner time before I knew what was happening or had anything planned. I had the bare minimum in the fridge and pantry, so I scoured my cookbook to see what I could possibly make. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I saw a cooking show years ago (Rachael Ray, I think?) where the chef made this dish, but I've never tried it. It was so easy and really yummy! Perfect quick, weeknight supper!

A word about the cheese. Just buy a bag of the pre-shredded Parmesan blend, which has the Pecorino and Parmesan already. It'll save you a lot of time and money, rather than buying a block of each.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 pound spaghetti

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cheeses and garlic together. Set aside. Then cook the bacon and olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the wine (or chicken stock).

Simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover.

Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water before draining the pasta. Toss the pasta with the bacon mixture and the cheese mixture. If needed, add additional pasta water to loosen the sauce before serving.

My kids inhaled this. My 4 year old literally had 4 helpings. Not kidding. Spaghetti and bacon? Yes, please!

What do you think of our new blinkie? Have you added one to your blog?
Let us know if you have!

Our first blinkie!

My totally awesome friend Rebecca designed a blinkie for us! Isn't she talented?! Thanks, Rebecca!!

If you'd like to put a blinkie on your blog that links to our site, here's what you do: go to your blog, select layout, then page elements, then add a gadget. Then go to HTML/Java script. Then input the following code:

<a href="http://dinner-inspiration.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/4053559627_aedc9ae971_o.gif"/ ></a>

And the WINNER is.........................

the cool family!

Congratulations!! Email us at dinner_inspiration@hotmail.com with your mailing address! This give-away was so much fun, we'll have to do another one soon!

Cream Cheese Tuna Spread

**First of all, don't forget to enter our GIVE-AWAY! It ends tomorrow, so you've still got time to earn that extra entry!**


My mom recently moved, and she got rid of a lot of things to prepare for that. She gave me several of her cookbooks, one of which is called California's Lite 'n Easy Recipes. That is where I got this recipe from. It's in the appetizers section, but I doubled the recipe so we could eat it as a light lunch. My kids loved it. It would also be a great thing to serve at a party.

The only things I did differently from the recipe was I added finely diced red bell pepper and used green onion instead. You could add in any combination of veggies, sweet relish, parsley, etc. And if you really want it to be low-fat, use fat-free cream cheese.

Ingredients:
1 can water-packed tuna, drained
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine tuna and cream cheese, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Then add in the other ingredients. Chill for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve with crackers, in pita bread, in crescent rolls, etc.

Do you like tuna? When you buy canned tuna, do you prefer it packed in oil or water?

Completely Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ever since my first ranch dressing post, I've been on the hunt for a truly homemade version that tastes just as good as using the ranch seasoning packets. I love the ease of just using a Hidden Valley packet, but I wanted to be able to really control all the ingredients. Plus, those packets cost about $1 a piece, which is just astronomical.

When I got my newest cookbook a couple of days ago, I eagerly flipped through the pages to see if they had a ranch dressing recipe. And they did! I tried it yesterday, and it is vastly better than anything else I've tried. I loved it! The only thing I changed was that I didn't have the lemon juice the recipe calls for, so I decided to see if vinegar would be a good substitute. It worked great! I'm anxious to try it with lemon juice next time and see which way works better.

Another word about the recipe. It calls for shallot, and I highly recommend that's what you use. Shallots have a much more subtle flavor than regular onion or red onion have. You don't want the onion to scream, "HELLO!!! THERE'S ONION IN THIS DRESSING!!!" If you do need to substitute, use red onion, and make sure you dice it very finely. This recipe also calls for 1 tablespoon cilantro or dill. I love both of those flavors, so I decided to use both. I used about 1/2 a tablespoon of each.

Oh, and fresh herbs are a must for this one!

If you want to make it thicker to use as a dip instead of a dressing, just use less buttermilk.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro and/or dill
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.

Also, don't forget to check out our first give-away for your chance to win a year's subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine!!

Our First Give-Away!!!

Are you excited?! I am! In order to thank all you awesome fans for sticking with us through our dry spells, I want to present you with a chance to win a very awesome prize! One lucky winner will receive a year's subscription to the Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine! I use this magazine all the time. I literally get giddy when I see it in the mail, and I instantly go inside and read it from cover to cover. My kids all know not to bother me when I'm reading my cooking magazine. It's true. Is that sad?

Here are the rules! You must leave a comment on this post and be a follower of our blog in order to be entered into the contest. If you tell a friend about our website and your friend also becomes a follower, you'll receive an extra entry! Just post again on this post to let us know you brought a friend and what their name is. And don't forget to leave us your email address so we can contact you if you win! The contest will close on Saturday, October 24th, and the winner will be chosen randomly via this website and will be announced on Monday, October 26th! Once the contest ends and our email is sent out to you, you will only have 2 days to respond, otherwise we will randomly choose another winner.

Best of luck, everyone! And thanks for being our fans. You make this so fun for us!

My favorite cookbooks

Today I want to share with you my favorite cookbooks. I have a few smaller ones that I occasionally use for a thing or two, and then I have two that I use these almost every single time I cook. This first one we got for our wedding from my mother-in-law. It has a lot of fancier (not harder, just fancier) recipes. There are still your basic recipes, like pancakes, waffles, meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, etc, but a lot of it is stuff that you just don't cook everyday. Still, I love this cookbook and highly recommend it.

This next one I just got a couple of days ago (from Barnes and Noble for around $30), and I already love it. It's so inclusive and awesome! Each recipe is tried many, many times, and they even make/test the recipes on the lowest grade of cookware and appliances out there to make sure the recipe will work for everyone every single time. It also lists substitutions, best brands to use for each recipe, etc. And it has a lot of useful sections, such as what kitchen tools you should have, what items to stock in your pantry, etc.

If you add these two to your collection, you will be good to go! I have wasted a lot of money over the years buying cookbooks that I never use. These you will use, all the time. Well worth the money!

What's your favorite cookbook?