I’ll set the scene:
I was working in my office when, at approximately 5:59pm, I could hear the sound of footsteps ever so slowly creeping towards the door. Followed by a soft knock and a weary ‘Honey?…’
I knew what was coming.
“Can you make dinner for the crew?”
And just like that, field meal season had begun.
Last minute field meals are not a new concept to me, but always take me a little by surprise.
It typically happens on the days where I haven’t even thought about what I am going to eat myself, let alone feed a crew of hungry people. So with nothing thawed and a little bit hangry myself, the thought of heading to town and picking something up definitely sounded like a good idea.
But then I remembered – I made a promise to myself I wasn’t going to start the habit again. And though everything was frozen solid, I headed by butt to the deep freeze to see what I could do.
And there they were; in a bag of frozen glory – meatballs.
The meatballs I had made, pre-cooked, and frozen a few weeks earlier. Blessed by thy meatball.
I put those suckers in a baking dish and threw them into my pre-heating oven at 425 degrees* and threw some water on the stove to boil. If throwing frozen meatballs into a pre-heating vs pre-heated oven is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
By the time my pasta was cooked and I had made a delightful green salad, those meaty balls were hot and ready to go.
I placed everything in my disposable compostable containers and headed out to deliver my first field meal of 2022 feeling pretty damn happy about it.
All of this to say, frozen meatballs, homemade or pre-made, are forever a staple in my deep freeze.
*You’ll see in my recipe below it says to cook your meatballs at 375. The 425 trick is if they’re frozen SOLID and you need them ASAP.
Here’s some of my favourite meatball must haves:
Cookie Scoop
Cookie scoops are not just for cookies! This tool helps me quickly scoop, roll and get them on the pan and in the oven in no time!
Garlic Plus
If you’re like me, you put garlic in everything. This is the perfect blend of garlic, onion, and all the other yummy things I typically would spent time measuring out to put in my go-to meatball recipe.
Parchment Paper
For a quick clean up, I throw parchment paper down on my pan. Because lord knows I don’t have time (or want to) scrub one more dish!
Reusable Freezer Bags
I have used other reusable baggies before, but these are by far my favourite. They are great quality and don’t leak! I have been using these to prep slow cooker meals all season long and they make a great option to storeyour meatballs to use later on.
Bag Holder
Okay, so this may sound dramatic – but, I don’t know what I did before getting these magical creations. This makes meal prep, freezing, storage SO much quicker. If you don’t wan to fart around holding flimsy bags open while you pour sauces, goodies, etc. in bags – you need these.
My go-to Meatball Recipe
Want more great Go-To recipes from me? Check out some of my other posts:
- Farming
- Interviews and Features
- Life Stuff
- Listen Now | Show Notes
- Mental Health
- Podcast Playlists
- Products I Dig
- Recipies
- SHOP WildRoseFarmer
- The Rural Woman Podcast
- Uncategorized
- What I Made Wednesday
