lemongrass meatballs and peanut sauce - thai inspired

top left is the peanut sauce (made a few meals at once)

 it's all about asian-inspired dishes this week. as i write this, i have several newly labelled containers in the freezer with a good 6 new meals stowed away for when i don't feel like cooking.

i have been in a lemongrass kind of mood of late, and a lot of ground beef in the freezer from a sale 2 weeks ago. hmmm...could the two work together?

apparently - yes!
i packed half of the meatballs away in the freezer along with a small container of the peanut sauce for dipping.

ingredients

lemongrass meatballs
1.25lbs lean ground beef
1 small onion very finely chopped
2 tbsp cornstarch
1.5 tbsp each of minced garlic, oyster sauce and frozen chopped lemongrass
1tsp each of salt and sugar (i used turbinado)
- all together in a bowl. i mix with my hands
- 350 oven for about 20 minutes
- makes 24 - 30 meatballs
...this works for those who love lemongrass. my 3.5yr old ate several of these plain. that is success to me. these went really well with the peanut butter dipping sauce i made.

peanut butter sauce (adjust and add more water if for noodles, less if for dipping)
1.5c peanut butter (i use unsweetened organic
2/3c coconut milk
2/3c water
1/4c lime juice
3tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp sriracha sauce
1tbsp minced garlic
1/2c chopped cilantro
- everything in a saucepan except the cilantro on low, stir and reduce to desired consistency - add cilantro and continue on low for about 2min
...this is an easy, tasty sauce that freezes well

for a meal...just washed a few leaves of lettuce - peanut sauce, meatballs and topped with a bit of chopped green onion (the stems) and cilantro - DELICIOUS!

the bubs ate the meatballs plain, and dipped chicken breast strips in a bit of the peanut sauce.

the final result

meatballs!

i don't know why i don't make these more often. this is a recipe based on one my mom showed me before i went away to university when i was 18. stunningly, this means it's decades old

i like how easy these are to make, and i sometimes make dipping sauces, sometimes just break out a jar of bbq sauce or whatever else i may feel like having.

ingredients (i had to write down the amounts, years later i still do these from memory)
makes between 40 and 50 meatballs - 46 this time around
1lb lean ground beef
1lb ground pork
1 pack onion soup mix
3 tbsp chicken soup base
1 tbsp garlic powder
dash of pepper
2 or 3 eggs (i used 3 as they weren't huge brown eggs)
1c bread crumbs (any kind, gluten free works here too, multigrain, any)

you basically just mix everything together in a bowl. i use my hands for this recipe - it's therapeutic - squishing the ingredients, rolling them into balls (have included a pic with my hand and the meatballs to give an idea of the size.
please bear in mind i have very small hands (my niece had bigger hands at age 12) - looking at the pic you will see why the blog name makes sense.

into a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes. i love these. i ate a few right off the baking sheet. these served as apps for thanksgiving and snacks/lunch after.