I got these from my friend, Clare…the no-longer-active blogger (formerly Kampua Talk), the sweet young thing who comes to town for meetings quite frequently – but that was so very long ago that I cannot remember exactly when it was.
Of course, I finished the Scottish shortbread biscuits in a jiffy…
…but the packet of meatballs gravy from IKEA had been sitting in my pantry all this while…
It did not really matter as the expiry date was sometime in 2012 or 2013.
Anyway, the other day, I decided to make some beef meatballs…
There was a little bit of minced beef in the freezer, about two tablespoons of it…and a piece of the meat, half the size of my palm, which I chopped up and minced…and two pieces of hamburger patties which I threw in and mixed with the rest of the meat as well.
The truth is I just cannot stand seeing a little bit of this and a little bit of that sitting idle in the refrigerator – I would either find some ways to make use of them or just throw them away if I do not know how long they’ve been in there.
Now, to get on with my cooking, I chopped one Bombay onion and threw that in and I pounded five pieces of cream crackers (in place of bread crumbs) for the mixture too. Finally, I broke an egg in it and mixed everything well – adding a sprinkling of thyme and pepper and a pinch of salt to it. After rolling them into balls, I fried them in a little bit of oil in a non-stick frying pan, making sure that I browned all the sides nicely and evenly.
My daughter used that packet from IKEA to make the gravy and boiled some potatoes to go with the meatballs…
That was what we had for lunch that day…and it certainly was a delightful one. She said they were nicer than the pork meatballs that her mum would make sometimes. Hehehehehe!!! Yum! Yum!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Sigh…. too bad I’m not those ‘sweet young things’. Sighhhhhh… nobody is interested to go on a date or two with a 46 years old auntie like me. Aihhh….anyone wanna go makan wif me? Nobody? *SOBS!* Why la nobody wanna go teman me makan? Ish ish ish… this Auntie never go IKEA before… so jakun…dono IKEA got sell such sauce oso… ish ish ish!
Hmm… my little Sister… Kathy… when wanna bawak this kakak go IKEA makan meatballs? SOBS! Life so chamzzzz!!! Looks like Auntie Clef here needs to make meatballs and potatoes herself… SOBSOBSOB!
Hahahaha!!! You’re not Ophiuchusian mah!!! I am. Have you read all the hoo-haa about the new astrological sign? People born under the sign of Ophiuchus are said to be honest, intellectual, sexually magnetic, jealous and prone to change… Sexually magnetic! Hehehehehe!!!! I like that!
You 46? Eeee….I thought you’re around your early 30s at the most. And what’s that rumour going round that your son is gonna have a baby brother/sister? Got craving now kah!!! Better go IKEA, quick and eat the meatballs…otherwise, yourbabylater will salivatelike hell. Smelly…nobody likes to kiss. LOL!!!!
Ya… I heard… den become Leo liao… but I am nothing like a Leo. Typical Virgo still. Hahaha…still practical and shrewed as ever.
Aiyo, Cikgu, ur mistaken liao. Hahahahaha. LOLOLOL. I am almost 50s liao. 4 more year will jadi ah ma liao.
Wud pregnant? Itu perempuan ahh… sure balas dendam cuz I pester her to make jeruk and give me recipe… cis! Not craving lah.(not that I know la… hahaha) *sigh* I memang like to eat those sourish stuff wan. LOL. So pestered Kat for the recipe and stuff, but in the end, she made for me… got two jar of it at home… enuff to last me for months!
Must ask your hubby to eat the sour stuff – they say the chance of getting a daughter is higher. Eat sweet things if want a son… I think Eugene does not eat sour stuff, drinks beer – high sugar content – so he has two sons. Right or not, Eugene? Muahahahaha!!! 😉
Cikgu..then hor..pester me for bihun pulak..say dreaming of bihun wor…then suddenly can emo like suddenly very happy…suddenly very down…sound like preggy right?
