Because of our recent huge electric bill and all the expenses related to our buying a house, I'm trying to not buy groceries as much as possible.
We seem to have a large amount of hamburger, and I still have a good amount of sausage left over from my free sausage haul. I have tons of Ragu sauce that I bought when it was on sale for .80 cents a jar. I also have ten pounds of chicken. Hmmmm.
On today's menu:
Spaghetti and Meatballs
These meatballs are another of my mother's recipes that everybody seems to love, even those who don't like meatballs. It's one of my most requested recipes when I make it for guests, next to the meatloaf recipe.
Frugal Homemaker's Momma's Meatballs:
You'll need:
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 lb. sausage
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
3 eggs
3/4 of 1 sleeve of saltine crackers
salt and pepper to taste
1-3 jars of spaghetti sauce. (Depends on how much sauce you like.)
Directions:
Empty the spaghetti sauce into a large pot. Set aside.
In a (BIG! Bigger than you think you need!) bowl, crush the saltines. Add the ground beef, sausage, cheese, eggs, and salt/pepper. Mix well.
Shape into balls and brown on all sides in a frying pan.
Put the browned balls into the pot of sauce. Simmer on low heat for two hours. They taste even better if they're made one day ahead. Makes aprox. 25 meatballs.
Other possibilities:
I skip the large pot and use my crock pot on low for 3-5 hours instead.
You could substitute 1 Tablespoon soyflour + 1 Tablespoon water for each egg. The finished product tastes the same.
I often double the recipe and freeze the extra. They are great leftover, and they freeze beautifully. Also makes good sandwiches!
Check back this week for other tales from my pantry, and possible recipes!
4 comments:
AWESOME...I love new recipes...especially frugal ones. Can't wait to give these a try.
Catherine
Sounds very tasty!
Have you ever thought about making your own sauce, if you have the time? I have a recipe written up, but basically it just takes 2 or 3 28-oz cans of whole or diced tomatoes and some garlic; a little onion, or basil, or meat, or hot pepper flakes, etc. is optional. Takes half an hour or so, is delicious, no additives or sweeteners, and I think it is cheaper than buying the jarred stuff. I usually keep a couple containers frozen.
Mmmm, that sounds really good, q! I'll have to try it sometime.
Just dice everything up as fine as you like your sauce (I pulse them in the Cuisinart, but a knife would be fine I'm sure). Saute the garlic in some olive oil until lightly colored; if using onions, put them in too and cook until well softened. Then dump in the tomatoes, add salt to taste, and perhaps a little sugar (~1 T), and cook until it's nice and thick. Voila!
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