Lindsey's Swedish Meatballs

Oh how I love these! Maybe it's because my ancestors are from Sweden. I just love to serve these with cranberry sauce. The traditional way is to serve them with lingonberries. If you have time to drive to IKEA and purchase a jar, then I recommend it. Otherwise cranberry sauce works just fine. Something about the tartness of the berries mixed with the creamy flavors of the meatballs just does wonders on the pallet!

The traditional method uses a sauce made of beef stock, flour, butter, milk and sometimes sour cream. Sometimes people add the lingonberries into the sauce. I kept them out in this recipe and served on the side. Here is my variation of this grand traditional dish! (If you don't like cream of mushroom soup, replace it with cream, minced onions and a dash of salt.)

Tip: If you can make homemade meatballs I recommend it for much better flavor, otherwise frozen meatballs work fine.

Lindsey's Swedish Meatballs

• 1 bag frozen meatballs
  
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 8 oz cream cheese (I use Neufcahtel cheese)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• cracked pepper

Heat up meatballs in a skillet on medium high. Add Worcestershire sauce and continue to brown. Stir in cheese and cream of mushroom soup. Stir until you get a nice sauce that coats the meatballs. Add nutmeg and cracked pepper. Serve with berries and greens.

Apple Pie Muffins

I combined a couple of recipes from my Pillsbury cookbook to create these crowd pleasers. They are so yummy and perfect for brunch or breakfast!

Apple Pie Muffins

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 cup finely chopped apples
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
  

Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups. In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt - mix well. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, juice, oil and egg. Blend well. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until you get a thick batter. Add chopped apples. (I like to add dried cranberries or frozen blueberries as well). Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes. In a small dish melt butter. In a separate small dish combine sugar and cinnamon. Loosen muffins with a knife and pop out of pan. Dip in melted butter and then in sugar mixture. Place on serving dish and serve warm.

Heart Healthy Tip: Replace oil with applesauce and buttermilk with fat free milk

Corn Pop Confetti Cups

This is such a fun snack idea for sports games or birthday parties. You can change up the colors for any holiday. Recces Pieces for Halloween, pastel M&Ms for Easter. Pink or blue M&Ms for baby showers and red and green M&Ms for Christmas. Try blue and yellow for Blue and Gold boy scouts banquets.

I created these for a fundraiser concession stand. They sold for $.50 a cup and were a hit! Because they are cereal and come in a cup with a spoon I can only imagine how much kids would love to pour milk in it and eat it as a cereal. Enjoy!



Corn Pop Confetti Cups

• 1 1/3 c. sugar
• ½ c. karo syrup
• 1 1/4 c. butter (not margarine)
• Bag of Corn Pops Cereal (use Barrel O’ Fun brand to get the large size shown above)
  
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, karo syrup and butter together in a pan and cook over low heat to the softball stage. The softball stage is when you take a spoon full and drop it into cold water. If it instantly forms a soft ball then it has reached the softball stage. Add baking soda and vanilla & stir constantly, will be fluffy & frothy. Place corn 1/2 of corn pops in a large bowl or pan. Pour 1/2 mixture over 1/2 of corn pops, then pour onto waxed paper to cool, repeat.

After corn pops have cooled sprinkle M&Ms or candy onto corn pops. Scoop into plastic cups and place in cellophane bags. Tie ribbon around the tops and tape a spoon on the side. Enjoy!