Super Simple Swedish Meatballs

Mmm...Swedish Meatballs has to be one of my favorite comfort foods. For as long as I can remember, my "tried and true" recipe was on the back of a Swedish Meatball seasoning packet, and I liked it that way. After a recent lunch at IKEA with my daughter left her begging for more, I headed to the grocery store to pick up what we needed. And that's when it happened - the store was completely out of Swedish Meatball seasoning packets! None. Nada. Zip. Zero. After standing in disbelief and wondering how I was going to fulfill my dinner promises, I whipped out my phone and did a quick search, grabbed a few of the basics and tweaked them to my liking. The result was a creamy, flavorful dish loaded with serious amounts of yum. The best part is, this method is not any more time consuming nor labor intensive than my old method, and it's MUCH more authentic. I guess you could say I won't be needing those seasoning packets anymore ;)

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• ¼ cup Italian Style Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp. parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• ¼ tsp. ground allspice
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup onion, minced
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• ¼ tsp. seasoning salt (we use Meat Magic brand)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Gravy

• 5 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup half and half or heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. seasoning salt
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium sized bowl combine ground beef, panko, parsley, brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, onion, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper, salt and egg. Mix until combined.
2. Roll into 12 large meatballs or 20 small meatballs. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter. Add the meatballs and cook turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked throughout. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
3. Add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour to skillet and whisk until it turns brown. Slowly stir in beef broth and half and half. Add Worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard. Simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. Serve over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.

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Country Supper

This recipe is another one of my momma's, and is the perfect comfort food for a chilly day. It's long been my best friend Krystal's favorite dish, and she requests it every time she comes down from out of state for a visit. It's a one-skillet meal, easy to prepare and is flexible enough that it has tons of variations (different veggies, using chicken instead of sausage, etc.) I usually prepare mine with broccoli, however I didn't have any tonight so I substituted sugar snap peas instead. It was still delish! I hope you enjoy!

What You'll Need:
1 Polish Kielbasa sausage, sliced into bite size pieces
1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen sugar snap peas (or other veggie, such as broccoli)
3 cups hot water
1/3 cup milk
1 box Au Gratin Potatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage and onion in olive oil. Add the hot water, milk, powdered cheese and potatoes (from Au Gratin box). Cook and stir until boiling. Add chopped carrots, cover and cook 10 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add sugar snap peas, cover, cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Top with cheese, reduce heat and cover to allow cheese to melt.

Click below to download and print this recipe!

Country Supper

Super Simple Skillet Lasagna

Can we have a moment of total honesty? Ok, good. I've never...ever... made lasagna before. *gasp* I've never even tried. And let me tell ya - I love me some lasagna. I've always looked up to a woman who can prepare the perfect lasagna, but the process looks long and I just picture myself spending hours preparing a gorgeous lasagna just to have it fall apart into a goopy mess when I cut into it. Lasagna...well, it intimidates me.

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of recipes around for Skillet Lasagna, and they all look so dang good. I figured this would probably be my safest option, so I started scouring the internet for the perfect one. They all looked amazing - but I had this picture in my head of how easy this process needed to be. I didn't want to add eggs to the ricotta, cook the noodles, drain the noodles, add the noodles and still have another 20 minutes 'til meal time.  I'm more of a "one-pot meal" kinda girl. Or maybe you could call me a "dump-everything-in-a-pan-and-pray-it-turns-out-well kinda girl. Either way, I decided to wing it. And folks, it turned out soooo well. It may not *look* as pretty as classic lasagna, but it is every bit as decadent. It's simple, saucy, cheesy, ooey, gooey, and just...well, heavenly. *sigh*

What You'll Need:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I like Ragu Chunky Garden Veggie)
1/2 cup water, divided
5-6 no-boil lasagna noodles, broken in half
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 
Season and brown ground beef and onions over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1/4 cup of water and 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce to skillet. Stir to combine. Layer half of the lasagna noodles and top with another 1/3 of spaghetti sauce. Layer the rest of the lasagna noodles. Pour remaining water into spaghetti sauce jar and swirl around, then pour over the top of noodles, being careful to cover all surfaces. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until noodles are cooked. Evenly dollop ricotta cheese and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Cover and continue simmering until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

I'm already looking forward to leftovers for tomorrow's lunch! Download and print this recipe below!
Super Simple Skillet Lasagna

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken 'n Rice

We tried out a new Crock Pot recipe last night, and boy was it good! It's creamy, cheesy, stick-to-your-ribs, melt-in-your-mouth comfort food - the perfect end to a cool fall day. I put it in the Crock Pot around noon then ran out to do some errands for a bit. When I walked in the door an hour later it smelled absolutely heavenly. All of the juices from the chicken and the flavor of the onions had merged with the cream of chicken soup and I spent the rest of the day impatiently waiting for supper to roll around so I could dig in. When it was time to put the finishing touches on the dish, the chicken literally felt apart as I broke it up with a fork. It was tender, juicy and just all around amazing. It took me less hands-on time than most of my simplest, quickest recipes, has only six ingredients (can you say cheap!?), it made a TON of food (at least 6 servings) and cleanup was a breeze. Needless to say, this dish will be a new regular in our household. 
Original recipe here.

