Baking Sugar & Table-Top Sugar Substitute - The preferred Sugar-Free blend for the table in our homes.

This is the sugar-free blend we use the most for sprinkling onto berries, grapefruit, for making cinnamon sugar,  sweetening herbal tea, and other typical table sugar uses.

Kitchen Cheetahs Baking & Table-Top Sugar Substitute.

You can feel good about using this healthy sugar substitute. Our formula is better than Truvia, Just Like Sugar, Sweet Perfection, and other sugar-free blends of this nature. The reason why is because the blend of low-carb sweeteners we put in this formula are synergistic, so they enhance each other and taste more like real sugar.

The xylitol has anti-cavity properties, the erythritol has next to zero carbs, and the IMO is basically all an easily digestible fiber.

Our favorite Table-Top Sugar Substitute.

The xylitol, erythritol, and IMO powders alone are not sweet enough. We add stevia, a natural plant sweetener to amp up the sweetness level. You can adjust the amount of stevia used to suite your tastes (from 3 to 5 grams stevioside). We like to make this blend sweeter than normal sugar, so that we don't have to use as much. We want to caution you however to use only a tiny amount of stevioside powder. It is very potent and too much can create off-flavors in your sweetener blend.

2 tablespoons (20 g) of this sweetener mix has only 0.3 grams of sugars from the IMO. Note that less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving is considered "sugar-free" as far as nutritional labeling is concerned.

We will be doing much more formulating with this sugar substitute blend. We will be trying everything from baking brownies, cakes, cookies, and more. I will be doing tests with conventional tried-and-true recipes, where I only convert the regular cane sugar called for to this sugar substitute. We will see how this reacts with regular gluten containing baked goods. We are looking at texture, flavor, moisture, rise, and all the other things conventional sugar does for baked goods.

It is interesting to note that erythritol by itself has drying, firming, cooling characteristics, IMO powder on the other hand is very hydroscopic, warming and softening. Xylitol is cooling but texture wise it's pretty much in the middle. Our sweetener blend evens out all of these characteristics, making it more balanced for baking purposes.

Of course we will be testing many clean eating gluten-free recipes too, since this is our specialty! We will post many future recipes here, so keep checking back, things move fast around here!

Do you want to know why this blog is named Kitchen Cheetahs? 

I talk about my amazing mother a lot here. Iv'e shared with you the fact that she is a very successful professional food formulator. Well, one day, after I could hardly keep up with her and all her advancements on our Jiffy Cakes (she came up with almost 10 jiffy cake and muffin recipes in about 2 days), I exclaimed, " Mom. you move so fast! You are a Kitchen Cheetah!" We laughed and the name stuck.

I want to let you know that we are working on compiling healthy cook books. Our blog, Kitchen Cheetahs is picking up speed. It is fun seeing the growth and support we are gaining. Thank you for being a part of this growth. We aim to make the world a better place through our efforts. I know it's just good food, but... Who doesn't need to eat?

Please feel free to leave us comments on what kind of cook books you would like.

We are thinking about cook book collections like:

Muffins (Gluten-Free & Low Carb)
Cakes (Gluten-Free & Low Carb)
Sugar-Free Candy Making
Meal Replacement Drinks
Low Carb Breakfasts
Salad Dressings
Herbal Teas
and more...

At this point, we are seeing how things naturally evolve.


.
Here is a yummy recipe using this sweetener: Crazy Good Low-Carb Pancakes.



Mom's Baking Sugar & Table-Top Sugar Substitute Formula:

Yield: 455.00 grams total, about 3 1/2 cups.

150.00 grams  xylitol (1x) *
150.00 grams  erythritol (1x) *
150.00 grams  IMO powder (not Inulin)
5.00 grams  white stevioside powder (80 to 90% strength) (stevioside intense sweetener)


Method:

Stir and sift everything together several times to totally blend so that there are no pockets of stevia in the mix.

Store air-tight. We like to store in a glass canning jar with the metal screw on lid. IMO loves to absorb moisture!


* (1x) - This means that the sweetener has been ground one time in a VitaMix blender (preferably the sweetener was frozen first, allowing it to be ground finer before heating up).




Tip:

An alternate method of blending the sweeteners is to:

Mix the xylitol, erythritol, and IMO powder together in a VitaMix blender on low speed.

