Recipe: Meatball Soup

Here is a quick meal that I make on week night's:

I keep homemade meatballs in the freezer to keep this quick after work.

You'll need:

meatballs
2 small onions chopped
italian seasoning
orzo (half a box)
frozen chopped spinach (I use the bird's eye box)
2 large cans of chicken broth (48oz each)
Here's what you do:

Boil the chicken broth, onions, seasoning, and spinach for about 20 minutes. I add the orzo about 15 minutes in. When the orzo seems to be about half way done I add the meatballs to the mix. Once the pasta has finished cooking I just let it simmer.

This meal is really cheap and super fast. And even my hubby loved it... and he is picky. It makes more than enough for 2 meals for my family of 4.

Do you have any cheap and fast work night meals?

Nutella Mommy Party

I was very excited to be chosen to host a Nutella Mommy Party, thanks to MommyParties.

I was sent a full size container of Nutella and samples for 10 guests. I had never tried Nutella before and was very interested to finally taste this product that so many had been telling me about. And I was excited to share it with friends.



The recipe cards included shared some easy ways to include Nutella into your breakfast. The pictures look delicious too. There was Nutella on waffles, english muffins and whole grain bread. Since my mommy party was not taking place in the morning, I tried to come up with other ways to use this yummy product. There is actually a website full of recipes for Nutella Day (Feb 5) that you can see here. I picked out a few for my guests to enjoy and I want to share them with you too. You can click on the links to get the recipes and directions.

banana muffins with nutella frosting


(I loved the muffins, but did not end up using the frosting recipe. I made it and not even my hubby would eat it, so I had to try another recipe.)


nutella and raspberry sandwiches (this one is on one of my favorite cooking blogs!)

fruit and nutella smoothies

I was simply amazed at all the different ways that you can use Nutella. But I would recommmend just eating it plan the first time you try it... on a spoon. My students told me it was like chocolate and peanut butter. When I sampled this I didn't quite agree... it is really a flavor unlike any other. It isn't something I could eat all the time. It is a very unique taste.


My guests and I even tried it on fruit.

You can find out more about Nutella here. There are tips for moms, a store locator, and even a $1 off coupon.

Have you tried Nutella?

What are your favorite ways to use it?

Chocolate Pretzel Snacks

Here is a quick and delicious treat that I use for parties and get togethers. I cannot take credit for this idea. It actually came from a couple of students that I had in previous years. The girls brought this in as a treat one day and I could not stop munching...

Here's what you'll need:




Pretzels (I use Snyder's "Snaps")
chocolate wafers (found in the bulk section)
m&ms

Here's what you do:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Place pretzels on a cookie sheet. Then place one chocolate wafer on top.

Place in over for about 2 minutes. It has to be just enough to heat up the chocolate so that it will stick to the pretzel.

As soon as it comes out of the oven place an M&M in the center and let cool.

Then try not to eat them all before your guests come over.

I use these at parties, movie snacks, and on the road for a sweet treat.

Venison Stroganoff

I think the picture came out kind of weird for this tasty meal.

One of the ways we save money on meat is hunting. I am sure that this brings mixed feelings from those of you that read this, but it works for us. You could substitute another meat in this meal if you don't use venison.

When my hubby first started hunting deer I was nervous how I would cook it. I had grown up with a father that hunted but we only had two different meals that were made with the meat. I knew that would get kind of boring after a while. So I am trying to find some new ways to use the meat.

Here is one of my family's new favorites:

I first brown about 2lbs of venison with 1.5 tbsp of oil and 1.5 onions chopped.

When the meat is brown I add a bag of wide egg noodles, 2 cubes of beef bouillon, and a package of fresh mushrooms (8oz???). And I add 2.5 cups of water. Then bring this to a boil.

After it comes to a boil, I let it simmer until the noodles are soft. At this point I add about 2cups sour cream and stir it through.

The meal feeds our family at least twice and heats up fairly well.

Peach Muffins

The love of my life has decided that these muffins are absolutely delicious. And I have to agree. This was the first time I have just tried to create a recipe on my own...

After eating the muffins, I think they could be made with other fruits. I am trying them with strawberries next week. I'll let you know how it goes. Plus, they are so sweet that you could even turn them into cupcakes and add some frosting.

So here is what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
12 oz or so of fruit (I used peaches this time around)
2 eggs
2/3 cups vegetable oil

What to do:

I mixed the dry ingredients together. Then I added the eggs and fruit. After mixing again I added the oil and mixed one last time. Here you'll have to decide how big you want the chunks of fruit to appear in your muffins and let that determine how long you mix. I mixed and mixed in fear that my family wouldn't eat delicious chunks of peach....ugh... so hard to talk them into yummy stuff.

After putting the mix into cupcake holders, I baked for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. I would think this would make a great bread too, but I would only set oven at 350 and bake it a lot longer - maybe an hour.

