Saucy Meatballs

This recipe is from my Southern Living cookbook. What I thought was going to be a super lame dinner turned out very yummy! Now, I used my own pre-made frozen meatballs and it made it even easier, so if you want you can just skip the whole meatball-making thing altogether (who wants to shape cold raw beef into balls anyway?) and follow the recipe for the creamy sauce. Delicious comfort food.

1 lb groud beef

1/2 cup soft breadcrumbs

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup milk

2 T vegetable oil, plus a little leftover bacon grease (doesn't everyone save theirs? :)

3 T flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 8 oz carton sour cream

Hot cooked rice or noodles

Combine first 8 ingredients, mixing well; shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Brown in hot oil in a large skillet. Drain; reserve drippings in skillet. Add flour and 1/2 tsp pepper to drippings; mix well. Gradually add broth, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, cool. Add sour cream and meatballs; cook over meduim heat, stirring constantly, until heated. Serve over rice. Yeild: 4 servings.

Stuffed Green Peppers: a faithful standby

This is one of the first things I learned how to make, and I have gone back and made this recipe a hundred times at least. Mom loves it too, in fact when peppers are on sale she'll buy a whole bunch and also pull out some frozen hamburger mix from the freezer and beg me to make them. She has to agree that mine are tons better than the yucky ones she made us eat growing up (sorry, Mom). And to answer the question in your head, no it's not really the kids' favorite. They will all eat the filling though, but they leave the peppers and what tomatoes they can pick out. I don't care though, Matt and I love them and hopefully someday the kids will, or else maybe my daughters will find a recipe that is better than this one, although I can't imagine it.

Better Homes and Gardens' Stuffed Green Peppers

4 large green peppers

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup basmati rice

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dried basil or dried oregano

1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or mozzerella or whatever you have

In a skillet cook meat and onion till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat. Stir in tomatoes, uncooked rice, W. sauce, basil, water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or till rice is tender---you may have to add water.

While this is simmering prepare the peppers. Halve peppers lengthwise, removing stem ends, seeds, and membranes. Immerse peppers into boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle insides with salt. Invert on paper towels to drain well.

Stir 1/2 cup of the cheese into the meat mixture. Fill peppers with meat miture. Place in 9X13 pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or til heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes.

Makes about 8 servings.