Stir Fry Meatballs (Whole 30)

Recently, I have started thinking about doing a podcast related to A Solitary Feast. It would not only cover topics related to small batch cooking and baking, it would include food, cooking and baking topics in general. I started brain storming potential topics this morning and , while I got fairly good start on potential pod cast topics, I thought I would ask you what food related topics you might like to see covered in a pod cast. If you have any ideas please leave them in the comments so I can add them to my list.

This pod cast idea is only in the very early stages of development. I have to be sure this is something I would want to do enough to keep at it because, unlike blogging, there is equipment I need to buy and a whole new skill set I need to learn. My friend, Steph, started a pod cast a while back and is helping me avoid some of the problems she had starting hers. It is fun to thinking about new things to add to the blog.

Stir Fry Meatballs

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted from the Castaway Kitchen

1 lb ground pork

1/2 cup shredded broccoli

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1 1/2 green onions, mince

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1 TBS coconut aminos

1 TBS almond flour

1 tsp sesame seeds

Sauce:

1 TBS coconut aminos

1 TBS spicy brown mustard

1 TBS cold bone broth

1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine ground pork, vegetables, garlic powder, salt, dried parsley, ginger, onion powder, cumin, Chinese 5 spice powder, coconut aminos and almond flour.

Shape into 12 meatballs and place on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.

While the meatballs are cooking make the sauce, mix the coconut aminos, spicy brown mustard, bone broth, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce and toasted sesame oil in a small bowl. Mix well. Serve with the meatballs as a dipping sauce.

Air Fryer Egg Rolls — To Spray or Not To Spray

To spray or not to spray. That is the question. And it is a good question. when I posted the air fryer corn on the cob recipe a few weeks ago, my follower, Old Mainer, posted a comment asking if I sprayed the corn with oil before I cooked it because every recipe he sees for the air fryer, says to spray the food with oil. The question got me to thinking about whether or not it is necessary to spray or add oil to everything cooked in the air fryer.To determine, to my mind at least, whether or not everything made in the air fryer needs oil, I went back through all the air fryer recipes I have made in the past 6 months and remade some of them. I have come to the conclusion that sometimes you need to spray oil on your food before cooking and sometimes you don’t. I know that isn’t very helpful so let me explain a little further.Whether or not you want to use in the air fryer depends on a few things.

1. What do you want your final result to be? If you want your final result to be crispy, a light spray of oil will help with that and also help promote browning. If a crispy result isn’t what you are looking for then skip the oil.
2. Will what your cooking stick to the grate? If so, give it a spray of oil before cooking. This mainly applies to lean cut of meat and seafood. Meats that render a lot of fat like bacon and ground beef don’t need a spray of oil.
3. Any vegetable you want roasted should receive a quick toss in a teaspoon or two of oil before being put in the air fryer.

Egg Rolls

• Difficulty: Medium
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Adapted From My Forking Life

Note: You can leave the shrimp out, if you don’t have any. It is still an awesome recipe without them.

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

3 oz raw shimp, finely chopped, optional

1/4 lb ground pork

5 oz coleslaw mix, approximately 2 cups

3/4 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp sesame oil

8 egg roll wrappers

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil. When hot, add the shrimp and ground pork. Cook the mixture, breaking it up with a fork, until the pork is browned and the shrimp cooked through, 5-7 minutes. In a medium bowl, add the coleslaw mix, green onions, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, sesame oil and ground pork. Add 3 tablespoons of the meat mixture to the middle third of the egg roll wrapper. Fold each side of the wrapper toward the middle of the filling.Bring the bottom third of the egg roll wrapper over the top of the filling and roll up.Use a bit of water applied to the wrapper with your finger to seal the egg roll.Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes while you finish filling the egg rolls. Once all the egg rolls are rolled, lightly spray them with oil or cooking spray and place in the air fryer basket. Bake for 10 minutes flipping half way through the cooking time.

Air Fryer Won Ton Meatballs

Sometimes it takes a good friend to point out the obvious. A few days ago I was complaining about the limited choices I have for lunch now that I am working from home because I don’t own a microwave. I can hear you all gasping but I hardly ever used it. It was taking up valuable kitchen real estate I would rather use for other things, like my air fryer, that I use all the time. When mine quit working, I never replaced it and until now never missed it.

