Paula T's Famous Italian Meatballs

ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Here's another recipe we haven't exchanged in freezer club, but I freeze these all the time. My mom's famous Italian meatballs :)

1/2 lb ground beef 1/2 lb ground pork 1/2 lb ground veal 1 sleeve of saltine crackers Milk 1 large egg  1/4 c parmesan cheese 1/2 t minced garlic 1/2 c sweet onion, chopped salt pepper olive oil

Cooking Directions:

* Mix together veal, pork & ground beef. Some areas of the country sell this already mixed and call it "meatloaf mixture," in other areas it's hard or impossible to find all 3. I've used 1/2 ground beef & 1/2 pork sausage and it's still turned out great. But I'm only half the Italian my mommy is... quite literally ;-)

* In small mixing bowl, crush crackers and soak in milk - just enough to wet them, you don't want them dripping wet

* Add crackers to meat mixture. Then add cheese, garlic and onion. And salt & pepper to taste.

* Add one egg and mix with hands.

* Coat your hands in olive oil and shape the meat into balls. I like 1'' meatballs, but make them any size you'd like.

* Heat olive oil in a skillet and fry meatballs, 5 minutes per side, until they are browned on all sides.

* Put on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes, until done in center.

Freezing Directions:

* Let cool completely, then put in gallon freezer bag and get as much air out as possible. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Reheating Directions:

* Thaw on counter or in fridge. And heat on stove in sauce.
* OR microwave until warmed through.

* makes about 40 meatballs

Loaded Potatoes - for oven or freezer

These freeze well so they can be made ahead of time and just baked or microwaved

• 7 medium sized potatoes, washed
  
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
  
• 3 tablespoon margarine
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 4 green onions, chopped
  
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  
• 8-10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
  

Bake potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out pulp, leaving enough for the skin to retain it’s shape. In bowl, combine scooped potatoes, butter, and sour cream. Mash together well. Add cheese, mash. Stir in all other ingredients. Spoon filling into potato shells.

• To bake from frozen: Place on cookie sheet in 350 oven for half an hour, top with cheese and return to oven until melted.
  
• To bake from room temp: Top with cheese and place in oven until heated through.
  
• Can also be microwaved from frozen or room temp as well. I microwave my frozen ones for a minute and a half to two minutes.
  

Originally published on SouthernPlate

Photo courtesy of SouthernPlate

Grandkid-wiches for the freezer

Here's a recipe you can make with your little ones - they'll have fun with this can't fail recipe.

1.5 cups thawed sugar-free coolwhip ( regular or chocolate)
peanut butter, thinned with a little chocolate syrup so it spreads easily
24 squares of Honey Maid Honey Graham graham crackers

Spread  the peanut butter thinned with chocolate syrup on each of 12 graham cracker squares. Set aside.

Then spread 2 TBSP whipped topping on each of  the remaining 12 graham cracker squares.Put one of these on top of each of the peanut butter mixture.  Place in single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for 3 hours.

Wrap individually in foil. Store in the freezer for up to 1 week.

About 100 calories each.

Use Your Freezer and Take Some of the Work Out of Christmas Cookies

From the wondeful folks at King Arthur Flour

Place the following in a mixing bowl, and beat until combined:


1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt


Add 1 large egg, and 2 tablespoons molasses.
Beat until smooth. Amazing how that one egg smooths things out, eh?

Add 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour. Mix until thoroughly combined, then add an additional 1 1/2 cups flour, for a total of 3 cups. Add 3 tablespoons cornstarch, along with the second batch of flour.

Mix to combine.

See how dry this looks? Scrape the bowl, and continue to mix……until everything looks well mixed, with no dry spots.

Divide the dough in half, flattening each half slightly to make a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight. This chilling period will make the dough easier to handle.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator, and place it on a piece of half-sheet parchment (16 1/2” x 12 1/4”).

If you don’t have parchment, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface.

Roll it 1/8” to 1/4” thick. A thinner cookie will be crisper; a thicker cookie, more solid/soft (though not bendy soft; just softer than crisp).