What you'll need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small box Zatarain's Yellow Rice, prepared according to box directions
1 (12 oz.) bag frozen sweet corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

Preparation:
Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.  Season with pepper (the soup and rice should add enough salt on its own). Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream of chicken soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, break up your chicken with a fork - it should just fall right apart. Add in cooked rice, frozen corn, and cheese. Stir to combine, heating throughout, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Have you tried this recipe? I'd love to hear how you liked it in the comment section!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Last night Kenzie had a friend over for dinner. I had to run off to a meeting as the girls were walking in the door from dance class, so I left this casserole out for them. Fast forward a few hours to last night. I come home and open the fridge to see the leftovers from the casserole - all three spoonfuls of it! Those girls gobbled up over 3/4 of this dish all on their own! 

What you'll need:
2 cups egg noodles, cooked
1/2 bag frozen peas and carrots
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 small can mushrooms
1 small jar pimentos, undrained (I only use half)
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 large can (12 oz.) solid white tuna, packed in water - drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, separated
1/2 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan, sweat celery and onion. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add cream of mushroom soup, peas & carrots, mushrooms, pimentos, Miracle Whip, tuna, and 1/2 cup cheese. Mix well until combined and cheese is melted. Gently fold in egg noddles until combined with sauce mixutre. Pour mixture into 9x13" baking dish and top with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese and crushed saltine crackers. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and casserole is bubbly.

Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

I love this recipe. So I'm sharing it with you. I found this recipe on the back of a Bisquick box once, and I tweaked it (shocking, right?) to my family's liking. The best part about this dish is that it's extremely versatile. You can substitute any meat that you'd like, keep it vegetarian, and change up the types of veggies you add. I keep my creamed soups, canned veggies and Bisquick on hand all the time so it's a wonderful go-to meal when I'm in a bind. It's a great stick-to-your-ribs family meal, and it has a way of magically disappearing in our house. I've taken some pictures of the different steps so you can get a clear picture of how to build this baby...or maybe I just like taking pictures...or maybe you just like you :) Either way, I hope you enjoy this casserole.

Season your chicken with a little bit of  pepper, and toss it in a skillet with a bit of olive oil (or cooking spray) that's been heated over medium-high heat. Get it nice and golden brown so it's a little crispy on the outside and still nice and juicy on the inside. 

Here comes the tough part. Dump in all of your canned goods - Cream of Chicken Soup, Cream of Mushroom Soup, drained Veg-all and drained Carrots. Fold it all in together until it looks like this:

Now pepper it all up nice and good so it has lots of flavor. I don't use salt in this recipe because you get plenty of that from your creamed soups. Now comes the step where I got distracted from all the excitement of cooking this wonderful meal and forgot to take a picture. Oops. Anyway, whisk up your Bisquick and milk. It should drop easily from the whisk but shouldn't be runny. Does that make sense? Good. If your mixture is too thick, add a little more milk. A little too thin? Add a little more Bisquick. No big deal.



Ok, once you've done that, pour your sauce mixture into your baking dish that's been greased with cooking spray. Spread it all out nice and even, then dump the Bisquick mixture right in on top of it. 

Spread that out evenly, too. It doesn't have to be perfect, see?

The biscuit layer may be thin, but it will thicken up dramatically while it cooks. Now pop that baby in the oven and cook it for about 25-30 minutes or until your biscuits are golden brown. Insert a toothpick in the center to be sure they're cooked through if you're like me and don't want to chance doughy biscuits. Now dish it up and dive in, it won't last long.

Hearty Chicken & Biscuit Casserole


What you'll need:
Sauce:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed in 1/2-1" pieces
1 (10.75 oz.) can Cream of Chicken Soup, undiluted
1 (10.75 oz.) can Cream of Mushroom Soup, undiluted
1 (14.5 oz.) can sliced carrots, drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can Veg-all veggies, drained
Pepper to taste


Biscuit Topping:
2 cups Bisquick
3/4-1 cup milk


Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 350°. Season chicken with pepper to taste. In a skillet that's been heated over medium-high heat, brown chicken with a bit of olive oil or cooking spray. Cook through until golden brown. Lower heat to medium-low and add Cream of Chicken Soup, Cream of Mushroom Soup, sliced carrots and Veg-all. Fold mixture until combined into a sauce. 


In a medium mixing bowl, mix Bisquick and milk with a wire whisk until combined. Mixture should easily fall from whisk without being runny (similar to a drop biscuit). If biscuit mixture is too thick, add more milk, if too thin, add more Bisquick.


Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour chicken & veggie sauce mixture into baking dish and spread evenly along the bottom. Drop globs of biscuit topping over chicken & sauce, spread evenly with spatula. Biscuit topping will form a thin layer, but will rise while cooking. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or biscuit topping is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of biscuit topping comes out clean. 

This recipe has been linked up at French Country Cottage.