Baked Ikea Meatballs?

We finally got some Ikea Meatballs a few weeks ago. It was out of stock last January and the restaurant didn't have it either. Sweetie dropped by before the end of February and managed to buy a pack of meatballs, gravy and lingon berry.

One pack is good for two servings for us. We used to brown it in olive oil first and then cook it fully in water. Miggy surprised me when he said the pack said to bake it. Bake Ikea meatballs? 

We tried it since baking is healthier than frying and it was actually easier. The meatballs cooked evenly and we enjoyed it with gravy and some lingon berry on the side. We still have half a pack and will cook it in a few weeks. It's in the freezer for now. 

Here's how to bake it :)

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Ikea Trolley for My Sewing Stuff

I have a small sewing table and it's been littered with my sewing stuff. I need them close by since I reach out to them as I work on projects. It's been annoying though since I have to move things around when I need to use the sewing machine or when I need to measure fabric or when I need to iron. Yes, that's how small my space is for sewing. 

We went to Ikea a few weeks ago and I saw this circular trolley. It's about half of my old rectangular Ikea trolley. I intended the old one to hold my sewing stuff, but I found it too bulky, plus I could barely see the items on the second level. The trolley is PhP699 and I got one since I felt it would solve the clutter on my sewing table.

I built it myself. It was so easy to build since it didn't have any screws. Just plug and twist to screw it in. I thought it would take a long time to put together. I finished in a few minutes and had enough energy to clear my table. 

I moved the items based on frequency of use. I put the needles and pins on top with the pencils.

Safety pins and clips for binding and thread and bobbins on the second row.

The bottom houses my bobbin gadget and other stuff (I'm still fixing it).

I'm planning to re-organize my old trolley. I got a top cover for it since I plan to use it for ironing. I can just easily park it nearby and pull it out as needed. I love Ikea trolleys! I also got a utility cart for a bathroom. It makes it easier to pull out when the bathroom is cleaned, plus I used the old shelf to house my newer craft books from Booksale (shelf is now back inside my maker room). 

Happy sewing!

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Ikea Room?

Ikea is good at curating their products. They put on nice displays which give a good idea on what your home should look like. 

We haven't been to Ikea for over 15 months. It was on my bucket list last year. I wasn't able to check it off, so I scheduled a day to go.

We spent about 6 hours in Ikea. We first had brunch, but was disappointed since they didn't have meatballs. What I wanted to see were the room set-ups and how they mixed colors. 

I wish Ikea would make a family room display which includes display cabinets* for toy collections. They had a gaming bedroom set-up which I thought was cute, but it's not applicable for us.

It was a good trip, albeit tiring. It was good to see their rooms and themes.

*Their bigger display cabinets are so expensive though, so it's better to get from a specialty store (they are usually present at toy exhibits).

Bought Plants at Ikea

At the end of the long trek across Ikea, you'll find their gardening stuff. I usually ignore the artificial plants and expensive pots. What I check out are the small live plants they sell. They have ornamental plants and succulents that range from PhP49 to 199. The prices are competitive with nursery plants, sometimes even cheaper. 

I picked up a couple of plants. What got me excited was the kokedama money tree. I've been planning to make one, but I just don't have the time. This will do for now and I hope I don't kill this plant! The last money tree I got from Ikea lasted a couple of months. I just overwatered it, haha.

I still have to research about the other plants to see how best to care for them. Wish me luck!

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What's Unique at Ikea Philippines Restaurant

I know I've been living under a rock. We were only able to eat at Ikea's Swedish Bistro yesterday. Yup, yesterday 😂 

We frequently ate at Ikea's restaurant in Singapore even during to the pandemic when restrictions eased. The resto here was always full, so we'd either just buy at the cafe or buy frozen meatballs. 

Since it was our first time, I observed what was different. They actually had a proper line for PWDs/senior citizens. A crew member promptly escorted us when I mentioned I was a PWD (I was breathless from all the walking). The menu is fairly the same except for dessert!

There's turon! And much cheaper than SM's (lol).

Buko pandan and mango sago

And leche flan!

I was tempted to try the leche flan, but I had some banana bread for breakfast and Miggy's planning to make leche flan this week. Anyway, next time!

Of course, Miggy and I had meatballs. (What's up with the peas, they were bit undercooked I think).

Sweetie had salmon and spaghetti (and some of my meatballs).

We had a fun time reminiscing our days in Ikea Singapore. I won't forget it since I used the Tampines branch for my cardio exercises post OHS. My surgeon encouraged it to keep me walking! I loved it since Mom always bought me toys, haha. 

Here's the Westies at Ikea Alexandra (SG)

I wish though there's a lot more shortcuts. It always takes us 3 hours to go through the maze. Or at least have more seats across the store for PWDs like me to rest in between. I now have salonpas on my back from too much walking 😅

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How We Cook Store Bought Ikea Meatballs

Since Ikea is always crowded whenever we go, we just buy their ready-to-cook meatballs. No need to go through the whole shop since you can just buy it from the food section. We keep forgetting though how to cook it, so I decided to film it last time we had Ikea meatballs. Our "Recipes for My Son" channel was created exactly for that purpose - to remember how we cook things! No need to ask each other again whether we should thaw the meatballs or not! Haha. 

To avoid using too much oil, we cook the meatballs how we cook gyoza and hotdogs. We use a bit of olive oil to brown the frozen meatballs and then we add water. The boiling water and steam cooks the meatballs through. I don't like oily food so this works well for us. Here's how we do it -

We were able to buy the whole set (meatballs, gravy and lingonberry jam) before, but lately the gravy has always been out of stock. We were forced to try a different brand of gravy mix. It's worked out so far. We thought the meatball would taste different, but there's not much difference in the gravy. 

Easy peasy. :)

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Ikea Meatballs, I Miss You!

I'm a creature of habit especially when it comes to food. I like trying out new restaurants, but I tend to order the same thing when I go back. Sweetie is the complete opposite, he likes trying out new dishes. It's a hit or miss thing and we usually end up laughing when it's a miss. We just chalk it up to experience. 

Would you believe I've even built a regular order list when we order via Grab Food? Hahaha. To mix things up I usually ask Sweetie to chose where to order so I'm forced to try something new. It may be the same dish (i.e. sweet and sour pork), but at least it's a different restaurant haha. 

One of my all time favorite food since I moved here to Singapore is Ikea's meatballs! I think everyone does and whenever friends visit that's the other place we go to also (aside from buffet places!). The last time we were able to visit Ikea was just before the circuit breaker. Today I got lucky. After spending hours and hours with my doctors Sweetie said I should have some comfort food. 

It was almost four already when we ate lunch. Sweetie did the ordering and came back with so much food! We ended up bringing home half the food and we had it for dinner. We immediately went home after eating. No energy for shopping and my doctor would scold me if I did. 

I remember that time after heart surgery my doctor was encouraging me to walk more. My family would bring me to Ikea Tampines to walk around. When my doctor asked if I was doing any walking I told him I went around Ikea Tampines. He laughed and thought it was a good idea since you're really forced to walk around. Nothing like reaching your cardio goals while shopping haha. 

I saw a recipe of Ikea meatballs online and it's so similar to the recipe of my Japanese hamburgers. You can just use the same recipe, make smaller balls add some gravy and jam. Let me know if you try it! 

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