Picking up where we are now...

I know, it's almost 90 degrees outside and I still have up snow pics. I'm terrible at this blog thing. I have no other excuse other than I'm busy and I'm lazy. That's a bad combination and leaves little time for entertaining the masses with rivoting stories about meatballs, kids and melted crayon art projects.

There, no more snow pics!

Lately we've been swamped with school stuff, football stuff, scout stuff, baseball stuff, choir stuff, photography stuff, hanging out on the beach stuff and a few other things. Like I said, I've been busy. Today, I'm busy with trying to kill a woodpecker stuff. 

There's this stupid woodpecker that has taken up residency in our favorite Willow tree and he is really making a mess of it. I'll post some pics later...you will not believe how bad it is! Anyway, I tried to be nice. I tried reasoning with him, even offered him a nice new spot in the neighbors tree. I tried the no harm approach. I hung one of those silly plastic owls with demonic eyes from one of the branches and that worked for all of 3 hours and 27 minutes. I tried screaming at him and throwing things. To date, I have hit him with a garden spade, numerous pool toys, several sticks and a house shoe. He just laughs at me and continues to wreck havoc on my tree. Today, he meets the bb gun and if that doesn't work...I'll spare you the gory details!

Anyway, I do have lots of fun beach pics to share, and I've even managed to whip up a few new recipes and crafts. I'll be back later, right now I've got a woodpecker to deal with.

Snow Pics!

The snow was fun for a few hours, but now we're ready for Spring!

 Snowboarding on the hill in our backyard.

View from the kitchen window this morning.

Sledding on the hill at our football practice field.

Miss Priss has had enough. She's a beach girl like her mama!

Coach suiting up for some fun in the snow.

Ready to hibernate until it's flipflop weather again!

Sweet and Spicy Mini Meatball Sliders

Hello! I hope none of you have been holding your breath waiting on that Meatball Slider recipe. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting it. Football recruiting has taken over our lives (as it does every January), and has left us little time for anything else. This is our final recruiting weekend and National Signing Day is next Wednesday...Can I get an AMEN?! I'm really looking forward to getting back to normal, at least to our normal level of crazy.

Without further adieu...

Sweet and Spicy Mini Meatball Sliders

The first thing you need to do is make some meatballs. As crazy as it sounds, the most important thing to know about making meatballs is to not use too much meat in your mixture. Using too much meat makes hard, dense meatballs. I use 1 pound of ground beef, combined with a cup of crushed Saltine crackers (you can use bread crumbs if you prefer), 1 egg, 1 cup finely diced onions, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning to taste. Gentle mix all your ingredients and form into golf ball sized balls.

Brown meatballs in a small amount of oil, over medium high heat.

While meatballs are cooking make the sauce.

Combine 1 cup of ketchup, 1/3 cup creole or spicy brown mustard, 1 cup brown sugar, Tony's creole seasoning to taste, and a few dashes of hot sauce (I prefer Crystal). You can easily adjust ingredients to your own tastes. Once ingredients are combined, set aside until meatballs are browned.

Once meatballs are browned, add 1 can of Ro-tel tomatoes (including juice) to the meatballs. Cook a couple of minutes until the tomatoes start to break down a bit, then add the sauce to the skillet.

Cook an additional 5 minutes until sauce becomes thick and starts to carmelize.

Spoon 2 meatballs into each roll. I use Hawaiian sweet rolls from my bakery, but any roll will do. Top with remaining sauce and shredded pepperjack cheese.

Broil for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

This recipe is super easy, economical and a real crowd pleaser. It can also easily be changed to suit your taste. You can use any kind of ground meat (beef, pork, turkey) and your favorite cheese. My version has quite a kick to it, but you can make it less spicy by using mild Ro-tel and omitting the hot sauce. 

Whip some up for the Super Bowl...They're YUMMY!

A Nice Suprise

My Broccoli and Cheese Soup was featured on

Thanks for the mention, Amanda!

Tonight I'm working on

Sweet and Spicy Mini Meatball Sliders

I'll be back later with the recipe and pics. I hope everyone had a lovely Wednesday!

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

I hope you all had a Safe and Happy Holiday Season! The Gridiron Gang had a WONDERFUL Christmas and a RELAXING New Year...just the way we wanted it! 