Draw a mental line down the center of the sheet; or actually cut your dough in half, using a knife or pizza cutter. Your goal is to cut cookies that will fall on one or the other half of the paper; you’ll see why in a minute.

Cut out cookies, removing and saving the dough between them. You’ll re-roll and cut these scraps.

As the dough gets warmer, it gets trickier to remove the crooked, awkward pieces of dough in between cutouts; a toothpick helps.

Now, take a pair of scissors and cut that sheet of parchment right down the middle.

If you like, you can start with a half-sheet of parchment, rather than rolling on a full sheet and then cutting; you’ll just need to use a smaller piece of dough.

As you continue to roll out dough and cut cookies, lay the sheets of cookies into a 9” x 13” pan. Continue until you’ve used all the dough.

If you prefer rolling cookies on a floured surface, you can pick them up and transfer them to the parchment in the pan. If you don’t have parchment, substitute waxed paper or foil.

Why roll directly on the parchment? It’s great for sticky dough, and/or intricate shapes. It’s easier to pick up a piece of parchment with cutout cookies than it is to successfully move delicate cookies from your rolling surface to a pan.

Next, cover the pan with plastic wrap (or a shower cap), and place it in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen, you can leave the pan in the freezer; or, to save space (and get your pan back), remove the pan from the freezer, quickly peel the cookies off the parchment, and store them in a zip-top bag.

I say quickly because you don’t want cookies defrosting and getting soft; they’ll stick together in the bag.

Ready to bake?

Remove the cookies from the freezer. If you’ve kept them on the parchment, simply transfer cookies, parchment and all, to a baking sheet.


If the frozen cookies have been bagged, take the bag out of the freezer, and quickly place the frozen cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Do you see the word “parchment” being used constantly here? It’s the test kitchen’s best friend – and it should be yours, too. There’s nothing like parchment for keeping pans clean, moving stuff around, storage, preventing sticking, and a host of other uses.

A single piece of parchment can be used over and over again, too. What’s not to like?!
Bake the cookies just until they’re slightly brown around the edges, or until they feel firm, about 10 to 13 minutes.
Remove them from the oven...edges are just slightly brown.
When the cookies are completely cool, you can choose to decorate them – or not.
Keep the cookies on the parchment–it works to keep the layers separate when you freeze hundreds of cookies/piecrusts/etc. You can stack them as high as you need to, and then freeze the plastic tub.

If you are freezing any rolled dough, remember–get PARCHMENT. Look carefully in the foil/wrap section as many grocery stores carry it.

Freezing dough on waxed paper will turn it to wet mush that can’t be peeled off. Wastes everything including your time.

Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Pot pies are an easy way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken, and the flavor is superb. For added convenience, these can be made ahead and frozen unbaked. Just allow them Serves 2 9-inch pies or 8 5-inch pies 6 tablespoons butter, divided 2 medium russet potatoes, diced 2 carrots, diced 1 rib celery, diced 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 cups chicken broth 2 cups diced rotisserie chicken meat 1/2 cup thawed frozen peas 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup half-and-half 2 store-bought pie crusts, thawed

	Directions
	Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and parsley. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Sauté for 10–12 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and mix well. Add the chicken and bring to a lively simmer. Reduce the heat to a medium-low, cover with a lid and cook until the vegetables are just tender—approximately 10 minutes. Stir in the peas, remove from the heat and set aside. Melt the remaining butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium low heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter to form a roux. Cook the roux, whisking, for one minute or until the flour scent dissipates. Add the half-and-half to the roux in a thin, steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Stir the mixture into the chicken. Mix well and adjust the seasonings if needed. Select 2 9-inch pie pans or 8 individual 5-inch pie tins or ovenproof bowls. If making the larger pies, use the pre-packaged dough as cut. Otherwise cut four 6-inch circles from each pie crust. You will have to piece scraps together and roll them flat in order to get eight circles. Fill the pie tins with the chicken mixture and top with the pastry circles. Crimp and seal the dough down around the edges of the tins. Cut 3 small steam vents into the top of each pot pie. Place the pot pies on a baking sheet and bake until the pastry turns golden brown—20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.