Tangy Meatballs

I’ve been stuck in a cooking rut. I’ve been making the same old same old for the past several months, so due to boredom, I recently started reviewing some of my favorite recipes that I haven’t made in years.  I decided it was time to make a few of them again, not only because I really like them and haven’t had them in a long time, or since Michael and I have only been together for close to three years, he’s never tasted them, but also because I’ve got one of those recipe programs where I’m now storing my recipes, along with photos of the completed dish and my older recipes look so sad without a photo.

The following recipe is another one I found in Taste of Home magazine, as a matter of fact, the same issue that included the Apple Walnut Cake recipe that I wrote about in my last post. When I first found it, I made it a lot….. Back in those days between work potlucks, family reunions and other parties I attended, I felt like I was making this all the time. It was always a hit whenever I took it somewhere. I remember one time when I helped my cousin Jayne prepare food for an open house she was having when she and her partner, Tom, moved into their first house, I made five batches of this recipe and we kept the meatballs warm in one of those large aluminum chafing dishes. Jayne’s brother-in-law Dick and one of the men she worked with practically camped out in front of the chafing dish eating the meatballs…they just wouldn’t stop. Every time I made these, I would get a similar reaction from other people.....

This is a great recipe for potlucks because it’s easy to make a head of time and can be kept warm in a slow cooker.  If you don’t want to make your own meatballs, you can substitute frozen but trust me, the homemade ones are much better!

Tangy Meatballs
Print Recipe
Meatballs
2 eggs
2 cups quick cooking or rolled oats
1 can evaporated milk, (12 ounces)
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 lbs lean ground beef
Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 tsp liquid smoke (I use 1 teaspoon)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add oats, milk, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the ground beef; mix well.

Shape into 1½ inch balls. Place in two 9x13 inch baking pans. Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and drain.

Place all of the meatballs in one of the pans.

In a saucepan, bring all sauce ingredients to a boil. Pour over meatballs.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until meatballs are done.

Yield: 4 dozen

Using a fork or whisk, beat eggs.

Add oats, milk and onion to the eggs.

Add pepper, garlic powder and salt.

x

Add ground beef to mixture and mix well.

Shape into 1½ inch balls. Place in two 9x13 inch baking pans. Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain. Place all of the meatballs in one of the pans.

Ooops, I did it again, I forgot to take some pictures, but I have faith in you and know you can do this by reading the instructions and without the accompanying photos.

In a saucepan add ketchup, brown sugar, onion, garlic powder and liquid smoke. Bring sauce ingredients to a boil and pour over the pan of meatballs.

If you've never used liquid smoke and not sure where to find it, it is usually located in the isle where the hot sauce, worchestershire sauce and BBQ sauce is located.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until meatballs are done.

Mmmmm….when you make these meatballs, your home will smell so good that you won’t be able to stand it. They have a nice, sweet barbeque flavor and, I have to confess, it is easy to eat more of them than you should.

Quesadillla Casserole

Are you like me, always on the lookout for new recipes, gadgets and other products to use in cooking and baking, or am I just weird that way? I've found some good and some bad. Some of my best finds have been by accident, like the one I’m going to tell you about.

One day while in Meijer, I was wandering through my favorite isle, the baking section. I was looking at the spices when I noticed a product that I had never seen before. It’s made by McCormick and is called Recipe Inspirations and is a card that includes the recipe and all the spices that are needed to prepare the dish. I thought this was a great idea……I could try a new recipe without having to buy a lot of spices that I may never use again. If you’re like me, there has been many a time when you’ve found a recipe that you want to try and have had to purchase one or two jars of a spice that you don’t already have. Then, if you didn’t like that recipe, you’ve spent a lot of money for a spice that will probably just take up valuable cabinet space until it goes stale and you have to eventually toss it. Buying one of the Recipe Inspiration packets would eliminate that problem. Not only is it a good product for people who are seasoned cooks but is especially nice for new cooks, people who haven’t built up a supply of spices or even a collection of recipes….none of which is a problem for me. There were several packets to choose from so I picked one for Quesadilla Casserole and another for a pork chop recipe, which I’ll make in a few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to make dinner and couldn’t decide what I wanted to prepare…..other than  Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken, I hadn’t tried anything new in a while. I was looking through the cabinet when I spied the Recipe Inspirations packets that I had placed there and forgotten about. I decided, since I had some ground beef in the fridge, to try the Quesadilla Casserole and I’m glad I did. It was quick, easy and good and since I have a large selection of spices, I already have the ones needed to prepare this recipe again. Now I can’t wait to try the one for pork chops.

