Motion Sickness Helps

So I married a private pilot. And I get motion sickness sitting still. Not the best combination! After our vacation with a TON of driving, I was thinking I ought to compile a list of different things I've tried and/or found that help. Here are some things that I've found to help me tolerate travel:

Dramamine was one of the first things I tried many years ago when I started having difficulty with motion sickness. For me, sometimes it seems to work better than other times. This year on our trip, I used the Wal-Mart generic version and was pleased. I also used Bonine for many years and thought it worked about as well as Dramamine. I would like to point out that I did not take either of these while pregnant or nursing!



Queasy Pops and Preggie Pops are something else that I've used for many years. After I became pregnant, I checked with my midwife to make sure the queasy pops were OK and she was fine with all of the ingredients, but check with your own health care provider if you are pregnant to make sure. The ginger ones are SPICY, and the sour ones are SOUR, but they both seemed to help with the nausea of travel. (I thankfully didn't have much trouble with morning sickness.) My favorite ones are the spearmint and peppermint, though I have most of the flavors on hand.

I think I lost these after a few uses, but I do remember having something similar to Seaband Wristbands. The key here seems to be finding the right pressure point and the right level of pressure, or tightness in the wristbands.

Plain old oranges right from the grocery store helped me some, too. I would peel back part of the rind, then pop the entire thing in a plastic bag. When I was feeling yucky, I'd pull it out and sniff - easy as that! Your mileage may vary, though - try substituting something of which you enjoy the smell and see how it works.

Something that helps in addition to other things are ice packs, especially on the back of the neck and/or the forehead. I am always amused that some people are cold on airplanes - during every flight I've taken, I've been HOT. Poor Hubs, he'll have us at such an altitude that the temps are around 60 and I'll think it's just about right. Woe to him if he tries to turn the heater on, too! Oddly enough, if he touches me, I feel cool to him, and along those lines his touch feels HOT. (So much that he gets the stink eye and immediately withdraws said touch.)

I picked up some MotionEaze on our trip. I usually used it in addition to the off-brand Dramamine, but it seemed to help. I like the smell, so perhaps that was part of it. I think it could be used on kids, so long as they didn't rub their fingers in it and then rub their eyes, and I can't say that sucking on fingers covered in the oil would be a good idea, either.


By far the most expensive motion sickness help I've used is ReliefBand. My mom gave it to me as a Christmas present in the hopes that it would help me be a better air passenger. Basically, it looks like a watch, but you apply a bit of the included gel and position the "face" of the "watch" over the inside of your wrist. It delivers a zap, basically an electric shock, I guess, every several seconds. (It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise!) There are five strength levels, and while I have used the fifth (highest) one, I do find it uncomfortable. My experience is that it doesn't necessarily keep me from feeling yucky, but it does seem to help me feel better sooner, once I stop moving.

Finally, I have found that riding in the front and/or driving is a big help, driving especially. If I'm concentrating on the road and I'm the one making the car move (haven't tried piloting the plane yet and don't particularly want to!), it seems to keep my mind off being sick. If I must sit in the back for some reason, I try to get a straight line of sight out the windshield - the middle seems to be the worst for me because the rear-view mirror is in the way. Reading, or doing other things that keep me from looking straight ahead (writing, crocheting, whatever) all contribute to the urpies

EDIT: one more thing that helps me - sleeping. Especially if you have a little one that struggles with motion sickness, you might try to time the curviest part of your trip for early afternoon, when the urge to nap is the strongest. (Or whenever their best nap time is.) On our vacation, I napped several of the days right after lunch while we were in the car and it really helped. Or, you might try either starting your trip at night after bedtime or getting up very early in the morning, provided your little one (or big one, whoever the sickie is) will go to sleep once strapped in. Do note that sleeping in the car isn't really good quality sleep like in a bed where you can stretch out and move around to get comfortable, but it can be a help to get to where you need to go.

A gift my mom gave Hubs several years ago has come in handy - a case of sickie sacks. Hubs keeps a few in his flight bag, and they've been needed on a few occasions, unfortunately.

Anybody else know of any good motion sickness helps? I'm always looking to add to the list!

Weekly Link Roundup - Hot Date Edition

Since we're Goose-less, I told Hubs he needed to take me out on a date tonight. Nothing too fancy - dinner, and a bit of shopping when we're not rushing around with a huge list to grab before heading home for bedtime.

Anyway. Lots o' link love this week!

