Not Lion's Head Meatball Soup

Never thought the day would come so soon when grocery stores were barren of product. Again.

Produce, zip. Meat, nada. Cheese, only generic American slices. Milk/Eggs/Dairy, closed. Bread, just broken chalula shells. Soups/Pasta/Sauces, zilch. Chips/Crackers/Cookies, few hit and miss brands nobody really likes anyways. Dry dog/cat food, zero. Toilet paper and paper towels, that's laughable as those shelves have never been fully restocked in the first place. Good grief.

Covid-19 caused unplanned cooking. Winter Storm Uri, or The Great Freeze of 2021 as the locals are calling it, caused creative cooking. Meals, healthy meals, well healty-ish meals require vegetables. The only veggies left in the pantry are broccoli, carrots, baby spinach, and kale and they are all frozen from the freeze. Have to say, Gluten Free Lion's Head Meatball Soup was looking more and more like my only choice. I am sure there were other choices but the sight of the store depressed me so I went home to cook what we had. Again. First day with electricity and this table is stuck eating pantry food again.

Modification Made: Good

For the meatballs, one pound ground pork was mixed with 3 tablespoons minced garlic, one teaspoon dried ginger and white pepper, and half teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Meatballs were formed and pan fried in a heavy lined dutch oven.

While meatballs cooked, one box of thin spaghetti was cooked in UNsalted water till very al dente, drained, rinsed in cold water, and set aside.

To cooked meatballs, three reduced sodium chicken bouillon cubes, six cups water, and two tablespoons of soy sauce were added and allowed to simmer for 45 minutes on low. One frozen bag of whole leaf spinach was added along with noodles and heat was turned off.

Scaled for Likability: Good

Was this soup good, absolutely. Was this soup lionhead meatball soup, not even close. This soup was nothing like my Lionhead Soup either. This was more along the lines of soy broth noodle soup with wonton filling meatballs. Would eat this again as it was super simple, filling, and made an army load for less than $5, even with a pound of pork.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001. Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old. Eek. Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake. In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years. That is just too long. Too long. Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven. A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature. If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix. Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap. Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting. Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance. Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service. It's the dark ages. If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 . Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page. Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing? Well, they don't. And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze. What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies. I did not want the veggies floa

Eating Waffles

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