Quesadillla Casserole
Print Recipe

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 flour tortillas (8-inch)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 teapoons chili powder
1 teapoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

3. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Servings: 8
Oven Temperature: 350°F

Notes:
I used a Four Cheese Mexican blend instead of cheddar.
Can substitute approx. 2-2 1/2 cups shredded chicken in place of ground beef. Saute onion in a little oil and then add chicken, continue following the rest of the procedures.

The Recipe Inspirations card.

Front of recipe card

Back of recipe card. Has the recipe including names of spices and amounts needed.

These are the little spice packets with the names and measurements printed on the back.

Brown ground beef and onion.

I have a confession to make…..I love kitchen gadgets! I love kitchen gadgets so much that whenever I see a new one, I usually purchase it. I know I have too many of them, some I use a lot and some, I’m embarrassed to say, have only been used once or twice and are now stored in the back of a cupboard or in a box. This is one of my favorites. In fact, I like it so much that not only do I have one at home, but bought one to keep at Michael’s apartment. It’s a strainer that I bought from Pampered Chef several years ago and use it to strain fat from ground beef and water for small amounts of pasta.

I’m a huge fan of Pampered Chef and like the products so much that many years ago, I was a consultant. Hmmm, now that I’m retired, maybe I should get back into this again.

Drain and add tomato sauce.

Add beans, corn and green chiles; mix well.

Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired. I wasn’t sure about the red pepper. As I’ve said before, Michael and I don’t like a lot of heat in our food, we like a little but don’t like so much that we feel as though we could breathe fire. After tasting the sauce, I decided to add the red pepper to the ingredients and found that it wasn’t too hot at all.

Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

 Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture.

I usually buy a block of cheddar cheese and grate it myself.  Not only is fresher and melts better but cheaper too, but I saw this Mexican blend and thought it would be perfect in this recipe and it was.

Cover with half of the cheese.

Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through.

The finished casserole. Let it rest about five minutes before serving. Michael hates the resting part of a dish, he's always ready to dig in as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Michael and I both really liked this recipe. I especially liked it because it was quick and easy…a great go to meal when you are hungry and rushed for time.

 About a week later I had some leftover roast chicken so decided to try using it in this recipe. I shredded about 2 to 2 1/2 cups and added it to the sauce.....we liked it even more than using the ground beef. Not only was it better but quicker to prepare as well.

Another new and successful recipe to add to my file.

Vegetable Beef Soup

I was sitting at home one day last week when I received an email from my sister Jean, asking me if I would like to get together over the weekend to make vegetable soup. Since I didn’t have any plans, it was the first weekend of Fall and the weather was a little cool and dreary and felt  like soup weather, I agreed to help her make soup.

On Friday Jean called and asked if I wanted to go to Kroger with her to shop for the ingredients. I knew, since we double the recipe (I take some home, she keeps some and gives some to her son and daughter and their families and her adult grandchildren who are now out on their own), it would involve buying and carrying a lot of canned goods, I agreed to help. I drove to her house, picked her up and headed in to town for our shopping but our first stop was at a local Italian restaurant for lunch. We went on to Kroger and after spending 45 minutes to an hour we had our cart loaded with fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, beef broth, beef and cat food. There is no need for concern, the cat food wasn’t used in our soup; it was for her cat and the strays that she has adopted. We loaded the groceries in my car and were soon headed back to her house. The hardest part was yet to come, unloading my car and carrying in all those heavy bags.

