SAUSAGE CHEDDAR BALLS

WARNING - THIS RECIPE IS NOT HEALTHY! But, it is worth indulging in occasionally. This is one of my most requested recipes and I am expected to bring my sausage balls to certain get togethers. They are also my BCF, Larissa's, birthday treat every year. When my boys were little, I would make double batches about one weekend a month, put them in ziplock bags & on busy mornings I would pull them out of the freezer, take out a couple for each kid, wrap in a paper towel and microwave for a couple of minutes, throw the kids in the car and GO.  Isn't that the life of every busy working mom?

My family loves sausage. I know it is not healthy, but it is one of the foods that my family thinks is worth keeping in our diet. We try to eat clean 80-85% of the time. We are very diligent about refined sugars, food dyes, etc. but we love food too much to ever go completely organic and we are too busy to be obsessing about what to eat & what not to eat all the time.  So, we eat sausage once or twice a week and we enjoy it. We do limit our refined flours also. I have tried using gluten free baking mix and tried brown rice flour and whole wheat flour for the sausage balls and my guys said "NO! Do not mess with the sausage balls!" So here is how I make the sausage balls that my guys, my friends & my family love. I have eaten lots of dry sausage balls. My friend, Diane, told me to add a little milk to keep them from drying out and I have been doing that now for at least 15 years.  I hope you enjoy them.

And I have to add, since I take Plexus I can splurge more without having arthritis and neuropathy flareups. I've been splurging more than I should lately and even though I'm not hurting and I feel great, I'm not losing any weight, so I've got to get back to keeping my splurges to a minimum.

FYI - I am picky about the brand of sausage I use. I only use Blue & Gold sausage or Braum's sausage. We love Braum's Hot sausage & it gives the sausage balls a little kick. The only semi-healthy change I have gotten away with is sometimes I will make a batch with 1 stick of regular sausage and 1 stick of turkey sausage. When you use turkey sausage you have to be very careful about it drying out because it has no fat. You can add a tablespoon or 2 of plain Greek Yogurt to your mixture to help hold it together. Also, if using turkey sausage only use 2 cups of flour instead of 3.

SAUSAGE CHEDDAR BALLS

1 pound of Braum's Hot sausage or Blue & Gold sausage
3 cups Bisquick
2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk

OPTION - instead of milk, you can add 1/4 cup of Ranch dressing. Grant loves Ranch dressing & loves it in his sausage balls, but my husband does not.

Place sausage, Bisquick and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Pour in milk. Using your hands, mix together thoroughly (if it is a little dry, add a little more milk). Roll into golf ball size balls. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees about 25-30 minutes.

TIP - I wear disposal gloves to mix it up, then when I'm done, I just throw the gloves away and my hands are clean. :)

I hope you get to go out and enjoy the sunshine this weekend.

Lori

SCALLOPED POTATOES

My husband's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. All he wanted for his birthday was scalloped potatoes, pork chops and red velvet cake (I make Non-Red Velvet Cake because I don't use red food coloring, but it doesn't change the taste of the cake). He LOVES potatoes and he loves cheese, so scalloped potatoes are his favorite. Through the years I have tried several different recipes and they were all okay, but a few years ago I used Pioneer Woman's recipe and now that is the ONLY recipe I use. I don't even like potatoes very much, but these are amazing! WARNING - THEY ARE NOT CALORIE FREE! But they are so worth splurging on for special occasions. I don't know what the difference is between scalloped and au gratin, but we just call them scalloped.

Here is a link to Pioneer Woman's recipe

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-potatoes-au-gratin/

Of course, I change it up a little to add the flavors that my family likes so here's how I do it:

SCALLOPED POTATOES

2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 large russet OR 8 red potatoes
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons McCormick Hot Shot or pepper
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup shredded monterey jack
Option - cooked & chopped ham or bacon are great additions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice potatoes into circles or diced cubes. I use red potatoes because they are less starchy and have lots of iron, so since they are smaller, I just slice them in circles.

Combine milk and cream in bowl.

Add the flour, garlic, salt, pepper (Hot Shot), basil and onion.  Whisk together well so that the flour is incorporated into the mixture.

