Food for Thought....Mother's Day Reminder

Take this to heart.

 My parents have passed and I am so very grateful for them having  a long life. Dad was 77, Mom 93 but never for a minute did I take them for granted.

 There were many times circumstances that prevented me from seeing them but I always CALLED them.  I made the time! 

 Today's families seem so busy. Well yesterday's families were busy too.

I don't know what the difference is that in today's world  a call is so easily put aside? 

 I know one thing for sure. My mom and dad were treated with the uppermost respect by me, my brother and their grandchildren.  They got their occasional call and cards too!

 As I am getting older more than ever I too want a call or a card and I bet there are a lot of us who yearn for a 5 minute(to quote my mom) call or in today's world A TEXT.  Make the time. 😍

 Make someone happy...Think about how good it'll make you feel and especially them.

Happy Mother's Day!

Kung pao Chicken Meatballs with sauce

Hi everyone:

I wanted to try a recipe for Kung Pao chicken so I combined two recipes I saw.  Quite honestly I don't remember which two but here goes. One could have been from Allrecipes but?

Mentioned first that after my experience with soy sauce some seem to be very salty so I used the low sodium one but if you don't want to buy that type cut back slightly on your soy sauce if you like.

Here's what my ingredients are.

1 lb. ground chicken breast (try regular ground chicken if you can find it).  It may make your meatballs softer.
 Note: Definitely use ground turkey if you prefer. I know regular ground turkey is moist.  I use it for my turkey meatballs and I am always complimented on my recipe.
1/3 of a cup of onion. I grate mine
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 to 1/2  tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup breadcrumbs Note: you can use all breadcrumbs but increase amount to 3/4 cup
1 tsp. to 1 T siriracha sauce depending of how much spicy you like it
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup chicken broth to moisten
sesame seeds for garnish
chopped chives or green onion snips for garnish

Mix the ground chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, egg,oatmeal, breadcrumbs,chicken broth, sriracha and salt and pepper. Roll into approximately 20 meatballs. Place on a parchment paper or spray with coconut oil on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove from oven.

Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium because regular seems a bit too salty for me).
4 T chicken broth
4 T rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil.
2 T Chili sauce (I used Thai chili sauce) or you can make your own** 
1 tsp. sriracha or red pepper flakes
1/4 to 1/2  cup brown sugar(depending on how sweet you want your sauce)
1 T cornstarch
2 tsp. water

 While the meatballs are baking. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce except the cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch and water together and add to boiling sauce. 

Cook until slightly thickened. Remove the meatballs from the oven and place in sauce. Cook a couple to minutes to coat the balls well with sauce. Serve the meatballs garnished with chopped chives or green onion tops and sesame seeds.

Enjoy!!

P. S. one of the recipes suggested also topping with chopped peanuts.You can do that as well.  I do not because I can not have any type nuts.  I do put some on my hubby's portion.

I served frozen steamed peas as my side.

From my kitchen to yours,

Turkey Meatballs

Original 10/1/14. 


 FYI:  From my kitchen to yours a healthy suggestion.

You can easily make these meatballs smaller and place them in a crockpot along with marinara sauce and you'll have a healthy and tasty appetizer for parties.




A healthy option...turkey instead of beef

I've made turkey meatballs years ago but got away from making them because I thought they weren't tender enough to my liking but when hubby said  "I wouldn't be opposed to trying some turkey meatballs" I figured I'd give them another try.

Using my basic meatball recipe but added a little more seasoning (as in dried Italian seasoning) and added some chicken broth to assure moistness and to hold them together.

They are cooking now so we'll test them out later with our grandson who also likes to bake and cook and is spending some quality time with us.  I'm hoping for a A+.  We haven't decided if we'll have meatball sandwiches on crusty rolls with some mozzarella or pasta of some variety.  All I know is hubby better like them!!  Look for results at the end of the blog!

Happy Baking and Cooking from my kitchen to yours!

M. J.
      

 


1 lb. fresh organic ground turkey
2 to 3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup plain or seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 egg slightly beaten
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken broth

Mix above and make 1'' balls. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and bake at  400 degrees until lightly browned. Approximately 10 minutes. .Add to your favorite pasta sauce

A+++I was official taste tester and they agreed.  Moist, tender and just the right amount of seasonings.  It is a definite must do again!

Note:  This handy slow cooker is an one of my favorties.   It is a WestBend and I have had it for over 4 years.  If you like to brown your meat before you slow cook, this is the pot for you.  From stove to cradle it does a great job! and you don't have to stand over it and keep stirring.  It has a non stick coating that really is nice. 

Note:  These meatballs were amazing!!!! I will definitely make them again...












original posted 4/29/12
1/13/13
1/9/14