Bar B Que Meatballs

Its been awhile since I have been on here again but I think about this blog and all of you all the time. We just had a great weekend down at the coast for the 4th of July and last week I worked alot of hours. As a result of all this crazy busy-ness I havent been able to cook! I sure do miss it. I made this recipe a month or so ago and finally took pics. This recipe is a favorite of all of ours. I read about it on The Pioneer Woman site awhile back and I have made it a few times. Ree, the pioneer woman, calls it comfort food to the max and is she ever right! The flavor of this is incredible. It is great with a side of creamy mashed potatoes. It is also great leftovers, if you happen to have any. Please try this, you will love it. This first pic is actually of the ingredients you need for the sauce that you will pour over it after you put together the meatballs and before you cook it.
You can go ahead and mix this together while you are preparing the meatballs. It will give the sauce and chance to "marry". I always thought that was a funny term for cooking, but I think it helps when this sauce can sit and mingle. This touch of sweet and savory sauce is what makes this dish so tasty!

Mix up your meat mixture. It is ground beef, oats, milk, minced onions, salt, pepper. So easy!

Shape into balls and place in your freezer.

After freezing them for about 5 minutes, dredge in flour and brown in canola oil.

Place in your baking dish and pour the sauce over all of them.

Bake for 350 for about 45 min. These things are absolutely amazing.

BAR B Q Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup oats
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of ground black pepper

Sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons worcestershire
4-6 tablespoons minced onion
Dash of tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together for the sauce and set aside. Combine meatball ingredients. Roll into medium sized balls and place on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour. Brown meatballs in canola oil and place into a baking dish. Spread sauce evenly over the meatballs and bake for 45 minutes.

Your entire family will love these, I guarantee it. I know its summer and its hot but sometimes we need to feed our soul with some comfort food. On a different note, please pray for rain. We are really drying up down here in south Texas. I worry for the farmers and for the animals!

Bobbys Ranch Burgers

I know that we are from Texas but I think we are weird. We dont like huge hamburgers. We dont like going to places where you order a burger and they bring out this monstrous thing that has a pound of meat on it. But actually, ever since my husband starting making our burgers like this about 5 yrs ago we dont like restaurant burgers as much as these. They are so tasty! It all began when my middle daughter had her friends over for her birthday one year and she wanted burgers. We didnt want just a regular burger so he thought of this. They are the best tasting burgers you will ever put in your mouth. We make ours to fit on a regular bun so that leaves some room for fries!Here is what ya need: Ground hamburger meat, bacon and cheddar cheese. Now really, doesnt that combination just sound yummy?

Chopped up bacon, cooked about halfway through.


Put your meat in a bowl.



Cube your cheddar into small cubes. Dont just grate it or it will cook away..




These are the only seasonings he uses. Salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce.

Mix it all together and form your patty. Whatever size you like.

These right here are the best buns!!! But use whichever kind you like.

Grill your patties to desired doneness.

These are just perfect!! The taste is just right.

This recipe really is just one that gives you an idea. Use the amounts that fit your family. We only used a couple of pounds of meat and about six slices of bacon and eight ounces of cheese.

Adjust to your family accordingly. Salt, pepper and worcestershire to suit your taste.

Cheesy Creole Pasta

Hope everyone is having a great day! Its is raining here. Good rain too. Measurable rain. I am so excited because that means my garden will take off. I will post some pics soon. Today I am bring to you, the easiest dish. I mean really easy. I whipped this up in no time. My daughter brought me this recipe home she copied from somewhere. I think it is a Sandra Lee recipe. You start out with these simple ingredients:

Onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, diced tomatoes with green chilis, creole seasoning and boxed shells and cheese dinners. I doubled this recipe so there is double of everything in the pic. I added regular tomatoes because I thought two cans of tomatoes with chilis may be too spicy.

I used Hillshire Farms smoked sausage. Cut up into bite sized pieces.

Make your macaroni and cheese according to the box directions.

Saute your onions, bell peppers, sausage until cooked add the tomatoes and mix it up.


Add to macaroni and cheese. Woo. Tough. LOL

Then add your creole seasoning.

It really was tasty and if your needing something fast then this is the recipe for you!



Cheesy Creole Pasta

1 12 oz box Kraft shells and cheese, cooked according to directions

1 lb. Hillshire Farm smoked sausage cut into bite sized pieces

1/3 cup diced onion

1/3 cup diced red bell pepper

1/3 cup diced green bell pepper

1 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chilis

1 teaspoon creole seasoning

Cook shells and cheese according to directions and put in a large bowl. In a large skillet cook sausage and veggies until sausage is crispy. Add tomatoes and their juice stirring to combine well. Add this to your shells and cheese and add your creole seasoning and mix well. Serve immediately.

Braised Chicken

I have that excited feeling again. Its the feeling I get when I try something new and it turns out even better than I expected. And my family just loved this. I got this particular recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog. This lady has so many great recipes. She talks every so often about making a cookbook and this would be a great one for anyones collections I think. She has a great writing style as well. This dish if full of fresh veggies and a wonderful marinade. It is definately worth trying.

First you cut 2 bellpeppers into strips.

Add a large onion.

3 fresh tomatoes

In a seperate bowl, start your marinade with 3 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped fine.

Add these-paprika, olive oil cumin, curry, salt. And CINNAMON. Yes, thats right. Cinnamon. It does wonderful things to this dish.

Take your chicken that has been liberally seasoned with salt and pepper and quickly brown in a little oil.

