Friday, September 26, 2014

Frugal Friday with Marsha --Meatball Subs

This week I'm going to share our experience making our own meatball subs at home.
This is much more economical than buying them from the sub shop, and especially if you are making them from your stash of meatballs (made from scratch) in the freezer. 
Also, look for the ingredients to be on sale as well.


 (Photo of my meatball sub)



I'm including the recipe that I use for the meatball subs as well as the recipe I use for the meatballs.

Enjoy :)



I love to cook ahead. I make up 3 lbs of meatballs at a time, freezing them into 3 portions for meals. Depending on how many we are feeding and such, the recipe for the freezer meatball stash below goes for more than 3 meals.









Freezer Stash Meatballs
Recipe

Makes 48 meatballs, 8 servings (I get 75 out of this recipe and split them 3 ways to freeze)

Ingredients:
3 lbs ground beef (we use half ground beef and half ground turkey)
1 1/2 cups soft breadcrumbs (I dry our bread ends and such and freeze them in a bag, it works fine for me in the recipe)
3 eggs
6 Tbsp. minced onion
3 cloves crushed garlic (I use the equivalent in garlic powder)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients. Form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs (I make mine about 1 inch) Using a miniature ice cream scoop or cookie scoop makes it easier to make uniform meatballs.

Arrange in two 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pans. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-13 or until meat is browned with no trace of pink and the juices run clear. (I use regular cookie sheets to bake on)

Drain and let the meatballs cool to room temperature. Divide into thirds and freeze each portion in vapor-moisture proof containers. (We freeze ours in gallon size freezer bags and they have always been fine if you can’t afford the vapor-proof containers. We have always used ours within 3 months.)

*****Recipe is taken from Menus For Moms Bulk Cooking
http://www.menus4moms.com/the-hamburger-plan/

*****My own notes are in ( )

(my daughters meatball sub)

Meatball Subs
Recipe


Ingredients:
1 tsp oil (any cooking oil will do–we use corn oil)
3/4 cup EACH bell pepper strips and thin onion wedges (or the amount that your family will use)
1/3 of your freezer stash meatballs, thawed
1-14 oz jar of prepared spaghetti sauce (you can also make your sauce from scratch)
4 hoagie rolls
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (we use LOTS more than this)

In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring until tender, 3 to 4 minutes (I find to make the veggies the way I like them it takes at least 10 minutes)

Reduce heat to medium low. Add the thawedmeatballs and spaghetti sauce. Cover and cook until heated through, about 5 or 6 minutes. Stir occasionally, Divide among the rolls and sprinkle with cheese if desired.

Serves 4 hearty sandwiches.

****Recipe from Menus4Moms They offer weekly free menu planning right to your email, including shopping list! (edit 7/14/14–It looks like Menus4Moms now charges for the menu planning plan of your choice, but I still recommend you check out the website as there is lots of other free information to take in while there.)

****My notes are in ( )

This is a really nice freezer set to get you started on your once a month cooking.





1 comment:

  1. I buy meatballs at Grocery Outlet and save big. This is a great way to use them!

    ReplyDelete

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