Asian Beef Bites

The watering continues here at our house... but there is good news. I can see little blades of grass starting to grow when I squat down and inspect the ground really closely (while hoping the neighbors aren't looking)!! I never thought I would be this in tune with grass - or my yard in general. Luckily I have our watering down to a fine science - and a system involving 5 sprinklers and 1 hand-held nozzle sprayer.

Enough on my yard... lets talk about dinner! I realized that I have not posted a "dinner" recipe in awhile. Despite what one might think, we do not eat only muffins and dessert here. I do actually cook dinner. With food allergies and the amount of who-knows-what in processed and fast food, I cook (from scratch) almost every night. I used to hate cooking, but I have learned to enjoy it. There is a simple satisfaction in cooking for my family when we can sit down together and enjoy a delicious dinner. That sounds so perfect, right? Well, we do have those nights when my kids complain about what we are eating and The Princess is throwing food on the floor because she doesn't like it. Those kind of nights come with being a mom, I guess.

When it comes to meat, we don't eat very much - which my husband complains about but since I do the cooking it is my way or the highway. When we do eat red meat, we like to buy grass-fed beef from a local rancher. The cost might be slightly more than store-bought meat, but the taste (and health benefits) are so much better!

My family LOVES Asian style food - pretty much all of it. Brother #1 has been begging for sushi with raw fish for some time now - that is how much we love Asian food. Asian restaurants are taboo though - much to our dislike - so I am always looking for new recipes to try at home. I came across this one and knew it would be a hit. I hope you like it as much as we did!

Asian Beef Bites

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (preferably grass-fed)

1/4 cup wheat germ

2 Tbsp. fresh ground flax seed

2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (or Bragg's Amino Liquid)

1 Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger root

1/3 cup no-sugar added applesauce (or 1 egg)

1/4 tsp. pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine ingredients. Gently form into about 30 meatballs, each one inch in diameter.

Bake on a foil-lined baking sheet for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.

I served mine with an Asian Cabbage Salad, but you can pair them with rice (or whatever you want). I skewered mine for the picture, but without the egg they are fairly crumbly and didn't stay on their skewers very well.

If 30 meatballs seems like a lot, you can freeze what you don't use for another night when you are in a big rush to get a healthy dinner on the table and everyone in the family is going 20 different directions and you don't have time to think, let alone cook!

Recipe adapted from Suite 101

Jana