This is what your marinade will look like. Its smells unbelievable. In a good way.

Measure a half of a cup of this.

Put a few of the peppers and onions along bottom and lay browned chicken on top. Brush half of the marinade over chicken. Add the rest of the peppers and onions and lay tomatoes over all. Brush the rest of the marinade over veggies. Bake for 1 hr. at 350. Maybe a little longer.

This is it. So So So Yummy!



Kays Braised Chicken

From: thepioneerwoman.com

4 chicken quarters

3 garlic cloves

3 fresh tomatoes

2 bell peppers

1 large onion

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/8 teaspooon cumin

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. curry

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Slice up 2 bell peppers. Slice the large onion as well. Dice 3 tomatoes. Finely mince 3 garlic cloves. Place garlic in a small bowl. Pour in 3 tbsp. olive oil. Now add paprika, curry, cinnamon cumin and salt. Whisk together. Season your chicken with salt and pepper and brown quickly in a little hot oil. Add a few of the peppers and onions to the bottom of a baking dish. Place browned chicken on top and brush with half of the marinade. Place remaining peppers and onions over the top of chicken. Put the diced tomatoes all over the top of the chicken. Brush veggies with the remaining marinade. Pour the half of a cup of chicken broth all around the edges of chicken. Bake for about 1 hr to 1 hr and 15 minutes.

These are not the exact directions of the original recipe, these are my words. I am working on my impatience!

Kentucky Chili

Hi Everyone! My mother is out of the hospital and doing great. Well, not great but she is on the mend. I guess you cant have a surgery like that and spring right back. She is in alot of pain but she is moving around and walking some. Although I have been cooking over there, I havent been able to post. I did make this before her surgery but didn't have time to post it. This recipe comes from my mother in law, Joyce. She was born and raised in Kentucky and she is a wonderful cook. She cooked for all her brothers and sisters as she was growing up and we all love her cooking. Not too long after I got married (20 plus years ago), she and I were talking about chili and she said this is how she makes it. It is just delicious. Now when we make it we just call it Kentucky Chili. This is a nice twist on the chili we make here in Texas. The fact that we NEVER have lefovers is a testament to how good it is.The ingredient list is very simple, ground meat, tomatoes, tomatoe paste, onion, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic, onion and.....drumroll please...angel hair pasta. Oh, and a can of kidney beans not pictured because my husband was on the way to the store to get it. Isnt it a tradition I forget to put at least one ingredient in the picture??

Brown your ground meat, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
After draining your ground meat, cover with water and add just enough water to cover. Now add chili powder-lots of it. Then add your tomatoes and tomato paste Simmer for about 45 minutes.

I continue to taste and make sure it tastes right. Then add about a small handful of pasta. I like the angel hair pasta. It doesn't take long to cook at all.

And I usually break it in half.



Drain and rinse a can of red kidney beans and add those as well. They dont need to be cooked just warmed through.

This make a nice size meal and could be frozen very easily.Serve with your favorite cornbread. A dollop of sour cream on top would be good but my husband wouldn't go back to the store. Ha!

Heres the recipe:

2 lbs ground round

1 good sized onion

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

garlic to taste

5-6 tablespoons chili powder

1 small handful angel hair pasta

1 can red kidney beans

Place ground meat, onions, salt, pepper, and garlic in a large pot and brown. Drain. Then add enough water to cover meat. Add can of tomatoes and can of tomatoe sauce, chili powder and simmer this for about 45 minutes. Add pasta and cook another 5-7 min. Add kidney beans and heat through. Delicious!!

Perfect Chicken and Dumplings

Hi everyone! I know everyone who makes chicken and dumplings probably has their own recipe. My grandmother and my mother made chicken and dumplings that used whole pieces of chicken and the dumpling were the kind you dropped by scoopfuls into the boiling broth. The dumplings had nutmeg in them. This almost ruined me for life. For two reasons: I dont like any kind of fat or gristle in my soup. And, I dont like mushy bread in there either. So I worked on my chicken and dumplings because I knew this could be a good soup. Now, I have been making it like this for 10 years or more. My kids usually eat all the dumplings out of it first. They really are the best part. In my mind, this is what the perfect chicken and dumplings are.

This is the ingredients you need to make the savory broth. The pic is awful but it has chicken breasts, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, carrots celery and of course the obligatory missing ingredient. Onion. I promise I will start thinking these pics through.



Put your chicken, chopped onion and celery, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and a Knorr chicken boullion cube.

After cooking this for about 45 minutes you will end up with rich, delicious broth. Remove chicken and coursely chop your carrots. When the chicken has cooled a bit, chop into bite sized pieces.
Add chicken and carrots back to the broth and simmer about 15 minutes.

Here are your ingredients for the dumplings. Guess What!! They are all there. Flour, milk, baking powder, salt, and shortening.

Cut your shortening into the flour, baking powder and salt until its crumbly.

It should look like this.


Add your milk and work into a soft dough.




Put dough on a floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.





Cut into little strips, whatever size you like. or circles or use a heart cookie cutter. Whatever feels right. Ha!


Place these on a plate. Meanwhile, back at the stove, get your broth to a good boil.

Like this.


Drop dumplings in one at a time and let boil for a bout 10 minutes. Most of the time I put the lid on about halfway. I dont completely cover it.

Ta Da! They are ready to eat.

Warning: You will crave this, even in the summer.

Question: Do ya'll make a bread to eat with your chicken and dumplings or is the dumpling considered the bread? We have a "discussion" about it everytime I make it.