Nika’s Meal 1

 

Tonight we had our inaugural meal from the cookbook.  I had to improvise in a few areas because I didn’t have everything the recipes called for, but the other option was to wait longer to make the meal and procrastination never ends well for me.   Also, I have to say the recipes were easy.  I did almost the whole thing holding a baby and using my other hand to prepare/cook and had a 2 year old and 4 year old helping me. 

We only had 1 sweet potato so we did a mix of russets as well.  The cornstarch gave them a nice crispy coating and everyone liked them.  We will do that again. 

before cooking…

One of my helpers is really into taking pictures.  This can be done holding a baby, do not worry!

For the special drink I needed to double it because I had 6 thirsty people to feed.  I didn’t prepare ahead of time to blend the ingredients and freeze so I just left everything frozen plus added the water and soda and blended it up and it was perfect.  So delicious.  My husband said he would be fine drinking it every night. 

I had some frozen turkey meatballs to use up.  I thought they would work fine since I was out of chicken and they aren’t really seasoned or anything.  I simmered the sauce on the stove and thickened it right away, omitting  the crockpot altogether and since the meatballs were precooked just heated them and mixed with the sauce.  They were really good and were well received by the family.  I have one tip on the spices.  Sometimes spices can be a bit pricey at the regular grocery store and I usually buy them at one of several bulk stores we have nearby but this time I just needed to get them quickly and I discovered that in the Mexican aisle of our local grocery, which does not have a very large hispanic section, there were tons of spices in plastic bag type packages instead of jars.  They are about 1/4 of the prices of the spice aisle and the ones I got were very tasty and great.  Just a tip for you. 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the meatballs until I cleaned up so here are some leftovers.  The sauce was dark and thick and sticky and would go great on lots of types of meat or even veggies and over rice.  I didn’t end up adding the sesame seeds because I didn’t have time to toast them and usually they don’t taste like anything unless they are toasted.