Add the white stevioside powder to the sweeteners in the VitaMix and put the lid on tight.

Start blending on low speed, turning up to grind to a finer texture. Do not let the sugars heat up in the blender. Let the dust settle before removing the lid.


Tip:

You may use Lakanto's white sugar substitute instead of plain erythritol if you want to. It has a very nice taste and contains erythritol enhanced with their sweet monk fruit extract, so it is sweeter than erythritol alone. Adjust the stevia extract you add to the syrup to suit your tastes.

German Pancakes sprinkled with our homemade sugar-free Powdered Sugar.
To make this Powdered Sugar yourself - See THIS Post.


Enjoy!

Leila & Nancy.

The Best Sugar-Free Powdered Sugar (2 Versions) Homemade Copy-Cat Recipe

You can now make your own sugar-free Powdered Sugar. 

Granulated sweeteners do not work for making frostings and sweetened whipped cream. Sugar-free granular sweeteners are especially gritty and are harder to dissolve than regular cane sugar. Have you noticed?

We have provided 2 formulas for you: 

The first one uses resistant starch to facilitate grinding and to add fiber and reduce carbohydrates. We like to use this first version in chocolate frosting.

The second formula has the addition of coconut flour, which gives more body to the powdered sugar. We like to use this second formula for all flavors of frosting other than chocolate.

You can use this either of these powdered sugar blends in sweetened whipped cream, icings, cheesecake fillings and other sweet sauces too, or just dip fresh ripe strawberries in it!



Mom's Powdered Sugar Substitute Formula:

150 grams  xylitol
150 grams  erythritol
30 grams  Hi-Maize Resistant Starch
3 grams  White stevia powder, 80% to 90% strength (stevioside intense sweetener)


Method:

Mix the xylitol and  erythritol together and seal in an air-tight bag.

Place the bag in the freezer to chill before grinding.

Pour cold sweetener mix into a VitaMix blender.

Add the stevioside powder and the Hi-Maize starch to the blender. Secure lid tightly.

Start blending on low speed, turning up to grind to a fine texture.

Do not let the sugars heat up in the blender.

Let the dust settle before removing the lid.

For a very fine powdered sugar, repeat the freezing and grinding process 4 to 5 times, or until it is as fine as you'd like. (We like it very finely ground!)

Taste for sweetness, maybe adding a little more stevia if desired.

Store air-tight in your pantry.



Tips:

This blend tastes even better if you use Lakanto's white sugar substitute instead of plain erythritol. Use less stevia extract when using the Lakanto sweetener.

If you do not have Hi-Maize yet, you may use potato starch, tapioca starch, or non-GMO corn starch. It won't be a low-carb starch like Hi-Maize is, but you will still get the job done.

We like using Hi-Maize because then you are not eating so much sugar alcohols in one sitting, and it contributes fiber as well. Hi-Maize is very neutral tasting and smooth textured.

We do not add IMO powder to this powdered sugar blend. IMO is very hydroscopic and prone to clumping. Frosting made with IMO tends to soften and sort of melt down over time.

Freezing your sugars allows you to grind them longer before they heat up and start melting.


Note:

If the powdered sugar doesn't taste sweet enough to you, you may add up to a total of 5.0 grams of the 80%-90% pure stevioside powder to either of these powdered sugar formulas. 

Variation:

Measure all of the ingredients above as called for and then add:

10 grams of organic coconut flour

Process the powdered sugar in the same way, as above.

Use this coconut enriched powdered sugar when making a frosting without cocoa powder, because it gives more substance and body to the frosting that the cocoa powder would otherwise add.  This makes a delicious sugar-free cream cheese frosting or vanilla frosting.The added coconut flour adds more body to the frosting, so the frosting holds up better at room temperature.


Enjoy,

Leila & Nancy

Crazy Good Low Carb Pancake Recipe - Gluten free, Sugar Free & FLUFFY!

We nailed it! We now offer you the recipe for the best wheat-free pancakes on the planet. I kid you not my pretties.

Amazing 'healthified" light & fluffy Low-Carb Pancakes!

My mom and I had a lot of fun working together on this one. We are very synergistic when we collaborate together. We mind meld and stuff, it's great.

She teaches me, and she tells me I teach her too. But personally, I think I only teach her stuff that's a variation of the stuff she first taught me. She may disagree on that point, however, I ask you this:

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I can answer that one, "The Chicken".   Not that my mom is a chicken.

