Meatball Minestrone

Years ago I was given a cookbook called “Cheap.  Fast.  Good!” by a colleague at work.  I really love this cookbook – quick and easy dinners with things that you usually have around the house.  I have a lot of vegetable soups that I make but I like the added meatballs in this one and the angel hair pasta.  It ends up being a little more of a stew than a soup because there isn’t a ton of broth.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

-1 can (14 oz) beef broth

-2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

-1 can (14.5 oz) stewed or diced tomatoes

-20 already-cooked meatballs (I use frozen – can thaw or add frozen)

-1/3 cup broken angel hair pasta (1 to 2 inch lengths)

-1 can (15 oz) light red kidney beans

-1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1.  Pour the two broths into a Dutch oven or soup pot and place over high heat.  While the liquid is heating, add the frozen vegetables, tomatoes, meatballs, and pasta.  Cover the pot and bring it to a boil.  This will take about 10 minutes.

2.  While the soup is heating, rinse and drain the beans.

3.  When the soup comes to a boil, uncover it and stir well, making sure to stir along the bottom in case the pasta sticks.  Add the beans, Italian seasoning and garlic powder and reduce the heat to medium or medium-high (to maintain a vigorous boil).  Stir frequently until the pasta is tender, about 3 minutes.  Serve at once. 

Meal Planning Monday

Lots of new recipes to try this week.  Southern Living Magazine had a special section a couple months ago about sweet tea and different recipes you can try with it.  Excited to try the Sweet Tea Rice and Sweet Tea Icebox Tart!

Monday – Out with family

Tuesday/Wednesday – Burger and Fries Pot Pie (new), Pea Salad (new)

Thursday/Friday – Southwest Chicken Flat Pie (new), Sweet Tea Rice (new)

Saturday/Monday – Apartment Fish

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday – Texas Tech Chili (my old roommates recipe that I’ll post – YUM!), Cornbread

Friday/Saturday – Chicken and Dumplings, Fruit Salad

Dessert – Sweet Tea Icebox Tart (new)

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I’ll eat blueberries in pretty much any form they come in and I also love zucchini so I knew I’d try this recipe.  This is really a great way to hide vegetables for kids (or husbands) who aren’t fond of them.  I used 2 small zucchini in this recipe.  We like to “twice bake” our bread – we slice it up, put it on foil, butter it, and stick it under the broiler for 5 minutes until it gets a little crispy around the edges.  This bread is VERY good that way!  Recipe from Parents Magazine.

Ingredients:

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (I didn’t have this so I just used another cup of all-purpose flour)

-1/4 cup packed brown sugar

-1/4 cup granulated sugar

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-3 eggs

-3/4 cup canola oil

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)

-1 cup blueberries

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat the bottom of 4 mini 5” loaf pans or 1 9” pan with cooking spray; set aside.

2.  In a large bowl combine flours, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and baking powder; set aside.  In another bowl, mix eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.  Add to flour mixture and stir until combined.  Gently stir in zucchini and then blueberries.

3.  Spoon batter into prepared pans.  Bake about 40 minutes for mini pans or about 1 hour for 9” pans or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes before removing.  Serve warm or let cool completely before slicing.  Freeze extra loaves up to 3 months.

Upside Down Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake

Sorry that I’ve been gone for so long!  In-laws were here last week and I’ve had a sick little one this week.  We’re all on the mend so bring on the DESSERT.  :)

I heart coffee cake.  And I also heart anything that has the word “pie filling” after it – cherry, apple, etc.  This is a great recipe that is pretty quick and simple.  It looks nice enough that I would serve it for brunch to friends or take to a church pot luck breakfast.

Ingredients:

-1 can apple pie filling

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1 tube Pillsbury Grand! Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (with frosting)

-2 Tbsp butter, melted

-1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Directions:

1.  Mix together apple pie filling and cinnamon.  Spread a thin layer of the filling onto the bottom of a well greased, 9” pie pan (with handles if you have it – makes it easier to turn it out later).  Set the remaining filling aside.

2.  Separate cinnamon roll dough into 8 rolls (or 5 rolls depending on your package).  Cut each roll into quarters for 8 rolls or into 8 sections for 5 rolls.  Place the cut rolls into a large bowl and add remaining apple pie filling.  In a separate bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar.  Mix well and add to cinnamon roll mixture.  Toss gently to combine.

