Tempeh Meatballs

I love anything to give pasta some life. I found this recipe for Tempeh Italian Meatballs and thought I would give it a try. These meatballs are vegan but I made mine gluten free too. I do have to give warning though for those who are gluten free, please check the kind of tempeh you buy. There are different kinds and I accidentally bought one with barley in it. Please read the labels. These are the best meatballs I have ever tasted that were gluten free and vegan. They have a meaty texture and spectacular flavor. Please note that the recipe I made is slightly different than the one linked. If you are not wanting gluten free, please follow the linked recipe. I hope you enjoy as this is a huge favorite among my 4 year olds and husband.

Tempeh Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 pkg tempeh, simmered in water for 10 mins, cooled, and grated 

1/4 cup instant GF oats (or just put regular GF oats in a food processor for a couple seconds)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup all purpose GF flour
1/2 tsp. xantham gum

1 tsp. onion powder

2 cloves garlic, grated1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp GF soy sauce ( I used La Choy)
2 tbsp HP sauce/A1 Sauce/BBQ sauce (Make sure to chose a GF one)

3 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1) Mix cooled and grated tempeh in a large bowl with oatmeal, nutritional yeast, gluten, onion, garlic, and spices. 

2) Add sauces and mush/mix together with your fingers. Add a splash of water if needed.

3) Heat oil in a large frying pan over med-lo heat. Shape tempeh mixture into 36 small balls.

4) Fry in oil for 15 mins, turning regularly, until nicely browned on all sides.

5)  Although the meatballs can be used right away, they are even better when simmered in a tomato sauce for an hour or so. Serve over pasta.

TVP Meatless Meatballs

Juliana has been on a gluten free diet, I just put us girls on it as well, but we make an exception for daddy. Tonight I wanted to serve spaghetti and meatballs. I had viewed a recipe on this site for TVP meatless meatballs. I noticed I didn't have the rice it called for and altered it a lot to work for what I had on hand. As much as I wanted to make these vegan, I couldn't. I needed a binding agent so I used 2 eggs. Surprisingly they turned out really good. I would have served these in tomato sauce but Juliana is also allergic to tomatoes. So the pictures you see are the plates for my children. I hope this helps with some of you that are looking for some new GF recipes.

TVP Meatless Meatballs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp cumin

3/4 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

2 eggs

1/4-1/2 c. gluten free oats (lightly processed in processor)

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 c. Vegan cheese of choice

Method:

1) In a mixing bowl add the water, dried basil, oregano, onion powder, garlic salt, and cumin.  Add in the TVP to soak up all the flavor, let the TVP to sit for about 5 minutes. 

2) Mix all ingredients in bowl. If you can let it sit for 30 min. you may get a thicker consistency. I however did not have the time, so this recipe did not sit. 

3) These meatballs were fried in about 1 Tbs of Olive oil. Allow for the meatballs to brown on one side before turning them over. 

Olivia

Juliana

Homemade Gnocchi

The one thing I absolutely love is gnocchi. It has always been my favorite pasta. Something about that great potato filling makes me smile. What makes me smile even more is being able to make my favorite pasta with my girls. There was an evening that I didn't want the typical spaghetti and sauce meal. So I decided to look up the recipe for gnocchi. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I was amazed at how easy it looked. So, here we go folks! Time to try some of the best pasta around!

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg

Method

1)  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Olivia helping Mama.

2)  Combine 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. 

Note: Crack the egg in a separate bowl to keep shells out or bad eggs from ruining your dish. 

A little playtime in the flour never hurt anyone. 

Sissy (Juliana) wants in on the fun.

3) Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

 

My Gnocchi

 

 Olivia rolling her dough into a "snake".

 Juliana rolling her dough into a "snake."

 Olivia cutting her dough into pieces, making gnocchi.

 Juliana cutting her dough, making gnocchi.

 Juliana

 Olivia 

 Olivia rolling her pieces into little balls.

The Girls' Gnocchi (Not bad for 2 year olds!)

4)  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.

Final product. 

In the end the girls ended up eating their whole plates. So I would guess that they love gnocchi too. Like mother, like daughters. This was so much fun and the girls had a blast using a knife. They even learned the two sides of a knife (Dull and sharp). We hope that you will be able to try this recipe too.