Marvelous Meatballs

I know I promised this post last week, but life happened as it generally does. So, here it is ... better late than never right?

Marvelous Meatballs

8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups dry italian style bread crumbs
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup dehydrated, chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
4 pounds ground beef

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Add ground beef and mix well. The best way to do this is with your hands. Shape into balls roughly the same size (a small cookie scoop would be great for this step, but I do not own one) and place on jelly-roll pans.

Baked uncovered in 375 degree oven for 30 min. Remove from pan and place meatballs on a couple of paper towels to remove some of the grease.

Now, you can either place meal size portions in bags and freeze, OR you can flash freeze them separately on another pan then transfer them to a large freezer bag. I like the second option because we can use as much or as little as we want for each meal.

To serve, thaw completely and reheat with your choice of sauce. Here are some we have tried:

BBQ Meatballs - Throw the desired number of frozen meatballs in a baking dish. Drench with bottled, or homemade, BBQ sauce. Toss in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 min. Serve with mashed potatoes and peas.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - Thaw desired number of meatballs and toss in sauce before heating. Ladle over hot spaghetti noodles and serve with salad and breadsticks.

Some other ideas I may be trying soon are:

Swedish Meatballs - A white-sauce/gravy served over egg noodles.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs - Served with rice and maybe some stir fried veggies.

Meatball Soup - A simple Vegetable, Meatball and Beef Broth soup.

Cocktail Meatballs - This mysterious recipe includes chili sauce, grape jelly and mustard. I have no idea what to serve it with.

Freaking Amazing Sauce Balls - If you know the restaurant I'm referring to you'll know the sauce.

I'll add more pictures of these different options as we try them.

Menu Plan

For the past few years we have gone as an extended family and purchased a beef.  This year, I got 1/4 and we were able to pick it up on Saturday.  Goodness my freezer is full.  As a result my menu plan for the next little while will be heavy on the beef.  (More info on the cow, what we ended up paying and what we ended up receiving in a future post.)

Here's our meal plan:

Monday:  Beef Tacos, Beans & Rice, Chips & Salsa

Tuesday:  Sweet & Sour Chicken

Wednesday:  Pizza

Thursday:  BBQ Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

          (Look for a Recipe and Meatball Method post this week.)

Friday:  Anna's Mac & Cheese, Ham, Green Beans, Rolls

Saturday:  Simple Supper - Momma and Papa OUT!

Sunday:  Salisbury Steak, Boiled Potatoes, Sweet Carrots, Rolls

I'm linking to Org Junkies weekly round-up of menu plans.  Check them out!

Processing the Garden Harvest

Today's Harvest...Yes, that is a couple of purple carrots!

I spent most of the day processing my garden harvest.  There was the collection above plus tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and more green beans from last week.  I also gathered this beautiful batch of thyme.

Thyme

The thyme is currently chilling in my dehydrator.  I'm pretty sure I collected my years supply plus some. When they're completely dry all that's left to do is strip the leaves from the stems and bottle them up.

The beans are all snapped waiting to be blanched and frozen.  I'll finish that up tonight when it is cooler.  I would love to can them, but I don't own a pressure cooker...yet.  I've got my eye on this one:

Presto 1755 16-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner

All the tomatoes are basking on my window sill.  We need some for a party tomorrow and I'm going to can the rest.

I sliced the jalapeno peppers and spread them out on a tray to freeze.  After another hour or two I'll slip them into a zipper bag and they'll be ready to scoop into our favorite salsa recipe.

The carrots have been scrubbed and sliced.  All ready to be snacked on or slipped into lunches.

Not a bad days work.

I've also updated all my garden totals in my spreadsheet so you can see just what we've been able to harvest from our little starter garden.

Gratitude

One of my favorite bloggers Modobject at Home regularly lists items she is thankful for.  Right now she is at around 435.  She is thankful for things like a backed up sewer line because she doesn't have to do laundry.  For bits of encouragement.  Her baby's "wake-up morning curls."

I love the idea of noticing small and simple things in our everyday lives for which we can be grateful.  Not only is it showing Our Creator we appreciate his blessings, but it also helps us to avoid The Want's.  If we are not focusing on the things we want we are less likely to spend our money on stuff we do not need.

Distractions are sometimes necessary when you get tired of your frugal journey.  So, I have decided to join the party and start listing some things I am grateful for.  They are in no particular order.

1. A husband who is willing and able to fix the roof.

2. Tomatoes on the window sill.

3. A child who is loving learning his ABC's.

4. A kitchen garden expansion that is coming along nicely.

5. Two and a half more weeks of the girl's riding the school bus.

6. The internet.  Whenever I wonder how to do something or why it is I can always look it up and find the answers instantly.