Chicken Meatballs

 

Chicken Meatballs

Yes, chicken meatballs.  I do not eat beef, and choose not to feed my baby boy soy meatballs (my favorite Oh! Naturel frozen ones) due to soy not being so great for growing boys and their hormone balance... and this recipe turned out better than I could have hoped for.  I only think I will change the size of the meatballs, because I want to be bombarded with tonnes of tiny balls instead of a few honkin' sized chews.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used southern fried chicken coating aka fake shake & bake)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or a teaspoon of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I omit salt... its up to you)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Place ground chicken,egg,1/2 cup Parmesan,bread crumbs, garlic,oregano and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.

2. Knead mixture together with hand till evenly combined.

3. Form mixture into 1-inch balls.  (I think I will make mini meatballs next time though, they are one big chunk of ball)

4. In large non-stick skillet, warm olive oil over high heat.

5.  Place meatballs in pan,up to 8 at a time,and cook until all sides are browned,approximately 8 minutes for each meatball.

6. Remove with slotted spoon,and add to your favorite spaghetti sauce.

    Secondary cooking method:  I chose to bake the meatballs on a cookie sheet, at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, then added them to my spaghetti sauce.   If you cook them 5 - 10 more minutes they would probably be easily frozen to pop into recipes as needed.

KD of the week: Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

1 tsp. oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1 can (19 fl oz) Aylmer Chili Style Tomatoes
1 can of water (empty can from tomatoes)
1 box of KD (any variety)
1 cup shredded cheese or a couple slices of cheese from the fridge.

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

-Add oregano, tomatoes, water and pasta from KD. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and do so until pasta is tender.

-Stir in cheese sauce and extra cheese and remain cooking until heated through.

(note:  I love to add extra cheese to almost all of my KD... my husband is not always fond of that though, so to each their own)

*adapted from a recipe found here (I found it through a web search... not from being a member lol)
http://forums.plentyoffish.com/3547572datingPostpage2.aspx

Pass the lols : My Food Looks Funny

Oh the cheezburger network, how your funnies fill my dull days.  Poor little red shirt bear, he didn't know what he was getting into.  Anyways, this food related site offers amusing images of food gone funny.  

My Food Looks Funny

Just in case you were in need of seeing rainbow coloured bacon or the famous Cheezhenge... it is worth checking out.  Oh what the heck, here is Cheezhenge as a second preview:

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole

In my quest for frugal recipes while I was pregnant, I did a lot of searching for OAMC recipes (once a month cooking)  and recently I flipped back through my other blog and discovered this recipe in a post, which I will now copy over to this site for good measure.  By the way, I still have not had the chance to make this one, but it still excites me so it is good to have in the collection.

I found a recipe for a cabbage roll casserole, and that one truly makes me excited, because my aunt used to make cabbage rolls when I was young and I loved them, but I haven't had anything close to that experience in years due to the fact that you just don't see vegetarian cabbage rolls, its just not done. I hope this one works out well :)

A lot of the best freezer planning and meal planning advice and recipes I have found came from this site: http://www.momsbudget.com/ which also covers money management and decor too, so it is one of my more visited pages.

Also, in case you were curious, this is the cabbage roll casserole recipe ;)

 

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole(serves 10)

 

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cups mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cups sunflower seeds

1 head cabbage, shredded

4 cups tomato juice or tomato puree

Optional sweet-sour tang:1/3 cup brown sugar (add to sauce)3 tablespoons cider or rice wine vinegar (add to sauce)1 cup raisins (add to rice with mushrooms) 

 

Directions:

In deep, heavy pot saute onion, pepper and mushrooms in oil until tender. Add garlic and seeds. Add rice.

In large pan layer 1 cups juice or puree,then 1/3 of cabbage (approx.) then 2 cups rice and vegetable mixture.

Repeat twice. Pour remaining juice or puree over top. Cover and freeze.

To serve, place directly into 350 degrees oven from freezer. Bake 1 1/2 - 2 hours or more until cooked through.

KD of the week: Shipwrecked KD

 Shipwrecked KD

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. (340 g) extra lean ground beef  (or if you don't eat beef like me, use a package of Yves ground round)
1 pkg.  (225 g) KRAFT DINNER Macaroni and Cheese
1 can (19 fl oz/540mL) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup  frozen green peas
1 cup skim milk (that is what they call for... I say 2% is in the fridge already...)
1/2 cup  KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese (... and I don't like to 'skinny' my cheese either...)

Directions:

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. reserving meat in skillet.
STIR in Macaroni, Cheese Sauce, tomatoes, peas and milk. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low 12 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
TOP with mozzarella. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until melted.

Original recipe... found in many places, but this link has a person who is very passionate about their KD, I find that commendable.
Say Radio - Gourmet Kraft Dinner Recipes