Search Results for: meatballs

How to Freeze Meatballs

January 28, 2015 by KimiHarris 10 Comments

Having frozen meatballs on hand is very convenient. You can easily take out just as many as you need and use them in a variety of recipes. However, I don’t know if I have yet seen meatballs made with the ingredients I’d like, in the store, let alone ones that would mesh well with our allergies/intolerances.

Thankfully, making your own frozen meatballs is very easy and simple to do! I used my recipe for grain-free, egg-Free, and dairy-free Italian Meatballs, and made up a massive batch for my freezer. You can use whatever recipe you’d like though! The method is the same regardless.

I lost several weeks to being under the weather recently, and as someone who is expecting to give birth in the next 2-4 weeks, I am playing catch up on both my rest and my chores! I had grand plans for freezer meals but have had to cut back on some of them because of lack of time. However, meatballs were on the “must do” list, and I was thankful to get them done this week.

It was actually some of you who put this idea into my head! Several of you have mentioned that my recipe for meatballs froze really well, and I was always planning on trying it “sometime”. I decided there was no time like the present! There was something so satisfying about putting that bag stuffed full of frozen meatballs into the freezer too. So thank you!

A few notes on the ingredients I used

We choose to use grassfed ground beef. I was thankful to be able to buy some locally for a decent price and we love the added health benefits to grassfed beef. I quadrupled the recipe, and I replaced one of the pounds of beef for chicken liver for even more nutrition. You can read about the nutritional benefits of liver here. You can also read more about nutrient dense foods in general (including liver) here.

How to make Freezer Meatballs

Make and shape meatballs according to the recipe you’ve chosen to use. I used my recipe for Italian Meatballs. I recommend making small meatballs (I make mine about the size of a pingpong ball or even smaller), not the large fist sized ones.

Bake in the oven (my recipe cooks at 400F for 12-18 minutes) until done. If you are using lean meat, use parchment paper or oil the pan lightly.
Remove from oven and let cool.

Place on a parchment covered bake sheet, making sure the meatballs aren’t touching. They will have shrunk in size when cooking, so I put two pans worth of baked meatballs onto one pan for freezing, and place in the freezer on a flat surface. This ensures that the meatballs won’t freeze sticking together. Freeze until hard.

Remove from freezer and pop into a freezer bag or desired container, and freeze! Use within three months.

How to reheat frozen meatballs

I’m told that a favorite way to enjoy frozen meatballs is to reheat them in a slow cooker in a favorite sauce(think sweet and sour or spaghetti sauce). It only takes 1-3 hours on high, and I like that this would help keep the meatballs moist while they reheat. They can also be dropped into a soup for meatball soup, reheated in a sauce on the stovetop, or reheated in the oven (350F for 15- 20, or until hot in the middle).

Simple Baked Italian Meatballs (Grain/Dairy/Egg-free): The Healthy $1 Menu

October 10, 2013 by KimiHarris 42 Comments

These meatballs are everything you need them to be. They stay together, but are moist. They are flavorful and delicious straight off the pan, or added to a wide variety of dishes (like pasta dishes, served over mashed potatoes, or made into a meatball sub. You name it, these work for it).

I love baking meatballs as I find it a reliable, worry-free method to cook them. In this recipe, it’s breadcrumb-free, so you don’t even have to drag out the food processor, but simply mix, shape, and bake!

Oh, and did I mention they are grain -, dairy- and egg-free and that they are super-frugal to make? Meatballs are one of those humble foods that should be getting more attention, but often don’t. I love that they are a fun way to get my girls to enjoy their protein – they seem to especially enjoy eating them plain or dipping them into organic fruit sweetened jam.

They would fit well into a daydream that I have. In it, I step up to a counter and say, “Yes, I’d like to order off your Healthy $1 menu. I’d like two grassfed, grain-free meatballs plates, and a side of organic mashed potatoes and carrot salad.” I receive the gratifying answer, “Your order will be right out, ma’am.”

And then I wake up.

And then I decide to make my own dollar menu at home.

Because you know what? Homemade, healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. Not to pick on McDonalds, but because it IS one of the most known and biggest fast food restaurants out there, have you ever thought about how expensive fast food can be? The average cost for a big mac (as it varies across states) is $4.56. Add to that fries and a soda pop, and you have, in my opinion, a not-very-frugal meal.

While on the one hand I acknowledge that eating well can be expensive, and sometimes eating an ideal diet is out of reach. On the other hand, often, eating well is much more frugal than you think, and that is why I, along with my contributing writers, are reviving The Healthy $1 Menu series! Some of us use all organic, some use ingredients from the farmers market, and some use ingredients from the local supermarket, so you will see a variety of “purity” standards. But what is consistent is using “real food”, and the dishes being about $1 a serving.