My point is, I am very grateful for how my mother has raised me and for what she has taught me. I feel she is woven into my very fabric. She still teaches me the most amazing things (like what makes the best flour substitutes, or how to make a heart-calming herbal tincture, or insights on the power of personal prayer). Happy Mother's Day again mom!

Anyway, the chicken came first. Because of my mom, you can now make the best healthy pancakes ever.

The ingredient list is a very creative one. We use several types of "flours" to get the flavor and texture of these pancakes right. Remember, we are professional food formulating maniacs, along with being gluten-free specialists and sugar-free specialists. I say this because I want you to know that we have done more than our fair share of formulating this kind of thing. You get to benefit from our years of trials, and years of learning about the properties of the newest healthy raw materials. Cool, huh?

For you, we wanted to create variations that use ingredients that are readily available to the consumer. This narrows our list of cool (and healthy) ingredients substantially. We have tried many variations and proportions with several different ingredients, and this is where we arrived.

We are excited to share this recipe with you because the recipes we found "out there" were not what we were hoping for. (See my Pancake Bedtime Story post) They were rubbery, way too eggy, soggy, spongy, slimy, gritty, heavy, mushy, bitter, fell apart, contained sugar, Were starch-laden, tasted like yucky protein powder, or otherwise weird tasting and weird textured. I'll skip breakfast, thanks!

But now, we can all enjoy light and fluffy guilt-free pancakes, and our family won't pull faces and run away hungry.

It is worth the effort to acquire all the ingredients we list here. If you have already been cooking with gluten-free, low-carb, paleo, or sugar-free recipes, you will already have most, if not all the ingredients for this recipe. You can even make this mix in bulk. We will post a bulk pancake mix recipe later, so please check back soon.

Benefits of this pancake recipe:

Tastes amazing!
Low carb
High fiber
Sugar free
Gluten free
High protein
Curbs cravings
Aids in weight loss
Helps blood sugar levels stay even
Good for athletic training
Can make dry pancake mix in advance
Can make pancakes in advance and freeze them


First get out all your ingredients first and pre-weigh them (weighing is best for consistency), or you can just measure them until you get yourself some good kitchen scales.

Again, putting together this dry pancake mix is SO worth the effort. When you are ready to make some pancakes, all you do is add some water and egg. They are easy to mix up, easier to cook, and the easiest to e-a-t.

Your kitchen will smell wonderful as these cook. You and your family will feel satisfied for a long time after you eat these pancakes. They are high in fiber and high in protein too. These are also helpful for those who are aiming to slim down. They even taste great with just butter and no syrup. Most fake pancakes have to be drowned in syrup to be at all palatable.

See the next version of pancakes we created, Buttermilk Pancakes, HERE. 

We hope you enjoy this recipe for years to come!



Low Carb Pancake Recipe:

Makes 4 medium sized pancakes (serves 2).

Dry Mix Ingredients:

13.0 grams (2 T.)  stirred coconut flour
11.0 grams (2 T.)  oat bran flour (finely ground)
11.0 grams (2 T.)  white almond flour (lightly packed)
8.0 grams (1 T.)  Hi-Maize brand resistant starch from National Starch **
4.0 grams (1 T.)  whey protein isolate
3.0 grams (1 T.)  psyllium husks (flakes, not powdered) ***
3.5 grams (1 t.)  gelatin powder (like Knoxx brand plain gelatin)
4.0 grams (1 t.)  Table Top Sugar Blend (or 1 1/2 t. of a 50:50 mix of erythritol and xylitol) ****
1.2 grams (1/4 t.)  BioSalt or sea salt
2.8 grams (1/2 t.)  baking powder
0.9 grams (1/4 t.)  konjac powder
0.9 grams (1/4 t.)  Wheat Bread Flavor Powder, optional (a proprietary flavoring for GF breads *)


Wet Ingredients:

1 medium egg
1/2 c. cool purified water


Method:

In a small mixing bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together very well and set aside.

Preheat a 12-inch or larger non-stick skillet to 350 degrees (medium heat). Oil pan with coconut oil.

Whisk the egg until emulsified.

Add the water to the egg and mix together.

Add the egg mixture to the dry mix in the mixing bowl and blend together until there are no lumps.