Saturday was soup day. I drove to her house where she already had two 12 quart stock pots on the stove with the beef, beef broth and spices simmering. We soon got to work peeling, chopping and slicing the fresh vegetables and then adding all the ingredients to the stock pots. Soon the house started to smell wonderful and not long after that, the soup was ready.

This recipe was originated by my mother. As with most of her recipes, since she cooked according to taste,  mom didn’t have a recipe for her vegetable soup. I remember on soup day, Mom would start out with one pot of soup and by the time she got it to taste the way she wanted, she usually ended up with four large pots of soup simmering on the stove. Fortunately, she had plenty of family and friends to share with. Jean had helped Mom make the soup many times so she knew the ingredients that Mom used and tweaked it a little by adding the bouquet garnet (Mom was a plain cook and seasoned with salt, pepper and plenty of fat), which made it even better, then a few years ago Jean and I worked together to get measurements for the ingredients - we wanted to avoid what I call, Mom’s growing pot of soup.

Vegetable Beef Soup
Print Recipe

1 1/4 pounds (approx.) beef shank center cut or soup bone (cut in half)
2 lbs beef shoulder roast, (2 to 3)
2 cans beef broth, (48 oz.)
1 bay leaf
10 pepper corns
1/4 tsp marjoram
6 cups crushed tomatoes (2-1 pound cans)
1/2 cup chopped onions (2 small)
2 cups celery, sliced (about 12 small stalks)
4 cups chopped carrots (about 8 large)
1 small head cabbage cut in pieces (about 8-10 cups)
6 potatoes large dice, (6 to 8)
1 can cut green beans, (28 ounce)
1 can white cream style corn, (15 ounce)
1 can yellow cream style corn or 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel sweet corn, (15 ounce)
1 15 ounce sweet peas
1 can baby limas, (15 ounce)
1 can kidney beans (optional), (15 ounce)
2 Tbs instant beef bouillon, (or to taste)

1. Wrap bay leaf, pepper corns and marjoram in cheese cloth. In large stock pot, boil beef, broth and spices for about 2 hours.
2. Remove beef and discard spices. Strain broth and return to stock pot. Allow beef to cool. Once cool, cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding fat. Put beef back in pot. Add crushed tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and cabbage to beef broth - cook until tender.
3. Add potatoes, and remaining ingredients and cook until potatoes are done.
4. Once all ingredients are combined and the soup has cooked a little, taste the soup and add, salt, bullion or more beef broth if desired.

I arrived at my sister's house after she had already started on the soup. This contains the beef broth, beef and bay leaf, pepper corn and marjoram. This is one of the two 12 quart stock pots that we were making.

After about two hours, the beef was removed, allowed to cool and then cut into bite sized pieces or shredded.

Onions, carrots and celery.

We added  the carrots, onion and celery to the pot and let that simmer while we prepared the cabbage.

I have to tell you that I'm not a cabbage fan. I do like cole slaw but that's the only way I'll eat it, except in this soup....it really adds a lot of flavor. So please try it at least the first time you make this, by the time the soup is finished the cabbage is soft and almost translucent.

Add the cabbage to the rest of the vegetables in the pot and stir.

Jean happened to look out the window and saw a couple of wild turkeys. I have never seen wild turkeys before so grabbed my camera and went outside to take their pictures. They didn't like getting their pictures taken so started to move. Unlike the deer around here, they don't stick around when humans are around, but I did manage to get a decent picture of them before they ran into the woods.

Now back to making some soup. They should be glad that we wanted vegetable beef soup and not turkey noodle.

Now the really hard part.....the opening of the cans.

The the potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces and

add to the pot along with the can of green beans and crushed tomatoes.

Add the remaining cans of vegetables.

Now we’re beginning to worry, we were running out of room in the stock pot and we still have to add the beef. As you can see the soup is all the way to the rim and the other stock pot was in the same condition. Jean pulled out a 10 quart Dutch oven and began to add soup from both stock pots to it. We were surprised that this had happened since we’ve made this before using the same two stock pots. Later Jean said that, since we couldn't find the right size cans of soup that we needed, she did add a little extra broth.

So we had the same problem my mother always ran into....the growing pot of soup. Although, as long as you have enough large stock pots or Dutch ovens, too much soup is never a problem.

