Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

We have food out the ying yang over here. Does this ever happen to you? I am very thankful for it, but we have a freezer full of food that needs to be et. {Please tell me you know how to say that, right? It's like the past tense of "eat" without saying "eaten" because we're southern and like to shorten things. It's in jest, in case you're a yankee wondering.}

Jason and I participate in a program called Angel Food Ministries because we have a delivery site at our church. For us, it started with our church making a quasi-mandate that we had to have 500 orders to become a delivery site. So they put the yearly-pledge-card-type guilt trip on us and we participated. But now we love it! The basic box gives you a week's worth of food for a family of 4 for $30. There is no typo there. You can also add frozen meat selections for a very low cost. We've been buying the meats and other special options for 4-5 months and have a freezer FULL! YAY!

You don't have to be poor or low income to participate; it's for everyone. And the more people that use the food/ program, the cheaper their costs are. The food is restaurant grade and we have enjoyed it! So go back up there to the Angel Food link and check it out. If anything, you can buy a box to donate to a family in need this time of year.

With all that food, I've been cooking strictly out of the freezer/ pantry lately and have had fun coming up with new recipes! Tonight, we were making spaghetti {everything from Angel Food} and I wanted to give meatballs a shot.

I've never made them unless you count plopping them from the pre-frozen bag. I've done that a lot! But tonight I wanted to make them from scratch. Just like my mom , Other Mama , some ancestor made them.

So, I Googled away and came up with the best recipe and I had to share with you!
Here is the link to the original recipe- aptly titled, The Best Meatballs. There you have it, folks.

I halved the recipe and then used the advice of a commenter from 2003, Michelle, and made a few changes. {Thank you, Michelle!}

Plates are our everyday wedding dishes from Pier 1 {Discontinued.... wonk, wonk, wuuuunk}

Here's the recipe I used tonight:
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese {from green cylinder vs. freshly grated. Who are we kidding?}
2 1/4 tsp. parsley {also from plastic container}
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs {I realize this is less than 1/2 what the recipe calls for, but I went with what Michelle suggested and it was great! And who has stale Italian bread lying around to crumble anyway?}
< 3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions
1. Combine beef, garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
2. Smooth in bread crumbs {just go ahead and do it with your hands}.
3. Add water in 1/4 cup at a time and hand smoosh after each adding. Don't quite add a full quarter cup the last time.
Meatballs should be moist, but not too smooshy. They should keep the shape of a ball. Shape into meatballs {this made 18 for me}.
4. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches and turn as needed. Make sure meatball is very brown and crisp, then remove to paper towel. If your meatballs are too moist to begin with, cook with the lid on your frying pan to make them crisper.
5. Place cooked meatballs in marinara or spaghetti sauce for 15 minutes more.

Enjoy!


I think my ancestors would be proud. Or I'm sure they would have eaten it.
Or "et" it. Either way.

This post is linked to my friend Jen's site for Tasty Tuesday!