Semi-homemade Swedish Meatballs

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

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 Lan

I heard so often that every American family will have its own meatballs recipe that is passed down to family generations. This post will introduce the Swedish meatballs .The common meatballs are served in a tangy, often chunky, tomato sauce or marinara sauce. Usually, Swedish meatballs are cooked in a rich, roux-based gravy sauce. The sauce can be made with beef broth, but in my recipe, I use chicken broth instead. I call this semi-homemade Swedish  meatballs because  the meatballs that are sold at Ikea or other grocers are very good. Also, this will cut the time of making meatballs, and in the busy world now, this recipe is very helpful. The Swedish meatballs are good because of the creamy gravy sauce and can be served with egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. turkey meatballs

Sauce ingredients:

3 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a sauté pan with butter, oil, and flour, and then whisk until it turns brown; stir in minced garlic. Slowly stir in chicken broth and cream. Add Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. Bring to a boil; add the meatballs, and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over egg noodles or rice.

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Chocolate Cookies Cake

A friend of mine sent me this recipe that she learned during the Covid-19 lockdown. The ingredients are so simple: there are cookies, milk, and baking powder. I feel a little skeptical about this recipe, but today after making this cake, I am confident enough to post this recipe for all my blog fans who frequently visit my blog. My friend uses the regular cookies with chocolate. I use the Oreo cookies. I remove the filling from the cookies and add some of chocolate to make a frosting for this cake. I can share the easy chocolate frosting recipe as well.

Ingredients:

1 package of chocolate cookies or Oreo cookies (your choice) about 450 gr

1 ½ cups of milk, skim or whole milk

1 tbs baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line an 8” x 8” cake pan with parchment paper.

Place the cookies in a blender and blend until fine crumbs.

Pour the cookies crumbs in a large mixing bowl.

Add baking powder. Mix well.

Pour milk into the cookie crumbs. I use a handheld blender and blend until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let it cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate frosting for this cake:

1 stick softened butter

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

Whip butter and cocoa together until smooth in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar; stir in milk slowly because you might not need all of the 1/4 cup milk.

If you use Oreo cookies, the filling of the cookies can be used with the frosting. Melt the Oreo cookies filling and add into the frosting.

This is an easy cake to create in no time. Experience for yourself and make changes as you go.

 

Asian Grilled or Baked Chicken

The Asian marinade for meat is a combination of Asian spices, such as lemongrass, garlic, and shallot. This grilled or baked chicken is easy to create using most ingredients that people can easily find in American supermarkets. This recipe is fantastic because it can be cooked on the stove, on the outdoor grill, or baked in the oven. The Vietnamese people use dipping sauce for this recipe when served over rice; the Thai people will serve a cucumber salad on the side. The chicken is good by itself, but I will include the recipes for making the Vietnamese dipping sauce and Thai cucumber salad, as well. 

Ingredients:

3 lbs. chicken thighs, bone in (you can use the skinless and boneless)

The marinade ingredients:

2 stalks lemongrass, white part only and finely chopped

3 green onions, white part only, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced (about 1/4 cup)

2 tbs equal parts fish sauce, soy sauce, and dry sherry cooking wine

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs corn syrup or honey

1/3 cup oil

1 fresh chilli, chopped (optional) 

Other ingredients:

Cilantro

Steamed rice

Cucumber salad (see recipe below)

Directions:

Wash and dry the chicken.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well. You can place them in a blender and blend well. Adjust the taste to your family’s liking.

In a container with a lid, place the chicken inside and pour the marinade on top. Cover the container with the lid and marinate for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

For outdoor grilling, follow the instructions that come with with your grill.

For the stove top, heat a cast-iron pan. (I prefer the cast-iron pan, but you can use any pan that you have). Add the chicken (skin side down). Cook each side for 4 minutes or until it cooks through. 

For using the oven:

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil (it makes for easy clean up later). Place chicken (skin side up) on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, and then turn the chicken over to bake the other side for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

The marinade sauce remaining can be used to bake the chicken during grilling or baking. For the stove top, pour in the marinade sauce and cook alongside with the chicken halfway through the cooking time.

Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.

To make the cucumber salad, you will need the following: 1 English cucumber, 3 shallots or red onion (about 1 cup), 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup sugar.

Cook vinegar, sugar, and salt until dissolved. Let t cool.

You either can slice, dice, or quarter the cucumber (it is your preference). 

Slice or dice the red onions.

Add the cucumber, red onions, and red pepper flakes to the cool vinegar. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes before serving.