3.  Spoon cinnamon roll mixture over the layer of apples in the pie pan.  Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or until a deep golden brown.  (I actually ended up cooking mine for closer to 40 minutes to ensure that the rolls in the middle were cooked all the way through.  Add foil around the edges to avoid excess browning if needed.)

4.  Cool for 5 minutes and invert onto a serving platter.  Remove the lid from the frosting container and microwave for 10 seconds or until a thin consistency.  Drizzle over warm coffee cake.

Foodie Friday

Friday Favorites

Four Stack Pie

From the moment I saw this recipe, I knew that we had to try it.  What could be better than layers of cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and whipped cream?  I was anxious to give it a go and dug right in.  Yeah . . . ever try a recipe and it becomes an EPIC FAIL?  Sadly, this recipe does not work as written so I’ve altered it to work so you can enjoy it and let me know how it is.  They had the pudding preparations wrong and it never fully solidified.  So good luck, my bloggy friends!  Let me know how it turns out.  :)  Recipe from Family Circle Magazine.

Ingredients:

-1 large box (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding

-3 cups milk

-1.5 cups flour

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1/2 cup chopped pecans (We can’t eat nuts so I substituted a graham cracker crust – see step #2)

-3 Tbsp granulated sugar

-1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

-1 cup confectioners’ sugar

-1.5 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (i.e. Cool Whip)

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare pudding as directed on package.  Let cool and refrigerate to set up.

2.  (If using a graham cracker crust, prepare as directed)  Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix together flour, butter, pecans and granulated sugar until well combined and crumbly.  Press into bottom and side of a 9” deep pie plate.  Bake crust at 350 degrees for 18 minutes, until very lightly browned.  Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

3.  Beat together cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until completely smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cooled crust.  Top with chocolate pudding, then spread whipped topping over pudding.  Chill for at least 1 hour or until set.

I did take a picture of my epic fail for your amusement . . .

Gross.  As you can see, we actually took a piece out and it wasn’t too bad.  It just looked like something threw up in the fridge.  Riiiiiight.

Meal Planning Monday

Well, after 5 glorious weeks it’s time to get back in the kitchen.  Feeling good and looking forward to trying out some new recipes and enjoying some of our “golden oldies!”  For those that are new in the past few months, recipes that are already posted on the blog are linked, just click on the name of the recipe.

Monday/Tuesday – Crunchy Chicken Nuggets, Balsamic Green Beans

Wednesday/Thursday – Brats and Corn on the Cob on the grill

Friday/Saturday – Meatball Minestrone (new), Blueberry Zucchini Bread (new)

Monday/Tuesday - Creamy Chicken Taquitos (new), rice, Congealed Orange Salad (new)

Wednesday/Thursday – Hot Dogs, Macaroni Salad (my Dad’s recipe – I’ll post)

Desserts – Four Stack Pie (new), Upside Down Cinnamon Apple Caramel Cake (new)

Only cooking through next Thursday because my in-laws are coming into town that Friday and we’re probably going to eat out more than we are going to eat in.  Enjoy!

And because posts are boring without pictures, here’s what we’ve been up to . . .

 

Playing with our new princess castle and sleeping on Daddy.  Lots of fun around here!  :)

Dump Cake

Okay, I’ll admit that the name of this cake is a little unfortunate. . . but it’s the easiest and yummiest dessert there is!  When we want something quick and I don’t want to bother with baking, this is the answer.  It’s almost like a cobbler with the cake mix as the topping.  So good!

Ingredients:

-1 box of yellow cake mix

-1 stick of butter

-2 cans of cherry pie filling

-1 can of crushed pineapple, drained (you can get the big or small can, it’s up to you)

Directions:

Mix the cherry pie filling and the crushed pineapple together in a 9x13 baking dish.  Pour the dry cake mix on top of the cherry/pineapple mixture.  Cut the stick of butter into small chunks (about 1/2” each) and cover the top of the cake.  Place into a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until bubbly and a little brown on top.  Serve with ice cream!

Foodie Friday

Friday Favorites