I can honestly say that I don’t hate cooking anymore and I even enjoy it most of the time now. In order to reduce heating the kitchen each night after being gone for nearly 12 hours, I decided to make my famous meatballs and then freeze them. I already can spaghetti sauce each summer so boiling a pot of water to get noodles done isn’t too bad.
For freezing, I used the wonderfully incredible new Ziploc Perfect Portion bags! I just love them and I’ll show you how I used them further down in the post. Here’s a picture in case you have not heard of them yet.
Ziploc Perfect Portion bags
Meatballz:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onions — finely chopped
1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 large eggs — beaten until frothy
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
non-stick cooking spray or olive oil
In large bowl combine turkey, breadcrumbs, onion, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, beaten egg whites, salt, oregano, basil, and pepper. Mix lightly but thoroughly.
With moistened hands, lightly shape mixture into 1-inch balls. You should have about 60 the size of a cherry tomato.
Coat a large non-stick skillet with non-stick spray or olive oil. Add meatballs, about 8 at a time. Cook, stirring constantly until browned but not cooked through.
When all meatballs are browned, place them in a Pyrex dish and bake them for about 20 min at 350 degrees.
Completely cool in the pan.
Pull the PP bag over your hand and grab 10 meatballs.
Once you have them, pull the top of the bag over your hand
Put a twist tie on and repeat until they are all bagged.
Place all bags in gallon sized Ziploc and place big bag in freezer.
During the summer, if I want to make a quick dinner I grab a bag out of the freezer and a can of spaghetti sauce out of the pantry. I doctor up the sauce adding the meatballs to it while the spaghettini (we like it better) is cooking. Keeps the kitchen relatively cool and I always have a meal ready to go in case some of the kids come by to eat.
An awesome recipe to celebrate your new love of cooking my friend 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you!!
Sounds FAB! Will have to try this recipe, although 10 in a portion doesn’t even begin to cover what I’d need per meal!
It only does for us because now there are just 2 of us in the house for most meals, but I know what you mean!
The meatball recipe looks really good and freezing is such a good way to save some time, if you remember to stock the freezer that is (I always tend to make too little) 🙂
I have to make a concerted effort to do it myself. My biggest problem is that I don’t remember what’s in the freezer once I put it in there! 🙂
YUM! I love meatballs. These look sooooo tasty! I’ll have to try your recipe next time. They are great to make and freeze ahead of time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to try canning spaghetti sauce this summer. I’m sure I’ll need some advice.
Happy Saturday!!!
Beth
Ask away!! I’m here most days! 🙂
These meatballs sound absolutely delicious! I love that you’ve shared a recipe that’s not only tasty but also practical for busy days – making a big batch and freezing them for later is such a time-saver. Plus, using Ziploc Perfect Portion bags is a great idea for easy storage. Thanks for sharing this recipe and your helpful tips!