I love tomato sauce. I love it over noodles, sandwiched between noodles, smothered on a crust, and in a small bowl waiting to be dunked into. My children also like sauce of the red variety. The problem is, Eric, well, Eric pretty much hates red sauce. It's full on hate. He doesn't kinda dislike it; he does not tolerate it. It's a bummer. So, if he is gone for a night for work or man things such as hunting, Avery immediately asks for spaghetti.
The last few times I made spaghetti, I have made these teeny meatballs and they are a hit. They are easy peasy to make, taking only a few minutes. The peanut gallery was very vocal tonight about wanting supper, so I only snapped a few photos. It's OK though. They are so simple, you won't need more than this. Oh, and btw, we ate at 4:00. No, I did not mistype that. It's the truth. They wanted supper. I obliged.
Wanna do it? Heeere we go.
Mix some Parmesan cheese of the Kraft variety into a pound of ground beef. Add some salt and pepper. Grab tablespoon size globs of your meat mixture and roll into balls.
Heat a pan with some canola oil on medium high heat. Let it get nice and hot but not smoking. Place the meatballs in the oil. Set them down and don't touch them for about 3 minutes. If you touch them, they won't get the nice dark brown color. Using a tongs, turn them to the other side and let sit again for about 3 minutes. Leave 'em be. Turn them one more time to the side that looks like it needs some tanning. Let that side sit for about 3 minutes. This 10 minuteish amount of time was all I needed for my meatballs to be done. Your cook time will depend on how big your balls are. My balls were small. But if you've got the biggest balls of them all, they will take a few minutes longer.
Sorry. That was really inappropriate, but I could not help myself. I wonder how AC/DC would feel knowing their song made it into a blog post about mini meatballs?!
Anyway.
If you are worried your meatballs aren't completely cooked through, take one out and cut it open to check it out. If not, just return to the pan and let sizzle for a few more minutes.
Once your meatballs are done, add your sauce. You can use whatever kind of tomato sauce you would like. I buy whatever the cheapest best is. Does that make sense? Buy the best sauce that costs the least. I'm just sayin' don't be fooled by cheap sauces. Make sure you read the label. I do not can tomato sauce of any kind because we use them so rarely. So, when I buy a jar, I make sure it doesn't contain anything in I wouldn't put in if I was making it at home. There shouldn't be any high fructose corn syrup in it. And you should be able to pronounce everything that is in it. OK. I'm done now.
Add your sauce, bring it to a bubble, and then you are ready to gobble it up.
I make wagon wheels when I make spaghetti. I know, it's technically not spaghetti anymore then. But little fingers have a hard time picking up those thin strands and little people have difficulty getting them on a fork. So we go with wagon wheels. For some reason, my peeps like wagon wheels. You can use whatever type of pasta you would like.
"Get in my belly!!!"
There are only two situations in which a bib is worn on a small person in my house: finger painting and red sauced foods. This is the only bib we have left out. It's a half shirt. It has arms and a front but no back. It's genius. I love it.
A high level of concentration is happening here. This is her second plate of food. There wasn't much talking tonight because there was so much eatin' takin' place. She scarfed it down somethin' fierce, let me tell you.
This was our dessert. Kendall ate a boat load of strawberries before the chocolate was melted. Silly girl didn't know what she was going to miss out on.
She had just enough room in her belly for one, maybe two, chocolate strawberries. Hey, girlfriend, you got something on your mouth there.
After that, she was beat. All of that eating takes a lot out of a girl.
"Mom, really?"
Chocolate mouths are a hazard of this type of dessert.
Avery asked if we could eat them on the floor like we were having a picnic in the living room. So we did. And we did not make a mess. Victory!
Time for Tangled....again. Avery seriously walks around reciting lines all the time.
She did not take a nap because of a dentist appointment. All of the eating took a lot out of her as well. Except, Kendall didn't actually fall asleep. Avery, on the other hand, was crashed at 6:30. I am telling myself that it was not the Double Jeopardy round that put her over the edge.
OK, OK. Enough about my kids. I will tell you already how to make those meatballs.
Mini Meatballs
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup Kraft Parmesan cheese
dash pepper and salt
2-3 tablespoons canola oil
jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
prepared pasta of your choice
How to do it
In a bowl, combine your meat, cheese, salt and pepper. Roll into tablespoon sized balls.
Heat oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add your meatballs one at a time, making sure they do not touch. Brown for approximately 3 minutes. Flip. Brown for 3 minutes. Flip. Brown for 3 minutes. Check for done-ness. If not done, continue browning until cooked through.
NOTES
You could add whatever you would like. I kept them simple because I was making them for little people. You could add crushed red pepper to spice 'em up a bit. You could add some fresh herbs. You could make them big. You could add some finely diced onion and garlic to the meat. You could put them into Alfredo sauce. Play with them. Make them to fit your needs...then if you want to, let me know what you did! I'd like to know. Have fun!
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