Tasty and Easy is the name of the game…

My sister was kind enough to guest post on Saturday! Thank you Sister!! I like the simple format she used; recipe links and then her take on it and how it turned out. I tend to want to do everything BIG and grand. I need to get real (keepin' it real for myself is hard to do, I guess!) and make it easy to post all the yummy wonderful tastes that I come across! So...let's get started shall we??

Teriyaki Meatballs and Rice

Ultimate Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Monterey Chicken Quesadillas

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies* *other pb cookie variations

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Teriyaki Meatballs and Rice-

Ok, so the first recipe is for the Teriyaki Meatballs. O.M.G. My kids adored these and have already asked for them again. They even suggested that I make these in the crock pot and take them to our annual Superbowl party to serve as an appetizer! Smart kids these ones are! Very easy to make and very yummy.
I went a slightly different route in that I heated my meatballs by putting them in the skillet with some water and heated them thru similar to the way Rachael Ray browns bratwurst:

“Place sausages in a cast iron skillet, add 1/2-inch of water and a drizzle of oil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let the sausages heat through as the water evaporates. Shake pan and let the casings crisp up until they burst, 3 to 4 minutes, and are golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.”

recipe reference found here

The method is the same even if I didn’t cook the same thing. The point is to heat the meat through and brown it after the water evaporates. The meatballs will give off their own fat, so no need to add oil to the water.
After the meatballs were browned and heated through, I added the sauce and heated until the glaze was hot. I added pineapple, but no veggies because my kids like to make my life hard. Next time I think I’ll add them and they can pick them out! Wouldn’t the meatballs also taste good with a sweet and sour sauce? Try it and let me know! 




Ultimate Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff-
Ultimate Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff or UCPBS for short had to be the best thing I’ve made in a really long time. I wanted to drink the broth! I’m not kidding. I told all of Facebook that I couldn’t stop tasting it. I wasn’t joking either. I wanted to just pour it in a cup and drink it. So good!! And so easy!!

I did not add the onions, because well, my children. They like the taste of onions, but not the pieces. I know! I should just make them pick it out, but they would have broken down too much and mixed in with the meat and sauce. Better to err on the side of caution I say and on the side of my sanity!

The gravy was exceptional and I think the next time I make it, I will omit the sour cream and just serve the meat and gravy over rice. That’s my Sister’s favorite way to eat CP roast. I can see why! 




Monterey Chicken Quesadillas-
The Monterey Chicken Quesadillas were as easy as the recipe suggests. I used bacon pieces in the little bag already pre-cooked. Enough bacon for my family of six was more than I wanted to deal with that night. It worked well for the recipe. Everything else was the same except you guessed it! ONIONS!! I think I will make some for myself and my husband the next time. They were very well received by all but MJ, my youngest who didn’t like the bbq sauce, so for his, I will leave it out next time. Easy enough to adapt for each person’s tastes since you have to assemble each one to cook it anyway. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies* *other pb cookie variations-

I don’t have a recipe link for these cookies. I don’t remember where I found them either. I think this summer I saw it on TV or something? I don’t know.  All I know is they are good!!

How can you not want to eat these?

Basic recipe is this:

1 tube of ready made peanut butter cookie dough
1 bag of miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped
mini muffin pan

Heat the oven to 350* and use a small cookie scoop to fill mini muffin tins with dough. I took the scoop of dough and rolled it in my hands to make a ball so they were all uniform. Bake for about 11 min. When done, remove from oven and push 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Wait 2 min. and carefully remove cookies from pan and transfer to cooling rack. Finish with remaining dough.
PB cups will be melted and liquid after you push them in, see how shiny the bottom right cookie in the above picture is? They are ready to eat when the surface of the chocolate is no longer shiny.
If you MUST speed up the process, you can transfer them into the fridge to harden, but they are better when they cool at room temp.  

Click on the link above for variations on peanut butter cookies.

These recipes are all easy easy easy. The Glazed Lemon Bread recipe below seems easy for me, but is a little more involved than just throwing some ingredients in a pot or pan. It looks so darn good that I really need to hurry up and make it so I can stop drooling!

See for yourself and tell me you don’t want to make it, I dare ya!

Glazed Lemon Bread