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Posts tagged under Meat. Show all posts.
Scanning the meat section of my local grocery store for inspiration, I settled on what was on sale—ground beef. My kids love spaghetti and meatballs, so what better meal for dinner tonight. After some deliberation, I took that idea one step further and decided to make meatball subs—they like those too! I picked up three packages of ground meat—beef, pork, and chicken, a can of tomato sauce, and a few whole wheat sub buns. The meatball recipe I use is pretty simple and my kids love it. If I were making meatballs for adult guests I would add a little heat. Making meatballs is not only a good cooking lesson, but also a great after school activity. Much like playdough, my two love to get their hands in there and mess around.
Meatball Subs
Serves 6
You’ll Need
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground pork
½ lb ground chicken/turkey
2 eggs
½ cup bread crumbs (homemade if you have them)
¼ cup parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup cooking oil (Grapeseed oil is great for cooking at high heat)
6 sub/sausage buns, warmed
1 cup tomato sauce, heated
½ cup grated cheese
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients, using a fork or your hands to mix well.
- Using your hands, form small, medium or large size meatballs.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in large skillet.
- Cook meatballs in batches, turning to cook on all sides.
- As they are ready, remove meatballs from skillet, place in oven-safe dish and transfer to the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the oven, place in buns, and spoon tomato sauce over top.
- Sprinkle the top of the meatball sub with grated cheese and serve.
- Store leftover cooked meatballs into a container or resealable bag and throw them in the freezer. Meatballs are great for a snack, with pasta, or as a quick appetizer.
What are you having for dinner tonight?
The food team at SavvyMom are pleased as punch with the new and improved version of EatSavvy this month. We’re delivering the same great tried and tested savvy recipes for busy families but we have improved the look and feel of the site. We love the bigger food shots done by our very own Holly Sisson. They look almost as delicious as they are in real life. We also worked on making the site a bit easier for you to navigate and find what you need.
We’re always looking for ways to improve and make your experience better at SavvyMom so feel free to share your thoughts with us anytime.
What improvements do you like on EatSavvy or what else would you like us to change?
It was Boxing Day, the table was cleared, the leftovers were refrigerated, and the dishes were done. It was then that my mother started taking bids for the ham bone. I was the top bidder (only fair, considering my sister got the turkey carcass) and brought home a juicy, smoked ham bone to make a pot of soup.
I usually make green pea soup with the ham bone, but this year I came across a delicious mixed bean soup mix and decided to use it in place of split green peas. I was familiar with a number of Bob’s Red Mill products—pancake mix, flour, and hot cereals, but the 13 Bean Soup Mix is by far my new favourite.
Simple to make, delicious, and high in fibre and protein, 13 Bean Soup Mix was a huge hit. Monday is hockey night, so I figured soup would be the perfect meal to help keep us warm at the rink. After two bowls of soup, a crusty whole wheat dinner roll, and a glass of milk, we were ready to face the elements. I modified the recipe on the package to include a couple of additional ingredients.
Hearty Bean & Ham Soup
You’ll Need
- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix
- 2.5 L water
- 1 ham bone
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 15oz can tomatoes, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup leftover ham, chopped
Prep and Cook
- Wash soup mix and soak overnight.
- In the morning, drain and rinse bean mix.
- Bring water, beans and ham bone to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 3-3 ½ hrs.
- Add onions, tomatoes, garlic, carrots and ham and simmer an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve with a crusty loaf of bread or dinner rolls warmed in the oven.
What’s your family’s favourite soup recipe?
Coming up with new, healthy breakfast ideas is always a challenge, especially on school mornings. My kids are happy to have cereal or toast with fruit every day, but because they are both so active, I like them to start the day with a nutritious breakfast that is high in protein—like eggs. Eating foods high in protein will help them stay full longer, thereby allowing them to stay focused at school. Fried, scrambled, soft boiled and poached are all good options, but more recently, I have been making what we call, ‘Ham and Egg Cups’. They are simple, delicious and fun to eat! The best part about this recipe is that you can cook a lot of eggs all at the same time, so it’s great to do if you are serving a crowd.
My boys love them because they are simple enough to make on their own (when we’re not running behind schedule).
Good to know: You can make a few of these ahead of time and warm them up in the microwave the next day.
Ham and Egg Cups
Serves 3
You’ll Need
- 6 slices of cooked deli ham/turkey
- 6 eggs
- ¼ cup grated cheddar cheese
Prep and Cook
- Preheat the oven to 350°F .
- Line the inside of a muffin tin with a slice of ham (folding in the ends to make a flower shape).
- Crack one egg into the ham.
- Continue with the other 5 cups.
- Cook for approximately 12 minutes or until the top of the egg is white, but the yolk still moves.
