My Lil' Smokie Sauce

I am the Lil' Smokie Queen!  Ay least my family thinks so.  I'm always expected to bring the Lil' Smokies to any and all family get-togethers.  There's an awful fuss if I don't!   There's a quite a bit of mixing for the sauce so I decided to can some tonight.  I always make 4 pounds (actually it's not quite 4 pounds now since the packages are 13 ounces instead of 16 ounces like they used to be!

Anyway, a quart of sauce makes 4 pounds packages of Lil' Smokies.

I prefer the Hillshire Farm Beef Lil' Smokies, but any of them will work.  I always make the recipe x 4 for my crock-pot of Smokies.

This is the basic recipe for 1 package of Smokies.

Sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 package Lil' Smokies  Mix ingredients, add Smokies and cook in Crock-pot until Lil' Smokies are plump and tender.

For canning, I did the recipe x 16 just because that's how much ketchup I had stored in the pantry. I use Heinz, I'm picky about my ketchup!  Mine made 5 quarts of sauce.

Sauce for Canning (makes 5 quarts)
16 cups ketchup
4 cups brown sugar
32 tsp soy sauce (2/3 cup)
32 tsp Dijon mustard (2/3 cup)
16 tbsp white vinegar (1 cup)
2 tsp garlic powder

Slowly bring to a slow bubbling boil, stirring occasionally.  Once boiling, have hot jar, lids and bands waiting.  Pour sauce into hot jars, adjust lids and bands and process in boiling water bath (canner) for 20 minutes.  Remove jars of sauce from canner and let cool.  Check seals on top of lids after cooling.  Just add this sauce to your Smokies in the Crock-Pot when you're ready to cook them and turn it on!  All the work is done for you.  This sauce can be used for lots of different recipes or as a barbeque sauce for grilling, etc.  Hope you enjoy it!

Meatballs

1 bag Italian meatballs, browned in oven
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 c. grape jelly
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. Thai sweet chili sauce (in Chinese section of supermarket)

Heat ingredients for the sauce to a boil. Add precooked meatballs. Simmer in crock pot for 2 hours on low.

Spicy Cheese Dip

1 large box Velveeta Cheese
1 can RO*TEL Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 lb. roll sausage

Brown and drain sausage. Chop Velveeta into 1 inch cubes. Mix Rotel, cheese and 1 can of Rotel in microwave safe bowl. Microwave (stirring occasionally) until cheese is bubbly and completely melted. Serve with tortilla chips.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Deviled Eggs

1 doz. eggs
1/2 c. Miracle Whip salad dressing
2 T. mustard
Dill pickle juice
Paprika

Boil and peel eggs. Cut in half, remove yolks and set whites aside. Combine yolks, Miracle Whip and mustard. Mash with a fork until pieces are small. Pour a small amount of dill pickle juice into mixture and blend on low speed. Continue adding pickle juice a little at a time while blending until desired consistency is reached. Fill egg white halves with mixture and sprinkle with paprika.

Fruit Dip

FRUIT DIP
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2/3 c. marshmallow cream
3 drops red food coloring

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar and marshmallow cream. Blend until smooth. I like to mix in food coloring to prevent people from getting it mixed up with the veggie dip plus it looks pretty! Serve with fruit.

Lil' Smokies

When I make this recipe for family get-togethers, I use everything x4! It makes a Crock Pot full and I always bring an empty Crock Pot home.

LIL' SMOKIES
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 T. white vinegar
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. Lil' Smokies

Place ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and garlic powder in Crock Pot and mix well. Stir in Lil' Smokies. Cook on low for 3 - 4 hours or until heated thoroughly.

Pineapple/Green Pepper Cheese Ball

This is an awesome cheese ball recipe that I got from a friend of mine while in nursing school several years ago. I have made it numerous times and always get asked for the recipe.

PINEAPPLE/GREEN PEPPER CHEESE BALL

1 can crushed pineapple
2 (8-oz.) pkgs. cream cheese
1 T. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1 tsp. salt
Chopped pecans

Using a paper towel, squeeze all liquid from pineapple. Mix pineapple, cream cheese, onion, green pepper and salt. Can add some of the pecans to it. Shape into a ball. Place remaining pecans on outside of ball and serve with Ritz crackers.

PRINTABLE RECIPE