MAKE
Lori posted about Dollar Store Crafts which I haven't perused thoroughly but I've already seen some similar projects to those which have been recently mentioned here come up on there, so I'm guessing there are a few tweaks for making them on the cheap. Looks like some good ideas!

I got a kick out of How to Turn an Ugly Coffee Table Into a Bench at Curbly. It really is pretty cute after its makeover.

Cheap, easy princess wand at No Time For Flashcards - most importantly, it appears to hold up well to toddlers.

As a lover of all fall decorations, I was smitten by these Fabric Pumpkins at The Idea Room.

EAT
I actually tried this Yogurt Swirled with Peanut Butter, Honey, and Graham Crackers and it's as good as it sounds. I think I needed to go lighter on the peanut butter and honey and heavier on the yogurt, personally. No amounts are given, so it's an honest-to-goodness dump and stir. (@ The Kitchn)

Previously mentioned, I canned some of this Roasted Tomato Sauce though I was too stuffed up to smell it and haven't tried eating any yet. Personally, I'm thinking I prefer something thicker for pasta sauce, so I might have to try reducing a jar and see what happens. Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog gives it high marks, and she's pretty trustworthy. :>)

These Rice Crispie Treats for the Indecisive at the Entertaining Kitchen have everything I love to eat but the kitchen sink. I'm thinking it might be in my hips' best interest that I NOT make these. (Thanks a lot, Valerie . . .)

Something I've not yet wrapped my mind around yet, here is Heather's link on How to Make Homemade Hamburger Buns (which of course can be shaped for hotdogs, brats, etc.). Love that they can be frozen! A pack of buns around here tends to turn green before we get them all used up, unfortunately.

DO
I was intrigued at this list of 75 Things You Can Compost, But Thought You Couldn't at Planet Green. My dad has a compost pile, though even though they add to it frequently, it just keeps packing down and he never bothers using it on the garden. And he told me that he wouldn't bother composting if he had chickens, so maybe it isn't something I'll pursue. (Do you compost, Lori?)

Skip to My Lou has a post with links on Fun Ways to Wrap Packages, to help you plan ahead for the holidays. I subscribe to the theory that a gift can be greatly improved by its packaging, regardless of the cost. (cough*thrifted*cough)

Tipnut has a page on Seasoning Cast Iron Cookware. I have one skillet and am afraid of it. Since I'm getting canning down, perhaps that'll be next on my To Figure Out list. (What, don't you have one of those?)

As usual, this will be great for when Goose is older, but here is a Creation Station at Crafty Crow, similar to Valerie's previously mentioned Invention Kit.

Lots of good ideas from Trent at the Simple Dollar in 12 Clever Substitutions That Save Money (Nearly) Effortlessly - most interesting to me was the suggestion to use ammonia in cleaning your oven.

LEARN
Faith and Family Live had a wonderful article in honor of The Birth of Mary. St. Anne, Mary, and so many others give us a wonderful example as mothers.

I thought this was an interesting article on Helicopter Parenting, Baby Boomers, and Financial Dependence at The Simple Dollar. We want the best for our kids, but sometimes we don't think about the long term cost . . .

Happy surfing!

About Me, Part 3

So during part 2, I related that I had moved to Colorado Springs to coordinate a mission located in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. I managed to do OK at my job. The first several times I had to speak at churches were pretty nerve-wracking (I won't even tell you what I blurted out by accident at the first one), but I soon got more comfortable with my speech, myself, and my job and had a lot of fun meeting people and visiting beautiful places. (Also, I had no idea that so many people slept during the sermon at church. You hear about it, but it's a much different thing to see it from the front!)

One of my favorite visits was to Leadville, Colorado. On the twisty, windy drive there, I endured road construction and people in RVs with no agenda and certainly not my sense of urgency. About halfway into my trip, I realized I was NOT going to make it on time. I left a message for the priest, and got there as soon as I could, "sneaking" into the front row once I made it. (Yeah, try doing THAT sometime.) The Gospel reading was on Mary and Martha (Luke 10:39-42). I tossed parts of my carefully-written speech out the proverbial window, and spoke about how I really had Martha's heart that day. I then connected it back with the missioners' work and how they helped me see countless ways to be more like Mary - and it ended up being one of my best talks ever.

