Love this dish! For a party, I made 2lbs of regular mild sausage, 8oz sour cream, & 1 1/2 packets of cream cheese mixed in with green pepper, red onion & tomatoes (a 15oz can of diced tomatoes helps save time). I cooked the sausage in the skillet first to drain the fat. Then I let it simmer with everything else on low for a couple of hours, otherwise you'll want to cook on high for an hour so the veggies are soft. It was not runny & still very tasty despite the cut in sour cream & cream cheese. It was gone in minutes! Also recommend a crock pot liner to cut down on cleaning time.
I've made these the last couple of Christmases with the help of my 7 & 4 yr old. They love to help unwrap the kisses & place the m&ms. I've found that even though 2 min seems like a short time, don't put the milk chocolate kisses any longer or risk it being too melted or the pretzel burned. The white chocolate hugs are yummy too but require even less time (1 1/2 min), especially if the oven has been on for a while. Line the baking sheet with wax paper for easier clean up.
I used a combo of ground beef and hot sausage for the meatballs and tossed them in air fryer at 350 for 10 min. Delicious- my family loved them! The sauce was very bland as written. I tossed in fettuccine noodles into the sauce as opposed to serving with mashed potatoes. Definitely cut the flour to 1/4 cup or double the sauce recipe if you prefer the dish to be more saucy. I will make again but would need to add different seasonings to the sauce.
I’m not a fan of cabbage but I’m willing to try anything with bacon. This side dish is good, even though it’s not good for you. I used a package of coleslaw to cut down on prep time and only 5 slices of regular bacon and was liberal with the pepper. Great side to our corned beef brisket.
