Making Homemade Meatballs - for the freezer

With the holidays approaching soon its time to make sure we have meatballs for our Christmas Eve Dinner. Often there are three different kinds of meatballs on the table for everyone to enjoy. Your classic Swedish meatballs, Barbecue, and what we like to call Candied Meatballs. We make our meatballs here from scratch. While there are a lot of different recipes out there we really like this one the best.

Homemade Meatballs.

5 pounds of Hamburger

5 Pounds of Italian Sausage ( if you don't have Italian Sausage you can always add a generous amount of Oregano, Basil, Italian Seasoning and Thyme to your basic bulk sausage to give it an Italian flair).

2 packages of Italian Bread crumbs

10 eggs

20 Tbsp. of water ( which equals 1 cup plus 4 Tbsp.

Salt ( I personally use this sparingly or omit it all together)

Black Pepper - I don't measure this but I do give the whole area a good sprinkles worth

Minced Onions - I also don't measure this but I give the area a good sprinkles worth if not a tad more.

Mix it all together.

Form meat it to 1 inch balls.

The meatballs are now ready to be baked. I bake them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 to 35 minutes. They are done when you cut one open and the center is now longer pink.

Once they are done it is important to let them cool completely. Putting hot food in the freezer will allow for ice crystals to form on your food and it will speed up freezer burn. Once it is completely cool you can bag these in a labeled and dated freezer bags for later use.

These meatballs are completely cooked and can be used just as you would the frozen store bought ones.

Here are a few ideas you can use your meatballs for:

Swedish Meatballs- I place the desired number of meatballs in the crockpot and add 1 can of Swedish Meatball Sauce to it. When its hot its ready to serve.

Barbecue Meatballs- I place the desired number of meatballs again in the crockpot and add barbecue sauce to it till they are completely covered.

Candied Meatballs- For this we like Sweet and Sour Sauce add enough to cover completely. and cook in a crockpot till heated.

Meatball Subs - I cook them in the crockpot with spaghetti sauce and a generous amount of spices ( Oregano, Basil, Italian Seasoning and Thyme and a Bay Leaf). If you let this cook all day the spices will blend beautifully with the sauce. To serve place on Sub Buns with cheese.

For Spaghetti and meatballs - I make the exact same sauce as I do for Meatball Subs but instead of making subs I cook and serve it on a bed of Spaghetti.

I know there are many ways to make Spaghetti but personally I cook it in just plain water with no oil or salt added to it. When it is done I drain it leaving it in the colander and running hot water over it to break up any starch left behind. You can reheat spaghetti the same way buy putting it in a colander and running hot water over it till it is to your desire warmth.