Then came September 10, 2001. I don't remember where I was when I received the call; I don't even remember all of the details now. Two of our missioners were in a car accident while attending a funeral. Miraculously, no one else was hurt aside from bumps and bruises, but for a bit, we weren't sure how badly our ladies were injured. I woke up the morning of September 11th with my bags packed, intending to get a plane ticket and travel to Hermosillo as soon as possible. As I was getting ready for work, the morning radio show indicated that something weird had happened in New York. The news kept getting worse and worse with regards to travel and more importantly, with regards to what was happening to our country. I spent many hours over the next several days with our travel agent, but there wasn't anything she could do. We finally put the adult son of one of the missioners on a bus so he could be with his mother.

It seems like forever now, but I think it was sometime within the next day or two that we learned one missioner ruptured her spleen, and after surgery and receiving blood donated by a parishioner, she was stable. The other missioner broke her collarbone and a few teeth. Once air restrictions were lifted, one of my bosses flew down to help sort things out.

I have never felt so inadequate, so unqualified, so ineffective as I did during that time. My seven years of high school and college Spanish didn't go far at all while talking on the phone to hospital staff. I didn't know how to deal with pretty much anything that had happened, let alone help the missioners. Plus there were so many things going on in our country at that time - I remember waking up in the middle of the night and hearing the National Guard planes patrolling the city while the flight ban was still in place. I didn't know at the time that it was the good guys and I was *terrified*.

The two injured missioners returned home, and I did some this-and-that stuff to help them re-acclimate to life here and recuperate from their injuries. I actually managed to recruit one missioner to serve, but with only him and one other female missioner there, the dangers of our neighborhood really began to surface. Again, I don't remember the specifics, but I seem to remember they had some close calls with people trying to break in, likely high on drugs. Around Christmastime, it became clear that it was no longer safe for them to remain in Hermosillo.

Personally, I was so shaken by my inability to perform my job after the accident, I decided it was time for me to move on. I was homesick, and tired of living in a "big city" where I didn't know very many people. (Though I was part of a very wonderful young adults group there . . . I think they are now called Gravity, since they are "grounded in Christ" - very cool!)

Anyway. I found a job about an hour from my hometown back in Nebraska and jumped at the chance to go back home. The teaser for next time - at this point, I was six months away from meeting a certain handsome Lutheran cow farmer. Stay tuned! :>)

Also, please leave a comment - where were you when you learned what was happening on September 11, 2001? How did it affect you?

7 Quick Takes, No Goose Edition 2

--1--
Goose went to Grandma's again. She left this afternoon, after her nap. I'm already lonely. Hubs keeps doing our little "goose call" (like he's trying to call her in) and it makes me miss her more!

--2--
This week, I canned applesauce. Except I left the peels on, then ran it through my canning colander (that looks like these - I don't have a pic of mine!) I thought about blending the peels in, but they'd have needed to cook for longer and I was running short on time.

--3--
Then I canned more tomato juice. (This tip from Heather made a HUGE difference in my mess level - why didn't I think of that???)

--4--
Then I canned some roasted tomato sauce. Thanks to Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog for pointing me toward that link! The bummer thing was that I was too stuffed up to smell it!

--5--
I also canned some salsa, using a recipe from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I definitely wore gloves to avoid jalapeño hands.

--6--
Thankfully I seem to be getting over my cold quickly. After getting up so early to make salsa, I got to bed at a good time Tuesday night. But I was pulling a batch of tomato sauce out of the canner at 12:30 this morning - ouch. I actually have one batch left to can, but decided to take a bit of a break today so I put it in the refrigerator and will get it done tomorrow. And I'm extra thankful my nose isn't running constantly like it was!

--7--
Doing all this canning has really been tough on my tennis elbow. My chiropractor showed me a stretching trick with a rubber band to help strengthen the muscles and hopefully help it, but for now, it just aches. And, I'm a weenie. :>)

I have lots of great links for my reading the whole internet post this weekend, hope to see you later!

Also please see this post to learn how September 10, 2001, was as significant for me as September 11th, and I'd love for you to leave a comment over there of where you were when you learned of the events of September 11, 2001.

Make Your Own Reusable Swiffer Duster

A while back, I used this reusable swiffer duster pattern on Flickr to make a refill for my Swiffer duster out of microfiber towels. I'll admit it doesn't work quite as well as the actual dusters - they are kind of stiff, where the towel is floppy. It works well enough, and is reusable! I toss it in with my cloth diapers, since I like to use fabric softener on the rest of my laundry.

The best part is that Goose loves it, and will run around "dusting". Her technique needs a bit of work, but I figure at a minimum, I'm planting seeds for later. That reminds me, I'm due to dust again . . .

