Porcupine Meatballs from Grandma

Spanish rice and meatballs.

Mix 1 lb. hamburger with 1 egg. Add 1 cup rice. Brown over medium heat, careful not to break balls.
Pour 1 quart tomato juice over balls and simmer one hour until rice is tender.

Crepes

Serves 10

2 cup flour
2 cup milk
8 eggs
2 t. salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Put some butter in a frying pan. When it melts, pour in enough batter for a thin coat in the bottom of the pan. When the edges peel away, flip the crepe over for a second.

Pumpkin Bread

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin, cooked or canned
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and beat until smooth. Add sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with milk and vanilla. Don't overbeat. Fold in nuts or chocolate chips. Bake at 350 in a greased loaf pan for 1 hour.

Ginger Snaps

I only really want to bake cookies at about Christmas time, and I found this awesome recipe that I did last night! The cookies turned out more fluffy than I was expecting, but still really great.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10757/moms-ginger-snaps/


1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp clove
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.

Super Easy Butternut Squash Recipe

I just pulled this one off right now. I was going to buy ingredients for a more complex soup, but never got around to it. So I was glad to have these ingredients on hand, and it is REALLY good! Tastes almost like chicken noodle soup. I even didn't puree the squash, I just microwaved it beforehand then mashed it down with a potato masher after the 20 minutes of cooking.
http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-butternut-squash-soup-17987

INGREDIENTSNutrition

SERVINGS 6UNITS US

• 1teaspoon olive oil
• 1clove garlic, minced
• 1⁄2cup chopped onion
• 1teaspoon fresh sage, chopped (or 1t. ground dry sage)
• 1⁄2teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3cups fat-free chicken broth
• 1 1⁄2lbs butternut squash (peeled, seeded, cubed)
• parmesan cheese (Garnish)

DIRECTIONS

1. Add oil, garlic and onion to large stockpot over medium heat.
2. Saute for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add sage, salt, pepper, broth and squash.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or until squash has a tender consistency).
6. Use stick blender to lightly puree, leaving some chunks, or puree half of the soup in a food processor or blender and return to pot.
7. Garnish with parmesan cheese and more fresh sage (if desired).

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowls

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. chicken breasts $2.90
• 1 (16 oz.) jar salsa $1.99
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained $1.19
• ½ lb. (8 oz.) frozen corn $0.57
• 1 Tbsp chili powder $0.15
• ½ Tbsp cumin $0.07
• ½ Tbsp minced garlic $0.10
• ½ tsp dried oregano $0.03
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper $0.02
• ¼ tsp salt $0.02
• to taste cracked pepper $0.02
• 2 cups dry rice $0.66
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar $2.49
• ½ bunch cilantro (optional) $0.45

Instructions

1. Add everything except the rice, cheese, and cilantro to the slow cooker along with ¼ cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
2. Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
3. Near the end of the cooking time, cook the two cups of rice according to the package directions (Bring the rice and 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot with a lid in place, as soon as it reaches a boil, reduced the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving).
4. After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

This was from Budget Bytes (one of my new fave food blogs!) and I loved these and it was super easy. Delicious!

Sauteed Corn, Spinach, Bacon, and Scallions

So I have been working on getting through a cookbook (thanks Alyse for the suggestion!). I have been doing the "Mom 100" cookbook I got a while ago, and just hit the JACKPOT with this recipe. Even Mr. Not-a-Fan-of-Vegetables went back for seconds. Here is the link where you can see some of her recipes: http://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/2012/07/sauteed-corn-spinach-bacon-and-scallions-sundaysuppers-2.html

But here is the printout of instructions.

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-strips

1 tablespoon butter

1 shallot, minced 

3 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (from about 4 ears corn)

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 3 scallions, both white and light green parts, sliced

4 cups baby spinach leaves

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning occasionally,

 until browned.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.  Pour off all but 1 teaspoon of the fat from the skillet.

Add the butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the corn and the red bell pepper and red pepper flakes, if using.  Season with salt and black pepper to taste.  Cook, stirring often, until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes.  Crumble the bacon and add it along with the scallions and the spinach.  Stir until the spinach leaves have 

wilted and combined with the corn, about 1 minute.