My friend, Ess, said “why don’t you reheat things in your air fryer?” How come it took me 5 1/2 months of owning an air fryer to think of that?

Wonton Meatballs

• Difficulty: Easy
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From the Air Fryer Revolution cookbook

1 pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1/4 cup chopped green onion, white and green parts

1 TBS fresh minced ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, optional

In a large bowl, combine the pork, egg, cilantro, green onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Use your hands to completely mix the ingredients into the meat, about 2- 3 minutes.

For the meat mixture into 12 balls. Place the balls in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Set the air fryer at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches and a review

Guys, I have a new cooking for two resource for you. Its called Fix-It And Forget-It Cooking For Two. Thats right, its a crockpot for two cookbook. I was really excited to find this cookbook for you all because I know you wanted crockpot recipes. It seems especially appropriate now that fall is here.

Things I Like:

1. The recipes are not complicated.

2. The recipes are submitted by real people so they are recipes for how real people eat.

3. The cooking times are realistic. Gone are the days you can plug in your crockpot and let it cook for an unlimited number of hours while you are gone to work. Modern crock pots run too hot to do that. The cooking times in the book reflect that and as long as you follow them don’t over cook your food.

4. The recipes I have tried taste good.

5. The recipes make a decent amount of food for one or two.

Things I Don’t Like:

1. The recipes use more processed ingredients then I like to use, especially cream of somethings soups. It is fairly easy to find less or unprocessed substitution using the recipes on my blog if that concerns you.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

• Difficulty: Easy
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From The Fix-It and Forget- It Cooking For Two Cookbook

1lb pork loin

1/4 cup thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1 TBS brown sugar or molasses

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chili powder

Spray the liner of your slow cooker with non stick cooking spray. Place the onion and pork loin in the liner.

In a small bowl. Combine the ketchup. Apple cider vinegar, mustard powder, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin. salt and chili powder. Pour the mixture over the pork. Cook on low 7 hours.

When the pork is done, remove from the slow cooker and shred with 2 forks. Serve on buns.

Italian Sausage Seasoning Blend (Whole 30)

Ever since I was a little girl, the library has been my favorite place to hang out.  My favorite place in the library is in the rows and rows of cookbooks.   I love to pick out a random cookbook, take it home, get in the kitchen and cook from it.

I know a lot of people today, only hit the internet for their recipes.  I spend a lot of time there too.  The internet as we know it has only been around for about 30 years.  I took a class in 1990 to learn how to use it to its best advantage.  There are 1000’s of recipes out there that can only be found in cookbooks and I love to find them.

By going to the library, I can try out a cook book and see if I would cook from it before I go buy a copy.  I have found many of my favorite cookbooks this way.  I would never have looked at cook books like Mollie Katzen’s vegetarian The Enchanted Broccoli Forest or Mark Bittman’s  brilliant how to, How To Cook Everything.  Now Mollie Katzen and Mark Bittman’s cookbooks have an honored place in my own cookbook library.

I would have never bought a copy of Diane Sanfilippo’s, 21 Day Sugar Detox cookbook, if I hadn’t taken it out of the library to try.  I am just not interested in doing a sugar detox of any kind.  It would have been sad if I missed this cookbook though.  Most of the  recipes in it are really good and fit into a Whole 30 style of eating very easily.

I tried this Italian sausage seasoning blend so I could try  her Pizza Fritatta recipe (adaption coming soon) but I will keep using it because it makes awesome sausage patties and loose meat sausage.   I see sausage omelets in my next Whole 30.  This recipe makes enough for several batches of sausage.  Keep the leftovers in easy reach because you are going to want to use them often.

Italian Sausage Seasoning Blend

• Difficulty: Easy
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From the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook

1 tsp kosher salt

1 TBS ground fennel seed

1  TBS  ground sage

1 TBS granulated garlic

1 TBS onion powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dried parsley, optional

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Store in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place.

To use:  Add 2 tablespoons to 1 pound of ground meat.  Mix well.