Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

We have food out the ying yang over here. Does this ever happen to you? I am very thankful for it, but we have a freezer full of food that needs to be et. {Please tell me you know how to say that, right? It's like the past tense of "eat" without saying "eaten" because we're southern and like to shorten things. It's in jest, in case you're a yankee wondering.}

Jason and I participate in a program called Angel Food Ministries because we have a delivery site at our church. For us, it started with our church making a quasi-mandate that we had to have 500 orders to become a delivery site. So they put the yearly-pledge-card-type guilt trip on us and we participated. But now we love it! The basic box gives you a week's worth of food for a family of 4 for $30. There is no typo there. You can also add frozen meat selections for a very low cost. We've been buying the meats and other special options for 4-5 months and have a freezer FULL! YAY!

You don't have to be poor or low income to participate; it's for everyone. And the more people that use the food/ program, the cheaper their costs are. The food is restaurant grade and we have enjoyed it! So go back up there to the Angel Food link and check it out. If anything, you can buy a box to donate to a family in need this time of year.

With all that food, I've been cooking strictly out of the freezer/ pantry lately and have had fun coming up with new recipes! Tonight, we were making spaghetti {everything from Angel Food} and I wanted to give meatballs a shot.

I've never made them unless you count plopping them from the pre-frozen bag. I've done that a lot! But tonight I wanted to make them from scratch. Just like my mom , Other Mama , some ancestor made them.

So, I Googled away and came up with the best recipe and I had to share with you!
Here is the link to the original recipe- aptly titled, The Best Meatballs. There you have it, folks.

I halved the recipe and then used the advice of a commenter from 2003, Michelle, and made a few changes. {Thank you, Michelle!}

Plates are our everyday wedding dishes from Pier 1 {Discontinued.... wonk, wonk, wuuuunk}

Here's the recipe I used tonight:
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese {from green cylinder vs. freshly grated. Who are we kidding?}
2 1/4 tsp. parsley {also from plastic container}
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs {I realize this is less than 1/2 what the recipe calls for, but I went with what Michelle suggested and it was great! And who has stale Italian bread lying around to crumble anyway?}
< 3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions
1. Combine beef, garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
2. Smooth in bread crumbs {just go ahead and do it with your hands}.
3. Add water in 1/4 cup at a time and hand smoosh after each adding. Don't quite add a full quarter cup the last time.
Meatballs should be moist, but not too smooshy. They should keep the shape of a ball. Shape into meatballs {this made 18 for me}.
4. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches and turn as needed. Make sure meatball is very brown and crisp, then remove to paper towel. If your meatballs are too moist to begin with, cook with the lid on your frying pan to make them crisper.
5. Place cooked meatballs in marinara or spaghetti sauce for 15 minutes more.

Enjoy!


I think my ancestors would be proud. Or I'm sure they would have eaten it.
Or "et" it. Either way.

This post is linked to my friend Jen's site for Tasty Tuesday!

Links You'll Love

Happy Friday!
This week has been a busy one in blog world, so I don't want you to miss a beat. Just think of me as Julie- your social planner- on the Love Boat.
Here are a few links you'll want to read:

1. MckMama and Stellan's surgery! This is a wonderful, amazing story that you shouldn't miss. God just showed off and it is pretty cool.

2. Compassion bloggers to El Salvador. Oh, my. You know we love Compassion International, right? We sponsor a child in Guatemala {a GIRL!} and have been absolutely thrilled and blessed by the program. Some wonderful bloggers have been traveling this week and have amazing first hand stories of lives being changed and a REAL look at poverty. It will change your perspective and we all need a little of that sometimes.
Check out Kelly's Korner, Whittaker Woman, Molly Piper or Shaun Groves. They all have awesome stories to tell.

3. Big Mama's Veteran's Day tribute. It's terrific and I learned a lot about the flag.

4. Edie's 12 Days of Homemade Christmas Gifts at Life in Grace. This is a must! So many amazing ideas with step by step instructions. I have made Darby's Christmas tags for about 8 occasions since I saw them last year on her blog! And I will definitely be trying the fudge, monogrammed candles and I might even try a tassel {on tassels- you should know The Nester is coming out with a tassel ebook! YAY}! There are also many sewing tutorials on there if you aren't sew- illiterate like I am.

5. A Thanksgiving Box! Loved this idea from Robin via (In)Courage.

6. For bloggers out there, please see Melissa's post at A Familiar Path on 10 Blogging Tips. They are Won. Der. Ful.

7. I made my friend Antique Mommy's Ridiculously Easy 3 Bean Soup last night and took it to a meeting. Part of me didn't want other people to eat it if that tells you how good it is. It IS supa easy and there are just 2 beans... for the price of 3. Or something like that.
I'll just say your Saturday would be incomplete without it.
{And FYI, I used 1.5 pounds of ground turkey because that's what I had and Apple Cider Vinegar because I couldn't bear the thought of getting out real vinegar from our cleaning section under the sink for food.}

8. Whew! Last but not least, please mark your calendars for Mary's Giving Up on the Perfect Thanksgiving rockin' blog carnival next week. She even has a cute button {all the cool kids are getting one}!

Have a great weekend!

Yard Sale Tips and Tricks

I can smell the coffee, see the Google maps and I can hear the quarters jingling! It must be a yard sale!

As you know, we had a yard sale last Saturday and it was a huge success. A lot of it thanks to you! I sold $165 worth of merchandise from this little blog post alone. Thank you so much! And our garage thanks you. We love a yard sale and so I'm linking this post to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.

Overall we made $500- $600 {sorry to drop numbers, but that's what everybody wants to know, right?} and still have the bed left to sell {on Craigslist if you are interested} so we are hoping to make a little more than that. Not too shabby for a Friday night prep and Saturday morning!

If you want to have a yard sale of your own, it's not too late in the season to give it a go!
Here are some pointers:

1. That's what friends are for
Get yard sale buddies! I have some girlfriends who I've been doing this with for about 8 years. They will tell you what your old, scratched mirror is really worth. And they will most likely buy your good stuff before other people do. {Not that I bought/ swapped anything. Uh, uh. Not me. *ahem*}

2. Signs, signs everywhere signs
* Signage is key. My yard sale buddy, Kat, has a sister who is a graphic designer and made us 2 feet x 3 feet HUGE stand up signs. They are white with black writing {like the newspaper- and this blog- so people can read them} and have gigantic, bold letters. Put up the signs late the night before so you don't have to worry about it in the morning. This is especially fun when you are delirious and can't figure out which way to point the arrow to your own house.

* Also, advertise in the paper if that's where everyone reads about your local yard sales. Our paper has an online link, too, that comes with the ad.

This is what my ad said:
"Pottery Barn and Pier 1 furniture & accents at Yard sale prices." Then I listed several of the big things we were selling that would be the most common things people are searching.
Be to the point and just try to get people there.

* It also doesn't hurt to put big huge things out front so people know which house to charge in on before sunrise.


3. Money, money, money, money.... MUH- NAY
* Get plenty of ones/ quarters as change the day before. Nothing is going to be open at 6 am on Saturday.
* Price everything the night before so people don't have to ask what the price is. That is a big hassle for you and you will be busy. Also, make as many group signs as you can, especially with clothes or many items that are the same {e.g. All Picture Frames $1}. A good garage sale rule is the same as a consignment sale: price things no greater than 1/3 of the original price. A lot of times it will be MUCH lower. But look at it as cleaning out your house and you won't be upset.

[Let me interrupt this post: I am innowayshapeorform trying to bill myself as a used goods guru- consignment sale, now yard sale- but it has come to my attention that I am THAT. WOW. Sad, but true.]

* Wear an apron for change and make trips inside your house to deposit bigger bills {and sneak snacks}. This also shows that you are the person to accept money.

4. Pretty woman, walking down the street
Make it look like a store! We know this isn't Rodeo Drive, but it makes shopping SO much easier if you:
* Have as many tables as possible {nobody likes to dig through boxes on the ground}.
* Create "departments" for all the areas and display your things nicely.
This was our children's department:

And our home goods department {You can see clothing hung on rolling racks in the background. Dionne, my other yard sale buddy, rented those from a local party rental store for $7! They were great!!}:


5. Here's a quarter, call someone who cares
You must be willing to "negotiate". Seasoned yard salers NEVER pay full price for anything. Mark things a tad {teensy weensy} bit higher than you'd accept and then take less than that. And you will most likely end up taking even less because these people are taking junk from your home and by 10 am you are grateful for them!
A common question is: "How much will you take for this?" Even on an item that is clearly marked.
Everything is negotiable.