Immediately pour all 4 pancakes into the prepared skillet. Let them cook without shaking the pan.

The pancake batter quickly becomes thick, so they will not bubble like thinner pancakes do to indicate when to flip them over. You'll need to peek at the bottoms, and flip them when they turn nicely brown.

Cook the other side until they are golden brown and spring back in the center when lightly touched.

If you did not cook all the pancakes at once, do not stir the batter down. Just portion it with a food portioning scoop (an ice cream scoop)

onto the oiled skillet. You may gently pat down the batter a bit with wet fingers. Again, do not shake the pan to settle the pancakes or they will be misshapen.

Enjoy with butter and a good sugar-free syrup or preserves.



Notes: 

*  "Wheat Bread Flavor Powder" is a proprietary flavor my mother created for all gluten free bread-type products. It is not available to the public (unless we get a large amount of requests for it...).

** Honeyville grain carries the HiMaize Resistant starch. This ingredient is not absorbed like regular starch and is a wonderful ingredient for low carb, gluten free baking. You can use up to 25% HiMaize in your flour blends to cut carbs.

*** If you do not have the 1 T. psyllium husk flakes, substitute with 1 teaspoon psyllium husk powder. The texture will not be quite as bread-like, but it is still good.

**** You may substitute Lakanto white sugar substitute for the tabletop sugar blend called for.

Looking for bubbles in these cooking pancakes is not an indicator of pancakes being ready to flip. Check the bottoms for doneness.

Lower heat is needed for cooking these pancakes, compared to regular starch-filled pancakes. Too high a temperature will burn the outsides before the insides are cooked through.

Grind the oat bran until very fine, unless you want more texture to your pancakes.

Making these pancake with just liquid egg whites is not a good idea. They won't act like, look like, or taste like pancakes at all.

Mixing in an additional t. dry egg white protein powder resulted in rubbery, eggy pancakes. Don't do it.

Using less oat bran flour results in a pancake with compromised texture. We do not recommend less than 2 T. oat bran flour for this recipe.

The added gelatin makes a nice, flexible pancake, nearer to a wheat-like texture.

Whey protein isolate is higher in protein and has mush less lactose in it than whey protein concentrate, and usually the lactose-intolerant can eat it in this recipe.

Shaking the pancake batter in the skillet will result in flattened pancakes that may also run together. Just pour them, or portion them with a food portioning scoop (ice cream scoop). If the batter has thickened a lot, gently pat the pancake batter down a tiny bit with wet fingers.


Tip: 

I doubled the recipe because all I had were extra-large eggs. I used 1 extra-large egg.  It worked fine, although the 2nd batch of pancakes were more ragged looking because the batter had thickened up and I did not pat the batter down with wet fingers. Not the end of the world, they still turned out great!


Photos of the process:

Mix the dry ingredients together first.

Whisk the egg then add in the water.

Add the egg mixture to the dry pancake mix.

Mix until no lumps remain.

Using a food portioning scoop to measure out each pancake, without deflating the batter.

I flipped the pancakes with an unusual amount of grace... Not.

A nice fluffy stack of pancakes.

That was so good! :)

Enjoy!

Leila & Nancy.

New Ingredient Arrivals for Gluten-Free Baking!

My mom sent me an early birthday present and it arrived yesterday...

Organic Coconut Flour, Ultra Gel, and Hi-Maize Resistant Starch for my birthday.

What does a foodie hope to receive for their birthday? Probably exotic dark chocolate made from Hawaiian cocoa beans.

What does a nerdy food-formulating foodie dream of receiving for their birthday? Stay tuned and I'll tell you.

If you have been following our blog, Kitchen Cheetahs, you know that we have been happily working on creating delicious and healthy low-carb pancakes. I have needed some additional ingredients to create the high level of success we are seeking. My mom and I exchange ideas continually, and share our experiments and progress. We think this is fun. Being the observant person that she is, she soon announced that my early birthday present was on it's way. Cool beans! She gives the best gifts.

Soon to my door, what should appear? A big bag of coconut flour, clear Gel, and more! 

I love her gift because my whole family will benefit from it. I will be able to make great tasting bakery and breakfast items that will support my family in a healthy way. I will be able to make pancakes that my whole family will enjoy, that at the same time, work for my husband and I in our goal of healthy low-carb eating.

