Meatball Sub Casserole

Daylight Savings Time is still getting the best of me and I find myself scrambling to finish all of my new-found chores to do in sunshine and get dinner on the table before 8:00. So, I've been looking for quick, easy-to-make dishes and tonight I made a real winner.

I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest for a meatball sub casserole but when I was making our grocery list, the pin didn't work and was probably some type of Trojan computer virus crap. So, long story short, I found a Taste of Home recipe and adapted it to the contents of our fridge and the week's menu.

I'm a real sucker for casseroles, but this one was wonderful! My food photography skills are limited at best, but I couldn't even get a good picture before we devoured he whole thing! J said that I will just have to make it again soon "just for pictures."

The flavors were wonderful and blended together perfectly. J works at a successful local deli and sandwich shop, so he knows his sandwiches and was skeptical of some of the components of the casserole but it worked beautifully. The bread we used was soft and delicate, so the cream cheese spread on it added a great richness that would've been lacking with just the basic meatball sub ingredients. I added sauteed onions and they brought a crisp bite to the softer ingredients and the good sear on the meatballs added another crispy quality, too. 

I can't say enough good thing about this recipe. 

It's a great "double duty" recipe, which I love. For example, I try to plan as many meals off of the same ingredient list as possible. We had subs and chips for dinner last night and saved the unused half loaf of French bread for tonight's dinner. It also doesn't require a lot of sauce, so we were able to use leftover sauce that I'd kept in a mason jar from our last spaghetti night. This is a great budget-friendly way to get the most bang from your buck - especially if you're only needing to cook for two. This dish makes three servings, you can multiply it as needed to feed a crowd - I think this a perfect dish for a potluck, taking to a sick friend, or making for a large dinner party. 

This is a really customizable recipe, too, and you can change it to suit your family's tastes and your timeline. I added garlic to the cream cheese spread and sauteed onions. I think sauteed mushrooms would be a great addition and if you're wanting to really appeal to kids' cliche notions of Italian food, you could add a layer of pepperoni. To save time, I used frozen (it is National Frozen Food Month, after all), pre-made meatballs (less than $5 for 60+ meatballs) that I cooked in the oven according to package directions but you can certainly make your favorite homemade recipe. I'm including ToH's recipe for meatballs but I know that when I make it again, I will probably use my own meatball recipe. 

And speaking of a time-saving, this is a great recipe where you can make all of the components ahead of time and assemble and reheat quickly before dinner. You can cook your meatballs and mix with the sauce ingredients, prepare the cream cheese spread and slice your bread. That will make for simple mise en place! 

And is a great recipe for kids - make sure they're either dealing with pre-made meatballs or know not to touch their mouth (or anything else) while handling raw meat. 

I promise I'll make it again soon -- just to get you some good photos!

Meatball Sub Casserole

Ingredients:

Meatball Ingredients- it not using 20 pre-made, frozen meatballs:

2 T chopped green onion
1 T seasoned bread crumbs
1 T grated Parmesan
1/3 lb lean ground beef

6 slices French bread baguette, sliced 1/2" thick
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 T mayonnaise
1/4 t Italian seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic, divided
dash pepper
2/3 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided*
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 c spaghetti sauce (I used Hunts' original sauce)
1/4 c water


Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Mix meatball ingredients together by hand in a medium bowl. Roll small meatballs - will make over twelve 1" meatballs. Bake on a shallow baking pan for 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Drain on a paper towel.

Arrange bread in a single layer in an ungreased 8x8" baking dish. Combine the cream cheese, mayo, Italian seasoning, pepper and half of the minced garlic. Spread over bread.  Sprinkle with half of the two cheeses.

In a bowl combine the spaghetti sauce (if you have enough, use only 1 1/4 c spaghetti sauce, or add 1/4 c water to 1 c sauce), and garlic; add meatballs. Pour over bread and evenly distribute the meatballs. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes until heated through.

*Feel free to add more cheese! I love the extra gooeyness!

Simple Touches Make A Big Difference

I've mentioned before that while I appreciate slow dishes, stewed to perfection and take a real commitment of time, and usually high quality ingredients, I also love meals that are super fast and inexpensive. I don't always have the time or money required for some of my favorite recipes and we have to use simpler, often pre-packaged items in a pinch - and we're certainly not the only ones.

Food insecurity and food deserts are real issues across the country - and even our own community. With wealth disparities also come deficits of time for cooking and an inability to buy expensive, fresh ingredients. However, I want to plead the case that just because a meal involves simple, "low-brow" or pre-made/pre-packaged components doesn't mean it has to be any less special, delicious or full of love. I would argue that little, homemade, heartfelt choices can jazz up a meal that would otherwise be straight from the box (literally) and I want to share two such recipes - that we use frequently - with you.

