Extraordinary Morsel Monday

This is a cross post from Extraordinary Mothers, be sure to visit Extraordinary Mothers for WW, Mega Reviews, giveaways, and much more!!

'Tis the season and one thing that we do each and every year now in our house is make this simple, apple cinnamon ornaments for our tree. They smell DIVINE and fill the whole house with this warm, sweet and spicy scent. They're super easy to make and fun to do with the kids!

I know it looks yucky- this is only my "crafting" cookie sheet!!
Photo property of CaseyDeuce @ A Couch With A View

1/2 cup cinnamon
1/2 cup store bought applesauce- homemade is too watery

Stir together the applesauce and cinnamon until stiff. Create a dough ball. Flatten onto wax paper with your fingers. Place a second sheet of wax paper on top and roll out with a rolling pin to about 1/8th of an inch thick. Remove top sheet of wax paper and use your cookie cutters to cut whatever shapes you'd like. I use a small cocktail straw to put a hole in the top of the "cookie" so that the ornament can be hung. You can air dry these until hard or place into an oven until dried out. I like to dry mine out in the oven (LOW HEAT!) because it gives the house that extra kick of scent! Each year I place mine into a ziploc bag and they're still fragrant for the next holiday season!

These make great additions to gifts instead of bows, and look exceptionally fabulous around the top of one of those jar gifts I gave recipes for!!

(if you link up here at A Couch With A View, the link will automatically go to EM as well, and vice versa)
Have a recipe you want to share for Extraordinary Morsel Monday? Leave it in the Mcklinky!

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Party on with your meatballs!

If you read my site, you'll notice that I do a weekly menu plan for my family. It makes life easier and I'm able to keep my budget in check. Generally I'm not the one who hosts gatherings in my home, but from time to time we do, and sometimes we're "dish bringers" to our friends and families houses for holidays and special occasions. Now, like I said, you know I do my weekly menu plan, and you know I like yummy, easy and inexpensive recipes. We'll be visiting a friends house for Thanksgiving and our contribution to the spread is ridiculously easy and ridiculously delicious. With only 3 ingredients, its something I can't butcher and with my preferred way of cooking it- in the crockpot- I can get them started, and go about my day getting the kids and myself ready to go without keeping an eye on the stove or oven.

At UltimatePartyMeatballs.com, you can find other great recipes and party enhancements for making your party a success. I've got my eye on the sweet and spicy cheeseburger nachos for our next football party, and definitely am passing on the recipe for the cranberry orange glazed ham to my mom for Christmas... I'm seriously droolin' over here! But... without further ado!!---

Ultimate Party Meatballs

• 1 14 oz. can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce
• 1 12 oz. bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce
• 1 2 lb. bag of frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail size meatballs

You can do this one of two ways:::
Combine sauces in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stir until smooth. Add in the meatballs and cover. Cook for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Or my favorite way of course:::
Put your meatballs in your slow cooker, combine your sauces and pour over top of the meatballs. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high.

Easy peasy, super good, transports well (especially in the slow cooker I think!)... If you end up making them, or have made them in the past, let me know what you think!!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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Look at my teeny tiny kitchen...

Let's chat about the products I use, and an awesome potato and bacon soup recipe, I look absolutely horrible and fair warning, I say JACKASS in this video somewhere around 7 minutes in...

What's for dinner? from CaseyDeuce on Vimeo.

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Pack in some flavor with Progresso

If you follow along here at A Couch With A View, you'll notice my menu plan Monday posts. Lately I feel like I've been able to move from my comfort zone and try out new things, new products and new recipes. I love my old "tried and true" but switching it up has been a great way to keep meals from becoming boring.

Though I've been trying to branch out a bit, there are certain brands and items that are just "staples" in my pantry. Progresso has always been one of those staples. I've always turned to their broth for recipes that call for it, no matter what. And of course, gotta love that the broths are 100% natural, fat free, gluten free, no preservatives, no added msg and no artificial flavors! Though recently I was given the opportunity by MyBlogSpark to try out not only Progresso broth, but their panko bread crumbs, which I've never tried. The panko bread crumbs were definitely what made the meal (chicken fingers for lunch!) They're so much lighter and flakier than regular bread crumbs, and of course baking them and not frying them made lunch a bit more healthy for us all!

You can grab coupons for Progresso products here, and for Progresso broths here. Though even if there were no coupon to be had, the panko bread crumbs and broth would be on my shopping list!

And since I love me some Food Network, some great tips from Michael Chiarello for using your panko bread crumbs and broth...
:Substitute panko bread crumbs for coating pork chops, fish or chicken! Dip in flour, then beaten egg, and coat both sides with panko before baking or frying for an awesome crunch!
:Instead of frying, bake chicken coated with panko in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes for the great crispy crunch without the fat!
:To keep moisture in your leftovers, drizzle leftovers with broth before reheating!
:Replace your water with broth in recipes to add that extra flavor when you cook potatoes, rice and grains.
Want to win a Progresso prize pack? This includes a measuring cup, a baking sheet, Progresso panko bread crumbs, Progresso broth, a ladle, a slotted spoon and a Progresso soups recipe book. To enter just leave a comment here with what recipe you would use the Progresso broth or the Progresso panko bread crumbs in!

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This giveaway will accept entries until 11:59 pm on Saturday, October 31st. Winner will be drawn with random.org and emailed. Winner must reply within 48 hours to winning email or a new winner will be drawn. Please make sure that your email is accessible, whether in the comment or a blogger profile, cause if I cant contact you, how can you win??

Opinions are my own, I was provided items free of charge to review (by MyBlogSpark), which in no way changed the way I feel about the product!

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