We here at Kitchen Cheetahs, are also pleased to be able to share the up and coming recipes with you. We want to support you in your healthy ways of eating too.

I am very excited over what my mom sent me:

Organic coconut flour

Ultra Gel

Hi-Maize Resistant Starch

Organic coconut flour is a must-have for low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free, and paleo baking. It is a very important component in healthy flour blends. It's very high in dietary fiber, healthy fats, and is very low in carbohydrates. Honeyville Grain sells organic coconut flour in 25 pound bags. Package it in smaller air-tight bags and seal in a 6-gallon food storage bucket for long term storage. It will last a long time this way. Coconut flour is  recommended in a book called The 100, by Jorge Cruise, and is promoted in other books like Grain Brain, Wheat Belly, as well as several paleo cookbooks.

Ultra Gel is another cool ingredient used for instantly thickening hot or cold foods. I like to use it to make sugar-free jams and sauces. It can also be used to add body to frostings. It is also available online through Honeyville Grain.

Hi-Maize, by National Starch - I have been wanting resistant starch for low-carb, gluten-free baking. Why resistant starch? Because your body does not absorb it like it does normal starch. That means it is much lower in carbohydrates! It can be used to replace up to 25% of the flour used in a recipe. It has a neutral taste and gives a great texture to baked goods. It is a trade secret for gluten-free, low-carb formulating. Now you know. A particular brand of resistant starch that is available to the public is called Hi-Maize, made by National Starch. It is made from corn. Our family do not have issues with corn and plus, this product has been purified. There is resistant tapioca starch too, but it is expensive and not readily available. You can order Hi-Maize online from Honeyville Grain. 

Organic coconut Flour

Ultra Gel

Resistant Starch by National Starch.

Hi-Maize 260 is the trade name of the resistant starch.

I'm now set to mix, bake, and explore.

Happy Baking!

P.S. Make sure you check out this post for great low-carb pancakes!

Leila.

A Pancake Bedtime Story.

Would you like me to tell you a story about pancakes?



Once upon a time there was a girl who loved pancakes (especially real buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries in them...ooh, or banana pancakes). Her mother made them for her often and life was good.

As she grew older, the pancakes still lured her, yet they often over stayed their welcome... as in, they liked to hang around her middle (so annoying). Since the girl's original intention was to grow up, not grow out, she decided to show the pancakes who's boss.

She looked across the land for a better pancake, a low-carb pancake, a healthy pancake!

She looked far and wide. She looked high and low (remember, we are looking for a BETTER pancake), but alas, none was to be found. They were either too flat, or rubbery, dry or mushy, weird tasting or starchy. As she went along, she made up this rhyme...

"Red pancake, blue pancake, this one's hard to chew pancake.
Flat pancake, glue pancake, what's a girl to do pancake?"

I know, terrible right?

So she returned home from her long journey tired and hungry, with taste buds assaulted. She opened her pantry looking for something to eat.

She saw almond flour and lecithin, coconut flour and psyllium. oat bran and gelatin...

This got her thinking...

Soon she began measuring and mixing, stirring and flipping.

Her family came in to see what was the clatter, to find her and the kitchen covered in batter!

So excited was she that the mess didn't matter.

Because by eating these pancakes her stomach would be flatter!


The End.



There is a morsel to this story...

The gluten-free, low carb pancake recipes "out there" are generally yucky.

But don't worry, my mom and I are up to our elbows in pancake recipe creation mode.

We will post low-carb pancake recipes that are Sugar-Free not pastey, Gluten-Free and tasty!


So please stay tuned and don't be hasty, or your pancakes too could turn out...gross.

Have a great night,

Leila.

P.S. Check out this post with a recipe for brand new low-carb pancakes!

Chia Blueberry Sauce - Sugar-Free (Healthified)

Try this healthy variation of blueberry sauce.

This is a very delicious and very easy sauce to put together. It is loaded with antioxidants and fiber. Since it is sugar-free, you can enjoy it knowing that it won't spike your blood sugar.

The beautiful thing about this sauce is it seems dessert like and very more-ish, yet it is great as a yogurt topping for breakfast, or on low-carb ice cream for dessert. there are many uses for this versatile sauce. You will not feel deprived, trust us!

We also like that you don't have to cook this blueberry sauce to death. It tastes F-R-E-S-H.

