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.

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite 9/25/14

Welcome to another week of sharing!

I can see in the facebook groups that we are all busy writing somewhere.    I managed to get it together and get one of my new series here on my blog started based on past lenses.  I'm calling it It's All Business on Monday where I will be sharing in series some of the things that I do to earn online.
Each week will include a linky so you are welcome to share any businesses that you are also involved with that you blog about as well.

I am sharing that blog post in this week's Writer's Unite linky as well as choosing one of my older review type posts on bubblews.

Share on!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 9/24/14

This past week I found myself only working on 2 things.  Well 3 if you count that I brought out my fabric drawers of scraps, ironed them, and sorted them by light and dark fabrics into storage drawers.
I then brought out the 3 boxes of fabrics I had bought at an estate sale and got it all sorted out and put where it belongs too.......scraps to the scrap drawers and larger pieces into their appropriate cubby holes.
While sorting I took out fabrics to use for the Charming Stars sew along with Terry's Treasures.
See the button on the right to check out the sew along.

Once I got everything sorted I then got the fabrics for the sew along all cut.  I'm a little short on the ivory, but I have time to find some that matches at the quilt shop before I get to what I am missing.
Here is a picture of my fabrics cut and ready to go.    I did get the lines put on all of the ivory 2 7/8 inch squares.

Since I sewed up all of the orange hexagons that I had for the soscrappy challenge this month, I decided to move on and make orange yo-yo's,  Of course, using scraps of orange that I found while organizing scraps.  Oh yeah, looking for the orange is what we got me to organizing the scraps to begin with.
See the button at the bottom of this post to learn more about the soscrappy challenge.
I ended up making 42 orange yo-yo's before today's post.
I have actually started to sew them together for an Autumn table topper.   I'm not sure if I will stop with 8 rows of 5, or decide that it needs to be a bit larger.

So many things that I want to be working on and so little time! 
As I was looking for something else in my sewing/craft room, I seen several UFO's that are NOT on this list.  This week I will go through my bags and add them to the list.  In the meantime, I am only adding the Charming Stars quilt to the list this week.

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
34 Hot Pads (8 done)
Christmas bags (total of at least 25) (2 done)
Charming Stars quilt


I am linking up with the following blogs:

It's All Business Monday--Jerky Direct Part 1

(This is a new weekly series that I will be doing to share the many things that I do online to earn.  Each week will include a linky at the bottom for you to share blog posts about your businesses as well)

I have been with Jerky Direct since October 2006, almost 8 years!!! I am very pleased with both the business opportunity as well as the products.

Each month I receive 2 bags of Jerky. Each month my children and grandchildren wait for those 2 bags to come in. Each month those bags are gone within 1 day!!

I will sharing the opportunity and the products with you over a 4 week series, ending with a giveaway of 2 bags. There is a lot of information in these weeks which all comes from the website.

You can find my storefront website at Marsha's Jerky  http://marsha32.jerkydirect.com/

JERKY OVERVIEW
Jerky Direct products provide a healthy, all natural source of protein. Many of our products contain no preservatives, no added MSG, no nitrites, no Erythorbate, no artificial ingredients, and are only minimally processed. Check each product for more specific nutritional information. This unique product is a staple of health conscious customers and those who demand a top quality product at a great price.

Our Jerky is handmade in our USDA certified smokehouse using superior quality top round beef. It’s seasoned with our secret blend of spices, and slow smoked to perfection with real burning hickory.

Get up to half a pound of premium quality, all-natural or organic jerky for only $12.30 or become one of our Jerky Direct Distributors and join our automatic shipment program for the same price! Get up to 1/2 lb of jerky delivered to your door each and every month and then get as much additional jerky as you would like at our low wholesale price! Click here for more details.



Devoted & New Customers alike say it’s “by far the best beef jerky I’ve ever had, I want more!”

I will have more information next week on the business opportunity, but I invite you now to check out the Super 6 website and information.
My upline has put together this great program that they call Super6!!

Come take your FREE tour.

You are under no obligation to learn about it, so you have nothing to lose.

Marsha's Super6 Tour
http://super6power.com/marsha32/


I also offer an ongoing special of my own.  If you would like to try any of the products, I offer free shipping if you email your order to me at marsha.seiberling@gmail.com .  
I will also be highlighting all of the different products in another part of this series.

An InLinkz Link-up

Frugal Friday With Marsha ----Leftover Casserole (linky party included)

This week's frugal recipe that I am sharing, I call Leftover Casserole.

