Oven Baked Meatballs & the dog trainer

First, I want to share my Oven Baked Meatballs recipe.  There is nothing fancy about this but I CRAVE these.  I found the recipe a few years back in my MOMS Club group's cookbook.  I love to have them over mashed potatoes.

Oven Baked Meatballs

Meatballs:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/4 c. ketchup

1 T. mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Dash Garlic Powder

Sauce:

10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup (I use reduced fat)

1/2 c. shredded cheddar

1/3 c. milk

Dash Tabasco Sauce (I add several dashes;)

Combine meatball ingredients.  Shape into walnut-sized meatballs.  Place in casserole and bake, uncovered, at 350* for 30 minutes.  Drain meatballs.  

Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over meatballs.  Bake an additional 10-15 minutes more.  

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Also, here are a few pictures of Quinn, 'training' the dog.

Halloween 2009 in Photos

Some shots of the kids right before Trick-or-Treating.

Here are the kids acting the part:

It's a bird!  It's a plane!  It's Supergirl!

Quinn: Megatron looking very ready to attack

I'm open!

The kid's pumpkins.  Quinn's is the face, Kade's is the Grim Reaper, & Gracie's is the spider.

The kids watching a Halloween flick on TV & having their annual Halloween candy binge.

Pumpkin Carving, Part 1

When Kade & I returned from hockey last night we were greeted with these signs.

Quinn had games placed strategically throughout the house "for Halloween" and these were the informational posters that he made:0)  Looks like he is preparing quite the party for us!

The cheif pumpkin carver, Tony, decided it was time we got our pumpkins carved.  Unfortunately we just didn't have time for all 3 kids to do theirs last night, we only ended up getting Gracie's done.  The boys will do theirs tonight.  Here are some pictures of her with her pumpkin!

BBQ Beef Cups

It doesn't get much easier than these BBQ Beef Cups.  I got home from Kade's hockey practice last night at 7 o'clock and I had these on the table at 7:30.  I even did some laundry during that time;0)  I have made these many times and I always know that it is one of the few things everyone will eat HAPPILY.  Give them a try!

BBQ Beef Cups

1 pound Ground Beef
1 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 cans Refridgerated Biscuits (Grands- I always use Reduced-Fat)
8 ounces Shredded Cheddar Cheese 

Preheat the oven according to the biscuit instructions. 

Brown beef in a skillet. Add barbecue sauce to the beef- you want the beef to be well-coated but not soupy. Add the brown sugar and stir until smooth. 

Grease muffin tins. Stretch the biscuits until they are big enough to make a “cup” in the muffin tin. Press into the tins. 

Fill each cup with about a 1/4 cup of the beef mixture. Top with cheese Bake according to the instructions on the biscuit can.  

Enjoy!

Featured Recipe!

My friend, Pam, recently started writing for examiner.com.  This week she asked me if it was okay if she featured my Zuppa Toscana recipe on her site.  I, of course, said YES!  I was honored Pam!  Thank you!  

Here is her article: http://www.examiner.com/x-25527-Bismarck-Budget-Meals-Examiner~y2009m10d28-Zuppa-Toscana-makes-a-warm-comforting-autumn-meal

My Amazing Daughter

This past Sunday my baby turned 4.  I can hardly believe it still.  Time is just flying by way too quickly.  My Grace is certainly turning into a girl that warms my heart & makes me so proud.  She is one of the kindest, most thoughtful, confident people that I know.  She amazes me daily.

Before her party, we went outside to snap a few photos of her in her new birthday outfit.

I purchased some face paints that I had intended for Kade to paint the little kids' faces with.  He ended up having a friend at the party that he disappeared with and he never did do it.  Grace wasn't going to miss out though.  I found her in the bathroom with a friend about 15 minutes into her party with the face paints.

I will let this picture speak for itself.  Really- the above pictures were taken not more that 30 minutes before the below picture.  That's my girl;-)  She is such an exuberant little person.

Today Grace was lucky enough to get to wear her costume to preschool.  The boys are very jealous.  At their school, they are just allowed to wear "fall colors".   Anyway, I just love her Supergirl costume.  I love it so much more than the princess girly costume I thought she was going to pick.  And I swear, she picked it totally on her own.