Tuesday, November 3, 2009

"Cloudy...with a chance of Meat Balls"


"Being frugal does not mean being cheap.
It means being economical and avoiding waste."

---Catherine Pulsifer
One of the KEYS to our Frugal living is refraining from eating out and so to "spice things up" a little bit and not feel deprived we have 2 or 3 FUN meals a month to break up the many bowls of soup and beans that we eat. (Although, I would be perfectly content to eat soup or beans every day). Even though these meals aren't always the most frugal, they are much cheaper than eating out and we always have left overs for lunch the next day so we still feed our family of four, two meals for one time of cooking.

However, we do treat our kids to a fun night out on the town when it is Pay Day each month!

This recipe is one of Tracy's favorites.
I first made this up for Tracy just shortly after Jade was born. It was a hectic few weeks dealing with a new baby and the stress of life that I wanted to make Tracy something special for dinner. I found out from his mom that this was his favorite, got the recipe from her and we have been enjoying this ever since.

MEATBALLS with RICE...
so yummy and so easy to make!

Meatballs and Rice
1 pound hamburger
1 egg
1 package saltine crackers crushed (any kind of crackers will work)
1 teaspoon mustard
1 or 2 cloves garlic minced
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion diced

Mix altogether and mold into balls.
Cook until browned on all sides and inside is no longer pink.


Mix 1 cup sour cream and 1 can cream mushroom OR chicken soup together.

Stir sour cream/soup mixture into meatballs and heat until mixture boils. (add milk if it’s too thick), Serve over BROWN RICE.

Enjoy!

Variety is the "Spice of Life" and I'm so grateful to have a family who is appreciative of any meal served. Whether it be a simple bowl of soup or a meal such as this...they LOVE it and always show gratitude!

9 comments:

Ann Marie said...

This sounds really good!
It's similar to my *winning* meatloaf! :) I will try it for sure!

I hate to admit it.. but I like to eat out. My brother Tim and his wife rarely go out.. and I admire them as I do you guys for your frugalness..but I enjoy time dressing up and getting out of the house every once in a while.

Plus.. I'm more lazy than you are. LOL!
Glad to hear from you again Kimmie!
Love Ya, XO

Ann Marie said...

PS: Every once in a while = Once a week.. or maybe even twice.

Kimmie.. are you there still??

I hope I didn't kill you with my eating out addiction/admission..

Sondra said...

We hardly ever eat out maybe once every 3 months or so. Being a single mom - I've always had to cut corners. We used to have pizza night every Friday years ago .. but got tired of it and it was getting tooooo expensive - almost $100 a month just for 4 meals. We ended it and hardly ever get pizza anymore - I'd much rather go out and get a real meal then spend money on pizza. Hamburgers are just to simple to purchase them - just throw the frozen hamburger patty on the grill and it's done within 10 minutes... I'm extremely cheap.

I have to tell you though - since I have been in the blog world, our meals have gotten much better. Better taste, healthier and more frugal too.

I always love your tips and recipes and just learning more about your life. You are such an inspiration to me... you make me want to be a better woman and mom. Thank you!

BTW I love your shelf and your turkey. Very cute as usual!

BJ said...

I love the quote that being frugal doesn't mean you're cheap. So tell me what you guys do for dates - that's where we usually end up going out to eat, but would love some great ideas.

CB said...

We love meatballs around here and I make several different types but this is a little different than any of my recipes and it looks delish!! I love the garlic in it and the sour cream in the sauce - I will be trying this one for sure.

Your leaves look so cute hanging from your shelf - I have some leaves like that (wink wink) and I have had them on a table but I may move them now!!

Brenda said...

Oh this sounds GOOD! Can't wait to try it. My family is SO glad I found your blog!
AND I have that same cute Turkey on my shelf. I painted him years ago for a painting class that just happened to be in NOV. Too fun!

Ally Bee said...

Hi Kimmie,
Just wanted to say how much I agree with your views on family and frugal living. I'm trying to live more frugally each day and have had so much fun cooking and baking from scratch again and teaching my kids these skills too (although sometimes living to regret the mess!!)
Love the meatball recipe too, my hubby is a meatball fanatic!
Thank you! Ally

Valerie said...

Looks pretty easy. I wish I would have made meatballs on the day I took my kids to see the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". We usually do theme stuff like that.

Sondra said...

Kimmie, I am giving you the "Honest Scrap" blog award. You are such an awesome inspiring woman. I have loved following your blog and learning from you continually.