Spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic and easy meal, but sometimes we just don’t have the time to wait the 50 minutes it would take to bake them in the oven. So, why not make your meatballs like you would make a burger? Cook it in a frying pan with some oil for 4 minutes a side, and bam! You’ve got yourself and your family a delicious and easy topping for your spaghetti. Most spaghetti takes 6-10 minutes to cook, which give you plenty of time to make these meat balls. I liked the recipe that I used below, but feel free to use your own meatball recipe with this pan-frying method. This dinner was made with just under 1 lb of meat, so by following the directions, you should get about 11-12 meatballs. The recipe below made 4-5 adult sized portions.
1. In the mixing bowl, add meat, egg, breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and A1. Mix by hand until combined. Roll out about 3 Tbsp into a ball and add to the frying pan. Once done, add the oil to the frying pan and place over medium heat. Cook meatballs 4 minutes on each side.
2. Cook Pasta as directed, then strain. Add sauce to second saucepan and place over medium heat until beginning to simmer. Add the meatballs once they are done and coat in sauce. Plate noodles, then top with sauce, meatballs, and grated Parmesan.
This homemade pizza/pasta sauce is a great way to use up any veggies you may have while also making a hearty and delicious sauce. Below is how I made my sauce, but substitute in what you have! Add some blended beans or spinach, or just stick with meat, tomatoes, and season with salt and soy sauce. I used 1 quart of diced tomatoes, and one can of fire roasted tomatoes to add extra flavor. The mushrooms add extra savory elements to the dish, and if you want to have some diced in the sauce it adds great pockets of flavor. I ended up boiling my sauce for 1 hour to thicken it a bit, but it could still be considered too thin to your taste. The recipe below makes about enough sauce for 5-6 pizzas, or enough sauce for 8-10 servings of pasta.
1. Add sausage to a dutch oven over medium heat. Prepare the veggies, and add mushrooms and water to blender and blend. Once sausage is browned, add the onion and pepper and cook until onion is translucent. Add the carrot, celery, and mushrooms and cook until hot. Add tomatoes, salt, soy sauce, and garlic, and simmer over medium heat until sauce begins to become thick.
Pressure canning is seen as scary by many people who are interested in preserving their food but have never tried pressure canning. This was my first time pressure canning, but the process really isn’t worth the stress. If you follow the directions for your pressure canner, and are willing to take your time, there is really nothing to worry about. Pressure canners are designed with safety precautions anyway, so really there is nothing to fear. I’ve made these baked beans before and made a post, but at the time it was is much smaller quantities. If your don’t have a ham hock, any pork will do fine, or you can easily leave it out. I looked at many recipes for how others pressure can beans, but in the end I just used the reference time, weight, and cooking process recommended by my canner, the Presto 23 Qt pressure canner. I did my beans in two batches though all could have fit at once, and I should have just done one batch, but I wanted to be careful just in case. Just watch your canner the entire time you are canning and follow the instructions. This recipe made 19 pints of beans, with about 1 pt of left over sauce. The sauce may be a bit thin, but it’s definitely not watery and is full of flavor. These beans taste very similar to a Original Bush’s Baked Beans.
10 Cups Water (use bean water, then supplement with additional tap water as needed)
Large Stock Pot
Dutch Oven
19 Pint Jars, Cleaned and Hot
Lids and Rings
Pressure Canner and Canning Tools
Directions
1. Place the beans into the large stock pot and cover beans with 2-3 times as much water. Hydrate your beans using either the quick soak method, or the overnight soak method. For the quick soak method, bring the beans to a boil, boil for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let cool for 1 hour. For the overnight method, leave the beans on the counter for 12-18 hours. Once the beans are hydrated, strain off the water, then cover the bean with 2 inches of fresh water. Heat the beans to boiling temperature (100 C or 212 F) then start a timer for 30 minutes. Once done, remove from heat.
2. Place your pressure canner over a medium heat and add the recommended amount of water. In the dutch oven, add the brown sugar and the mustard then stir together. Add the maple syrup, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, black pepper and water. Stir thoroughly and place over medium heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Place the lids in a bowl of hot water.
3. Place 1 heaping cup of par cooked beans into each hot jar. Add the diced ham hock evenly between the jars, then fill with about 1 1/4 cup sauce or until until 1 inch head space is reached. Remove any bubbles, wipe the rims, add the lids and rings to finger tight, then place into pressure canner. Heat pressure canner as instructed by the canner manufacturer to the pressure needed for your elevation. Process pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 95 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for pressure releasing, place hot jars on a towel lined counter and let sit for 24 hours. The remove the rings, wipe the jars with a wet towel, label and store.
Missing Summer? These s’mores will take you back to warm summer nights and you don’t even need to leave your kitchen. You can make as many s’mores at once as you desire, I recommend two per person. These are amazing right out of the oven, and are an easy and very fast meal/snack. Since your pan is lines with foil, you don’t even have to worry about dishes! Also note that the chocolate gets very melted in the oven, so 1-2 small squares is more then enough, and it may get very messy!
1. Turn the oven to Broil, and low if available. Place the graham crackers on the baking sheet. Place chocolate on half and marshmallows on the other half. Place in the oven and check every 30 seconds until marshmallows begin to brown. Do not leave in oven more then 3 minutes! Immediately combine and enjoy.
Fried Rice is so easy and can be made in so many different ways. This fried rice has a little bit of everything. I used up the remaining ingredients from the hot pot, but I also added new flavors. Fried rice is a great way to use leftovers and still be able to feed your family. For this recipe, I used two meats, sliced venison steak and diced bacon. I cooked my bacon before adding it to the dish, so I did have to add a bit of bacon fat just to keep everything from burning. As for veggies, I used a bit of everything. I used sliced mushrooms, sliced water chestnuts, diced cabbage, sliced carrot, sliced onion, and diced bell pepper. I also used 6-8 cups of rice in this dish and it was still very flavorful. If your really wanted to feed a crowd and stretch the dish, you could easily use 10-12 cups of cooked rice. This recipe makes 8 adult sized servings.
Begin by heating the wok over medium high heat. Once it’s hot, add your steak and bacon. Once your meats are both browned, add your veggies, and stir fry until your meat begins getting a nice maillard crust on it, add about 1/2 Tbsp of oil at a time if needed it during this time. Then add tha stock and remaining seasoning until stock comes to a boil.
2. Once the stock is boiling, add your cooked rice. Make sure the rice is fully broken up and everything is coated. Cook rice for 2-3 minutes, then serve.
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