Also note how we keep using a blend of sugar-free sweeteners on this blog. That is because the blends we use are synergistic, which means they enhance each other's sweetening power along with tasting much more like conventional sugar. Cool, right?



Chia Blueberry Sauce Recipe:

2 boxes (22 to 24 ounces total) fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
2 c. "Old Orchard" brand no sugar added Cranberry-Raspberry Juice
1/4 c. dark chia seeds
1 to 2 t. very finely powdered psyllium husks
4 to 6 T. erythritol, to taste (or Lakanto white sweetener)
4 to 6 T. xylitol, to taste
Fresh lemon juice and/or Vitamin C powder, to taste
Stevia Glycerite, to taste


Method:

In a small saucepan place the blueberries, chia seeds, and 2 c. juice.
Mix together and let thicken 30 minutes.
Barely cook the mixture.
Powder the psyllium husks very finely in a Krups seed mill.
Mix the psyllium husk powder with the erythritol and xylitol.
Add the psyllium mixture to the hot berry mixture and still very will until fully dissolved.
Let berry mixture cool.
Add fresh lemon juice and /or Vitamin C powder to taste.
Add Stevia glycerite to taste.
Chill the berry sauce overnight.
If the sauce thickens up too much, just add more juice to reach the desired consistency.
Use as a topping for cheesecake, yogurt, ice cream, etc...


Variations:

This Blueberry Sauce can be made with less juice and be used as a sugar-free blueberry pie filling!

Or, Make it less sweet and it could become a tasty blueberry Danish Pudding.

Or, mix it with any kind of sugar-free syrup to make a blueberry pancake syrup!

There are lots of options for the blueberry lover...


Enjoy,

Leila & Nancy.

Porcpines - Old Fashioned Beef & Rice Meatballs (Gluten-Free and Sugar-Free)

Here is another Delicious home-style 

American supper.

I found this old recipe in my recipe box when I was trying to figure out what to make the Missionaries for dinner last night. It has been many long years since I have eaten this dish and I thought it would be fun to serve for a Sunday family dinner.

This recipe is made from scratch but still is very  easy to make. no commercial canned tomato soup here. With this recipe you have more control over your ingredients, which is great for those people who are off sugar and gluten. Canned tomato soup generally has lots of questionable ingredients in it. You may use brown rice or white, but please do not use instant or converted rice

This is a fun recipe because at the start, these look like innocent little meatballs. Part way through the cooking process however, watch out! They turn into prickly porcupines (hence the name). The rice as it cooks, swells and emerges from the meatballs, giving them a spiney texture.

I personally like more sauce, if you do too, make more sauce by increasing the recipe to 1 and 1/2 times the original. ie. 3 cups tomato sauce, 3 T. xylitol, 1 1/2 T Worcestershire, 3/4 t. cinnamon, and 6 whole cloves.

I decided to make some Perfect Baked Potatoes (recipe on this blog) to go along with it. Served along  with a green side salad, it makes a simple yet delicious meal.


Porcupines Recipe:

1 lb organic hamburger
1/2 cup RAW rice (brown Basmatti or Jasmine rice tastes great)
1/4 c. finely minced onion
1/4 c. finely minced sweet red or green bell pepper
1 t. BioSalt or sea salt
1/2 t. celery salt
2 c. tomato juice
2 T. xylitol or Lakanto zero-cal sweetener (or sugar)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. cinnamon
4 whole cloves (or a pinch of ground cloves)
Tapoica starch and water slurry, to thicken if desired (I usually do not use)


Method:

Rinse the rice well in a strainer and drain.

Combine the rice with the hamburger, onion, bell pepper, salt, and celery salt. Mashing everything together with your hands works best.

Form into meatballs about 1 1/2-inch in diameter.

Mix the tomato juice with the xylitol, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon, and cloves.

Heat the sauce in a skillet and place the meatballs into the sauce.

Cover tightly and simmer 50 minutes, turning meatballs over half way through the cooking time.

After the meatballs are done and the rice is tender, serve them with the juice as-is, or remove the meatballs and thicken the juice with tapioca starch (a corn starch replacement) to make a sauce.

Serve hot.


Note: I find that the rice in the meatballs thickens the sauce enough.

Variation: You may substitute bouillon for tomato juice and spices (not the way I think it tastes best).



My family really liked this dinner, I hope yours will too.

Enjoy,

Leila.