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.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

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 omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Cold Corn Bean Salsa

Nothing says junk food like chips and salsa, chips and cheese dip, chips and guacamole. Over the years I have perfected my salsa. It's good on tacos, on nachos, on enchiladas, and of course on chips. Just because I have the best salsa doesn't mean I don't like to try new salsa's like this Best Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Modifications Made: Shoepeg corn was replaced with one can of standard yellow corn with no salt added. Petite diced tomatoes were reduced by half. Italian dressing was swapped for half teaspoon comino, half teaspoon of chili powder, and two tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Salsa was made and let rest for two hours before eating. Scaled for Likability: Good Salsa this was not. Good it was however. It was too much for chips by themselves but was great served over a soft beef taco.

Eating Waffles

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