Ikea meatballs and mashed potatoes

with no vegetables

Tonight’s dinner was frozen Ikea beef meatballs, instant mashed potatoes, gravy, and some ornamental dill that really wasn’t necessary.

Frozen meatballs always taste rubbery and are weirdly more expensive than they should be, when you consider the fact that basic meatballs are just ground meat mixed with some pantry staples. That being said, I don’t buy Ikea meatballs because I want just any meatballs. I buy Ikea meatballs because I want Ikea meatballs.

I was in a comfort food dinner kind of mood tonight, and if you know anything about me by now, it’s that instant mashed potatoes are a proverbial warm blanket on a cold night. I even tricked someone into paying me to write about them!

While the meatballs were in the air fryer and John was watching water boil, I made a simple gravy with probably my newest favorite ingredient:

I know - Campbell’s soup: so trendy! So now! It took me a long time to admit to myself that I think most boxed broths taste like dirty water, and in an effort to try alternatives, I bought a can of this consommé over the summer when I was developing a recipe for a quick french dip sandwich. I was shocked and impressed by the flavor of this stuff, and when whisked into a light roux with a splash of cream, it made the elementary school cafeteria gravy of my dreams.

I instantly loved the way the meatballs looked when I dumped them into the pan of gravy, so uniform and cherubic.

I almost ran out to get some broccoli, but John encouraged me not to in a “what do we need broccoli for?” kind of tone, which I respected and obeyed. Fresh food has no place in this meal.

During dinner we mostly just talked about how much we loved the meatballs, how beautiful they looked covered in gravy, and how much sodium we were presently consuming.

Dessert will probably be one of the 4 leftover meatballs currently sitting in a tupperware in the fridge.