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Batch Cooking – Meatloaf, Turkey Meatloaf Bites, and Herbed Meatballs (with recipe!)

Posted By Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom On January 25, 2011 @ 11:30 am In Baking,batch cooking,How To,Recipes,Savings | 8 Comments

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! [5])  This is part 2, if you will.

Last week, I purchased 2 packages of ground chuck and 2 packages of ground turkey [6].  Seeing that most of my January meal plan [7] 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 [8] 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 [9]. 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 [10]! 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 [8] 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 [11], 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

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper.  Form into 1″-ish size meatballs.
  2. Flash freeze and then transfer to a plastic freezer baggie.
  3. Or brown on all sides, then add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until meatballs have cooked through.
  4. Serve over noodles with side salad.

Cost $2.98

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[5] Batch Cooking – The Ground Beef Edition!: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/01/batch-cooking-ground-beef-edition.html

[6] purchased 2 packages of ground chuck and 2 packages of ground turkey: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/01/kroger-shopping-trip-holiday-drag-boys-edition.html

[7] January meal plan: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/01/monthly-meal-plan-january-2011.html

[8] Turkey Kasha Chili: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/01/turkey-kasha-chili-recipe.html

[9] meatloaf in the freezer: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/01/freezing-meatloaf.html

[10] BBQ Mini Meatloaves: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/08/bbq-mini-meatloaves-and-meatloaf-bites.html

[11] my Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook: http://www.5dollardinners.com/breakfast-lunch-cookbook

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