Cooking Lessons for Dad

Cooking Lessons for Beginners

Easy Italian Meatballs

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Easy Italian Meatballs

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground meat (beef, turkey or chicken)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  3. Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the meatballs start to brown, there is no pink in the center and the juice is clear.
  5. Allow the meatballs to cool down before picking them up to prevent them from breaking apart. Serve.

Notes

Wetting your hands will make rolling the meatballs easier.

To make evenly sized 1 inch meatballs, spread the meatball mixture out on a piece of wax paper (1 inch thick). Cut 1 inch cubes and then roll each cube into a ball.

If you would like 2 inch meatballs, spread the mixture out in a 2 inch layer and cut 2 inch squares. Then roll each cube into a ball.

You can make your own bread crumbs by placing torn, firm bread into a blender or food processor. Blend on low or process to make fine bread crumbs.

These meatballs are delicious served with my Crockpot Italian Pasta sauce over pasta. You can find this recipe at Cookinglessonsfordad.com.

© Karen Breyer

 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

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Yield: 5 servings

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

  • 5 sweet potatoes, medium
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt, Kosher
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground
  • Cooking spray

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
  2. Rinse and scrub the sweet potatoes. Cut them into similar sized strips (your desired thickness and length).
  3. Put the cut potatoes in a large bowl or plastic bag.
  4. Add the oil to the bowl or bag and mix to coat the potatoes.
  5. Add the onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper to the bowl or bag. Mix/shake to evenly coat the potatoes.
  6. Spread the cut and coated potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes , turning halfway. They are done when they are crispy and have a puffed up texture.

Notes

Spread the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet so they are not touching. If you crowd them together they wont get crispy.

The sweet potato fries may get a little black and that is fine. The blackness will give them a delicious caramelized flavor.

You can flip the fries using a metal spatula. Scoop them up and quickly flip them over.

Thicker fries will take longer to cook and thinner fries will cook faster.

Adjust the spices and seasonings to your taste.

See a cooking demonstration of this Baked Sweet Potato Fries recipe on the Cooking Lessons for Dad YouTube channel.

© Karen Breyer

 

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