Easy Peasy Recipes: Sausage Balls

I'd like to start a new, occasional, post on easy recipes that we like.  I've found a new love of cooking this year.  A lot of these recipes have come to me from other people.  This particular recipe was passed to me from a co-worker.  Here goes:

Cheesy Sausage Balls

 

 

This is my favorite breakfast food right now, and it is totally simple to make.  You need three ingredients: Bisquick, sausage, and cheese.

 

Set oven to 350.

 

To begin with, take your one (1) pound of sausage and place it in a mixing bowl.  Do not cook the sausage beforehand.

 

Pour in two cups of cheese.

 

Pour in three cups of Bisquick.

 

*Side Note: I only use 2 cups of Bisquick in this recipe, because I use organic breakfast sausage, which is not as greasy as Jimmy Dean or other types of lower grade meat.  Adjust to meet your needs.

 

I usually put in a little bit of water to help the Bisquick, meat and cheese stick together.  This is not necessary if you use a greasier sausage. 

 

Then mix.  I use a mixer with the bread attachments, and they work really well to mix the Bisquick, meat and cheese together.  The bread attachments are the ones that look like little hooks, and they come with most mixer sets. 

 

Once it's mixed together, you can take a scoop and scoop out balls onto a cookie sheet, or use your hands to roll balls and place them on the cookie sheet.  This recipe fills up one and half cookie sheets. 

 

Place in the oven for 15-18 minutes. 

 

The finished product:

 

 

 

 

I enjoy them hot out of the oven, and then I bag and freeze some to pull out during the week.  Just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and they're still just as delicious.

 

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Ingredients:

 

1 lb of Pork Sausage

3 cups of Bisquick (adjust if using higher grade meat)

2 cups of Cheese (I use Cheddar)

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Roll into balls.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Heat in the oven at 350 for 15-18 minutes. 

 





Skinny Legs and All

                                    Then--July 2011           AND                          Now - October 2012

I attribute the title of my post to Tom Robbins' book, by the way.  One of my favorites.  Putting this collage together was HARD to do.  When I was overweight, I avoided cameras.  I didn't like the way I looked.  In the picture to the left, not only was I overweight (or probably obese), but I had also just lost my hair.  Two things that were utterly shocking to me at the time.

I decided to make a change.  I took one change at a time.  I started around November 2011, and I started making one change a week.  I set goals for myself, and I began to track them.  I stuck with it.  I stuck with exercising.  I stuck with eating right.  I allowed myself NOT to give up when I had binged or eaten too much the night before, and I ALWAYS started again the next day!

I still want to lose about fifteen pounds, but I'm happy with the way I look now.  I am proud of how far I've come, and I'm proud of the fact that I did it myself (with the support of friends and family, of course!). 

I have a good friend who says, "Why ruin a perfectly good CAN by adding a T?"  I think this is a great mantra in life.  If you want to lose weight and change your life you CAN do it.  You just have to stick to your goals and stop making excuses of why you can't do it.  You can do anything you set your mind to.  It just takes gumption.

Here are some things that helped me when I was just starting out, way back in July 2011 when I decided I HAD to make a change in my life:

• Set Weekly goals: Setting weekly goals makes your goals seem attainable.  It is easier to look at the fact that you need to lose one pound in a week, than to look at the fact that you need to lose 75 pounds in the next year! 

• Track your Goals: This is important!  Tracking your goals helps you see what progress you have made and what you need to work on.

• Make ONE Change at a Time: If you are eating badly all the time and sitting on the couch, make one change at a time.  This makes the changes more manageable, and you can make another change when you're ready.  For instance, I started out by adding exercise to my life.  Then when I felt like it, I stopped snacking at night.  Then I worked on portion sizes, but I added the changes when I was ready. 

• Surround yourself with people who support you in what you're trying to do.  It's important to have people in your life who tell you that you're doing a great job, and even people who become inspired by what you're doing and begin making changes in themselves.

I honestly believe anyone can make this change in their life.  It just takes effort, willpower, and the ability to look at how losing weight and exercising will impact your life in a positive way!

The Goal Post

The Goal Post

 

The goal post has returned.  I like having weekly goals, as I think it helps keep me focused on what I need to do to live a productive and fulfilling life.  I've met a lot of my goals over the last year, and it's exciting to go back and read all that I accomplished, so I hope to keep this up every week again.  Time, or the lack thereof, always seems to get in the way though.

 

So here goes.  Goals for the next week:

• Go for a run. Seriously.  I dreamt about running last night.  I hate running.  I've told everyone that over the last few years, that I'll never be a runner.  Maybe a sprint is more likely, or a wun (as coined by one of my friends).  But still, I am going to put on my running shoes and try to go run around the lake.  I'll see how far I get!
 
• Log onto MyFitnessPal to track food again.  I think in order to lose this last 15 pounds, I'm going to have to track my calories again. And maybe I need to stop eating brownies and junk that people keep bringing into work.  I don't want to go backwards!
 
• Accept myself, flaws and all.  Lately, I've been dying to put my hair in the cute little side braids everyone wears lately.  But, I have no hair!  I need to accept this.  This goal may take longer than a week.  I have good days and bad days.  I have days where I realize that having lost my hair is definitely not the end of the world, and then I have days where I just want to be "normal," even though I know normal doesn't exist.  So acceptance, yes, work on it!

How to Throw a Fit

Expert advice from Darling Daughter, affectionately called Shoo-Shoo:

Step 1: Choose something to be mad about; in this case, a delay in being able to go swimming.

 

 

Step 2: Throw yourself down on the ground, ever so primly, and begin to cry. 



Step 3: And this may be the most important step: Make sure someone is watching you.  If they're not, stop what you're doing!

 

 



Step 4: Begin moving closer to Mom or Dad, and have a temporary moment of pure, unadulterated, two-year old pleasure, complete with showing off panties, as only a small child can get away with!

Step 5: Once you are closer to Mom and Dad, begin throwing the fit again. Sink to the ground:

 

 

Step 6: Throw yourself on the ground, and begin kicking your legs, with your mouth wide open. Don't stop!







 

Step 7: Eventually, your parents may be big enough suckers to let you get your way!