Now we have enough room to add the beef. Allow soup to simmer until the beef is heated through then taste and add more salt and/or bouillon if needed. We added a little more beef broth because the soup was even thicker than we like (and we like it thick) and we also added more bouillon and salt. Then we let it simmer a little longer.

While waiting for the soup to finish cooking we saw more wild turkeys wandering around the edge of the woods. There were about seven this time but by the time I was able to take their picture, two had managed to get away from the group. It's a good thing the only thing I shoot with is a camera. Wonder what wild turkey tastes like?

The soup is finished and we are tired and hungry so my sister, brother-in-law and I sit down to a meal of delicious homemade soup....yum!!!

Now all we have to do is find enough containers to for all that soup.

Beef Stew 101

I can’t believe that the last time I made beef stew was over 10 years ago…..

I liked beef stew but never even thought about making it until I noticed my mother warming up some canned stew. She was in her 70’s and had lost interest in cooking by this time and if it hadn’t been for my father wanting fed, (he was of the old school….cooking was women’s work) she would probably have lived on scrambled eggs, frozen dinners, snack foods and sweets. She also, although at the time we didn’t know it, was beginning to show signs of Alzheimer’s type dementia…so not only didn’t she feel like cooking I’m not really sure how capable she was of cooking a whole meal. Anyway, back to the stew….she opened this can of stew and not only didn’t it look appetizing but, pardon the comparison, it smelled like dog food….yuck! I decided then and there that this had to stop. I pulled out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook (one that Mom gave me when I was in high school) and found a recipe for beef stew that I thought my parents would like.

This is the recipe that I found….it suited my father…the meat and potatoes man and my mother’s finicky tastes…she was a very picky eater. It had a few ingredients in it that I knew she wouldn’t eat, like parsnips or turnips or something… I can’t remember exactly, so I just left them out and added a few more potatoes. This made a large batch of stew….enough to feed my parents, my brother Dale, who was living in the apartment above the garage, and me….plus plenty left over for a couple more meals for Mom and Dad. I usually served this with some nice warm bread.

My parents are both gone now…my dad almost 10 years ago and Mom four (three years before that she was in nursing home care) ….my brother is now married and lives in Lexington. Since I’ve been cooking mostly for myself all these years, I usually just grill something on the George Foreman and make a vegetable, make pasta or an omelet. Now that Michael and I have been seeing each other….and it’s been long enough now that we aren’t going out as often and I’ve been cooking more. I try to keep from making the same old meals all the time and since it has been so cold and snowy out, I thought about beef stew. It’s a nice hardy dish to have this time of year.

1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons shortening
6 cups hot water
5 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes (5 to 6)
4 carrots cut into 1-inch slices
1 cup sliced celery (1-inch pieces)
1 medium onion, diced (about ½ cup)
1 tablespoon salt
2 beef bouillion cubes
1 bay leaf

Mix flour, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Coat meat with flour mixture. Melt shortening in large skillet; brown meat thoroughly.

Add water; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender

If desired, thicken stew. In covered small jar, shake 1 cup cold water and 2 to 4 tablespoons flour until blended. Stir into stew; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove bay leaf before serving.

I bought meat that was already cut up for stew.

Place on paper towels and blot with a paper towel to remove excess blood and moisture.

Mix together flour, salt and pepper in a food storage bag

Place half of the meat in bag

Shake, to coat meat with flour mixture - repeat with remaining half of beef.

Melt two tablespoons of shortening in pan

Brown beef

Add water, bring to boil and reduce to simmer

Cover and simmer for two hours.

Celery, carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, boullion and salt - add to pan

Cook for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender

If you want a thicker broth, using a jar with a lid or a Tupperware type shaker, add 2-4 tablespoons to 1 cup cold water and shake. I used two tablespoon of flour.

Pour into stew - bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute - stirring constantly

This was as good as I remembered! I did miss having Mom help me peel and slice vegetables and then sitting down at the table to enjoy the stew with my parents.

Printable Link for Beef Stew