In an effort to work our way through the 80 lbs. of ground beef in our freezer, I've tried probably a dozen different kinds of meatball recipes in the past six months.  Meatballs are a surefire success around here - they are easy to make, easy to eat, and a way to eat ground beef that doesn't include the use of Cream of Mushroom soup (which is not my favorite and obviously filled with dairy).  Yesterday I made a recipe from Cooking Light called Lion's Head Meatballs in Spicy Coconut Sauce.  I intended to make the recipe as written, but made a few changes due to forgetful shopping and to tailor it to my family's non-spicy preferences.


The kids both liked the meatballs, changing the name from Lion's Head to Tiger Head.  And now that I think about it, they may have actually thought we were eating tiger meat.  Not that we usually eat tiger meat, but they've been inspired to think about all the things a person could eat by my parent's recent trip to Africa.  In the emails and phone conversations from my parents during their trip, the food they were eating was the primary topic.

Grandpa Pat: Martin, I ate monkey butt.
Martin: No, no you didn't eat monkey butt.
Grandpa Pat: Know what monkey butt tastes like?
Martin: What?
Grandpa Pat: It tastes just like donkey butt.

Which Martin and Sophie have shared with everyone they've seen in the past month.  "Monkey butt tastes like donkey butt" they would say.  Each person who was greeted in this way looked at me like I was crazy, as if I had taught my children to say something that would make Marlin Perkins shake his head with disappointment.

Mom and Dad wrote the kids to tell them that they'd eaten fried worms and that Grandma Jane was bringing back a recipe to prepare for them upon their return.  They wrote another day to say that they'd eaten camel steak and that it had a hump in the middle.  So it really comes as no surprise that the kids might have thought I was serving up some tiger.  I might try this ruse more often because they really ate with gusto.

And on that appealing note, try these meatballs!

Print it: Tiger Head Meatballs
(Related recipe: Spicy Coconut Sauce)