Italian Mozzarella Meatballs

About 2 weeks ago I whipped up 2 meals with the package of 2 1/2 lbs ground beef that I had in my refrigerator.

I also noticed I had a few boxes of Mac-n-Cheese (which I hardly ever make) so I thought I should use them up for that night's dinner. I'll get to that in a moment. While I was getting that night's dinner going I decided to make another meal and used the remaing meat I had left to make Italian Mozzarella Meatballs. I put all the ingredients together, shaped them with a melon baller, and then baked them.

Once they were out of the oven I let them cool down. Then I put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to let the meatballs firm a little. I think they were in the freezer for about 15 minutes. After I pulled them out I put the almost frozen meatballs in a gallon size freezer bag. This way I can just pull out however many I need for 1 meal. I made 30 meatballs in all. Here is the recipe.



















Italian Mozzarella Meatballs

10 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet® Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf Seasoning Mix
1-1/2 ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
1 egg
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.
2. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
3. Place meatballs on foil lined pan or baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


















I made spaghetti and meatballs a few days later. I just pulled about half of the meatballs out and then I heated them in the microwave-enough to defrost. Then I put them in the pot with my Spaghetti Sauce to warm. I made a batch of spaghetti noodles and dinner was a hit. The kids always love spaghetti! Now with the remaining meatballs I can make Meatball Subs or make another Spaghetti dinner.



















This is my Taco Mac-n-cheese. I browned 1lb of ground beef with 2-3 TBS of HG Taco Seasoning. Then I started the pasta. While this was cooking I made the Italian Meatballs from above.

Then I drained the pasta and made it as directed on the package. I added the taco seasoned meat and 1 can of diced tomatoes and mixed together. I served this with a salad.

We all were pleasantly surprised at how great this tasted! Both of the kids ate it up! Very easy and another hit with the family! We even had left overs (this made a huge batch, I used 2 boxes of pasta) that we ate later that week. Less work and clean-up the 2nd time around!!

The best part about these 2 meals was that I made it at the same time!! Saving me lots of time later. I made the meatballs while the pasta was boiling and the ground beef was cooking! While we ate I let the meatballs cool down. So even if you feel that you don't have time to fill your freezer I want you to ask yourself as you are cooking...Is there anything I can make while this is going on?...or make a double batch and freeze the rest for later. Before you know it you will have a freezer full of options available to you! Doing a little at a time is better then not doing anything at all. You will be excited as you start to see those meals ready to go every time you open that freezer door! Save your time and engery on something else-like homework! 1st grade homework keeps Kathryn and me busy!