Chicken Noodle Casserole

Personal Observations:

This is really good if you like cheesy sauces without it being too thick. The aroma was so tantalizing that I couldn't wait until the noodles had cooked to try out the chicken mixture. You can guess what happened -- it never made it to the baking stage. Definitely prime deee-lish factor here. My only wrinkle in the process was not being able to find savory.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars, even without the savory!

Peppered Meatballs

Meatball Ingredients:
1/2 c. sour cream
2 t. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2-3 t. pepper
1 t. salt
1 t. dry bread crumbs
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

Sauce Ingredients:
1 c. sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 t. dill weed
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder

In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Add pepper, salt, bread crumbs and garlic powder. Crumble the meat over the mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink; drain.

Transfer the meatballs to a 1 1/2-quart slow cooker. Combine the sauce ingredients; pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or until heated through.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen (2 cups sauce)

Personal observations:
I drooled over the meatballs themselves but the sauce wasn't my favorite. I think the dill component was a little too much so I'll have to tweak that the next time. Also, given that I grind my own peppercorns instead of purchasing already ground pepper, the amount of pepper needs to be...well...reduced. Unless one likes their meals accompanied by tears... Fortunately I did take it easy on the pepper but I think I still went overboard. :)

Gidget's Rating: 4-5 stars, since the sauce needs modification.

Slow-Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, undrained
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, undrained
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 c. water
1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained
2 (14.5 oz.) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
1 (4.5 oz.) can diced green chilies
1 (1.25 oz.) pkg taco seasoning

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Place the ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, green chilies, and taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend and cook on Low setting for 8 hours.

Yield: 8 servings

Personal observations:
This was an okay soup. It said it would be 8 servings but I had to wonder about the serving size because there was a whole lot of liquid with my attempt. (Of course, that may have been due to me using home-canned stewed tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes.) Mine made over 10 cups of soup! Overall, while tasting good, it didn't ring any bells. Unfortunately one cannot eat 10 cups of the same soup within a few days so half of it is still in my freezer. Maybe I can dump it into some chili this winter.

Rating: 3 stars