My Sis is Hungry: Italian Meatball Soup

When cleaning out the (formerly known as 'black hole of doom') freezer, I came across half a bag of store-bought meatballs and figured I should make something to use them up (since I didn't even know they were in there I didn't want to put them back and forget them again!). Thought about meatball shepherds pie, or how about meatball chili - is meatball chili a thing cuz' I'm so going to make that in the future! I made Italian meatball soup instead, and as soup tends to do it just got bigger and bigger and made so much I had plenty to share. So since my sis hasn't had many meals from her sis lately I gave her some and this is her review (note: this started off with enough liquid to be called 'soup' but after it sat in the fridge overnight most of the liquid was absorbed so it turned into a very thick chunky hearty stew. Oh, and I also gave her some pull apart rolls that I experimented with after finding frozen dough balls in the freezer hahahah, I'll give you that recipe another time but she included a review for that too!): 

Meatball Stew?? Is that what this is called?? If not it should be. HAHAHA..

My sister said I could add water to make it meatball “soup” but I liked it thicker honestly.

This tasted kind of like Vegetable soup.  There was quite a lot of veggies in it.  and I do love meatballs.  Wasn’t sure about these meatballs though.. they were kind of “hard”.  Like not unedible hard but like firm.  Which in a stew I liked.  If was on my spaghetti I wouldn’t as a side note.  Oh but if my sister would like to make me some spaghetti with these meatballs I would be happy to try that to be sure. HAHA..

Anyway- this stew was good, pretty filling and I liked the mix of pasta, veggies and meat.  Made it much more of a main dish than I usually consider stew/soup to be.

 

Oh separate note- not sure if I was supposed to review the bread she sent but that was fantastic.  I could just eat it .. and eat it.. and eat it. 

Whatever is sprinkled on the top was GREAT.  My only negative comment is that they were in tiny little circles (all stuck together) so I had to break off a piece to eat it. That made me feel bad when I scarfed the first one and took a second.  Like I was eating a second roll.  In my defense the first one was tiny… 

Anyway.. the rolls were yum. 

I forgot to tell my sis to try parmesan on top - delish!

                                        

German Chocolate Bars

 I made these for LeDonna's birthday, in the past I've made her just about every German Chocolate thing I can think of - bread, cupcakes,  - this year I googled for some other ideas and found this one for bars (pretty sure I'm going to have to go back to regular ol' German chocolate cake next year, I'm out of different ideas hahahaha). Oh, and Happy Birthday Mary - I know you also love German Chocolate so here ya go, enjoy these virtual bars :) 

The base is a cake mix but you only add an egg and melted butter, it turned out very much like brownies which I found really interesting, maybe I'll try this again without the German chocolate topping and see what it's like. 

Crust:

• 1 box devil's food cake mix
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg

Filling:

• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'. Grease or spray a 13x9 baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter and egg, and press flat  into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.
3. While the crust is baking, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, egg, pecans and coconut. Pour evenly over the warm crust and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Bake for 24-30 minutes until the top is light golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.

My note: the crust is barely set after 7 minutes and when I added the filling it started sinking into the cake base. I then figured out to spoon small amounts of the filling all over the cake and gently smooth with a spatula. Don't dump all of the filling in the center of the cake! 

recipe found here

 

Tip-sy Tuesday: accessory organizing

 Here's a couple ideas to organize jewelry and purses - I did an overhaul of my accessories closet a few days ago and so far these ideas are working great!

1. For my large tote bags I'm using a plate (or maybe it's a lid?) stand to hold them up. A standing file holder would work too. I used another one to hold my smaller purse/wallets - so much easier to see what I have this way. 

2. I removed the top of a 24-count egg holder and put bracelets in the bottom tray egg spaces. It sits on top of more jewelry in a drawer in the closet, I can easily pick it up and move it to access what is underneath. Cheap and practical - can't beat that!

and the winner is...

