Snack Doggie!

Everyone knows popcorn comes from . . .

Snack Doggie!

The toddlers look at the Scooby Doo air popper every day. We don't have popcorn every day, even though the toddlers would love that.

So, at least once a week, I give into their chant: Snack Doggie, Snack Doggie, Snack Doggie, Snack Doggie!!!

It's one of the best $2 I've spent at a yard sale in a long time :)

It not only gives us a yummy snack, but it's great entertainment to boot!

Popcorn

Rice Eggs

mom2priceboys left a comment on my Spaghetti Eggs post saying that she does the same thing with rice. What a wonderful idea, I just had to give it a try.

I heated a bit of butter in a skilled and added just over a cup of cooked rice.

I put in three eggs and scrambled it up.

Because I was going to serve it the next day to the toddlers, I put it in my mini crock pot insert and then into the fridge.

About 90 minutes before lunch, I put it in the crock pot and it was heated by lunch.

The toddlers loved it as much as the spaghetti eggs. It will be a regular on our menu.

Egg

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Last week I came across this recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs Over Rice. It sounded almost good. I wanted to tweak it and make it freezer friendly.

• 20 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained – reserve the juice
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• water to add to the juice to make 1 1/2 cups
• 6 Tbs. vinegar
• 6 Tbs. brown sugar
• 4 Tbs. soy sauce
• cooked rice
• prepared meatballs

I have cornstarch in the photo, but decided later not to use it.

I first made pork meatballs (see previous post). I mixed everything else but the rice in a bowl.

To make freezer meals, I put a few meatballs in the container, then used a ladle to divide the sauce into five servings. Four servings, I packaged into meal-sized containers, labeled and put in the freezer.

With the fifth serving, I put in the crock pot on low for a couple of hours to heat everything through.

I debated over adding cornstarch before I served it, but decided I would try it with out the cornstarch. I made some rice and poured the meatballs and sauce over it.

It was delicious! I'm looking forward to my freezer meals. I will pop out the frozen meal into a crock pot a few hours before I want to have it for dinner. By dinner time, it will be thawed and heated through. I'll use my rice cooker to make some quick rice to pour the meatballs and sauce over.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Three Kinds Of Meatballs

My freezer was getting low on pre-made meals. Meatballs are so versatile; easy to freeze, and toddler friendly, and I love them, too.

This day I made three types of meatballs:

1. Pork Meatballs. I had one pound of ground pork and one pound of Italian seasoned ground pork. I put them both in the bowl with 2 eggs, one and half cups of crushed wheat crackers, garlic powder, minced onions, Italian seasoning, and a bit of water. I rarely measure anything and just sprinkled the seasonings until I thought it was a good amount :). I mixed it all up with my hands, made small balls with my cookie scoop, and baked at 4o0 degrees for 30 minutes. I gave these in mind for a sweet and sour meatballs recipe I found.

2. Beef meatballs. I had two pounds of ground beef, added 2 eggs, garlic powder, minced onion, crushed crackers, and a small can of tomato sauce. I mixed with my hands and made small meatballs with my cookie scoop (because I had toddlers in mind for this batch). I baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

After the beef meatballs were cooled, I put them in meal-sized packages and into the freezer. These are great for toddler lunches. On the morning I would like to server the meatballs for lunch, I dump one meal-size package into a mini crock pot. By lunch, they're defrosted and heated through.

3. I made a batch of Turkey Meatloaf Muffins. These Weight Watcher's friendly meatballs/muffins make great lunches for me.

I put them two muffins in a sandwich baggie (two muffins are four Weight Watchers points), then all the baggies in a gallon-size freezer bag. It sort of double-bags and protects them in the freezer. I do the same as with the toddler meatballs--put a meal-size portion in a mini crock pot first thing in the morning, to be defrosted and heated through by lunch time.

It feels good to have the freezer stocked again. It was quite a meatball makin' day!

Meatballs

Dill Pickle Bread

With a new bread machine in the house, I went on a search for recipes. I've had a lot of fun going through this collection from AllRecipes.com. I just had to try this Dill Pickle Bread recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 dill pickle, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/8 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer.
2. Use the white bread, medium crust setting.

I used half pickle juice and half water, instead of all water. It turned out great! Sort of a sourdough bread with lots of dill flavor.

I had mine toasted with a bit of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

Yummy! I will eat another few pieces, then put the rest in the freezer for toddler snacks.

Dill Bread

Bread Machine Banana Bread

There's a new addition to my kitchen.......a bread machine!!!

Hubby got it for me at a local thrift store for just $12. It is well taken care of and works great! It came with a small recipe book, but no manual. I've found this page from Hillbilly Housewife very helpful.

So, I couldn't wait to make my first loaf of bread. I don't keep yeast on-hand, so I chose a quick bread to begin. Remember, I keep bananas in my freezer? I figured Banana Bread would be a good start.

I searched online and found this Banana Bread for a Bread Machine recipe. I followed the recipe; put everything in the machine, then turned on the "Dough" setting, just as it said. After that cycle, I was going to set it to the "Bake" setting, but then noticed the "Quick Bread" setting. I knew I was making a quick bread, so I chose that.

I didn't realize that it was going to mix again. Not knowing what to do, I didn't do anything, so it mixed some more, then baked. Enduring the wonderful aroma made my tummy rumble! It was so hard to wait.

I removed the bread pan at the tone and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then removed it from the pan. I then sliced it. It seemed a little over-done.

It tasted good, not great. I could tell it was over-mixed and the crust was well done, not burned. The toddlers love it. I had a few slices over that I put in the freezer for another day.

Knowing my mistakes, I can't wait to try something else. I'm glad to have more options for toddler meals and snacks.

Bread Machine