I'm easing back into the blog with a quick and simple recipe that's just perfect for a nice hot lunch on those cold January days that lie ahead. This is my go to meal this time of year when I'm in a hurry, but still want something warm and satisfing to eat. Now all you foodies out there, don't scoff because I use Velveeta. I've tried other "real" cheeses and Velveeta really is the best choice for this recipe. Besides, I'm a Southern girl and using processed cheese products is in our genes!

Give it a try, I really think you'll dig it.

Broccoli And Cheese Soup

1 can of chicken broth

2 cups broccoli, chopped (fresh or frozen)

1/2 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup heavy whipping cream

8oz Velveeta cheese, cubed

salt & pepper

In a medium size sauce pan, add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add broccoli, onion and garlic, and gently boil for about 5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Reduce heat and pour in whipping cream and add velveeta. Stir until cheese is melted and the soup is thickened to desired consistancy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into cup and top with croutons* or serve over rice.

*You can easily make your own homemade croutons, but I love these so much that I keep a bag in my pantry at all times.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

~GG

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

On New Year's Eve, "A Bayberry candle burned to the socket, brings health to the home and wealth to the pocket"!

I wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR filled with all good things!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

As Miss Janey gently pointed out, Halloween is long gone. I completely skipped Thanksgiving and it's almost Christmas. Seems like we just had Christmas, I can't believe it's upon us once again. I'm not ready. Our halls are decked, many gifts have been bought (and wrapped already), I've made a few batches of cookies and we've even Elfed Ourselves... but I'm still not ready. This year just passed WAY TOO FAST. I desperately want things to slow down just a little. I love Christmas, but I can't stand all the hustle and bustle. I can't stand watching people spend money they don't have on things they don't need, watching people fight over the last whatever hot toy is on sale, arguing over parking spots, and completely forgetting to honor what the holiday is really about. It all just makes me kind of sad. I'm not being a Scrooge, I just wish things were different, more simple. I know, I know...be the change you want to see in the world. I'm trying.

Let's see, what exciting things have you missed in my life since Halloween? Well, we had a decent football season. We ended up making it to the Championship game, but got knocked out by the team that ultimately went on to win the National Championship in our division. Bummer, but it was a good run. As good as we were on the field this year, things were really bad off the field. So much player drama! I love those boys, but sometimes I want to wring their necks! Man, they can make some really bad decisions. This was probably one of the toughest football seasons I've been through. To top things off, one of our former players got killed over Thanksgiving break. He was shot by his sister's boyfriend. It was heartbreaking. He was a great kid.

On a much lighter note, we got to spend a couple of days at Halftime, our new condo in Panama City Beach, over the break. It was WONERFUL! I may never go back to the beach in the heat of Summer again. We pretty much had the entire resort to ourselves and the weather was perfect. The water was a bit cool for me, but that didn't slow the kids down one little bit. They played in the waves all day, floated the lazy river and even braved the super cold waterpark. We had our fill of yummy seafood, did lots of shopping at Pier Park and sent some time down the road in beautiful Seaside, Florida.

It was a much needed break and really helped reinforce our decision to get the condo. If any of you are ever interested in a great beach getaway, let me know and I'll give you a good hookup.

I'm going to REALLY TRY to be better about updating the blog, but given my history, there's a good chance you won't see me again until after Valentine's Day. :-p
I hope you all have a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Insert Big Yawn Here

Coming down from the Halloween candy rush and the excitement of our football team making the playoffs. Too tired to put a complete sentence together. Enjoy some pictures while I recuperate.

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Halloween Fun

Trick or Treat

Give me something good to eat!

As much as I love Halloween, I have to admit I'm not fond of all the gory food tricks. I don't want to eat anything that resembles a bowl of worms, eyeballs, severed fingers or brains! Eeelck!

These tasty little toasted bones are just gross enough to send the kids into fits of giggles and still cute enough not to turn my stomach. They are so easy to make and highly addictive. You just take a roll of refrigerated breadstick dough (or your own homemade recipe) and seperate it into 12 strips. Lay them out on an ungreased baking sheet and snip and roll each end outward to form a bone shape.

 Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and sea salt. Bake at 375 degrees for around 10 minutes or until golden brown.

If you wanted to up the grossness level, you could always serve them with a side of marinara blood.

Happy Tuesday!

~Gridiron Girl