Did You Know by Dexter & Italian Meatballs

My oldest son is working on a new 4-H project this year.  I am encouraging him to write an article for the local newpaper once a month and I am planning to share it here as well.  Let me introduce Dexter. He is a 16 year old sophomore in high school.  He talks about cattle way too much, enjoys wrestling, likes to eat A LOT and I am making him cook, too.  He is involved in 4-H, FFA, as well as the church and school choirs.  He manages a Facebook page called MAD Cattle Company (Maddix & Dexter...because I wouldn't let them name it DAM Cattle Company ;) )


If you like the recipe or the facts he shares, please share with your friends and follow MAD Cattle Company.  We are going to track how many people see these for part of the project so please share!  As he gets more views, he is motivate to work on the next online project.  If you have questions about beef as a consumer, leave them in the comments and he will try to answer them in future posts.  Thanks! A Kansas Farm Mom

Did you know that a serving of beef is 3 ounces? Do you know how big that is?  Well to answer the second question a three-ounce serving of beef is about the size of a standard deck of playing cards (not a Uno deck of cards).

Yes, you read that right a serving of beef is that small.  Last Sunday after wrestling the day before, I wondered what I could do nutritionally so I wouldn’t be so stiff and sore after each tournament.  So of course, since I raise cattle, I began to look at the nutrients and their amounts in a three-ounce serving of beef.  I found out that beef contains 25 grams of protein.  I also found that protein from a meat source is more readily available than a plant source and protein is needed for the repairing of all muscles.  

                Did you know that the United States produces 20 percent of the world’s beef with only seven percent of the world’s cattle?   

Much of the reason has to do with the time and effort progressive cattlemen spend utilizing resources and genetic improvement that pushes for higher quality and heavier weight calves.  Many of you may be confused on how this might affect you.  The way that this affects every person in the U.S. is that 90 percent of U.S. beef is consumed in the U.S.  Furthermore, I found that America has been importing more lean trimmings of beef for hamburger and stew meat and exporting the fatter trimmings.  So, I think that as U.S cattle producers start to dial in on the perfect blend of quality and lean less foreign beef will be served in the U.S.

We recently tried this new recipe this is extremely good with spaghetti or as meatball subs.  Enjoy!

Italian Meatballs

1 egg

1 pound ground beef

½ cup bread crumbs or 2 slices of bread, torn into tiny pieces (you can use seasoned bread crumbs)

½ cup canned spaghetti sauce

1 teaspoon onion flakes

½ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Break egg into a large mixing bowl and beat lightly with a fork.  Add ground beef, bread crumbs, spaghetti sauce, onion flakes, and salt.  Mix everything together with your hands.  Shape mixture into 1 inch meatballs.  Arrange them next to each other in a 9x13 baking pan.  Bake 20 Minutes.

W4DW- Barbecue Meatballs

I am so excited to introduce you to my Blogging friend Julie.  She is a farm wife from central Kansas.  I love reading her blog posts.  You never know if she is going to share a yummy recipe she found on Pinterest, talk about the adoption of their youngest daughter, or their plans to have 10 dates in 2013.  This week she is sharing a recipe that my family has loved for years.  My mom says it came from the Kansas Farmer magazine a few decades ago.

Hello! Our family farms in Central Kansas and my husband is the 3rd generation to farm. We are primarily grain farmers but do have feeder cattle in the winter months.  To learn more about our family farm,  please feel free to check out my blog Between the Sunsets of Life or our Facebook page. We blog about our farm life and a few other things as well!

Creating meals that are satisfying is important to me.  So the recipe I chose to share today is one of our family favorites and it comes from one of my favorite cookbooks!  I hope you enjoy it as much as our family does! 

Thank you to A Kansas Farm Mom for allowing me to stop in and share this with her readers!

Barbecued Meatballs

1.5 lbs ground beef                              ½ C. chopped onions

1 small can evaporated milk                  1 tsp. salt

1 C. quick oats                                     ¼ tsp garlic powder

1 egg                                                    1 tsp. chili powder

Mix all ingredients together and shape into walnut size balls.  Place in a 9x13 pan or I use a jelly roll pan. No need to brown them.

Sauce:

1 C. catsup                                           1 tsp. garlic powder

¾ c. brown sugar                                ¼ c. chopped onion

1 tsp. liquid smoke                   

Stir until the sugar is dissolves and pour over meatballs. Bake 1 hour a 350 degrees oven.

Recipe note:

I have made tons of these.  They work great as an appetizer or a main course.  I always double the recipe and put one pan in the freezer.  I freeze them uncooked with the sauce on and ready to put in oven.  I thaw them first, but you wouldn’t have to, just increase your baking time.

Have a great week everyone!- A Kansas Farm Mom 

A Great Side Ideas for these Meatballs would be:

 One Step Macaroni and Cheese

Country Barbecue Potatoes