Cheesy Meatball Skillet

This dish makes my taste buds do a happy dance! Unfortunately, Joel's mouth has the opposite reaction and the girls don't like it either so I guess I probably won't make it again unless I am trying to make it so that I eat all of supper by myself.

1 lb ground beef
10 saltine (1/2 cup) crackers, crushed (we used bread cubes soaked in milk instead)
1/4 c Italian dressing, divided
1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 c sour cream
1 c shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Mix meat, crackers, and 2 T of dressing until well blended. Shape into 32 1-inch balls.
2. Heat remaining dressing in nonstick skillet on med-high heat. Add meatballs, cook about 8 minutes until well browned, turning occasionally. Add bouillon, simmer 5 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
3. Stir sour cream in, cook 30 sec or until heated through but not simmering, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese, cover. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
4. Serve over pasta.

A note about the bread crumbs in milk: This is always how we make our meatloaf. However, for these meatballs, I don't know that I would do it again because until they got really browned, they were easy to make fall apart because they had so much liquid in them with the Italian dressing as well. Joel just likes the bread crumbs better than crackers.

The girls wouldn't even try it so I don't know if they really don't like it or (the more probable option) it is all in their silly little heads. Joel doesn't like the taste of the Italian dressing, he says it is too tangy. I am not sure what I did differently this time because he at least tolerated it before. And for those of you who know Joel and are wondering, I took his out of the pan before adding the sour cream and put their own cheese on.

For some reason, I was possessed with the desire to make my own pasta for tonight. I probably could have picked a better night to try that out. It took longer than I realized it would. Perhaps that whole thing about reading the whole way through instructions before beginning is valid. BUT the pasta was excellent. It was thicker and wider than we usually eat it, but it had a better taste. Some of you will understand when I say it was more like a pot pie noodle. Yum-O. I would like to try it again and see if I can make it thinner. It just puffs up so much when it is cooked so I don't know how thin I can possibly get it. The girls loved the pasta. They both ate a large portion. I don't think Pilly was going to stop but then Pnut got down and she had to be done too. Monkey See, Monkey Do!

In the same train of thought, today the girls came up with a new game. They took my little red step stool and put it in front of our landing like so:



The game was to jump from the stool to the landing. It really isn't that far. But Pilly can't jump so she has to first slowly climb onto the stool and stand up. Then she gets back down on her hands and knees and crawls over without touching the bottom step. All of this is done while Pnut impatiently tries to climb up on the stool with her. There were several times of tears, but they had fun and they were playing nicely together.

There is a chance that it might not rain tomorrow! I am thankful for the rain because I know we need rain to make things grow, but really, it has been raining for three days. I have had enough! It doesn't sound like that much, but with it taking out the option of going outside, it has us bouncing off the walls!

I think that I am going to take a nice little bath after I fold the clothes. I haven't started the computer room curtains yet. I know, I know. I'll get to them. I had a few days of frenzied sewing, and my sewing machine needs a rest. Have a wonderful night!