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

About Me Part 2

Kitchen Tip Tuesday is taking two weeks off, so I thought I'd better come up with *something* else to post about, eh? :>) I managed to come down with a terrible head cold this week and am trying to get more things canned, so that's keeping me busy. Yesterday was a LOOOONG day - I couldn't sleep and finally got up around 4 AM to make salsa, thinking I could get it done and get a nap later. I didn't want to run the food processor thinking it might wake Goose, but by the time I got everything chopped and simmering, she was up for the day anyway.

By the time I put Goose down for her nap yesterday, I was *so* ready to eat my lunch and lay down, but she didn't take a very long nap. When I finally went in to get her, I discovered why - I'd accidentally shut her very best friend, our white cat, in with her. I think they had a good time, but there wasn't much sleeping. We all made it to bedtime without too many trials, thankfully.

So. As noted here in part 1, I knew within a few months of working my first job after college that Sam's Club didn't hold much of a future for me. I worked with head hunters, scoured the classified ads, networked the best I knew how, and applied anywhere and everywhere.

I finally landed at a marketing research company. The president hired me and told me I could pick one of three or four departments to work in, but just kind of tossed me into one of them for the afternoon. They took pity on me and treated me very well, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. The next morning, I went in and said I wanted to write reports.

That job was actually pretty fun for a "stats geek" like me - and actually, that was my suggestion for the name of our company softball team. In my department, we would get a data file of statistics, create graphs, and then write out explanations. I met a fellow from the neighboring department who was also on the softball team and we began dating. At that point, I was still very lonely, and I fancied myself in love. We wanted to get married, so I co-signed for a diamond ring (and didn't exactly see THAT as a red flag yet, sigh) and he proposed.

My parents were less than impressed, and our co-workers were surprised because we had kept our relationship pretty quiet. I jumped into making wedding plans because I so badly wanted to be in love and married, but within a month, I knew it was never going to happen. I didn't break things off, though. I was in a city where I didn't know many people, and we did have fun. Plus he needed me, and for some reason, women seem to like to be needed.

I commenced another job search that summer. I had piled up my vacation time and spent a month traveling in Mexico. My roommate from the Puebla trip and I traveled La Ruta Maya and visited a number of lovely ruins starting in Cozumel, hitting Chichen Itza, swinging down through Chiapas, across Guatemala, and into Belize. It was an amazing time. I returned about the time of my two-year anniversary with the company and turned in my notice. A former co-worker (who just happens to own a lovely calico cat quite similar to mine) had connected me with a job in Colorado, and I was ready to begin the newest chapter.

Looking back now, I still don't exactly understand why I hadn't broken off my engagement yet. I knew it wasn't going to work out. But as I moved to yet another new city where I knew no one, I needed something familiar.

My job was fascinating - I was hired to coordinate a mission that the three dioceses in Colorado sponsored in Mexico. The office had been at the Archdiocese of Denver but moved to the Diocese of Colorado Springs when I began. I was lucky that a number of women there were nearly old enough to be my mothers, and they took me in.

As part of the job, I traveled around the state speaking at parishes for mission appeals to raise funds for the mission and just to raise awareness of our activities. I wrote articles for the diocesan newspapers. And I got paid to travel to Mexico! Our mission was located in Hermosillo, which is a few hours south of Tucson, Ariz.

Hmm, I think this is a good place to stop for now. Note that I moved to the Springs in 2000, and as a "teaser", I'll tell you that September 10th, 2001 was as significant for me as September 11th, 2001. Until next time . . .

Happy Labor Day!

I'm totally stealing this from Amy. Though I only have one labor to discuss.

How long was your labor?
Almost four days . . . with pretty tough labor for about sixteen hours.

How did you know you were in labor?
Contractions! They got serious after we had the car seat installed. :>)

Where did you deliver?
Hospital, though I'd have jumped on a birth center if it were available, and if the laws were favorable to allow home birth attended by a midwife, I'd have seriously considered it.

Drugs?
Sigh. I withstood 3.75 of the nearly 4 days of labor naturally. I even handled the pitocin. But when it became clear that Goose had to be yanked out with forceps, the OB on duty required me to have an epidural. I hated it.

C-section?
Thank the Lord, no.

Who delivered?
Sigh again. My Certified Nurse-Midwife was there nearly all the time at the hospital but an OB had to swoop in for the forceps.

Someday, I'll post Goose's birth story, since I'm a huge birth story junkie. I'd love to hear yours - leave a comment or link!