Like dat kah? Got muntah2 or not? Hmmmm…we wil just wait and see. Wink! Wink! LOL!!!! 😀
There are two things i can know about this post of yours, first, Melissa does inherit your creatitivty in dishing up a nice dish or two, secondly those followers of yours one way or another wil end up with this “sob sob’ hahahahaha, just read that from Cleff’s comment…
by the way cleff, you are not 46 years old, are you? don’t kid me lah , ok? you are making me looking bad now…
Hehehehehe!!! I’m lovin’ every bit of this! Torture people… Muahahahahaha!!!! 😀 Yalor…if Clef is 46, you must be 60 already…and I would be 80 lor! 😦
Hahahaha… hey… in 10 or 15 more years, I’ll be grandma liao, Eugene… u dun believe ah? Hahahahaha! *dreaming* I wan a a cute grandotter.
I am not a grandpa yet…so you will just have to wait for your turn. Aiyor…son still belum bujang, want him to produce granddaughter already. Tsk! Tsk! LOL!!! 😀
My kids love meat balls, regardless of beef or pork.. but i prefer to do pork, just like your missus.. hehee…
My missus, dunno what she prefers…but she make meatballs with minced pork and shrimps and onion plus five-spice powder and dunno what else. Her cooking more complicated one, not like mine – always take the easiest and simplest way out.
Wow! Know the meat balls will taste yummyly good though Bananaz stopped eating beef which was my favorite. A phenomenon of a natural barter ‘trade’ happened to me ..gave up smoking just like that (tried very hard and many times in the past to kick the habit but unsuccessful) and the strange thing gave up eating beef at the same time. Just like your last post.. win some lose some..hehe. Not likey pork balls that much, prefer fish balls tQ ~;).
No problem – can always use pork or chicken…balls are balls, no matter what balls. Oops!!! Muahahahaha!!!! Fish balls, I also like – the nice homemade ones…not those frozen ones – pingpong size, when boiled becomes as big as hockey balls. All flour! My daughter will only eat them deep fried though… 😦
Genius…I would never think of mixing all sort of beef to make 1 master dish.Learnt from you as today I too mixed my turkey mince which left a little bit from a month ago with my minced meat to make bolognese.My tomatoes berlambak…from over 20 pokok in my garden.No idea what else I can turn my tomatoes into already!!!…ohhh,courgettes too…hmm…so malas when I think I got to cook something with them!!!
Yummmm…your balls look finger licking good (opps…nothing vulgur,okay..muahahahah).I think I am going to make this soon.
Naughty! Naughty! Watch where you stick your fingers! Muahahahaha!!!! 😀 Wah! Your plants so productive – I guess the weather suits tomatoes well. My missus has cherry tomatoes in the garden but I don’t really like. Prefer the real tomatoes.
You are so innovative… a little bit of this and that in your hands can make wonders! Your meatballs dish looked great, wah… Melissa can cook too?!
Yup, after a year in NZ,she can manage pretty well now… The meatballs were really nice, planning to cook that again soon – maybe for CNY. That’s my way of cooking, no recipes…just leave it to my imagination and creativity. So far so good, everything turned out good… 😉
Wow…you made these meatballs on your own? Must be damn delicious!
How come there is such a bread called short bread? Is there long bread? :p
Nice, no doubt about it! Long bread? Maybe baguette or french loaf, you jakun, dunno the name you call it long bread lor. After all, it IS long…literally. Muahahahaha!!!! 😀
I love the meatballs, and you made it into a main dish with the potatoes and gravy!
If it was me, I won’t know how to make it into such a beautiful dish. I would just throw the meatballs into the oil, and makan directly. =p Don’t know how to cook !
Aiyor…very simple, can always learn. My daughter did not know how to cook before, never had the chance to try…but after one year in NZ, now ok already. Come, come to Sibu…I can cook for you all the nice nice things you see in my blog. 😉
ooo, but sibu kind of a bit far 😦
I love food!
currently if i need food, can get the future mrs tan to cook. Haha 😛
Clever guy!!! Now will wait and see when the time comes…who does the cooking! Muahahahahaha!!!! Sibu not far lah – everyone can fly. Try and grab the zero fare…and pray that the aircraft does not overshoot the runway – like in Kuching that day. ROTFL!!! 😀
Looks good… in fact better than those from the restaurant. I am sure that the taste was great.
