Meatballs Cooked In Sauce Recipe

Meatball Recipe 

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 lb. Ground Pork (or sausage)

3 TBS. Onion, Chopped

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Pepper

1/4 c. Breadcrumbs 

1/4 c. Milk or Cream

1 Egg

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.

Form into balls about the size of a walnut.

Bake at 400°F. for 15 minutes on a sheet pan with shallow sides.

      ---OR---

Cook meatballs in sauce. This will add meat flavor to your sauce and dirty fewer pans.

Pour a layer of prepared spaghetti type sauce on the bottom of a large oven safe casserole dish that has a good lid. 

Place the meat balls in and then pour the rest of the sauce over top.

Cover with lid and bake at 350° for an hour. 

  --OR---

Simmer meatballs and sauce in a large pot with the lid ajar on the stovetop for half an hour or until meatballs are cooked through.

Natto Making Experiment

This post is *not* a tutorial. I just want to document my first attempt at natto making. Making natto was an adventure and I made many mistakes along the way.

I have wanted to try making natto since I watched Emmy do it on her YouTube channel.

I started by soaking the soy beans for 24 hours. I heard that this small foam that develops on the water surface is an indicator that the beans have soaked long enough.

I drained the beans.

I cooked them in my electric pressure cooker for 25 minutes under pressure.

I put the hot soy beans into a couple ceramic vessels that I had sanitized with bleach. 

This is when I started to make mistakes. I realized that every example online only used shallow dishes to ferment natto. I had counted on using a deep container to ferment a whole bunch at one time. I had to alter my plans and use only a shallow layer of beans in my containers.

Boy, did I have a lot of extra soy beans!

To inoculate my soy beans with the right culture I put a chunk of frozen commercially prepared natto in the center of the hot beans.

After a few minutes it was totally thawed and I stirred it around thoroughly to get culture on all the beans.

I used a piece of plastic from an old cereal bag, which I had also sanitized, to seal in the moisture. I poked a few holes for breathing and left my thermometer through one of the holes to monitor the temperature.

Here I ran into another problem. I had counted on using the electric pressure cooker to keep my fermenting beans at the right temperature just like the lady in the video had done. The problem is that my electric pressure cooker is not an Insta-pot brand and it does not have a yogurt setting, which had not noticed until I was ready to ferment my beans.

After ample googling and blog reading I came to the conclusion that I would try my crockpot on the keep warm setting. I believe that the keep warm setting is still too hot. (Natto ferments at 90°-113° F.) I planned to turn it on for a while and then turn it off for a little bit and so on and so forth through the night. 

I fell asleep and left it on for too long, or so I thought. And then it got too cold one time, or so I thought.

I wasn't too optimistic when the fermentation time was over. I checked to see if the beans had the strings to prove that they had turned into natto.

We had strings! Somehow it had worked!

We eat our natto on top of a serving of rice with sardines or boiled eggs. 

I like to garnish with pickled onions or peppers or green onions. And always a sprinkle of soy sauce.

I eat my bites on little pieces of nori when we have some. Very tasty and very nutritious.

Beef Liver Pâté

 

I like this liver spread on toast. I feel good about eating this because I know it's a food with a lot of nutritional value. The flavor is an acquired taste I would say. It is a very adult food. 

Liver Pâté

1 onion diced

1 carrot shredded

2 T. fat or oil

1 1/2 tsp. ground thyme 

Dash of cayenne pepper 

1 lb. Beef Liver 

3/4 cup broth

1 T. lemon juice 

1 T. Worcester sauce 

1 T. Salt

1/2 T. Pepper

1 stick of butter

Saute the carrots and onion in the fat or oil. Sprinkle in the ground thyme. Cut the liver into chunks. Add the liver to the skillet with the onions and carrots. Add the broth and cook gently until the liver pieces are no longer pink.

Add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. 

Pour everything into a blender. Add salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and cooled down a bit. Add butter a few tablespoons at a time. 

Chill for one day to meld flavors. 

Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine

 Two ways to eat fresh onions and garlic

Why eat fresh garlic and onions? These bulbs contain a component called Allicin among other health promoting components. Allicin inhibits the reproduction of bacteria and viruses. I don't know all the science, but you can read more HERE on Herbazest.com.

Whenever I am fighting a bacterial or viral infection I try to consume as much garlic as possible.

Most of the time I straight up eat garlic cloves. But, eating garlic can be way more pleasurable.

For onions try this Tomato Onion Salad.

Dice half an onion and a medium tomato.

Mix together with salt, pepper, basil, a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise and as much apple cider vinegar as you like (2ish Tbsp. for me).

This salad was so delicious that last time I was sick I was eating this salad twice a day. That makes 1 whole onion a day! I think that it did me a lot of good and it was real food as medicine.

I love garlic! There are many ways that I get fresh garlic into my diet. I've made a garlic and oil emulsion as a salad dressing. That is a good way to get a few fresh garlic cloves with a meal. My family has a tradition of making what we call Garlic Salad, which is a garlic spread made from cooked eggplant pulp, bread crumbs, olive oil, vinegar, and salt. It is similar to the Lebanese dish; Baba Ganu. I quit adding the bread crumbs and I like it much better that way. (I never told my Grandma.Shhh)

One of my favorite ways to eat fresh garlic in a meal is a variation of Huevos Rancheros.

I mix 3-4 cloves of minced garlic with a couple ounces of cream cheese.

Spread the cream cheese mixture onto toasted corn tortillas.

Top with a fried eggs and chopped cilantro.

And, for a added boost for flavor and health promoting capsaicin, add Tabasco sauce or your favorite hot pepper sauce. 

There you have it! Two ways to make food your medicine by utilizing the flavors of fresh onions and garlic!

I hope you enjoy!

Let me know if you have tried any of these before or how you use food as your medicine!

Psalms 104:14 

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,

 and herb for the service of man:

 that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

Zucchini Pizza Crust Recipe

For those who have zucchini coming out of their ears this time of year, I am sharing this Zucchini Pizza Crust Recipe.

Zucchini Pizza Crust

8 cups Shredded Zucchini

1 tsp. Salt

1 cup Shredded Cheese

2/3 cups Flour

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

3 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Basil

2 Eggs, Beaten

1/2 tsp. Salt

Toss zucchini with 1 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer zucchini to a cloth, gather up the corners of the cloth, and squeeze out excess water from the zucchini.

Replace the drained zucchini back into the bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients. 

Spread out on an oiled baking sheet.

Bake at 550° F. for 8 minutes.

Remove crust from oven. Add toppings. 

Bake an additional 4 minutes.

I have tried one other zucchini pizza crust recipe. This recipe was my favorite. The best things about this recipe are the draining the water out of the zucchini step and the amount of zucchini it uses up.

The crust is not too soggy and it holds together as a slice of pizza. And it's healthy! Win, win, win!

Menu Inspiration!

Here are five budget meals that we have been enjoying at our house this week.

Everyone knows that Ramen noodles are a budget meal. When you fix them like this, though, they feel gourmet!

I cook the noodles. I pull them out of the cooking liquid while they are still bouncy and put them in a lidded pot to keep warm while I fix the veggies and eggs.

If I have vegetable or meat toppings that need to be heated I toss them into the cooking liquid. They pick up some flavor and get hot. Then I remove them to the holding pot with the noodles.

For the eggs: I bring the cooking broth to a nice boil, and crack the eggs into the boiling liquid (about 6 eggs). I put the lid on and cook them for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off I add a bag of frozen spinach. The spinach cools the water off enough to stop the eggs from cooking hard. And the spinach gets thawed and warm. Kill two birds with one stone! 

To make the Ramen Bowls even fancier, I will sometimes use a vegetable peeler to make carrot ribbons. Scallions are always a visually appealing topping, too.

For a real authentic Japanese topping and a boost of bone-building vitamin K2; add a spoonful of natto! :) 

Ham was on sale this week for 87¢ per pound. Ham can make a lot of great breakfast-for-dinner meals. 