I just did the random drawing to celebrate 5 YEARS of Make My Day Camp - and just to keep it honest I videoed hahahah: 

...although theoretically I could have just wrote the same name on every piece of paper LOL! 

No Brooke, I didn't do that 😂

🔥Around the Campfire (week 39)

 Dear Campers ~

First of all, remember you have until 9am (est) tomorrow morning to enter to win a $25 gift card to celebrate MMDC's 5th anniversary! Just comment here or on the fb page. 

Now - a quick recap of what happened this week at camp in case you missed anything:

Posts ~

9/20 🔥week 38

9/21: face mask with clear front

9/22: tip-sy tuesday: baby washcloths 

9/23: mounds cake

9/24: um...why is there no post on the 24th?!!

9/25: broccoli casserole

9/26: 5th Anniversary (a little late!)

What's Cooking ~

Well judging by my messed up posts (I posted Sunday's on Friday, and skipped Thursday?!)  everyone can probably tell that I had a crazy week - so no dinner menu ideas for you today! Lots of take out and fast food happening 'round here the past few days!

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

See the previous paragraph! Life is the miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy LOL! 

Obviously I need to stop writing today and get on with getting myself better organized so I can create, cook, read, clean up the garden, etc this week...hope you had a great week and have it under control a little better than me hahahahaha. Please leave me a comment so I know you're out there and can enter you in the drawing that will take place tomorrow - and stop back soon for more camp happenings :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and pitiful poster this week

5 Year Anniversary Drawing

Well I totally dropped the ball and never did the gift card drawing for the blog's 5 year anniversary! Oops.  Let's blame it on my reallllllly bad memory and not that I'm just lame sometimes, 'kay?

So - who wants to enter to win? Just leave me a comment below, or on the blog facebook page this weekend and I'll put your name in a hat and draw at random. You have until Monday morning (9/28) when I remember to check hahahha. You don't have to write a big ol' comment, just say hi or leave your name so I know you're out there!

Good luck!! 

Broccoli Casserole

I've had lots of broccoli casseroles in my day, and they're pretty much all the same; so when Cathy made this one I figured I'd like it as much as any other version but I was wrong - pretty sure this one is the best I've ever had so naturally I had to have the recipe. 'Cuz when someone asks me to bring a veggie side in the future I have to be able to bring this dish and amaze everyone. Well, at least amaze everyone who would be amazed at broccoli casserole that is ;) 

                    

                    

I didn't ask what the trick is to making this dish so good and she didn't volunteer it - so when I got the recipe and saw the magic ingredient I could only think "of course! makes perfect sense now", because what isn't a better idea than using stuffing as casserole topping?! I've never heard of it and it's genius.

• 1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 T. flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 T. grated onion 
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 3/4 cup herbed stuffing mix
• 2 T. melted butter

Remove outer broccoli leaves and cut into 1" pieces. Cook stalks 5-6 minutes in salted water; add floretes and cook 5 minutes more. Blend soup and flour, then add sour cream, carrots, onion, salt and pepper; stir into broccoli. Put in a 2-quart casserole dish. Combine stuffing mix and melted butter, sprinkle on top of broccoli mixture. Bake at 350' for 30-35 minutes, when middle bubbles it's done. 

🔥Around the Campfire (week 38)

 Dear Campers ~

Oops, I meant for this to publish last Sunday and just see that I didn't push the button! So here's the recap just a little bit late hahaha!! 🤦‍♀️

Here's a quick recap of what happened at camp last week in case you missed anything:

Posts ~

9/13: 🔥week 37

9/14: cake topper

9/15: strawberry cheesecake poke cake

9/16: 5 year anniversary

9/17: MSIH: mexican jalapeno poppers

9/18: kid craft: painted mason jars

9/19: meaty minestrone

What's Cooking ~

• grilled chicken sausage, buttered orzo, roasted broccoli
• salmon, cauliflower rice, caesar roasted asparagus
• chicken parmesan, penne with marinara, mixed veggies
• sautéed veggies with leftover penne, pork tenderloin