Grease square baking dish with the softened butter.  Pour potatoes into dish. Pour mixture over potatoes.

Cover the dish with foil and bake it for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes more.  Sprinkle the cheese all over the top and bake 5-10 minutes more or until cheese is bubbly.

TIPS FOR A BUSY WEEKNIGHT - I got these all ready in the morning before I left for work, covered with foil and put in refrigerator.  Kevin gets home an hour before I do, so he took the dish and set it on the counter to get to room temperature and turned the oven on.  Then all I had to do when I got home from work was pop the dish in the oven and let them bake while I cooked the pork chops. I think these could be cooked in a rectangular slow cooker also. I haven't tried it yet.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Lori

PEPPERONI PIZZA BALLS

THESE ARE NOT HEALTHY.  However, they are very tasty and a great crowd pleaser for a party. 

My sons LOVE sausage balls. When they were younger, I would make double or triple batches on the weekends, put them in ziplock bags & put in the freezer. It was so easy to grab a few out of the freezer, wrap them in a paper towel & microwave for them to eat in the car on the way to school or babysitter. During their teenage years, our house seemed to be overflowing with teenage boys all the time. And teenage boys are always hungry! I came up with the idea of combining sausage balls and pepperoni pizza together.  These quickly became a favorite of my sons and their friends. 

PEPPERONI PIZZA BALLS

2 lbs ground beef OR 1 lb ground beef & 1 lb sausage

4 cups Bisquick

1 pkg Lipton Savory Herb & Garlic Soup mix

1 cup marinara sauce

1/2 pkg Hormel pepperoni (chopped)

12 oz shredded Italian cheese

a few sprinkles of grated parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together thoroughly using your hands. Roll into golf ball size balls and bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The bigger the balls, the longer they need to cook. If your balls are smaller, they won't need to cook as long. 

NOTE:  For a healthier alternative - ground beef and sausage can be replaced with ground turkey and turkey sausage. However, if you are using all turkey, you probably should add 1/4 more marinara sauce to keep them from being too dry. 

You can also omit the pepperoni or use Tofu pepperoni. 

I hope you all have a safe and happy Independence Day. God bless America and keep all of our soldiers safe. 

Lori  

Party food - mini cheesecake bites

It is only April and this year has already been full of parties, showers & weddings. My friend's daughter had her Sweet 16 party a couple of weeks ago. They allowed me the privilege of preparing food for the party. I only have sons, so I am used to doing "guy food". My boys & their friends like meatball sliders, taco cheese dip, sausage balls, barbecue, etc. I decided it was best to stay away from messy foods & wanted to keep it simple with bite-size foods they could eat with their hands. Since we are in "party season" with graduations, weddings, etc. I thought I might share some quick and easy party food recipes with you. They are not healthy by any means, but sometimes we all need to indulge and party.

The menu was ham & turkey wraps, crackers & cheese logs, garlic cheesy bread & mini cheesecake bites.
Each of these recipes are very easy and make a beautiful presentation. I will post the other recipes in separate posts so they are easy to find. Please let me know if you try them and if you liked them or not.

I didn't get a great picture of these, but I can tell you they are very pretty and yummy.

MINI CHEESECAKE BITES

 

2 – 8 ounce blocks cream cheese (ROOM TEMPERATURE)

2 – 7 ounce jars marshmallow cream

1 – 8 ounce tub Cool Whip

Nilla Wafers (or Oreos)

 

1)     Beat cream cheese & marshmallow cream together.

2)     Fold in Cool whip

3)     Place a Nilla Wafer in mini muffin liners

4)     Spoon or pipe mixture onto Nilla Wafers

5)     Place in refrigerator for a few hours to set up

Makes about 60 mini cheesecake bites.

NOTE:  I add strawberries, blueberries, maraschino cherries and/or kiwi on top. I also like to drizzle melted chocolate over the top.

Other additions could be: toasted coconut, slivered almonds, etc. Make it your own. Add whatever toppings you like. 

For Easter, green coconut would be pretty on top with a couple of jelly beans.

For July 4^th or Christmas, red or green coconut would look great and of course, strawberries & blueberries for July 4^th would look great also. 

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