We really like this Egg Casserole. I swapped the sausage out for ham this week. It was originally a Crock-Pot recipe, but this time I baked it in the oven at 350° F. for 1 hour.

We also had Ham and Egg sandwiches this week.

I make biscuits for breakfast sandwiches and sometimes I make English Muffins.

English Muffins get dipped in cornmeal before setting aside to rise.

If you didn't know already, English Muffins are cooked on the stovetop. It is handy to know some recipes like this that don't require an oven. If you are ever in a situation where you don't have an oven, remember you can still make English Muffins! Here is my RECIPE.

A menu in my house wouldn't be complete without a chicken leg or thigh meal. :) I have mentioned before that I buy the 10 pound bags of chicken quarters for 59¢ a pound and cut them up myself. Even if you don't cut the meat up yourself chicken thighs or legs are pretty affordable.

Our chicken meal this week was Chicken Armenian. Chicken Armenian is a gratifying meal with a small price tag.

The chicken pieces get browned on the stovetop before going on the sheet pan to bake. The onions add some interest to the dish because they are sliced as opposed to diced. A tomato based sauce gets poured over the chicken pieces along with the sauted onions and garlic. As the chicken cooks in the oven the sauce accumulates flavor and depth. The onions sweeten, the paprika permeates, and the chicken drippings mingle. Chicken Armenian is always a satisfying supper!

Another easy dinner with ham is Ham and Cheese Melt-y Sandwiches. We had ours on homemade croissants. Recipe coming soon! :) Croissants are not the cheapest bread that you can make, seeing as how the recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter. This could be a cheaper meal if you use a less expensive bread choice.

I laid the split rolls on a sheet pan and put a layer of sliced ham on the rolls and then covered the ham with sliced Colby Jack cheese. I put the sheet pan under the broiler for 3 minutes, until the cheese was Melt-y. 

Speaking of cheese, Kroger had a sale on 2 pound blocks of cheese for $4.97 with a digital coupon this past week. Gotta keep an eye out for sales and know what a good price is in your area. I don't keep an actual Price Book, but if you are just starting out on your journey to Thrift, keeping a price log for 6 months for your grocery staples can be a very useful tool. For instance I stock up on butter any time I find it for $2.50 a pound or less. That way I rarely ever spend more than $2.50 a pound for butter. $2.50 is a good price for butter in my area. Butter keeps great in the freezer, and is one of those things that you can stock up on.

And let me tell you God provides for His own! I want to acknowledge His hand in us being able to eat affordably. I'll share a story about a grocery blessing. Back in February Mr. In the Mid-west was in the grocery store and saw half gallons of milk marked down to 49¢ a piece. The Best By date was the following day, so the manager had marked them down significantly. Mr. In The Mid-west bought all he could. We froze the milk and have pulled it out of the freezer as we need it. Our family can polish off a half gallon of milk quickly enough, once it is thawed, that none has spoiled. Now isn't that a blessing, milk prices being what they are?

And the last meal for this post is Pizza!

The pizza in the picture is a little fancier than the one we had for dinner tonight. Our toppings this time were just cheese and pepperoni. The crust we like is this RECIPE. It comes out with a chewy texture and great yeast-y flavor every time.

Share your meals in the comments! Help us all with menu planning inspiration! :)

Psalms 37:25 

I have been young, and now am old; 

yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, 

nor his seed begging bread.

Tomato Soup Recipe!

 

I have two Mary's (Maries, Marys?) to thank for this recipe. And they are both from Texas! 

Mary Stephens from The Cotton Apron shared a video recipe of this Tomato Soup on her blog from Mary's Nest YouTube channel.

Mary from Mary's Nest gave lots of helpful details and hints in her video. It is a deep dive cooking lesson. She also has a page on her website with all the information in written form. You can check it out HERE. I highly recommend her video/article. She goes over the particulars of each ingredient and why this combination has great mouth feel, balanced acidity, and can be soothing in the belly.