Cheesey Chicken and Broccoli

My family loves this meal and I like it because it is easy to get done on a week night.
I apologize that I forgot to take a picture of it finished before we ate it. This picture was taken in the middle of preparation/


What you'll need:

1 lb of chicken
1 can of cream of chicken soup
broccoli
box of stove top
8 oz of sharp cheddar cheese

What you'll do:

Add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water to the Stove Top, mix, and set aside. Chop up the chicken, cheese, and broccoli. I like to coat the chicken and broccoli with the cream of chicken soup. Then I add the cheese and mix it around. Pour the Stove Top on top of the chicken mix. Then bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

If you have time on the weekend, you could pre chop items and pre cook the chicken to make this even quicker on a week night.

Chocolatey Peanut Butter Bites

I like to think of these like my little candy bars. They are easy, cheap, and delicious.

I received a bunch of coupons for Kashi through Vocal Point. Then I searched for deals to make the cereal free. Now that I have so much of it, I needed to find ways to use it.

I don't do a whole lot of measuring unless I'm baking. So any amounts I give are just estimates.

You'll need:

2 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter

1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

about 4 1/2 cups of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (any crunchy cereal will really do, but this is what I had on hand)

I softened the peanut butter for a couple minutes on low heat in a sauce pan. Then I removed from heat and stirred in the chocolate. Once that was well mixed I added the cereal. i kept stirring until it was well coated. From here, I placed chunks of the mixture on plates to cool in the fridge. It is really yummy cold and can even be frozen so that it is ready any time. I think this is a great treat to add to Christmas cookie plates as well. And since it can be waiting in your freezer, you don't have to do all the prep at such a busy time of the year.

My hubby's favorite meal

So what is all that cheese going to be used for? Mostly homemade mac and cheese and my hubby's fav - chicken fajitas. This is a different take on Chicken Fajitas.

Here is what you'll need:

2 tbsp butter
1 large green pepper
1 large onion
3 -4 chicken breasts




I chop up everything. Then melt the butter and add pepper and onions. Once they've been cooking for a few minutes I add the chicken. Keep cooking until chicken is fully cooked.



In another pan you'll need:

3 tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
1 can chicken broth
1 c sour cream
2 packages of Monterrey jack cheese- shredded

Melt the butter. Then add four and mix to mack a pasty concoction. Add chicken broth and let cook until it starts to bubble. Turn off and add most of the cheese (sparing some to sprinkle on top of the meal) and all of the sour cream. Mix until you get a great cheesy sauce.

Take 3/4 c of the sauce and add it to the chicken mixture and mix it up coating everything.

Now comes the messy part. You'll need whole wheat tortillas... about 5 or 6 of them.
Dip the tortillas in the sauces so that it is covered on both sides. Lay in a 13x9 baking dish. Scoop some of the chicken mixture in to the center and roll it up like a wrap. Continue to do this until your chicken mixture is gone.



Then pour any remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle leftover cheese on top of that and you are ready to bake.




Place in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. And get ready for some yummy.

This recipe is our families. You may share, but not take credit for. Please add a link to this site if you use this recipe.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Thanks to a great comment from the adventures of the domesticated mama, I was on the great search for more yummy zucchini recipes when I came across one from chickinthekitchen. I baked these muffins with things I already had in the house. And everyone agrees that they are delicious. You can find the recipe here. I had to use 3cups of all purpose flour because I didn't have any whole wheat flour. And they were still super yummy.

Here is the recipe from Dara's website:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Simply Recipes’ Zucchini Muffins
Makes 14 muffins

3 c. grated zucchini (about 1 large)
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1½ c. all-purpose flour
1½ c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients up to the chocolate chips, and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Lightly grease your cupcake liners with non-stick spray and fill to just below the top — you may need to pat the batter down as you fill the liners, as it is very thick.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for at least 30 minutes before removing muffins from their liners.

Cooking on a Budget - Recipe #1

Did anyone use a bunch of those barilla piccolini coupons recently? Here is a great recipe to use with the bow tie pasta.

This is one of my husbands favorites. As I post recipes you might see that I am not a big person for measuring. I often find that measurements given don't fit my family's tastes, so I improvise. Plus with the little ones at my feet I often have to throw in ingredients as fast as I can.

Pink Broccoli Bow Tie Pasta:

1.) One box of farfalle (bow tie pasta)
2.) 2? medium sized broccoli crowns
3.) 1 (8 oz?) package of Neufchatel cheese (could use cream cheese I guess)
4.) jar of pasta sauce'
5.) about 1 lb of chicken
6.) couple tbsp of sundried tomato vinaigrette (kraft makes one)
7.) parm or mozz cheese

First, I chop up the chicken and cook it in the vinaigrette. While that is going I boil the pasta. Mini bow tie pasta only take about 7 or 8 minutes. During the last couple minutes I throw in the broccoli until it is tender. Then I strain the pasta-veggie mix. In the same pan I add cooked chicken, sauce, neuf. cheese and then the pasta mix. Give it a stir until it is thoroughly heated and mixed. Top with Parmesan cheese or stir in some grated mozzarella cheese for a gooey, cheesy mix.

There are so many coupons for pasta and sauce that this is usually very cheap. We always have leftovers as well that can be eaten as lunch or frozen for a meal later. You could add a side salad for more veggies as well.