Weekly Link Roundup - Extravaganza Edition

Goose, Hubs's little sister, and I went to an "Extravaganza" yesterday - no kidding. It's mostly an antique fair with some crafts and other randomness thrown in. I spent somewhere around $20 and came home with three little Care Bears for the honker (she's nuts about them), a couple of books, and a tractor. Goose's antie also bought her a little . . . umm . . . either it's a metal purse or a candy tin with a strap. Either way, it has Care Bears on it and her Care Bears fit in it.

Please note that I'm not huge on buying a bunch of character stuff, but it sure did keep her happy the entire two hours we walked around the place (plus an hour at Wal-Mart, which was past her naptime), and she's played with them several times since. Hey, I'm not a grinch, either. :>)

Oh, and we almost got into a car accident that would've been my fault - I needed to make a left turn on a rather busy road with no stoplight and as I turned, I noticed a van that I hadn't seen before. Praise God and thanks to our guardian angels, the van was able to stop in time. Whew.

Other than that, we've been picking things from the garden and I've been working on canning! So far so good, I think . . . [By the way, I've picked a bunch of gourds and I have a ton of Indian corn from previous years. I was thinking about trying to sell it and make a few bucks, but I don't know where to price it. Any ideas? I definitely want to sell for less than the local garden centers *highway robbery* but I don't want to give it away, either. Thoughts?]

On to happier things! Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog is giving away a copy of Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home. Head over by clicking on the first link to sign up!

MAKE
I am head over heels for these mini crinkly taggie squares at Chasing Cheerios that Melissa found via baby crinkle squares at Joy's Hope. And, as luck would have it, I have a friend that was kind enough to have given birth to a sweet baby girl a few weeks ago.

Wedding season for this year is almost over, but I'm going to hang onto these ideas at Skip To My Lou for Homemade Wedding Gift Ideas. *cough*could've used that a couple of months ago!*cough* Next year . . .

Now that I see a picture, it's kind of a "well, of course!" idea - apple vases at Craftzine. When I worked for the Diocese of Colorado Springs, we used apples as candle holders for an event. Very cute!

I got a big kick out of this Colorful Forest at No Time For Flashcards. I'm thinking the hole punching would have to take place over a number of sessions so I wouldn't go crazy, or I need to teach Goose how to run the hole punch, which could have some interesting results (i.e. I can see her trying it out on the cat . . . )

DO
She's not blogging anymore, but there are a ton of ideas at She Does Hair for fixing little girls' hair. CUTE! Of course, we'd have to have somewhere to go to make it worth the time, but I digress.

EAT
Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog has a hilarious post on Bacon Bowls that are just what they sound like but better.

Katie at Kitchen Stewardship posted a link back to this older post on walnut-oat pie crust as a substitute for a graham cracker crust. Sounds good to me!

TRY
I have been on a quest forever, it seems, to find an insect repellent that I'm comfortable using on myself and my toddler. I hate having to wash off the icky, greasy chemicals. Katie at Kitchen Stewardship posted A Must-Have Supply for Camping in which she sings the praises of Shakalee's H2. It's a soap AND a bug repellent? I gotta check this stuff out! Just as soon as I figure out which distributor is actually close to me . . .

Here is another recipe for homemade fabric softener. Mixing baking soda and vinegar for this purpose never occurred to me, but the reviews are good! (Wonder if I can use Downy instead of essential oils for fragrance? I'm all about the April Fresh!)

Cutting and Freezing Jalapeños

The pepper plants in my garden continue to produce well, and I still have some blooms so it looks like we'll be getting peppers up until it freezes. (Which, based on the buzzing insects - locusts or cicadas, whatever you call them - may not be too far away!) I canned some jalapeños but I like to freeze some, too.

Kitchen tip: ALWAYS wear gloves when cutting jalapeños. Seriously. It is SO NOT worth the burn! You can get plastic or latex gloves similar to what food service workers wear that are pretty cheap, but they can be a bit flimsy. Replace them as soon as you notice them sticking to your hand - that means you likely have a leak somewhere. Wash your hands immediately. DO NOT rub your face, eyes, or anything else. If you wear contacts, I highly recommend removing them before working on the jalapeños just in case. That is the reason Alton Brown always wears glasses now.

If you do find yourself suffering from "jalapeño hands", you can visit this post by Newly Purnell for a number of suggestions for relief. (warning - some comments are a bit crass, and some contain swear words - that pain would drive a saint to drink, though . . .) It sounds like different things work for different people. Some that I noticed included:
* milk - I recommend pouring on a cloth or paper towel and applying that to the burning area
* rubbing alcohol (also pour on cloth and apply) and/or hand sanitizer
* rubbing the affected area on something made of stainless steel if possible
* paste made of baking soda and water
* Calamine lotion
* An anti-oil facial astringent or anti-oil acne cream containing benzoyl peroxide
* honey
and many, many more.