I am so glad that I came across her knowledge. I had never followed a tomato soup recipe before watching her video. I am really embarrassed to admit this; whenever I used to serve grilled cheese sandwiches I would blend up a jar of plain canned tomatoes and heat it up in a sauce pot. That was it. No onions. No garlic. No stock. 

No more! The recipe I am sharing here is my favorite Tomato Soup now and I am never going back. Thank you Mary and Mary! :)

Tomato Soup Recipe

1/4 cup Butter

2 Yellow Onions, Chopped

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1/2 tsp. Salt

Dash Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 tsp. Black Pepper

1 TBS. Sugar

2 28 oz. Cans Whole Plum Tomatoes

16 oz. Chicken Broth or Stock

In a large pot saute the onions and garlic in the butter.

Add the spices, sugar, tomatoes and broth.

Bring to a slow simmer. Simmer on low, covered with lid for 45 minutes.

Using an emersion blender blend to desired consistency, or carefully ladle into a blender and blend in batches until smooth.

Enjoy!

I did try the Cream of Tomato Soup version by adding 1/2 cup Heavy Cream at the end, but, surprisingly, my family prefers the non-cream version.

Green Lentil Dahl Recipe

I feel so adventurous! This is way out of my normal cuisine range.

I really like this recipe! I have yet to try it with the red chilis added, but I would like to in the summer when chilis are in season.

This recipe comes from Slow The Cook Down. Check out the original recipe HERE. I have cut it in half and it is still plenty for our size family. I swapped out the red onion for a regular onion, too. I like to buy my spices from my local Indian grocer. (I wrote I blog post about it. Check it out HERE!) The Indian grocery store has great prices and selection when it comes to spices!

Green Lentil Dahl

Ingredients

 

• 2 cups green lentils
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp mild curry powder
• 1 bay leave
• 1 onion diced
• 1 inches ginger minced
• 2 cloves garlic mince
• 1 red chilis minced
• 13 fl. oz coconut milk (1 cans) 
• 1/2 cup water 
• juice of one lime
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Place the lentils in a large bowl of water and set to one side.  Chop the ingredients and get your spices ready!
• Heat the oil in large pot over a medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds.
• When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in the turmeric, cumin, curry powder and bay leaves. Stir for a couple of minutes until the spices become fragrant.
• Add in the onion, ginger, garlic and chili.  Stir so that the spice coats the onions and cook for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften.
• Drain the lentils, and add in to the pot.  Add the coconut milk, lime juice and water and mix well.  Pop a lid on for 15 minutes
• After 15 minutes, take the lid off and give a good stir, at this point you can add any added vegetables that you wish.  Cook the dish for another 10 or so minutes until excess liquid has cooked off
• At this point, you could stir in some spinach or herbs - parsley and coriander work really well!
• Serve with rice
• Enjoy!

More About Enchiladas

 

I learned a new way to make Enchiladas from this video. 

In this video the chef, Ethan Chlebowski, details his experience eating Enchiladas in Mexico, which are quite different from the Enchiladas that we are accustomed to in the United States. 

According to Ethan Chlebowski, the Enchiladas in Mexico are made like tacos; as you are ready to eat them, not in a casserole dish that has been baked in the oven.

The Sauce on Mexican Enchiladas is different, too. It is a chili sauce with no tomatoes. To assemble Enchiladas you start by frying a corn tortilla in oil. Next dip your fried tortilla in sauce. Put your choice of filling into your fried and sauced tortilla. Serve with more sauce.

I tried Ethan's method with my own Tex-Mex tomato based sauce, and we really preferred Enchiladas made in this manner to the way I used to make them in a casserole.

These new Enchiladas are going to make a regular appearance on my menu! 

Did you know how authentic Mexican Enchiladas are made? If you have never had these before, I highly recommend that you give them a try!

Turkey Lentil Bisque Recipe!

 

Right up front, here is the recipe.
Commentary to follow.