To make Vietnamese dipping sauce, I use the ratio of 1-1-1-2, which means 1 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice, and 2 tbs water. Ajdust the seasoning to your liking.  You can add 1 minced garlic clove and fresh chili to the dipping sauce.

HINT: when using the stove top or outdoor grilling, place the green part of lemongrass beneath the chicken.

A Smiling Spouse is Your Ticket to a Healthier, Longer Life

 

New York: Having a happy, smiling partner can keep you healthy and fit as you enter middle age and move towards the golden years, say researchers, adding that simply having a happy partner may enhance health as much as striving to be happy oneself.

 “A smiling spouse is your ticket to a healthier, longer life". This finding significantly broadens assumptions about the relationship between happiness and health, suggesting a unique social link," said William Chopik, assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University.

In the study of 1,981 middle-age couples, researchers found that people with happy spouses were much more likely to report better health over time.

Previous research suggests happy people are generally healthy people but Chopik wanted to take it one step further by exploring the health effects of interpersonal relationships.

According to him, happy partners likely provide stronger social support, such as care-taking, as compared to unhappy partners who are more likely to be focused on their own stressors.

"Happy partners may get unhappy people involved with activities and environments that promote good health, such as maintaining regular sleep cycles, eating nutritious food, and exercising," Chopik added.

Being with a happy partner should make a person's life easier even if not explicitly happier.

"Simply knowing that one's partner is satisfied with his or her individual circumstances may temper a person's need to seek self-destructive outlets, such as drinking or drugs, and may more generally offer contentment in ways that afford health benefits down the road," Chopik pointed out.

The study examined the survey information of couples age 50 to 94, including happiness, self-rated health, and physical activity over a six-year period.

The results showed no difference between husbands and wives in the study.

The study was published by the American Psychological Association in the journal, Health Psychology.

The New Indian Express

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce

The name of this dish has nothing to do with lobster. It is a popular Chinese dish made with white sauce traditionally used in Chinese cooking. Most Chinese sauces are made with soy sauce and oyster sauce, but the white sauce has a very mild taste and has a base consisting of chicken stock, egg white and thickened with cornstarch. The sauce does not contain any lobster, and I think that lobster is too expensive to create a sauce just for this dish. Maybe the seasoning of this dish is similar to the seasoning that is used to make lobster and that is the reason why it has its name. I like to make this dish because it is quick meal and very healthy.  

Ingredients:

12 oz. large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

4 oz. ground chicken or pork

1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 green onions, separate the white part and green part, sliced

1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots

1 cup chicken broth

1 egg white

Season with:

1 tbs cooking wine

Salt, sugar and white pepper, to taste

Thickening sauce ingredients:

1 tbs cornstarch with 2 tbs water

Serve with cooked rice.

Directions:

Lightly season the shrimp with salt and sugar, to taste.

In a wok, heat up the oil on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add in the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Stir in the white part of the green onion. Stir in ground chicken cook for 1 minutes

Add shrimp into the wok and stir-fry until half-cooked or the surface turns opaque. Pour in the chicken broth and Chinese cooking wine. Let contents boil.

Add the frozen vegetables and stir to combine. Add the white pepper, salt, and sugar, to taste.

Add the cornstarch and water; mix well. When the chicken broth is boiling, gently pour in the cornstarch mixture while stirring. Bring mixture back to a boil; swirl the beaten egg and immediately pour into the wok. When the egg white begins to form into silken threads, quickly turn off the heat.

Stir in the green onions.  Serve over the cooked rice.

Quick Easy Donut Holes

I came to know and love donuts after a few years while living in Chicago. Dunkin’ Donuts stores are everywhere in the City of Chicago. I think a donut or donut hole is a comfort food; no one can refuse a cup of coffee and a donut in on a deep, cold winter day in Chicago. As my memory recalls, there is always a donut shop at a bus or train stop. I used to enter the donut shop to buy a cinnamon sugar coated donut or simple glazed one while waiting for the bus to arrive. Police men and women are frequent customers at the donut shop. Even though a donut is not a healthy comfort food, it connects with a simple life for so many people. The most commonly used ingredients for making donut dough are flour, yeast, eggs, and butter. Afterwards, deep fry the batter. This method to make donuts, or, today, donut holes results in an extremely light dough. However, in this recipe as in many of my easy baking methods, I use the self-rising flour with nonfat Greek yogurt. The result surprises me quite a bit that the donut holes are still light and fluffy. This is the fastest and easiest way to dispel the urge for donut holes, and it tastes like the donut holes at a donut shop.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup self-rising flour

5.3 oz nonfat Greek yogurt

1 egg

1/4 cup milk 

Other ingredients:

Oil for deep frying

Powdered sugar

Butter

Cocoa powder

Cinnamon powder

Directions:

Combine yogurt, egg, and milk in a bowl and whisk well.

