Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Tonight I really felt like Swedish meatballs. We used to enjoy the ones you can buy and reheat from IKEA, but when my food intolerances began we soon found we couldn't eat them any more.  The meatballs were fine, but the sauce mix they sell is loaded with MSG and flavour enhancers, which make my skin itch and gives me a pounding headache.  Very disappointing... That was until I discovered a recipe for Swedish meatballs on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste. So, so very happy and grateful to have found a homemade alternative! And the best part is, I think it tastes 100 times better than the IKEA version.  I couldn't eat their meatballs now, even if I didn't have food problems; their texture seems all wrong, like that used scopes of dog food (sorry IKEA!) and my sauce has so much more flavour going on.  I've tweaked the original recipe from Skinny Taste to suit our tastes and to the products I can use, but it's still very similar. You can use whatever you like, I've just used products that work for me.

My hubby and I like to serve this recipe with oven-cooked chips, but it's also delicious served with mashed potato or you could serve it with your favourite pasta.  Cranberry sauce, or the more authentic Swedish Lingonberry Sauce, is optional, but we find that the sweet fruitiness of the sauce is a nice contrast against the savoury meat and cream sauce. 

I think this would be a good family meal. You could totally serve the cream sauce over mashed potatoes, sweet potato, roasted pumpkin, peas and corn... whatever your family prefers. You could also sneak more minced/grated veggies into the meatballs to trick your pick eaters into eating something healthy. I'm thinking next time some finely grated carrot and zucchini would both bulk these babies out and make them even more nutritious.  Even without the extra veg, they're still pretty guilt free, with a serve of meatballs and sauce measuring up at around 323 calories per serve. 

Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Serves: 4 (approx 5-6 meatballs per person)

500g Coles 5 Star Beef Mince

1 cup homemade breadcrumbs or Panko

1 whole free-range egg

1 medium onion, minced

2 sticks celery, minced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp allspice

1 - 1 1/2 Massel beef stock cube

1L warm water + 1/4 cup warm water

2 dessert spoons Philadelphia cream cheese spread, 80% fat free

2 dessert spoons cornflour

Start by putting your beef mince into a large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs (or Panko, your choice), egg, onion and celery, garlic and the allspice.  Time to get your hands dirty!  Roughly mix the ingredients together with your hands.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up meatball mixture.  Split in half, so you have a 1/8 cup sized serve, and roll into a neat ball.  Arrange on a plate or cutting board as you go until all the meat mixture is rolled into balls.  The mixture should make about 18 - 22 balls. 

Raw meatballs bathe on hot beef stock...

In a large, high-sized frying pan, add your litre of water and stock cubes.  Stir gently to dissolve the stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and gently add your raw meatballs, one at a time, being careful not to splash yourself.  It's easiest to start from the outside of the pan and work your way into the centre of the pan.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.  Don't touch the meatballs during the cooking time or they may break apart!

No longer raw, but cooked and tender. Set aside while you finish the sauce.

Remove the meatballs from the liquid with tongs and set aside in a covered bowl to keep warm. Keep the beefy liquid on the heat.  Add the Philadelphia cream cheese spread and whisk into the liquid.  Mix the cornflour with the 1/4 cup of warm water and add to the cheesy stock mixture, and whisk in.  Keep on a low heat, whisking as the sauce begins to thicken.  Remove immediately when it reaches your desired thickness, and serve over your meatballs and choice of side.

Thick creamy sauce, infused with the herbs and spices from the meatballs.

Load up your plate and enjoy!

Cream sauce smothering the oven chips.

Sweet cranberry sauce to go with my savoury, tender meatballs. Yum!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

I was inspired to make this after reading a similar recipe on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste, a couple of weeks ago.  My hubby loved this, apart from the broccoli... he's not a big broccoli fan. But he was willing to forgive it's presence in his dinner this time after smelling the whole thing cooking.  He was near salivating, watching the timer count down!  

This recipe is filling, tasty and pretty healthy, being low in fat - I worked it out to be 344 calories per serve. I was not well organised today, so it was a juggling act to get everything cooked and ready to go together. But I'm sure you won't have that problem. I think this is a dish the whole family will love... even picky eaters because the veggies are hidden in the delicious sauce. It may seem weird to top with rice crispy cereal, but I love the extra crunchy texture this gives the dish!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

Serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil

400g chicken tenderloin or breast

4 cups of cooked pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

1 cup raw broccoli, chopped

2 tbsp light olive oil spread

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup frozen chopped onion

1 cup low fat milk

2 cups hot water

1 Massel chicken stock cube

30g shredded parmesan

1/2 cup shredded pizza cheese (tasty, parmesan, mozzarella blend)

1/2 tsp ground sea salt

1/2 ground black pepper

1/4 cup rice crispy cereal, crushed 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (fan-forced) To start off cooking, boil your pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside in a bowl. 

Cut your broccoli into small bite-size pieces, including the stalks.  Boil in unsalted water until just tender. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop it cooking further, and set aside with the pasta. 

Brown chicken tenders or sliced chicken breast in a little olive oil over a medium heat.  Just until browned on the outside.  The chicken will finish cooking later in the dish.  If you're using chicken tenders, you can break them up into bite-sized pieces using a couple of forks at this point. Set aside.