Turkey Lentil Soup

1 TBS. Oil

1/2 cup Onion, Chopped

1 cup Carrots, Diced

1 cup Celery, Chopped

1 tsp. Garlic, Minced

4 cups Turkey Broth

1 cup Lentils

1 14.5oz. can Diced Tomatoes

1 tsp. Basil

1 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 tsp. Black Pepper

1 1/2 cups Turkey, Diced

1 1/2 cups Sour Cream

Saute onions, carrot, celery, and garlic in oil for 5 minutes.

Add broth, lentils, tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are tender.

Add turkey and sour cream. 

Simmer for 10 minutes longer or until turkey is hot.

Enjoy!

This recipe came from Holmes County, Ohio. For the Thanksgiving holiday of 2018 we and our extended family converged in Ohio for a reunion.  We all stayed in a huge mansion in Sugar Creek, OH. We had a great time and made a lot of memories.

The Manor Where We All Stayed

Mr. In the Mid-west went to an Amish or Mennonite ran grocery store. While shopping, he was offered a sample of Turkey Lentil Bisque.

The recipe from the Amish store.

The store was passing out soup samples along with the recipe. The bisque was delicious! He brought me the recipe and now we like to make this bisque after Thanksgiving. :)

Chicken And Dumplings

I am sharing the dumpling recipe that serves our family perfectly, at this time. Dumplings are always best the first time they are served. I try not to make extras because they are not our favorite reheated as leftovers. 

I am not including the chicken soup part of the recipe. Make a basic chicken soup with  your choice of vegetables and seasoned as you like. Once the soup is made and has reached a simmer the dumplings come into play. Whip up a batch of the dumpling dough and cook them on the surface of your simmering soup.

This is a very comforting meal on cool nights. Especially at this time of year!

Herbed Dumpling Recipe

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Dried Thyme

1/4 tsp. Dried Parsley

2 tsp. Baking Powder

3 TBS. Cold Butter

2/3 cup Milk

Mix together dry ingredients.

Cut in butter with a pastry blender or grate in butter with a grater.

Stir in the milk.

Drop by spoonfuls onto the surface of the soup.

Cover pot with lid and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serves 4 

Crockpot Egg Casserole Recipe!

I use ordinary, unprocessed potatoes in this recipe. I prepare them as I would hash browns, by peeling, shredding, soaking in cold water, and drying the potatoes. Frozen hash browns will work just as well. If you prefer to use frozen hash browns skip the first step of the recipe.

 

Draining water from the shredded potatoes.

I sauté the mushrooms and peppers in this recipe. This cooks some of the water out of the vegetables. This keeps the eggs from having a soggy texture.

Sauté the mushrooms until brown.

Half of the potatoes, vegetables, sausage and cheese get layered into the crockpot. And, then the layers are repeated.

Layering ingredients into crockpot.

Crockpot Egg Casserole Recipe

4 Potatoes

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage

2 Tbsp. Bacon Grease or Butter

8 oz. Mushrooms, sliced

1/2 Green Bell Pepper, Diced

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Diced

1 Small Onion, Diced

8 oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

12 Eggs

1 cup Milk

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Ground Mustard

1/4 tsp. Pepper

Step 1. Prepare Potatoes

Peel and shred potatoes. Soak in cold water for at least 30 minutes up to overnight. Drain potatoes and pat dry with a clean towel.

Step 2. Prepare Meat and Vegetables

Brown the sausage in a skillet, set aside.

In same skillet sauté mushrooms, bell peppers, and onion in bacon grease or butter until the mushrooms are golden.

Step 3. Assembly

Grease the crock of a 6 quart slow cooker. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes, sausage, vegetables and cheese into the crock; repeat, finishing with cheese.

Step 4. Here Come The Eggs!

In a large bowl whisk eggs until smooth. Add milk, salt, ground mustard, and pepper and whisk to combine.

Pour into the crock over the potatoes, etc.

Step 5. Set And Forget

Set your crockpot on High and cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or on Low for 5 hours.

Step 6. Enjoy!

Serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This casserole makes a great meal-in-one.

"All you hungry children,
Come and eat it up!":)