Friday, April 29, 2011

Cheater Meatballs




I admit it.

I'm a cheater when it comes to food.

I don't cheat on quality but I cheat on steps. Steps like measuring exactly, exact ingredients, and definately cheating when it comes to rolling meatballs.  Oh, I do roll the occasional meatball but lately, having to get dinner made by 5 pm doesn't really give me a whole lot of prep time to roll and roll and roll some more.



I happened to have some ground veal.

You can use ground anything.  Well, not ground anything. That'd be gross.

Ground Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Pork...



Veal always makes me think of my 12th grade teacher.  I had a crush on him. He was 23.  Oh, that's not why I think of him.  His dad was a veal farmer and he told us how the calves were treated poorly to make the meat so tender.  Or maybe it wasn't his dad. Maybe it was his uncle?  Those details are a bit foggy.
But the veal story stuck.  I didn't eat it for years.  But now I do.  I can't help it.  Sorry baby cows.

Yeah. He's a facebook friend now.  Hmmm. No more crush now, no worries.  I got over him eventually. I'm happily married to my best friend (16 1/2 years and counting.)

Where were we?


Ground meat.

Treat this like you would be making meatballs.  I add an egg, seasonings like Paprika, Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and almond meal.  I don't mix carbs and proteins so I use almond meal. Go ahead and use bread crumbs if you're into that sort of thing.



Don't forget to preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F)



Mix it up thoroughly.



Mix Mix Mix


Can I just tell you how HAPPY I am that there is light and SUN at dinner time?



Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and press the mixture down evenly.



Pop it in the oven for 20ish minutes till bubbly and done.

BIG apologies.  Two simultaneous baseball games, feeding an 8 and 9 year old, making sure they had their uniforms on, water bottles and gear, and getting both of them to their game on time kinda took over.

It was good. And fast. And easy.

Cheater Meatballs
1 pound ground meat
1/3-1/2 cup bread crumbs (or almond meal)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, Paprika, Italian Seasoning, onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix ingredients in a large bowl.
Pat evenly into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 20-25 minutes till done.

Enjoy the cheating,
The Lunch Lady

No comments: