Melanie's Baked Meatballs

These are awesome! So flavorful! I saved them to my recipe folder and would love to make them again. I used 1lb. ground pork and 1/2lb. ground beef (I had never used ground pork before), I added a little extra spinach (maybe 7-8oz.), and I needed a lot more breadcrumbs than called for to coat them (probably 1 cup instead of 1/4 cup). I don't have a kitchen scale so I just guessed how big to make them and I ended up with meat leftover after the muffin cups were filled, so I put the remaining meatballs on a cookie sheet. I liked baking them because they stayed fairly round. When I cook meatballs in a skillet they end up sort of square or triangle shaped. I think I'll try to bake my meatballs from now on!

Cami's Swedish Meatballs

I chose to make the Swedish Meatballs for last week's recipe. I've never made meatballs before and was surprised how easily these came together. I was also surprised how cheap ground pork is. Who knew?

I found these to be really tender and moist with a flavorful exterior. The gravy is perfect and in a lot of ways it reminds me of meatballs from Ikea. I love Ikea meatballs, so it's a compliment. Calder often asks if we can go to lunch at Ikea because he loves them as well. He ate two servings of these. I'd say they were a hit.

Danielle's Baked Meatballs

These were delicious! I didn't end up making a sauce to go with them as I planned to last night, but they were even good plain. They'd be great in spaghetti sauce, though, so I'm going to try that with my leftovers that are in the freezer.

I also couldn't get ground lamb at the local Vons, so I used half pork and half beef. Maybe I'll pick up some ground lamb at Costco for next time. In the book, Alton says his wife makes them with ground turkey to make them healthier -- and he says they definitely taste like it. If I hadn't read that, I would've gone for the ground turkey also probably. That's my default. I'm sure they would've been a lot drier with turkey instead of beef and pork, but I might still try them with turkey next time because hey, it's healthier.

And as Jen did, I also used the whole 10 oz. of spinach. I don't think it detracted from the meatballs at all. In fact, you couldn't really taste it so certainly no harm done.

Max and I both really liked these meatballs, and they were really easy to make. I can definitely see us making these again.

Great Balls of Meat

You can find the episode on the Food Network HERE.

This episode comes from the Middle Years cookbook, which I have, so I thought I'd scan the "Knowledge Concentrate" section and post it for anyone who is interested. Sorry, the edge of the page is cut off a bit.


Click to enlarge

LuAnn's meatballs

No picture from me either, but I thought these were really tasty. This was my first time making meatballs. I've never been very interested in them because like Danielle, I'm not into ground meat...and I can't see what's in them. But I like the fact that these had a variety of fruits and veggies in the sauce and meat. I was thinking that the carrots, peppers and onions were going to go into the balls so I chopped them really fine. I actually chopped the carrots and onions and half of the green peppers in my mini food processor. If I realized they were going into the sauce I would have left them in bigger pieces. But the sauce was still really tasty.

I let the meatballs cook in the sauce for 25-30 minutes because my meat was defrosted just enough for me to stir it. Since I didn't have room in the pot to put in any rice I put my precooked sushi rice in a 9x13 dish, poured the meatballs and sauce on top and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes...uncovered so the sauce would thin. It turned out just right.

I'm wondering how this could be frozen. I think if I cooked the meatballs for 15 minutes in the sauce and then put it into a casserole dish with the rice. Then I would freeze it and when ready to eat I'd let it defrost for an hour and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Thoughts?

I'm also wondering if I could add some nutrients by using a small can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste...I've heard tomato paste is the healthiest form of tomatoes...even more so than the tomato itself. Can anyone verify that? I might also consider adding some pureed spinach to the meatballs (this idea inspired by Jessica Seinfeld). More thoughts?

P.S. I have to note that I made this dinner and it was ready at 6:30 even though Jeff had class until 6. This was a major breakthrough for me. I chopped most of the veggies earlier in the day (this was Danielle's suggestion for me when I said how hard it was to make dinner with 2 kids awake and getting hungry) so it didn't take much to put it together at dinner time. Danielle...you should be so proud...this was the 2nd day in a row that we had a real balanced meal from scratch. Today we'll eat leftovers! Maybe I can do this.

*I thought I'd add a picture of my little helper since I have no picture of the food. I was so absorbed in scooping and dropping those meatballs into the sauce that I honestly had no idea he had emptied the entire drawer onto the floor and he was less than a foot away.