Add the flour and whisk to combine. The batter should be thick.

Preheat oil in deep sauté pan or deep pot. 

Use a small ice cream scoop, sprayed with some oil to prevent the batter from sticking in the ice cream scoop, to drop the batter into the hot oil.

Donut holes will float on top of the oil in a few seconds. Deep fry the donut holes until golden brown on all sides (gently turn the donut holes to get them evenly brown).

Use a sieve spoon to transfer the donut holes onto paper towels to absorb the oil. 

Simple glaze:

1 tbs sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 cup powder sugar with 2 tbs melted butter

2 tbs melted butter with 1 tbs cocoa powder

The above simple glaze is proportioned for this recipe. You can make more glaze to your liking. Roll the donut holes into the glaze as soon as you can after deep frying.

Spicy Garlic Eggplant

This is a quick, easily prepared and addictive side dish, or it can even be a main meal for vegans. There are many different types of aubergine or eggplants, both in terms of shape and color. The taste also varies with some boasting a mild flavor with no bitterness. Probably the most common varieties worldwide are large, pear-shaped, and dark purple colored. The Asian eggplant is long and finger-thin with light color. This recipe is best using the Japanese eggplant, but even the Italian one or those commonly sold in American supermarkets will work well too. The spicy sauce is what I create at home for most of my stir-fry dishes. The variation of spiciness is up to each cook or family to spicy up or down.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

1 tbs salt

1 tbs vinegar

Sauce ingredients:

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs Hoisin sauce

1 sriracha sauce

1 tbs cooking wine

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp mushroom seasoning

1 tsp sesame oil

Other ingredients:

4 garlic cloves minced

1 piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

5 green onions, sliced and separate the white and green part

3 dry hot chilli

3 tbs oil

3 tbs chopped cilantro

2 tbs cornstarch

 

Serve with cooked rice

 

Directions:

Dice the eggplant into 1 inch cubes.

Soak eggplant in a water with salt and vinegar for 30 minutes and drain. Add cornstarch.

Whisk the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Heat the sauté pan or wok with oil until almost smoking (really hot). Stir in the eggplant and stir eggplant until all sides are charred and golden brown. 

Stir in garlic, ginger, dry chilli, and the white part of scallions (green onions). Cook for 2 minutes.

Add sauce and simmer until all the eggplants are coated with sauce. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Stir in the green part of scallions (green onions) and chopped cilantro. Turn the heat off and serve.

Easy Hummingbird Cake

According to Wikipedia, Hummingbird cake is a combination of banana and pineapple spice cake and is common in the Southern United States. It also known as is created on the island of Jamaica by the nation’s native bird.  I seldom make carrot, banana cake and muffin. This cake tastes more like carrot cake because it contains walnuts and has a cream cheese frosting.  Hummingbird cake is moist because of the bananas and pineapple. It becomes a Southern classic household favorite. There are many easy recipes to create hummingbird cake. However, in my blog I just want to share an easy way to make this cake. I also cut down in half on this recipe’s ingredients to make it even easier for people who want to make a smaller cake. As with many of my cakes or muffins recipes, this cake will use the same methods. I serve this cake to all my friends, and they love it. Now, it will be yours to love also.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cups self-rising flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Wet ingredients:

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup pineapple juice (either from a can or juice from fresh pineapple)

Other ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple (chopped to fine pieces)

1 cup mashed ripened bananas

Cream cheese frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)

3 tbs softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla, salt, a little milk, if needed

Equipment:

8” x 8” square or round cake pan

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (149°C).

Grease and flour the cake pan with 1 tbs of all-purpose flour.

Whisk the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

In a blender, combine all the wet ingredients, and blend well.

Pour the blended wet ingredients into the dry ingredients mixture  and whisk until completely combined. Add chopped pineapple, bananas, and walnuts or pecans.

Spread batter evenly into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. 

Once completely cooled, remove cakes from pan and spread the frosting over the cake.

While the cake is baking, you can make the frosting.

In a medium bowl, use a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment to beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste to your liking. 

Tip:

Refrigerate the cake at least 30 minutes before serving.