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

Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce Recipe

When we visited Italy last year we had the pleasure of visiting my husbands family (his mom's cousin and her family) and were cordially invited to have dinner with them.  Everything was homemade and the meal was fabulous.  

From what I knew about Italy or so I thought I knew about it this pasta sauce was not what I had expected.  No basil, no garlic no fresh tomatoes?? How could that be?  No pepper or other seasonings just veggies, good ground minced meat or ground meat as we call it to make a good down home easy pasta sauce. According to Lorena ,our cousin, her mom makes the sauce this way for their restaurant but at home she uses garden fresh tomatoes.  See even in Italy they take short cuts.

It was very hard to say what I enjoyed the most but I definitely loved their pasta sauce.  Light and slightly sweet I asked for the recipe. I'm going to try a pot this way for our sauce this weekend.

My copykat pasta and sauce

It took a while for me to receive it and translating was a bit of an issue but here it is. 

1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
3- 28 oz. cans tomato sauce(clean out cans with a little water)and add to sauce
olive oil
freshly grated Romano cheese
homemade fettuccine pasta

Link to pasta recipe:

Homemade pasta 

In a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat place approximately 4 T. olive oil.  Add chopped carrots, celery and onion. Saute for around 15 minutes.  Add ground meat, sprinkle a little salt too while  breaking meat up into small pieces and saute slowly until all red has disappeared from meat.  Add tomato sauce and sugar.  Sauce will start to bubble.  Cook on lower heat so not to stick covered slightly for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Buon Appetite!


Thank you Roberta Vispi and her daughter Lorena for sharing it with me.  

 La ringrazio tanto Lorena per avermi aiutato con la traduzione del vostro mamma ricetta. La salsa è ottima e ho pubblicato la ricetta sulla mia pagina e blog. Deliziosa

Roberta, Lorena

Roberta

Roberta's pasta and sauce

10/13/15

copyright i like to bake and cook blog 2015

6/1/16

Pineapple Fruit Cake!

 

Truth be told I have never liked fruitcake and when my Mom would make her yearly fruitcakes (yes she made several different kinds) I never ate one slice.  Never ever!  She'd prod and coax but there wasn't anyway she could get me to eat some.  It didn't appeal to me as another one of her favorites Greens and Beans.  I wouldn't taste them either.

I have mastered the Greens and Beans recipe with some alterations but today I decided this fruitcake recipe I had to try.  The recipe calls for using either a Tube pan or two bread pans.  I opted for the two bread pans because we are going to a brunch and I think one of these will be appreciated..

This is rather expensive cake to make so I was skeptical about making it.  Well I am happy to say it is wonderful!  Moist, with lots of pineapple, cherries and walnuts to give it great texture and substance. 

I will post this as my Mom has it written.  I cut back on the sugar and butter (1/2 cup less on each) hoping it wouldn't take away from the taste and I don't feel it did at all.  I will freeze one for later.  I made the loaf pans.  (With the busy holiday season quickly approaching this might be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups butter                                                1 large can pineapple chunks (20 oz. drained)
2 cups sugar                                                       1- 11oz. jar maraschino cherries drained and cut in pieces
8 eggs                                                                 1 lb. walnuts chopped ( I used 1 cup)
3 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla


Beat butter and sugar well.  Add 1 egg at a time.  Sift flour and dry ingredients.  Add to mixture. Fold in fruit and nuts.  Bake 325 degrees in well greased and parchment lined(2)loaf or 1 tube pan. Bake approx. 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center is clean.

                                                                 

I bought these at a kitchen shop in Cleveland but I have seen some similar to them at T.J. Maxx...Teak wood and very durable and I just love the design on them..Very cool..I want more!!!

Happy Baking from my kitchen to yours,

I like to bake and cook/family recipes 11/14/12

11/14/12 original