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read "Second Grave from the Right" #2 in the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones, these are such fun books! Quick read, girl PI who is also the grim reaper. Yep you read that right haha! I enjoy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• cleaned out my accessories closet (I turned a small closet that's in a weird random spot in the middle of my bedroom into a space for my shoes, jewelry, purses, etc.) and got rid of a ton of things I don't wear anymore - ahhhhh I do love having a little breathing room in there and it's super organized now - I'll show you a couple little handy ideas next week.

That's it for this week - we are on a road trip visiting my mom but I have posts lined up for while we are gone. Stop back often to see new projects, recipes, and whatever else I can think of to make! 

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

Mounds Cake

Dave requested a 'mounds cake' for his birthday which drives me crazy. Backstory - years ago a woman in his office made a mounds cake for him and he was gaga gushing about it. I hadn't known him long when he was telling me about this amazing cake, but he asked her for the recipe so he could have me make it for him again. Well either I was the new girlfriend and this lady didn't like me, or she was one of those people who doesn't like to share their recipes, or she was mean and just wanted to sabotage the cake - because the recipe she gave him to give to me was nothing like the cake she made him! LOL!! Really, who does that. So, fast forward to the next 20 years when every year he wants a mounds cake, and every year I try to make a different version of one trying to match this random lady's mounds cake and sure enough every time he says 'nope, still not as good as whats-her-names'. Insert eye roll. And shaking of head. And clenched jaw. Because I'm sick and tired of trying to make a mounds cake that is as good as the one he remembers in his mind that I'm sure wasn't all that amazing because how could I have not come close after attempting it like 50 times??? Huh? Answer me that Dave!

Ok, rant over. 😂

Onto this years mounds cake. It's devils food cake base, topped with coconut filling and hot chocolate icing. What's not to like - seems like a mounds cake to me, if that's your thing. And for the record it's delicious so I don't get what his problem is hahahaha!! Oh, and even tho he always says it isn't like that darn ol' original mounds cake he never turns his nose up and doesn't eat it all LOL! 

Brooke added the candles, that'll teach him for jerking my (mounds cake) chain

Bake a devils food cake mix, doctored up with an extra egg and a scoop of sour cream,  in a 13x9" cake pan according to directions. 

During the last 5 minutes of baking, combine in a bowl and stir well:

• 5 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

When cake is done, remove from oven and cool. Poke holes in cake with a fork, spoon coconut mixture over cake (the juice will seep into the holes). 

For the chocolate frosting you'll need:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 box confectioners sugar
• 7 T. cocoa
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 t. vanilla

Melt butter in small sauce pan on medium low. Add confectioners sugar, cocoa, and milk. Stir well until sugar melts and everything is well combined. Once the mixture reaches the consistency of hot fudge, remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over cake, spread to smooth the top. Allow to cool and then refrigerate, tastes better if you bake the day before serving. 

The frosting is great - reminds me of Texas sheet cake frosting because it's poured over the cake while still hot, and then hardens so it crunches when you cut into it. SO GOOD!

based on a recipe found here
 

Tip-sy Tuesday: baby washcloths

Janis gave me this tip she got from her d-i-l Angelina who is an esthetician (and I hear she is an amazing one, if you live in Utah and need a facial I'd definitely go to her!). She recommends getting a pack of baby washcloths for washing your face - no little lint or fuzzies, and they are super soft so great for your skin. After hearing this idea I immediately went to Target and picked up a pack and she's right - they feel great! No picture, you'll just have to visualize what baby washcloths look like hahahah! 

PS: she gave me this tip a long time ago and I'm just getting around to posting it 🤦‍♀️, now I'm wondering about getting a facial in our new Covid world - will we still be able to get them? Hmmmm....