Cami's Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Yummy. I really liked this. I've never used ground chicken before and found it pretty easy to use and rather tasty. I liked how the flavors mixed together. I also liked how many of the ingredients I seemed to have on hand. My sweet and sour seems a little less saucy than others, but it was very good. I would make this again, for sure.

Danielle's Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sorry, no picture again. I have a feeling I'm not going to be very good at getting pictures of the meal recipes. I like to eat as soon as it's done!

Anyway, so I accidentally skipped the last step in the recipe that says to stir the rice into the sauce. My brother was helping me make it, and he just said, "Oh, there's rice with it." And I said, "Oh yeah! Rice!" and started making some instant rice separately. So my sauce was also too runny. But oh well.

I thought it was tasty, but I don't know that I'll make it again. I'm not a big fan of ground meat of any sort. But I'll keep it in mind for an easy, fairly quick meal that can feed a lot of people.

Melanie W.'s Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Mine actually turned out to be sweet and sour beef meatballs. I couldn't find any ground chicken, or even ground turkey, though I know I had seen it before. Oh well. Other things I had to modify: no tomato sauce here, so I used canned diced tomatoes and blended them up. No crushed pineapple here, so I got sliced pineapple and also blended it up. Worked fine! And I used regular rice instead of instant, because again...don't have it here.

I really liked this recipe! I don't make meatballs very often, even though I like them. I guess becuase they're sort of messy to make. I also don't like all the grease that cooks into many meatball recipes. Here in Ecuador, I was able to buy super super lean ground beef for super cheap, so I didn't feel like I was eating a ton of grease!

I think my food would have turned out a little bit better if I'd been able to use instant rice because it would have helped soak up some of the juices as it cooked. Instead, I just cooked my regular rice separately and poured the meatball sauce on top of the rice. The sauce ended up being a little too runny this way. But it was still delicious, and I think I would definitely make this recipe again! Thanks for the recipe Melanie!

New Recipe! -sorry it's late

Sorry this recipe is a day late. I just got back from spring break and it has been a little hectic. Anyway, I chose to make this recipe because I am a huge fan of Chinese food and I love having a themed dinner. (and I usually have just about everything on hand already. And if I don't it's usually something that I can do without) When I'm done with this recipe, I usually cook rice in the sauce. Then just add a few egg rolls and some chop sticks to your meal and you are set!

Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 1 large carrots, chopped 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice 1/4 cup ketchup

1 slice white bread 2 tablespoons milk 3/4 pound ground chicken 1/2 zucchini, shredded 1 egg, beaten 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 2 cups instant rice

Directions:

1.	Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, green pepper, and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes, until onion is softened. Stir in broth, tomato sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, pineapple with juice, and ketchup. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
2.	Meanwhile, soak bread in milk in a large bowl until milk is absorbed. Mix together with ground chicken, shredded zucchini, egg, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Shape into 12 meatballs, about 2 tablespoons each.
3.	Drop meatballs into simmering sauce. Cook 15 minutes, or until cooked through, turn over once during cooking.
4.	Remove skillet from heat. Stir in rice. Cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with fork before serving.

When did you start baking / cooking?
I don't remember. I have been baking/ cooking for a long time, ever since I was little. My mom made sure her kids were well trained in all the domestic chores.

What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Um, I don't have many to choose from. Sadly my kitchen supplies aren't what I'd like them to be. But I'd have to choose a pastry blender.

Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
Not really. I like different spices with different things so I can't really say I have a favorite.

What is your favorite book?
Again, there is no way I can pick a favorite. I love reading and I have a lot of favorite books. If I'm totally into the book I'm reading at the moment it is usually my favorite, but the minute I start a new book, my favorite changes. But some favorites that will never change are Harry Potter Series, the Twilight Series, and the Emeralds and Espionage Series.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
Greece!

If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
If I HAD to, I guess I'd just shorten it to Mel. But if that's too close and doesn't count, I'd change it to Jade. I have no reasoning why.

Where do you currently live?
In Chicago- the Twin Towers to be exact. But not for long! I'll be moving to Alexandria, VA in about 6-7 weeks.

Where are you from?
I am from Morgan, UT. A beautiful little valley in northern Utah, where I grew up working on the family dairy farm, riding horses, and playing sports. I'm a country girl. It's the good life!

If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Probably cereal:)

- Melanie Crockett