I call this Leftover Meat Casserole because I use about any leftover meat to make it. It doesn’t matter what type of meat I put in it, everyone loves it! In the photos below it’s made with chicken. The chicken wasn’t leftover, but bought intentionally for the casserole. It’s usually turkey or ham that I use from leftovers. :)

Ingredients:
Any type of pasta
any leftover meats (ham, chicken, turkey, etc)
veggie, canned or frozen, if desired (our favorite is broccoli or the California Mix of frozen veggies)
shredded cheese
white, or cheese sauce

White sauce recipe:
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of milk

Melt the margarine in a small saucepan. Gradually add the flour and mix until smooth. Pour in the milk a little at a time to keep it smooth. On low heat, continue to stir the sauce until it starts to thicken. If you choose to, add shredded cheese to your liking.

Casserole:
Cook your choice of pasta according to the package directions.
Layer the meat and pasta in a baking dish—-also the veggies if you are putting them in.
Pour the white/cheese sauce over the top. Mix just a bit to get the sauce on everything.
Add shredded cheese on the top.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is how you like it.

Eat and savor the flavor!

This set of Pyrex includes the dish that I bake my casseroles in:

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite Link Up 9/18/14

Good Thursday to all.  Fall is in the air.   We are having cooler mornings and evenings.  Halloween will soon be upon us.
I know many of you are busy updating hubs and writing on other platforms about Fall and it's related activities.
I've still been really busy and haven't gotten anything new written up on my blog other than sharing some of the recipes that I had in lenses on squidoo into blog posts here in my Frugal Friday posts.

I will continue to share some of my older bubblews posts, ones that I will then also pin to my pinterest boards as well.

Write on!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 9/17/14

Go go go yet again this week.   I have gotten some things done.

I know this is WIP, but let me start with the 2 things that I finished that will soon be in my etsy shop.
A Halloween hexagon mat and a toothbrush rug.

The hexagons are part of my orange for this month and the soscrappy challenge (see button below).
I did also finish one orange flower.  That was all of my orange hexagons so I went through my scrap fabric last night.  I found quite a bit of orange in there that I will hopefully make all in to yo-yo's before the end of the month.

I'm in the process of re-organizing my scrap fabric out of 2 of the fabric drawers and in to 2 storage drawers.  One for lights and one for darks.   That is going well.   I have 3 boxes of unsorted fabric to go through as well.
I should have taken a picture.

I worked more on my hotpads at sit n' sew this past Friday at the quilt shop.  I finished 8 of them and have 7 of them pinned to be sewn around.  Then there is the pile of the rest of them to be finished up.

This is my current UFO list although really not all of my projects are on it!

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
34 Hot Pads (8 done)
Christmas bags (total of at least 25)


I am linking up with the following blogs:
 

Frugal Friday with Marsha -- Tuna Casserole

This week's frugal recipe share is tuna casserole.
This is the tuna casserole that my mom always served us when we were growing up. I didn’t know that there even was a different tuna casserole until well into my adulthood.

It’s not what you are used to for sure. Our whole family really likes it, even though we really aren’t that fond of tuna. In fact, I’ve had company over a few times while I was fixing it. They were unsure about my invite to stay for supper when they heard that I was making tuna casserole. Once they tasted it, they were hooked.

A very frugal main dish!

This is a photo that I took the last time I fixed it for supper. Fresh out of the oven with melted butter on top.

Tuna Casserole

Simple and cheap and this is a family favorite for sure!!

1-6 oz. can tuna-drained
16 saltine crackers-crushed
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Mix together, pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Serves 3-4. ( mom says 8 minutes in the microwave for single batch and 15 minutes for double batch, but in the microwave the edges get hard)

I like to put margarine over the top to melt right as it comes out of the oven. We usually always serve this with canned carrots and pineapple.

Is that easy or what? And, I am telling you, no one around here can ever get enough and company has always raved about it. When we make this we have to at least double the recipe if not triple it.

This dish is the perfect size for making the tuna casserole:

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite Weekly Link Up 9/11/14

Welcome to another week of Writer's Unite.
I'm seeing a lot of writing going on in the various facebook groups.
Some of you are busily updating your lenses that were transferred to hubpages.  Some of you are creating new blogs and blog posts.  Some of you are writing away on bubblews or other writing platforms.
Let's see what you have been up to both new and old!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 9/10/14

I think I lost last week somewhere along the way.  I've been so super busy with things outside the home.

I did make the decision to make a Halloween table topper/wall hanging with the Halloween fabrics for the orange challenge over on the soscrappy blog.  (See button at the bottom of my post)

I have a crochet order to work on, but I still hope to have this done by this time next week.

Yesterday was sewing club day at church so I worked on my larger 4 patch squares.  I can see this taking a few more months to get them all made and then put together.
This is what I came up with to sew together for a child's quilt.

Here is my UFO list although it doesn't truly include everything such as the hexagons above, or any hexagons since I'm not sure what I am going to end up doing with them.

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
34 Hot Pads
Christmas bags (total of at least 25)

Terry's Treasures has started a new sew along that I am going to take part in and need to get started on!

I am linking up with the following blogs: