I know it's been a little while since my last post. With summer being here, it makes it really hard to decide between cooking and riding. So, it looks like I'm going to have to change up my routine a little for the summer! Of course, there are other factors that play a part, but cooking is an important part of my life so bear with me while I figure out how to adjust my schedule.

Now, I did cook something new to share with you! One of our "regulars" at work brought me a cookbook. It's
Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cookbook from the 1970's. His mother had sent them a recipe and they sent her this cookbook and a check for $275.00. He's convinced that this is what I should do based on the things I've told him I've made. Well, we'll see. Anyway, I decided it would be neat to try out his mother's recipe. The section it's listed in is called Strictly Thrifty Menus, which we all know is right up my alley!

First, the recipe called for 1 can (15 oz) potatoes, drained and sliced. I had potatoes in the pantry so instead of buying some, I just peeled and sliced up four medium-sized potatoes and boiled them while I made the meatballs.

For the meatballs:

1 pound Ground Beef (I used Ground Turkey)
3 tablespoons Sour Cream
1/4 cup chopped Onion
1 tablespoon Parsley Flakes
1 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper

I put all this in a bowl and mixed it up with my hands. You could use a spoon, but you're going to end up getting your hands messy anyway when you make it into meatballs, so you might as well save yourself from having to wash a dirty spoon and just use your hands!


Once it was all mixed up, I made the mixture into golf ball sized balls, put them in a skillet and turned the burner on medium. By this time (about 15 minutes later), my potatoes were done and I drained the water off.


Once they browned on one side, I flipped them over and browned them on the other side. The recipe didn't say anything about draining, but while I was looking at the recipe to see if it did, the liquid had absorbed or evaporated. Regardless, it wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure if you would have the same result if you use ground beef, but if it was me and there is liquid, I would drain it.

While the meatballs were cooking I added the following to the pan of potatoes:

1 can Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
3 tablespoons Sour Cream
1 can of green peas (juice and all)


I mixed all of it up and then poured it in the skillet with the meatballs. I turned the burner on medium and let the mixture come to a boil while I stirred it frequently. Once it came to a boil I turned the burner down on low.


While I was waiting for it to come to a boil, I mixed up the following:

2 cups Bisquick (I used the generic brand)
2 Eggs
2 tablespoons Milk (I actually used 3)


I started out using a spoon to mix the dough up, but after adding the third tablespoon of milk, I decided it would just be easier to mix it with my hands. Once it was mixed, I pinched off "spoonfuls" of dough and dropped it into the hot mixture (remember to turn your burner down to low).


I let it cook for 10 minutes and then put the lid on the skillet and let it cook for another 10 minutes. See how big the dumplings got!


This was really good and my husband asked for half of a second helping. So I guess you could say this got a helping and a half rating from the hubby. He probably would have taken a full second helping, but it was very, very filling. He wasn't just raving about it, but I definitely think there are probably a few things I could try differently to make this to where he will rave about it, so be prepared to revisit this recipe in the next few weeks! Until then, make it yourself and let me know what you think. It's definitely a good dish for a meat and potatoes kind of guy.