- Sprinkle the tops of the eggs with shredded cheese.
- Serve immediately, two per person, with ‘soldier boys’ (toast spears) for dipping and a side of fruit.
What do your kids like to make for breakfast?
It’s amazing how the luncheon meats of past were so ‘full’ of things that they now are free of—fats, nitrates and other chemicals that are next-to-impossible to pronounce. And that’s not including what part of the animal that the so-called ‘meat’ actually came from.
The idea of pizza growing on trees is absurd. The idea that old-fashioned luncheon meat was actually good for you may have been even more so. Here at SavvyMom, we are major advocates of healthy meat options, such as the Life Choices Hot Dogs that are now sporting SavvyMom Approved stickers (yep, we liked them that much), and we’re always looking to find more meat products that are good for our kids (and us, too).
Recently, we tried sandwiches featuring luncheon meat from Freybe Gourmet Foods who are launching their Naturally Freybe line of hormone, preservative and antibiotic-free meats that are perfect for kids’ lunches. We loved the roast beef, ham, and turkey sandwiches and liked that the cold cuts were made from whole muscle meat (rather than the ground-up processed version created from a range of parts that old school bologna happens to be from).
Another great option that we’d pack in our kids’ lunch boxes are the cold cuts from Maple Leaf Natural Selections. Their philosophy is simple: natural ingredients you can pronounce and nothing added that you wouldn’t want to serve to your loved ones. They make oven-roasted, or smoked and uncured ham, chicken and turkey breast. What we thought was interesting is that celery salt is used as a natural preservative so they have done away with all kind of unpronounceable chemicals in the ingredients.
So all this ‘meaty news’ means that making lunch is a slice again. Do you have a healthier option to recommend?
Mental for Lentils
Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with Canadian celebrity chef, Michael Smith. As a long-time fan of his television shows and cookbooks, it was a real treat to spend some time learning about his newest passion: lentils.
Chef Michael has partnered with the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers to launch a new series of 12 webisodes, each showcasing the versatility and simplicity of the homegrown lentil. The online videos (found at lentils.ca) are packed with cooking tips and easy, family-friendly recipes that show us how to add the humble lentil to our everyday meals.
Unbeknownst to many of us, Canada is a leading world producer of lentils, with over 60% of the world’s lentils being farmed here. We harvest four varieties, and 95% of the country’s crop is grown in Saskatchewan. Yet, many families aren’t incorporating lentils into their weekly meals. I asked Michael why he thought this is and he states “Lentils are a fairly new farming venture for Canada, having only been around since 1970. People are just learning how to cook and serve them, and it’s this generation of cooks who are going to be the ones to introduce lentils as a leading local ingredient.”
Why should we want to add these nutritionally dense nuggets to our plate? Lentils are packed with protein, loaded with fibre, and inexpensive—meaning they hit all the marks for a practically perfect food. Any when they’re pureed, they can even replace half the butter in our beloved chocolate chip cookies, without anyone being the wiser.
I love the lentil recipes that Chef Michael has created, and can’t wait to try the Lentil Lasagna, Sneaky Lentil Cookies, and Slow Chicken and Lentil Stew, which is at the top of my must-make list.
Do you cook with lentils? What are some of your favourite ways to serve them?
Find the full printable recipe here: Lentil Meatloaf
Do you purchase organic food? If so, do you focus mainly on produce, meat and dairy, or are your pantry items organic as well? Or, are you someone who doesn’t believe organic is better? Are you content with buying the best items your family can afford, and if that includes some or no organics, you’re okay with that?
Regardless of your shopping habits, I thought you might be interested in a recent study conducted by Stanford University. Known to be the most comprehensive analysis to date, it compares organic and conventionally grown produce. I found the results quite fascinating and wanted to share them with our savvy readers.
Here is a brief synopsis from the report:
- There is no significant difference in vitamin content between organic and regular produce.
- There is no difference in fat or protein content between organic and regular milk.
- There is a small amount of evidence suggesting that organic milk may contain higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids versus regular milk.
- Organic produce is 30% less likely to contain pesticides than regular produce, however organic items are not 100% pesticide free.
- Pesticide levels of non-organic food fell within the allowable safety limits, as set out by the government.
- Two studies in the review found lower levels of pesticides in the urine of children who ate an organic diet versus a conventional one; however, the urinary levels in both groups of children fell below the safety thresholds.
- Results suggest that organic produce is more likely to be contaminated with E. coli. Organic produce, using manure for fertilization, is much more likely to contain the bacteria than produce from a farm that does not use animal waste.
Whether you purchase organic items or not, do the findings of this report sway your opinion either way? Are you more likely to add organic items to your grocery cart or does this make you feel that they really aren’t worth the extra dollars?
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