Some of the dishes will be main dishes, some, like the following recipe, can be a “side order” side dish, or a “add to meal” item. The point of the series is not simply to offer frugal and practical recipes (though I sure hope it does!), but to help us all think about our budget in a new way. When seeing how much our dollar can buy when cooking at home, it can be really encouraging!

Take these meatballs. Now, I am not saying that one serving is all you need for a meal, just like buying a $1 taco out may not be your whole meal. But really, isn’t it a great deal to be able to get a side order of meatballs made with superior ingredients for this price? See, eating well isn’t always terribly expensive. You can serve these over frugal dishes, like mashed potatoes, or on butter toast, or add to marinara pasta, or eat plain, like we like them. Plus, meatballs freeze really well, so you can make up several batches, and have them on hand!

Because even my costs for this dish vary, depending on where I buy the meat, if it was on sale, or whether I was buying it as part of the meat co-op, I decided to use both the lower price and the higher to give you a sliding scale. Other ingredients are priced from my affiliate, Vitacost.com

Cost Analysis:

$3.25 to $6 for a pound of grassfed beef
$.25 for herbs and salt (priced according to buying in bulk)
$.19 for coconut flour
Liquid -$.25 to .0

Total for meatballs: $3.94 to $6.94

With 30 mini meatballs, 6 per serving, it will cost you between .78 per serving to $1.38 per serving. If you are feeling really extravagant, serving with a small spoonful of raspberry jam costs about $.20-.40 per serving, when buying store-bought, sugar-free, organic.

Not too shabby for just one dollar, is it!

Ground beef is actually a great food item to use for a frugal main dish, by the way. Here are a couple other recipes that use it: Quinoa Mexican Bowl, Sloppy Joes in a Bowl, Ground Beef and Cabbage, Kelly’s Easy Shepherd Pie, Diane’s Sloppy Joes and Beef Chili

Author:

Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet

Recipe type: Italian/Main Dish

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Sometimes I add a minced garlic clove to the meatballs, but more often then not, I actually keep it out, as it doesn’t become cooked as soft as I like when cooking mini meatballs. Sometimes I make medium sized meatballs too, and just cook them longer (it makes about 18 medium sized).

Ingredients

1 pound grassfed beef
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning or ½ teaspoon each dried thyme, basil, and oregano
3 tablespoons dairy-free milk of choice, or water
¾ teaspoon unrefined salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F degrees
In a medium sized bowl, dump all of the above ingredients, and mix them thoroughly with your hands.
Using a tablespoon, melon scoop, or hands scoop out small balls of the mixture and quickly roll into small balls. I make about 30 mini meatballs, or 18 medium with this amount.
Line up on a parchment lined sheet pan, and cook for about 12-15 minutes (for mini meatballs) or until cooked through. Serve right away.

Freezing Homemade Lunch Meat and Easy Lunch Ideas

May 29, 2015 by KimiHarris 12 Comments

This herbed and garlicky homemade lunch meat is make en masse, and then frozen for easy and healthy lunches later in the week. Nothing beats homemade lunch meat. It’s so much more flavorful and hearty. Plus, when you compare the cost per pound, you can also save significantly by making your own.

However, I don’t recommend that you make lunch meat every other day. This becomes tiresome at best, and impossible at worst. Instead make a huge batch, and then freeze it to use later in the week. Here’s how I did it (and also check out the easy lunch ideas at the bottom of the post!)

Making and Freezing Homemade Lunch Meat

For the pictured lunchmeat, I used this recipe of mine for Homemade Lunchmeat, except this time I only used the lemon peel (not the lemon juice) and added generous pinches of dried basil, thyme, and oregano for an herbed version. The important thing to remember is that this type of recipe is incredibly flexible! Use what you have on hand. .

I marinated the meat for about an hour or two, but you can go even longer – say overnight. Cover it, and mix the chicken around (to make sure all of it is getting marinated) if you are marinating for over an hour.

Then, lay the chicken thighs on a sheet, making sure they don’t touch each other. I used several baking sheets. Cook for about 35 minutes, or until done.

Let cool for about ten to fifteen minutes, and then place in the refrigerator to chill completely (I piled them all into one large dish for this part). This is so you can thinly slice it. To get really thin slices, you can even freeze it for about 15 minutes.

Thinly slice.

Separate into how much you want to defrost at a time (I did about ½ a pound for 4 people). I wrapped the chicken in either wax paper, or these little wax baggies; then I put all of it into a freezer bag.

To use, defrost in the refrigerator!

Easy Lunch Ideas

1. Use the above lunch meat in a sandwich or wrap. Pair with sliced cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, and spicy mustard. To make it even more flavorful, add a little lacto-fermented sauerkraut.

2. Make a main dish salad using the defrosted lunch meat, chopped olives, tomatoes, and feta cheese. Use this creamy balsamic dressing.