Next, using the same large saucepan you used to cook your pasta and the chicken, melt the olive oil spread over medium low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of the salt, and sweat the onion until it starts to become transparent. Add the thyme and garlic and stir through.  Heat for a further minute or so.  

Take the pan off the heat and add the plain flour.  Stir this through the melted olive oil spread to start making a roux.  It should become a clumpy, gluey dough-like mixture. Return to low heat, stirring for a minute or so to cook out the floury taste. Add milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk together to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thick white sauce.  Crumble in the chicken stock cube and stir, then add 2 cups of hot water, one at a time, whisking in between to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thinner very chickeny flavoured white sauce.  Add the parmesan and about half of the pizza cheese, and stir to help it mix through as it melts into the sauce. My hubby got very excited at this point!

Now we begin to assemble to dish... Add the pasta and broccoli to the white sauce mixture.  Stir, then add the chicken and mix it through gently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then pour into a baking dish. Top with crushed rice crispies and the remaining pizza cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the top has gone golden. Serve and enjoy!

The finished dish

Full of juicy chicken and broccoli...

...and rigatoni smothered in a creamy cheesy-chicken sauce.

Homemade Cottage Pie

This recipe is something I threw together on a whim to see if I could replicate the Maggi Cottage Pie mix that Hubby used to enjoy.  Hubby said the meat mixture I made was beautiful and was so good he'd be happy to just have it on toast anytime.  That's a pretty big compliment from Mr Picky!  The potato is smooth and creamy, while the meat mixture is rich, lightly spiced and slightly tangy.  And I don't know about you, but I find making mashed taties very comforting and theraputic after a hard day!  A hearty meal for a cold night, and one that both young and old will enjoy.

Homemade Cottage Pie

Homemade Cottage Pie

Serves: 6

Mince:
1 tbsp olive oil
500g heart-smart beef mince
1/2 cup frozen peas, carrots and corn
1/2 cup frozen chopped onions
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 cup water
3 tbsp Massel Supreme gravy powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt + a pinch
1 Massel beef stock cube

Potato:
5-6 large potatoes
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup low fat tasty cheese (for topping)


To cook mince:
Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Over a medium-low heat, add onions. Sweat but do not colour.  To stop onions browning, add a pinch of salt. Add minced garlic. Stir into the sweating onions. Add mince, cooking until browned.

Turn heat up to medium. Add tomato paste and stir through the mince and onion mixture. Heat through to "cook" the paste. Add the canned tomatoes, mixed vegies, salt, pepper, dried thyme leaves and paprika, and stir again.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Add water and crush up the stock cube as you add it in.  Stir into the tomato mince mix.  Add the gravy powder one spoon at a time, cooking in between. This will help thicken the mince mixture. Cook for another 5 minutes, until thickening, then remove from heat.

To cook potato:
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. 

Peel and chop the potatoes into even sized chunks. Cook until fork tender.

Take off the heat and carefully drain off the hot water.  In the warm saucepan add butter or margarine to the hot potatoes.  Add half the milk and start mashing!  Add more milk as you go to make a nice smooth mash.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Using a whisk, whip your mash until it's light and fluffy and completely smooth. 

To assemble to the meal:

Pour the mince mixture into a ovensafe baking dish. Gently spoon the potato mash over the top of the mince, and spread out with a fork.  Spread it out as rough as you like - some spikey bits with make for a nice crispy texture on top. Spinkle with tasty cheese, and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius (fan-forced) for 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden and melted.  

Baked and golden...

And deliciously ugly, hehe.

*Note* I was a little naughty with mine this time. I was in a hurry and in the dish pictured I used Edgell instant mashed potato to top the mix.  All previous times I have used real mashed potato, which always tastes a million times better!  But this is a handy option when you're pushed for time, and the Edgell instant mash at least tastes fairly close to real thing when you add milk, butter and a little salt and pepper.

Apricot Chicken in the Slow Cooker

This post was inspired by my old school friend Holly.  She contacted me recently for a recipe for Apricot Chicken to use in her new slow cooker.  This was an untested recipe I had on file.  While Holly tested it out at her house I decided to give it a go with my homemade French onion soup mix.  It turned out sweet and tasty, with a nice hint of spice.  Hubby went back for more, which is always a good sign he liked it.

Apricot Chicken and Brown Rice

Apricot Chicken Recipe 

500g chicken (breasts or thighs)

400ml apricot nectar

1 packet of French onion soup (or my homemade mix if you're MSG free)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 400g can apricots, drained

Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Put the chicken into the slow cooker, followed by the other ingredients and stir until well mixed.  Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. 

Serve with brown rice and vegetables - anything you like! 

Now doesn't that look good? Just like a golden sunset in a bowl!

Hmm, sweet, spicy apricot sauce... *Homer drools*

 

*Note* If the sauce is a little thin, mix 1 tablespoon of cornflour with about a 1/4 cup of water until smooth, then add to the dish.  Mix through and allow to cook out for a few minutes.  When you go to serve the sauce should cling to your chicken a little better.   

I didn't add extra vegies this time, testing it out on a picky hubby. Next time I think some peas or green beans, or some strips of red capsicum would be nice, added in 30 minutes or so before serving so they don't break down too much.  You could also add a handful of chopped dried apricots to add a more intense apricot flavour and chunkier texture. My canned apricots broke down to almost a jam-like consistency.