When I was little, we were in a different place financially, and living in a rural area my family didn't know a lot about food. We ate a lot of country (and inexpensive) staples like cornbread, biscuits, potatoes and green beans, jellies and meats we canned ourselves. The majority of it was homemade but nothing like the crazy things my dad makes now (like bibimbap?!) and looking back at some of our "treats," I can't help but laugh. And it's absolutely not because I am ashamed or embarrassed, but the nostalgia of my childhood is just too funny to me.

One such treat, one of the first desserts I ever remember "making," was strawberry shortcake. We used to get these little pre-made sponge cakes that were practically flavorless (and only $1 for six!) and we'd top them with whipped cream and strawberries we'd cut up ahead of time and covered up sugar.

The sugar on the strawberries is the most important ingredient. It only takes about 2 T for a whole bowl of sliced strawberries, but left on them for a few hours, they make the most delightful, sweet juice - just perfect for shortcake! And instead of using plain white sugar, we use homemade vanilla sugar.

Feeling nostalgic, we made strawberry shortcake!

Albeit vanilla sugar does take some patience, but it couldn't be simpler to make and is easily refreshed. All you need is vanilla beans (we usually get Madagascar beans from MySpiceSage.com - they're a wonderful spice website that is inexpensive and gives freebies - usually vanilla beans - alot), white sugar and some sort of jar or airtight container.

Slice the beans in half so that you have two short halves, then split them open. Place them in your container and cover with sugar. We usually use half a bean per pint jar. Allow to sit for at least a month - the longer you leave it, the deeper the vanilla flavor. And whenever you've used up all of your sugar, just add more and repeat the process - the beans are very potent and will last through several refills.

After the sugar is ready you can use it in anyway you'd use regular sugar (in sweet dishes -- I wouldn't add this to chili or spaghetti sauce etc.). You could put it in your coffee, on french toast, in any pastry or, as we did, over sliced fruit. The vanilla adds a light sweetness and makes the most subtle, delicate changes in your dishes.

This is a wonderful touch for your dishes at home and adds a foodie feel to even the simplest of dishes, but it also makes a great gift. You can make it ahead in big quantities for holidays, decorate the jars and give out as beautiful and inexpensive gifts! We love our vanilla sugar so much that we actually gave out as favors at our wedding (with an added LEGO craft, of course).

Another quick, but impactful recipe is making your own seasoning for fries or homemade chips. We go to Grocery Outlet and stock up on $1.99 bags of french fries every few months and add them whenever we're short on side dishes. I am a french fry freak and I absolutely have a hierarchy of the best fries around and generally, frozen fries are on the bottom. However, using this Red Robin/Zaxby's knock-off seasoning, we're able to elevate ho hum fries into incredibly flavorful ones. And, the seasoning, which usually lasts us 3-4 months, costs less than $1 to make!

Mix 3 T salt (you could easily get away with 2 T if you're watching your sodium), 1 T instant tomato soup or spaghetti sauce mix, 2 t chili powder, 1/4 t ground cumin and 1/4 t ground black pepper. Store in an airtight container. 

I use this seasoning on practically any potato-product, but be sure to sprinkle this on immediately after cooking the dish - right after the fries come out of the oven/fryer etc. - to be sure it will stick. 

Providing a good meal doesn't have to involve a lot of time or money! I hope you take these two recipes and find your own way to incorporate small, homemade touches into your meals - making your own salad dressings and sauces or finding ways to jazz up boxed meals (check out Semi Homemade by Sandra Lee). 

Today's Kitchen Lifehack

Spring is in the air - or so it seems - and I am ready for warm weather projects to improve our lives and our house. The smallest of the projects slated for this weekend was a quick kitchen lifehack, that was also, a form of recycling.

For those of you who don't know... (per Urban Dictionary)

We use mason jars a lot in our home and I'm always looking for new ways to use them. We have several half gallon jars we use to store rice, pasta and animal crackers (all of my favorite carbs), we obviously use them for canning, oftentimes I carry my lunch in them to work and they were the centerpieces at our wedding. This hack makes their storage of dry goods a little bit easier and adorable! 

All you need is a mason jar - of any volume and mouth size, it's matching ring, an empty round salt container with pour spout and an Xacto knife. Trace the ring onto the salt container (around the spout) and carefully cut out the circle with an Xacto knife. Press the cardboard circle into the ring (spout up), fill your jar with whatever dry goods you'd like and close it. Voila! A new, handy jar with easy-to-close spout. We are using ours for our bulk Splenda that we use when we make tea and are looking to make a few smaller ones, too! It'd be great for dry goods you may not use that often but that come in larger, un-sealable packages - like cornstarch or baking soda.