Store bought Frozen Meatballs was a lifesaver for me when I was a struggling mother of two young children. I was alone as my husband was alway away from home, I was terribly busy, and started to suffer from depression. Preparing meals for my children was a challenge and ‘Quick & Easy’ was the key to my survival. These days I can spend more time for cooking. If you want to make Meatballs from scratch, find my recipes ‘Spaghetti & Meatballs in Tomato Sauce’ OR ‘IKEA-inspired Meatballs’.
Makes
4 Servings
Ingredients
500g Frozen Cooked Meatballs
1 large Onion *sliced
1 clove Garlic *finely chopped
8 (about 300g) Mushroom *sliced
2 tablespoons Oil OR Butter *OR 1 tablespoon each
2 tablespoons Plain Flour
1 to 2 teaspoons Ground Paprika *optional
1 cup Beef Stock *OR Water 1 cup and Beef Stock Cube 1
100 to 125ml Sour Cream
Salt & Cracked Pepper
Freshly Cooked Rice, Mashed Potato OR Pasta to serve
Method
- Heat Oil (OR Butter) in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook Onion and Garlic until softened. Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes or until mushrooms are cooked.
- Add Flour and Paprika and cook for a minute. Then add Beef Stock (OR Water and Beef Stock Cube). Add Frozen Meatballs and bring to the boil.
- Check the flavour and season with Salt and Pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce is thickened and meatballs are heated. Stir in Sour Cream and it’s done.
- Serve with freshly Cooked Rice, Mashed Potato OR Pasta.
Comments
Siobhan
30/04/2020
I always enjoy reading the stories behind your recipes Hiroko! I think it adds to the flavour, too 🙂
I am amazed that even when you were battling depression– and willpower was hard to come by– you still managed to put together a beautiful meal like this for your children. You should rename this dish ‘Victory Stroganoff’!
My mothers equivalent meal when I was little was stir-fried eggs, peas and oyster sauce (EP&O) on rice. In the past, when I have have run out of food/money/willpower, I’ll eat EP&O. Tastes like love!
Hiroko
30/04/2020
Hi Siobhan. Thank you for such a lovely message. I often cooked EP&O, too! ‘O’ was often ‘S’ though. ‘S’ for Soy Sauce. By the way, I must tell you that I often bought Bento boxed meals for my kids from a nearby convenient store when I was really struggling. I couldn’t even go there to buy the meals. Ready-made foods were life-savers.