Yup…definitely. Nothing beats own homecooked… Hope to cook that again for CNY perhaps…can use any of the pasta sauces.
gosh!! the last pic make me drool badly here!! heiyer!!
Hehehehehe!!! Next time go KL, ask BF to take you to IKEA. They serve that there, seen their meatballs in many blogs already…
Yums! u so clever lah STP!
Yalor… Muahahahaha!!!! 😀
Hmmm…beef meatball…not something i consume. The onie choice left for me is porky…LOL!!!
But it certainly looks good with those gravy, yea
Can use pork or chicken, no problem…but for those of us who eat beef, we prefer the stronger beef taste.
P.S. Your CNY card just arrived today – the 1st one I’ve received this year, thank you so much! (Good weather today, so the postman came… LOL!!!)
Hey, swedish meat balls, that’s the boy and hubby’s favourite, not mine though.. It goes well with cranberry sauce too…
Yup…available at IKEA. Seems that everybody will go there to eat these. I’ve never been there – in fact, I’ve only been to 1Utama once only a long long time ago… Too far from the city centre… 😦
Wow wow wow.. I didn’t know you have to add in so much stuff to make meat balls! I used to try making pork meatballs once and I only added in some seasonings (herbs, thyme, pepper) and some cream cheese and they were already good! Next time I should add in those crackers and see if they make a big difference!
I suppose it is up to you what to add – as long as it tastes great in the end, that’s the most important thing. I know some people add milk too…but I did not.
Adding breadcrumbs to make the meatballs crunchier?
I dunno. I guess that makes the meatballs a bit softer – would be harder if it is just the meat texture…and I guess the cream crackers would add a bit to the taste too. My missus adds minced prawns to her meat balls for that springier texture.
yum…yum..must try this !!!
i prefer rice instead of potato especially for lunch, and add chili sauce…
thanks for sharing 🙂
My daughter prefers potatoes, not really a fan of rice. I wanted to make mashed potatoes but she did not want that – chose just to boil them. Nice also…
Btw, have you been here before? Your name sounds familiar. Will check my links and will add you to my blogroll if I have not done so… Do come again.
Your meat balls look really good!! Ok, noted, next time if i go ikea, should go and get that packet of gravy.
The gravy’s nice…but I would think it’s dispensable. Can go with ordinary brown gravy or mushroom gravy…or even pasta sauce.
i still prefer pork meatballs..i don’t take beef.
I guess that’s a matter of personal preference. My missus does not eat duck…and not a fan of lamb either.
Wah, the expiry date so long!
I like beef meatballs with spaghetti!……mmm wonder got any beef stick or not? ha ha ha!, have to wash brain liao!
Beef stick, same as balls…everywhere got – high class ones, got…cheap ones, also got. LOL!!!
I like beef meatballs and boiled potatoes…exactly like your pic! lol.
The swedish meatballs sold at Ikea are delicious but I don’t like the cranberry sauce served. Never been to Ikea? The next time you’re in KL, I can bring you there 🙂
Oooo….so nice of you to offer to take me to IKEA. Been dropping hints half-dead, no takers. All just pretend, did not see. Muahahahaha!!!! 😀 So they serve with cranberry sauce? I thought that’s supposed to go with turkey?
hmmm yum yum! I want it in pasta!
Yup! Would be nice – spaghetti and meatballs. Yum! Yum! 😉
you missed the jam.. in Ikea they serve meatballs with gravy and jam.. 😀
I’ve never been to IKEA…but from the earlier comments, it seems that the jam does not go down too well with a number of people. It’s cranberry sauce – we usually have that with turkey.
that’s very good utilising whatever you have in the fridge so that you don’t waste any food. very creative indeed!
Weekend’s here… Now have to check again to see what leftovers there are and what I can salvage and put to good use. Sigh!!!
Aha! Once again, you recycled some meat idle inside your refrigerator and the resulting dish is delicious!
Yum yum indeed!
It’s a sin to waste…and as they say, waste not, want not! 😉
yum…. you can open a restaurant with your daughter and sell meatball. STP dan anak meatball. hahahaha
Sounds like STP and small meatballs… Muahahahahaha!!!! 😀