How you know you're doing a kitchen remodel...

You actually buy cookies from the store. I miss my oven!

Meatball Sandwiches

Remember the meatballs I made before we demolished the kitchen? I used them for meatball sandwiches this week. I put them frozen into my crockpot, added about 2 cups of spaghetti sauce, and heated it up for 4 hours on high. Served them on buns with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Quick and easy! :)

Ghetto Kitchen

Here's my make-shift kitchen in the garage. Everything I need is in here except for the fridge which just gets moved around from plug to plug in the kitchen. I also have a grill and a camp chef on the patio. Some of you have asked what we're eating (I know...I haven't posted my monthly menu like I usually do to my cooking blog...but I wasn't really sure when I wouldn't have a kitchen so I didn't want to plan too far ahead this month...I know, shocking!! :)

Last week I made extras at the first of the week so I knew we would have leftovers by the weekend since I figured everything would be out by the weekend.
Easter Sunday--Ham & Twice Baked Potatoes
Monday--Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday--Tomato & Garlic Pasta
Tuesday night we started doing electrical work and some of the power was left off...so it began the first day of cooking by other means.
Wednesday--Cajun Chicken
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Tacos
Saturday--Hamburgers & Hotdogs
Sunday--Crockpot Roast
Monday--Grilled Salmon
So...my goal is to only eat out once a week. So far we're not doing too bad :) In the next few days, I'll probably post a menu for the rest of the month and next month. I do so much better getting dinner done early when it's already scheduled.

Meatballs

These meatballs are yummier than the first ones that I tried.

2 lb Lean ground beef
1 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup milk
2 TBL worchestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients. Blend well. Shape mixture into 1-1/2" balls. (I used an ice cream/cookie dough scoop to create my balls.)

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 25minutes until brown.
Remove immediately and drain on paper towels. When cooled put into ziploc bags. Meatballs came be frozen or you can use them immediately. This recipe made about 50 meatballs. For this meal I just added them to spaghetti sauce. We have very yummy spaghetti. I'll use them soon (when the kitchen is down) as meatball sandwiches. Just pour spaghetti sauce in a crockpot and add the meatballs. Cook on low during the day. Serve each meatball on a roll with a slice of mozzarella cheese. (Thanks for the meatball sandwich idea, Tiffany...can't wait to give it a try!)

Cafe Rio Meat

This recipe was shared with me by Annie one of my cousins-in-law. It's super yummy and super easy!! :)

1-2 lbs.of beef or pork or whatever meat you can find that's cheap (Annie's even used elk meat and still claims it's yummy)
3/4 c. salsa
3/4 c. brown sugar

Brown the meat in a skillet on HIGH heat. Only a few seconds on both sides will do. Place the meat into the crock pot. Combine the sugar and salsa in a bowl and mix well; pour it over the meat.

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7. With 1 hour remaining shred the meat with a fork and knife. Cook for another hour. (Annie think this takes too much time and work, so she skips this step and then cut the meat in little slivers instead at the table. It STILL tastes great!)

Serve with tortillas that have been browned with cheese. Roll it all up with black beans, rice, tomato sauce, salt, lettuce and juice from a lime. Enjoy!