A few weeks ago, I shared what I like to do when I get ground meat from the grocery store. (See Batch Cooking – The Ground Beef Edition!) This is part 2, if you will.
Last week, I purchased 2 packages of ground chuck and 2 packages of ground turkey. Seeing that most of my January meal plan is from the pantry and freezer, I knew that I wouldn’t use up all of this meat for meals last week. I did make the Turkey Kasha Chili on Friday night, and while that was simmering on the stove, I set to work on preparing the rest of the packages of meat.
First up, I combined the 2 packages of ground beef into meatloaf/meatballs mixture. With about 2.4 lbs, I was able to make 1 meatloaf and 16 medium sized herbed meatballs. (Recipe below.) I put the meatloaf in the freezer. And also did a flash freeze of the meatballs. Once they were partially frozen, then I transferred them into a plastic freezer baggie.
And with the other package of ground turkey, I made some Turkey Meatloaf Bites, similar to these BBQ Mini Meatloaves! I baked them in my mini-muffin tin and then let them cool completely before adding to the freezer.
Not bad for 15 minutes…while the Turkey Kasha Chili simmered to perfection! (And it probably would have been just 5-10 minutes, if I didn’t stop to take pictures of it all!)
Now we’ve got a meatloaf, meatballs and some Turkey Meatloaf Bites in the freezer for next month!
One Step Ahead!
(If you’ve read my Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook, you know what that means!)
Herbed Meatballs
Ingredients
- About 1.25 lb ground chuck ($2.48)
- 2 eggs ($.20)
- 1 cup bread crumbs, homemade or store bought ($.20)
- 2 Tbsp Italian seasonings ($.10)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Form into 1″-ish size meatballs.
- Flash freeze and then transfer to a plastic freezer baggie.
- Or brown on all sides, then add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until meatballs have cooked through.
- Serve over noodles with side salad.
Cost $2.98
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Can’t wait to try these herbed meatballs.
neither of the the turkey kasha chili links work.
I may run the risk of sounding dumb but i have to ask: How did you flash freeze the meatballs?
Maria,
Put the meatballs on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer until partly frozen…atleast frozen enough to keep form when you pick them up. Then put them in a freezer ziploc bag and back into the freezer until you need them for a recipe.
There’s no such thing as a dumb question! You just place them on a cookie sheet or other flat surface and put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Long enough for the outsides to start to freeze. Then you place them into a plastic storage bag or container. This keeps the meatballs from sticking together and making one giant meatball in your freezer!
I have a better way of cooking meatballs especially if you have a lot for entertaining or freezing. ~Bake them in the oven on large broiler pans.
Meatball stroganoff. I also make my own sausage meatballs for breakfast, soup, etc.
A fast and easy way to cook meatballs is in a metal colander over a pot of boiling water. How long depends on their size. After several minutes over the water, I lift the colander and shake it gently. When they cool, the meatballs look as though they have been baked and much of the fat has drained into the water.