Good Eats: Frozen Meatballs and Sour Cream Sauce

I have a really easy, fast, kid friendly dinner. I found it years ago on Baby Center and it is a family favorite. AND, if you happen to try it, leave a comment and let me know how it goes over in your house.

Frozen Meatballs and Sour Cream Sauce

  
Frozen Meatballs and Sour Cream Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

6-8 frozen meatballs per person

pasta of your choice

Sour Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. flour

1c. beef broth

1/2 tsp. salt dash of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

8oz dairy sour cream, room temp.

Heat Dutch oven or large skillet to medium heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. When the pan is hot, add a Tbsp of water and frozen meatballs to the Dutch oven and put a lid on to steam the meatballs. Once they are heated through, remove the meatballs and add butter to the brownings in the pan. Stir in the flour and cook until bubbly. Add broth, salt, cayenne pepper and Worcestershire sauce; cook, stirring until thickened and bubbly. Gradually add sour cream, one heaping spoonful at a time to the sauce, stirring constantly. add meatballs and let simmer.

Serve over noodles/pasta

****My Variation****
I skipped the browning of the meatballs and just warmed them in the microwave. Both ways taste good but I just did the SUPER easy version!

Also, I OBVIOUSLY double the recipe. I've got three growing boys :)

OK, I did take step by step pictures while I was cooking. LOL!  Hats off  to the foodie bloggers who do this all the time. It was much harder than I thought it would be. Since, I put the effort in, I'll share, but I can pretty much guarantee  that I will only be sharing final products from now on:)

The cast of characters...of course, I forgot the sour cream in the first picture...DUH, meatballs and SOUR CREAM sauce...yeah, well....

 

Melt the butter...

add the flour...

 

mix together...

 add the beef broth...

add Worcestershire sauce...

 add sour cream...

mix well...look at the pretty swirls...

add meatballs and simmer!

So, I didn't take pictures of the salt or cayenne pepper. See, I told you it was difficult...and at least I remembered to add the sour cream :)

Where Am I? I need a GPS for Life

I am going to be 40 this year.
I never really cared about the number until New Years 2013 when the realization hit me...I'm going to be 40 this year. Oh CRAP! I know it's just a number, but something about that number makes me think, what have I done with my life and where am I going in the next 40 years?

For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a teacher and a mom. In my School Days  record book, from Kindergarten on, every year...teacher/mom, teacher/mom, teacher/mom...you get the point.  Well, I did become a teacher and I did become a mom. I had a wonderful 11 years teaching  in various day cares/preschool settings. I also had two amazing little boys and had the blessing to take them to work with me while I was teaching. It was perfect...the best of both worlds! It was tough being a working mom, but then my toughest job came when I stopped teaching to a stay at home with the kids...and  became mom to another amazing little boy. It was an adjustment to being home and having a newborn again, but eventually, we fell into the groove of life.

I think life has been in autopilot for awhile now.

L is starting full day Kindergarten next year which means I have the whole day BY MYSELF!!! Now what do I do? Go back to teaching? I feel like I've lost my mojo. I was a really good teacher and I loved my job. I just don't know if I really want to back to it. That makes me sad.  All I wanted was to be a teacher and a mom. How could I do anything different? How can I BE anything different?

Now, I am at the crossroads. Blogging, crafting, being creative is what makes me happy now. If I could just make some money at it, I'd be golden. I know it is possible and I am willing to put the work in to make it a reality, but part of me is still scared. What if this isn't the person I am supposed to be?

I'm going to use this blog as a platform to expand some ideas and  explore new opportunities.  Time to open up and put it all out there (which is what inspired me to blog in the first place!)  I'm ready to find a new groove with life...so if you're reading, hang on and enjoy the ride with me!

******JUST A DISCLAIMER********
This pseudo midlife crisis will not result in a new 20 something boy toy...a fast, expensive sports car...or plastic surgery with new bodyparts :)

One Little Word

Anyway, it's a new year and I've seen so much about one little word. I think I know mine...

IMPROVE

                 

 I'm not striving for perfection (sheesh, I'm not that crazy), but I figure I can try a little harder to... be a better mother, wife, friend, daughter ...exercise a little more, eat a little healthier, pray a little harder ...unplug and  do some reading, learn something new, be more present...simplify life, organize and keep it that way ...be a better role model for my children...find what makes me happy and share it with others....set goals and achieve them.

It seems like a lot, but one simple act a day could help me on my way to being a better me. 

                                           Improvement begins with I.

                                                                 ~Arnold H. Glasow

PS, I could improve my grammar...but I doubt it ;)

Happy New Year 2013

May 2013 be filled with health, happiness, and blessings from above!!

Baseball Mom

I am a baseball mom and proud of it. I grew up watching baseball (Go Phillies!) and actually enjoy the leisurly pace of  the game. I can watch football, basketball, hockey,but get exhausted trying to keep up with the pace of the game. Plus, I don't know half the terms, so it's like listening to the plays in a foreign language.

R and S played soccer when they were younger, but they never really caught the soccer bug. But then they discovered baseball. L has grown up watching his older brothers play and  he was soooo excited to play this year too.

I could  bore you with the hundreds (literally)  of pictures I have of this baseball season, but here are just a few. I love how the "ready position" and the expressions "at bat" change as they get older and move up in the league.

They all played well this year, but the highlight is R, who made the AAA All Star team and hit an in the park, grand slam home run...that i will save for another blog post :)

Opening Day 2012

 

"Ready position"
" 

"At Bat" 

We also have a pitcher and a catcher in the family

  

Hello???

Really??? I SUCK at blogging.

See, it's almost that most wonderful time of the year...back to school and I feel compelled to make some resolutions. I talked about it back here, and I still feel the same way, except maybe this time, I will actually follow through.

What the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS???

I guess one of the reasons I wanted to start blogging was to keep track of some of the funny things my kiddos do and say. One of those things happened last week. Well, it originally happened over Christmas break, but we had  a repeat performance...and it was just as funny.

L has a speech delay.  He has been in therapy since he was two and has made wonderful progress, but there are still times when even I have trouble understanding him. Anyway, L was playing  his brothers' skate boarding game on xbox. I was sitting on the couch watching him...

L   (this is what I heard)  What the hell?
ME  (shocked) L, what did you just say?
L (this is what I heard) What the hell? Mom, what the hell?
Me  (still shocked)  L, that's not nice to say
L    But, Mom, where is it? (his guy is frantically running around on screen)
Me   (using super mom deducing powers, and remembering something the boys showed me earlier)  L, do you mean the hill????
L   (this is what I heard)  Yes, Mom, what the hell?
me   L,  do you mean WHERE'S THE HILL????
L (totally annoyed with me now) YES...as his guy is still running around... oh, there it is:)


At that point, I was pretty much hysterically laughing. I still giggle when I think about it.

Now, where in the world would he have even learned to say something like that (if that was what he really said?)..... hmmmmm,  probably from Daddy.  That's my story and I'm sticking with it ;)