Actually, I'm thinking I might declare a pair of rubber gloves (like those used for washing dishes) for jalapeño use only, because I tend to use my left thumbnail and index fingernail to scrape out seeds and membranes, which eventually weakens the glove and that leads to a very high likelihood of jalapeño hands.

To freeze "whole" jalapeños, I cut the tops off, then run the tip of my knife around the top of the pepper between the flesh and the seed pod in the center, through the ribs, or membranes. I then make one cut down to the bottom tip. I open the pepper up, remove the seed pod, try to remove as much of the ribs as I can, and all the loose seeds. I then put them in a freezer zip top bag and freeze. Today I fit about 32 jalapeños per quart bag, though I could have packed a few more in if needed.

Hubs likes jalapeños but isn't crazy about cream cheese, so the standard jalapeño popper recipes aren't his cup of tea. A few years ago, I came across a recipe for Jalapeño Chicken Wraps in a Taste of Home magazine that Hubs really likes.

I found that in order to get the bacon as crisp as he likes it, I needed to pre-cook the bacon if I used the grill. I have also made them in the oven, and that seems to crisp the bacon better.

Enjoy your hot peppers - but do it safely! And for more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes!

Porcupine Meatballs

One of my favorite meals at my grandma's house when I was little was porcupine meatballs. Of course, it may have been influenced by the macaroni and cheese and homemade bread she served with it - and I'm sure there was some sort of vegetable, but it has certainly faded to the background. If my memory serves correctly, once I grew up I asked for the recipe and she just used tomato sauce. That doesn't quite fit with my grown-up palate (or the memory, but I digress), so I set out to create my own.

I've actually combined two recipes, one that I found somewhere for the meatballs themselves, and another for the sauce. Perhaps I'd better back up - in case you aren't familiar with porcupine meatballs, they contain rice, which kind of sticks out like little quills.

This time, I used four pounds of hamburger, and I tried making the meatballs larger than usual . . . the scoop I used was probably about 1/3 cup, though I probably only had about 1/4 cup of mixture in there. I then put the meatballs on cookie sheets and baked them instead of browning them in a skillet. Since I had 44 total meatballs, I divided them 11 to a batch and froze three batches and cooked the other one.

Being me, I was out of white rice so I used brown . . . and during the simmering part, I cooked it and cooked it and cooked it. Still wasn't done. So the next day, I put the meatballs and sauce in the crock pot and THEN the rice finally got done. But the meatballs pretty much fell apart! Can't win for losing, and it tasted great. I've added white rice to the shopping list, though.

So. Recipes!
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Porcupine Balls

2 pounds hamburger
1 cup regular uncooked white rice
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon celery salt (optional - I never have it)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix well, shape into about 20 balls, brown.

Mix 15 oz can tomato sauce, 1 cup water, and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, pour over balls. Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes or until rice is tender.
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And here's the meatballs and sauce recipe that *I* like for the sauce (more on that in a bit):
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Barbecued Meatballs - from a former co-worker's mother who is a good cook! And it's an honest-to-goodness freezer cooking recipe.

Meatballs
3 pounds hamburger
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup cracker crumbs (~27 saltines)
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili powder

Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (see my riblet post for a link on why it's OK to use - no crazy chemicals!)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup chopped onion

Meatballs: combine all ingredients (will be soft) and shape into walnut-sized balls. Freeze in single layer on wax-lined cookie sheets until firm, remove to air tight container and return to freezer.

Place frozen meatballs in 9x13 pan. Combine all sauce ingredients in bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour over meatballs. Bake at 350* for one hour.

Notes: may want to make half again the sauce amount if you like saucy meatballs. Sauce can also be used on meatloaf.
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My problem? Hubs thinks the sauce is too sweet. I can see his point.

So this time I experimented with a mixture of BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire. I used about 1 cup BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup, about 3 tablespoons brown sugar, several good shakes of Worcestershire, and some water to thin it, though I'm not sure I needed it. In actuality, I intended to use more ketchup but ran out. I thought the sauce smelled too BBQ sauce-y, but the flavor wasn't quite as strong. Still, I intend to use a higher ratio of ketchup next go-around. And, with three pounds of meatballs in the freezer, there WILL be a next time . . .