R is in the kitchen again and I think you will love what she has made! She decided that she wanted to make spaghetti and meatballs. I am going to tell you now I cringed at this one. I have made more than my fair share of spaghetti sauce but meatballs have always been a big failure for me. That being said, we did it anyway. You are going to love it.
We made enough for multiple meals. You can call it freezer cooking or cooking for leftovers. Because of this we used large amounts of everything.
What you will need:
- Tomato Sauce – We used 4 large cans.
- Ground Beef – We used 2 pounds.
- Garlic – We used most of a clove.
- Onion/Onion Powder – I hate onions but like the flavor so we used the powder.
- Salt – Just a pinch.
- Panko Bread Crumbs – We used 1/2 cup.
- Ketchup – 1 tablespoon
- Seasonings you like – Everyone has a different view of what spaghetti should be. Include the flavors you believe should be there.
Start with your sauce!
It is completely ok to help your little one with can opening if it is hard on them. Poor R looked at me and asked, “can you please do this? It’s hard!”
1) You want to add all of your tomato sauce to the crock pot.
2) Use a cheese grater to grate up your garlic. We used about half a clove.
3) Season as needed.4) You will want to cook 1 pound of your ground beef and add that to the sauce. The meat just adds flavor. Don’t know why.
5) Set your crock pot on high for 3-4 hours. You can set it on medium for longer if you have to head to work or have something going on.
Now let’s make those meatballs!
1) Mix together ground beef, ketchup, and panko.
2) Roll into small balls. The bigger they are the longer they will take to cook. R really loved this part. She said, “Cooking isn’t fun unless you get messy.”
3) Bake at 350 until they are done. Check for pinkness in the center by cutting one open.
You can either freeze these for later or cook right before serving your spaghetti.
4) Cook your pasta and top generously with sauce and meatballs.5) Enjoy.