Recycling

It seems like the whole weekend was non-stop. DH was sick all weekend, the kids were squirmy. Trying to get everything done around the house is always difficult, but when anyone is sick things just get even tougher. We even had to cancel our Mother's Day plans, so that was a bummer.

But a Mother's Day gift! I got a more than an hour in the kitchen. Yes, I consider this a gift. Even while sick, DH kept the kids occupied while I got some quiet time to do what I love. I made meatballs. The below is a great recipe. It is easy, it freezes well and I have made some changes to a classic meatball to make it crazy easy.
I love meatballs because they make 'recycling' easier. There are all kind of things that you can throw into meatballs, leftover veggies (especially greens), cheese. They aren't as good as soup for recycling leftovers, but they are pretty darn good.
Fortunately too, the kids love them. Thing 1 eats the meatballs I make almost 90% of the time (factor out 10% for over snacking and not really being hungry for mealtime). And yesterday Thing 2 ate them for the first time. He shoved them into his mouth by the chubby fistful. This just makes a mama proud.
Tonight we had the leftovers. Cook Once, Eat Twice. The kids love them so much that I make them in sauce, but I also add them to an easy veggie soup by dropping the meatballs into boiling broth in which I cook veggies and orzo pasta. The kids, both of them, always inhale it!

You can make these with any ground meat. Beef is good, turkey is a little lighter tasting, and sausage is delicious too.

Lazy Mama's Meatballs

(It's best to have all ingredients at room temperature)
1 pound ground meat
1/3 cup of breadcrumbs (unseasoned are best) (ground day old baguettes are even better, they are drier than conventional canned breadcrumbs)
splash of milk
1/4 cup of parmesean cheese
2 beaten eggs
granulated garlic to taste
italian seasoning to taste
red pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste
prepared tomato spaghetti sauce

Heat the prepared sauce on the stove top until simmering. Start with the breadcrumbs in a bowl, pour a splash of milk over them to wet the breadcrumbs, but just enough milk that it will all be absorbed, you don't want a pool of milk at the bottom. Let the breadcrumbs sit for a few minutes to soak up the milk. Add the ground meat, cheese and all the seasonings and an additional sprinkle of dry breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. Add the beaten eggs and incorporate. Use a tablespoon measure and make 1 tbsp size balls of meat. Drop the balls directly into the simmering sauce and let them gently simmer for 30 minutes or until done. Stir the pot gently so as not to break up the meat balls.