3. Make a big pot of soup (like this Egyptian Lentil Soup with Caramelized Onions) and reheat during the week, as desired. If you want a heartier meal, serve with a small green salad topped with the lunch meat!

4. Make a bento box with the homemade lunch meat, and sides, such as cucumber salad, rice crackers, fruit, and/or some paleo energy bites.

5. Pack in individual lunches, or place on a platter for serving, the following: Sliced cheese, sliced homemade lunch meat, grapes, olives, and sliced bread.

6. Make a creamy sauce (with dairy, or dairy-free) and gently reheat the sliced meat in it to serve over noodles. (Read about some of our favorite gluten free noodles here, and 4 grain free noodle options here).

Other Freezer Meal Ideas

8 Healthy Gluten Free Freezer Meals

April 7, 2015 by KimiHarris 3 Comments

These varied, family-friendly and delicious gluten free freezer meals have been a lifesaver for us. I’m all about looking for ways to make dinners simple and as easy as possible, so I am in love with the ease of making and using freezer meals! It helps me use my time efficiently when in the kitchen and helps significantly with meal planning and food budgeting as well.

With the arrival of my newborn, Larkin, I was glad to have some gluten free freezer meals stored away. I recommend that anyone have freezer meals tucked away for after the baby is born, if possible. But it’s even more important for those who have food allergies or intolerances. Because one of my children is sensitive to a fairly wide variety of foods and I am as well, it makes it a lot harder to have people bring and make us food (although we were blessed by some delicious meals brought to us by friends and family after Larkin’s birth).

I had really high hopes for all of the meals and snacks I wanted to pre-make and store away before Larkin was born. But I got sick for several weeks at the end of my pregnancy and wasn’t able to complete everything. Thankfully, I was able to store away enough meals, or at least the main dish of a meal, that we had a nice little stash waiting for us when we got home from the hospital. These were completely essential to our survival these last two months, and we just have one or two things left. I am looking forward to restocking my freezer again!

Quick Tip

Because I had low energy and my “morning sickness” never quite went away, I had to pace myself during my pregnancy. So what I did was make one of the below items for our dinner, and then just doubled, tripled, or quadrupled the recipe. I recommend the practice as it was easy to fit into our schedule without having to have a whole day set aside for freezer meals.

1. Paleo Freezer Meatballs

I share here how to make my gluten and grain free meatballs into freezer meatballs. I made a big bag of them, and we mostly used them to serve with spaghetti sauce over gluten free noodles (read this post for some of our favorite brands), or over spaghetti squash (read this post for a comparison of 4 grain free noodle options). I love having them available as they reheat so quickly. They help make great last minute meals.

2. Gluten Free Pizza Crust

These crusts are fantastic and easy to make with just whole soaked quinoa and coconut flour. I made enough crusts for our dinner one night, and a bunch extra to go into our freezer to reheat later. I used parchment paper to keep them separated when frozen, and it worked well. You could also make a massive batch of roasted vegetable to freeze for pizza toppings as well.

3. Egyptian Lentil Soup with Caramelized Onions

This is one of our favorite (and most frugal) soup recipes from my soup cookbook, Ladled: Nourishing Soups for all Seasons. It freezes really well! Just freeze the caramelized onions separately.

4. Keema Matar (An amazing beef or lamb curry)

This delicious dish froze very well. I made it a little milder than usual so that if the heat increased after being frozen it wouldn’t get too hot for my kids. I love how flavorful this dish is.

5. Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I made a very concentrated chicken broth (get instructions here and here for chicken broth) with a whole chicken. Then I shredded the chicken and sautéed onions, celery, and carrots. I combined the vegetables with the chicken and broth and then separated into freezer bags for freezing. I purposely made my chicken broth concentrated so it wouldn’t take as much room in the freezer and then diluted it with water when heating up the soup. We would add gluten free noodles or white rice to this after defrosting it.

6. Hearty Beef Stew

We love beef stew! I used radishes instead of potatoes, and they were delicious and froze well (without tasting spicy, I promise!). While you can make up whatever beef stew is your favorite, I used our family favorite recipe from my soup cookbook, Ladled: Nourishing Soups for all Seasons. Another favorite is this Autumn Beef Stew.

7. Gluten Free Teriyaki Chicken

I didn’t flatten the chicken this time because it was so much work to do in mass, but instead kept the chicken thighs as they came. All you do is pour the sauce over the chicken and freeze! Because I choose not to flatten the chicken, I just popped it into a pan and baked it instead. Defrost as needed and serve with rice or cauliflower rice, and Japanese Cucumber Salad. Yum!

8. Lemon and Garlic Drumsticks

I also made up several dinners worth of this easy recipe. It also froze well and was very easy to put together in mass. I find that when I am nursing I need to eat a lot of protein, so I loved having this as a dinner main dish option.