Quick story of when I snapped:
A woman walked up to me to "check out" with a huge amount of items. She asked me to tally it all up {TWICE} and the total was $5.75. Then she asked if I would take $5 for it.
"Sure", I said, trying to do the math then between the 3 different people I was taking money for/ subtracting, etc.
Then she hands me a $10 bill {Not a $5! Hello?!} and said, she "would just hate for me to have to make change from that uneven number".
I told her I was actually very good at math {or something not quite as rude}.

Then she walks up to another item in the homegoods department and asks if I would take 50 cents for something that was marked $1.
I told her no. No, I would not.
She told me I was "mean".
I politely informed her I had just given her a discount on all the items she bought and then walked away before the COPS show was at my house. {I can hear the "Bad Boys, Bad Boys" music now. This is where the no sleep came into play; I really was nice to everyone else.}

My wonderful husband took it from there and later came up to me with a dollar from her.
Hmph.

6. Morning has broken, like the first morning
Be ready for early shoppers. We advertised that we opened at 6am because we knew people would be there then {especially with the new time change and early sunrise} and we might as well be open and willing to take their money first!

Here is our first shopper at 5am perusing some comforters {he didn't buy them}:

The vast majority started arriving at 5:45 am and they all knew each other and were already comparing notes for the day! A little community of bargain hunters, they live for early morning Saturdays!

Hopefully these tips will help for your next yard sale! You can do it!
It is a LOT of work to drag things out, dust them, prepare as if it were Macy's, but it is worth it and LOADS of fun!
As long as COPS doesn't show up.

: : : : : : : : :

A few more updates for you wonderful readers who have been asking:
- Henry is feeling much better. He pigged out at lunch today and that perked him right back up. But he did not eat his brownie, so I am again questioning whether or not he's mine, but he is feeling better.

- Jason and I didn't get to go to this Halloween party that was postponed by the swine flu.
Jason did get to wear his costume to work, though.
Can you tell who he was?

This photo doesn't have the yellow balloons he carried around all day...
Now you know!

He was Ed MacMahon.

And I was to be Claudine Cornhauler. I had a maroon velvet moo-moo, slippers, green face mask and curlers and didn't get to wear a thing {THANG!}. I was going to be surprised all night- and be getting a facial the whole time- so I was really looking forward to it.

A HUGE shout out and thank you to my new friend, Brooke, for this fun idea!

Oh well, maybe Claudine will get to make an appearance next year.
And if you're wondering where that name came from, Jason found it here. And I apologize to all the Claudine Cornhaulers of the world.
No disrespect meant.
You did win 100 million dollars, though, so you should be okay with it; that's a lot of yard sale money.

And God Bless Buzz

Henry has not been feeling that great the past few days and I can't figure out what is the matter with him.

He has not been eating well, but has had the same level of energy with extra whininess. He has no fever or runny nose and has been sleeping great. He actually slept an hour later than usual this morning after being rocked for a while at 6:00 am {because we do not encourage early risers on holidays other than Christmas}.

He ate his breakfast slowly this morning and downed 2 glasses of juice. He actually sat in this chair for 30 minutes eating his Cheerios one by one {he never sits for more than 3 minutes}.
Of course he earned a banana sticker this morning for his puniness.

He sat quietly eating until he finally got tired of me taking his picture.

"Really, mom? Seriously?"
Look at that belly. I think he's going to be okay with his temporary lack of appetite {other than Cheerios} and not starve to death, don't you?

He's just kinda lethargic today- more than he has been in past days- and is watching TV quietly with his brother. This level of calmness and quietness has got me worried.

Anybody have a clue what this could be?

In other news, before Jason leaves every morning, we have a family prayer for our day. If the kids are awake, they join us and we pray aloud for our children, their teachers, any events for the day and special things in our lives.

This morning Ollie asked if Buzz could join us.

And we were happy to oblige, especially since today is Veteran's Day.

We owe a special thanks to the men, women and their families who serve our country and allow us to pray freely every day and sleep without monsters or nightmares. We are so thankful for all the soldiers, air men, sailors and space rangers.
Thank you for all your sacrifice. We appreciate you.

The "Ma"Tato Family {snap, snap}

They're creepy and they're kooky,

Mysterious and spooky,

They're all together ooky,

The "Ma"Tato Family.

Their house is a museum

Where people come to see 'em
They really are a scream {scre-um}

The "Ma"Tato Family.

An Ode to Mr. "Ma"Tato Head from The Other Mama on Vimeo.