Oven baked veal meatballs

Here is a great recipe that has been sent in from Yvette. It makes my day when recipes have been sent in. I guess it’s how you feel when you read this blog; any ideas are a massive help to all of us. 

I’ve mentioned before that Miss F is like a little vegetarian so I was a little worried about these meatballs. I asked Miss F is she would help me make these, and I think that really helped. She saw two of her favourite ingredients going into the mixture, corn and carrot. So by the time that these were cooked she was really excited to try these. I kept the plating up extremely simple and just added a little of our homemade sauce and some cheese on top. I know it doesn’t sound like much but if I add too much sauce, she will only eat the sauce and will leave everything else. If I add veggies, she will eat all of those but no protein. So I kept it simple for this meal.

And how did we go? She liked it. She ate two balls. That’s good for her and considering the fact that she had been snacking all afternoon, I was happy. So once again, thanks so much for sharing this with us Yvette. If anyone has any recipes they can share, PLEASE do. Send them here.

INGREDIENTS 

500 g veal mince (or turkey, chicken or beef mince.. it all works)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 carrot, grated

1 brown onion, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)

125 g creamed corn

1 cup dried breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon basil flakes

¼ teaspoon chilli powder

Pepper, to season

2 tablespoons oil, for frying (If you want to panfry them to get them brown then use the oil)

METHOD 

1. Add all ingredients, except oil, into food processor. Mix on medium for approximately 1 minute until well combined. If mixture is too runny, add a little more breadcrumbs. (personally i didn't put everything into the processor as our takes forever to clean and only comes out for special occasions!)

2. Roll into small to medium size balls and place on a plate. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to cook. 

3. Preheat oven to 180C (fan forced).

4. Place meatballs on a non-stick tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. (you can push them down to become patties)

5. Once cooked and cooled - Flash Freeze these on a clean baking tray in oven then transfer to sandwich bags. 

NOTE

If you want the meatballs ‘browned’ you can pan fry them before putting them in the oven (I don’t do this as its less ‘greasy’)

I take 2/3 out for my toddlers dinner and put them with leftover tomato based sauce or on their own with rice or pasta.

Little (rice) balls of love

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. We went down to chilly Canberra for a lovely couple of days with our family.

Here’s a recipe that totally surprised me. I wanted to cook this Vegie smugglers recipe because I loved the look of these little balls. I’ve never really seen anything like them before and I thought that they looked like something that would capture Miss F’s attention. 

These were super easy to make. When I was making them I was cursing myself for not halving the recipe as Hubbie and I had a roast cooking and I didn’t think these would tickle our fancy. Boy was I wrong. These were a hit with all of us. They were so good, not unlike something that you would get at yum cha. The Hubbie and I went a little crazy with these. We needed a lie down after eating these and then the roast! So next time, we will all sit down together and this will be the perfect dinner for all of us (no roast needed). There are some dishes that I highly recommend and this is one of them. Give them a go and let me know what you think.

Something that has helped Miss F eat more, is a set of kiddie chopsticks that was given to her for her 2nd brthday. She just loves to use these and now the eating experience is more about play, so she forgets what she’s eating and it's more about getting something into her mouth. Give it a go, it’s worked for us. 

Also, we now have a facebook page that is up and running, so come and like our page. I’m trying to encourage everyone to take a quick photo of some of the meals that you cook, as it might inspire us for tomorrow night’s dinner. The photos certainly don’t need to be fancy, just grab your phone and snap away. 

SERVES

2 adults and 2 kids

INGREDIENTS

1 cup long grain rice

500g pork mince

3tbs soy sauce

1 egg

½ tsp cater sugar

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

½ cup mushrooms, very finely chopped

1 tsp crushed ginger

¼ tsp five spice

Dipping sauce

2tbs soy sauce

2 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs sweet chilli sauce

2tbs tomato sauce

1 tbs shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry or mirin

METHOD

1. Soak the rice in cold water for 30mins. Drain well and spread over a large plate.

2. Combine the rest of the rice ball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use hands to roll into bite-sized balls. Roll the balls in the rice to totally cover. Set aside.

3. Line steamer with baking paper and place over a wok or saucepan of boiling water. Steam the rice balls in batches for 15-18mins until cooked through.

4. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with rice balls with the dipping sauce. 

Chicken sausage rolls with little vegie surprises

Here we are, can you see us? We are still stuck here in the land of the flu. I thought we were on the road to recovery but Little S and I are still swimming in tissues and Vicks. My taste buds have only just started to function again, so it’s time to hit the kitchen again. 

As you know, this blog is all about sharing recipes and helping each other out. Wendy from Vegie smugglers sent me one of her great cookbooks. These books are filled with not only great recipes, but they also have some great nutritional facts, hints about freezing and great facts about each vegetable and fruit. If you would like more information, head over to vegie smugglers. 

So thanks to the Vegie smugglers we have this great chicken sausage roll recipe. Miss F is a fan of the old sausage roll, so I had a feeling that she would be a great fan of these. There was no real surprise when she devoured one. There are a few things that I loved about these, they contain lentils and I have a freezer full of them now. These are so easy to make, there's no excuse not to make them! 

MAKES 

10 sticks (40 pieces)

INGREDIENTS

5 sheets frozen puff pastry

500g chicken mince

1 carrot, peeled, grated

1 zucchini, grated

1 onion, grated (or you can whizz these 3 ingredients to save time, but avoid pulping out all the texture)

3 medium mushrooms, finely diced

125g can brown lentils, rinsed, drained

1 egg

2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (basil and chives are good)

Salt & black pepper

1 egg, whisked, for glazing

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Lay out your pastry sheets on a bench. Cut each in half to make 2 rectangles.

2. Mix together all the remaining ingredients until combined.

3. Spread the mixture lengthwise along the middle of the rectangles. Ease pastry over from one edge, brush egg along top side then roll other edge over to seal.

4. If cooking immediately, cut each stick into 4 pieces, place on an oven tray lined with baking paper, brush with egg and cook in middle of the oven for 25 minutes until golden and cooked through.

FREEZING & DEFROSTING INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare these quickly. Wrap uncooked sticks of sausage rolls in plastic wrap. Freeze immediately on oven trays to maintain their shape before transferring to plastic bags for an extra layer of protection. Defrost in the fridge (still wrapped in plastic) for 24 hours before cooking. Ensure they are completely thawed before cooking. Cut into four, brush with egg and cook for 25 minutes until steaming hot in the centre.

Bacon and vegetable slice

This wonderful recipe was sent in to us from Belinda, an old school friend. I loved the sound of this and was really hoping that Freya would like it as it's healthy and it has both bacon and egg ( two things that she refuses to eat). Well she LOVED it! As she said a few times, yummy, yummy, yummy. I was soooo happy about this. This is a great dish as it's something that both kids and adults would love. What it also great is that it is a one bowl dish, so there is no major clean up afterwards. Belinda, thank you. This is going to be made on a regular basis for both Freya and me.   

MAKES

8 large slices

INGREDIENTS

250g grated zucchini

125g carrot grated

125g pumpkin grated

1 large onion diced finely

3 rashers bacon chopped

5 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup s.r flour

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup grated cheese

METHOD

1. Turn oven on to 180 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients together and bake in a roasting tin (or Belinda recommends silicon moulds) for 35 mins or until golden on top.