Happy Meatball Day! Meatballs & Stuffed Mushrooms Recipes Included

So when I cook, I like to be able to freeze some extra to make my life easier later. I told the girls that yesterday was "Meatball Day," and they got really excited. The funny thing is that I was letting them know that it was meatball day so that they were aware that our social/screen/sugar detox was continuing and that I would be consumed for at least half the day making meatballs. They thought it was a holiday; and so I figured, why not?! Why does Meatball Day have to be boring and time consuming and not at all fun? Good idea, girls! So to make it an actual holiday, I thought we could include some homeschool activities that were meatball themed, namely Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I thought we'd read the book since it was one of the first books I ever bought for their library, and then we'd do some printable activities that coincided with that and/or the movie(s) while I was making actual meatballs. The only problem was that the book went missing :-/ ...So, I did get some printables for them, which I'll link for you guys if you're interested in doing this with your littles. There is also a YouTube vid of the book, but that also kinda defeated the purpose of my screen detox. (I caved later anyway, but whatevs.)

Okay so on Meatball Day, which is now a household holiday, I always make a large batch of spaghetti sauce (aka gravy for some weird Italians whom I will never understand). That's step 1. I use a slow cooker, and the sauce cooks ALL. DAY. LONG. It's never the same, so I can't even give you a recipe. I start with a Classico Tomato & Basil base and then add whatever I have and/or want. I will say one thing I learned years ago from one of the families I was a nanny for was to use white beans (Cannellini) for an extra protein boost and a nice texture variety. Dig it. So first thing I do is get that started, and then I move on to the meatballs.

Mamamia Mama's AMAZE-Meatballs Recipe

What You Need

-1.5ish lbs 90% lean ground beef
-1 lb ground pork
-1 lb ground turkey
10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 egg
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 to 1 head of garlic, minced (Depends on the size of the head and also how much you like garlic)

What You Do

-Preheat your oven to 375. Yep, that's right. I said oven. The way to decrease some fat in your meatballs is to bake them. Also it's a lot less messy, and I find that they are cooked more evenly.
-Okay, so then you mix the meats together with the spinach and minced garlic until it's pretty evenly distributed. Use your hands. Then add in the egg and same thing, knead it all together by hand. Then add the Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese. Once everything is all mixed nice and evenly, you can start forming the balls and placing them on a greased (or not) cookie sheet. I've done it both ways, and it doesn't really seem to make much difference. I make mine 1 Tbs each. Not a heaping Tablespoon either. This is such the perfect size, honestly!
-Once you fill up a cookie sheet (I fit 20-24 per sheet), bake them for 20 minutes...and done! I can get about 80 meatballs out of one batch, divide them up however you like into freezer bags and dump the first batch into your sauce to finish cooking all day long :)
**I also use these meatballs for Meatball Stroganoff, and they are amaze-meatballs. Even though they have a mild Italian flavoring, they really are incredibly versatile. I promise you will love them

Okay so that takes me about 3-4 hours start to finish to do an entire batch of them, and while I was working on that, I had the monsters working on their Meatball Day themed printables:

http://flash.sonypictures.com/downloads/homevideo/sonywonder/cloudy/dvdrom/cloudy_maze.pdf (hardest maze EVER, I am pretty sure, so that should keep them busy for awhile)
http://flash.sonypictures.com/downloads/homevideo/sonywonder/cloudy/flintsfamilyfuncenter/cloudy_word_scramble.pdf

Some of them were too advanced really for their age, but they still enjoyed coloring the pictures :) The maze is totally ridiculous. Lol

Later in the day, I went back to finish the appetizer for this amazing holiday: Stuffed Mushrooms. I couldn't find a recipe that I really liked start to finish, so I combined some different ones and did my own thing, which I am happy to share with you!

Stuffed Mushrooms

What You Need

2 packages of stuffer mushrooms, separated stems from caps (rinsed of dirt and patted dry)
1/2 head of garlic (or 4 large cloves), minced
3 Tbs butter
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1-2 Tbs water
1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 cup (ish) shredded Italian cheese of your choice (I used Asiago this time, which I also used in the meatballs in place of the Parmesan)
*You can totally half this recipe, but I just have a problem cooking in small amounts*

What You Do

-Arrange the caps of the mushrooms on a greased cookie sheet, round side down
-Cut the hard end off the stems and then finely chop them
-Melt butter in a skillet on med/high heat, I added a couple dashes of sage as well, then add the mushroom/garlic mixture and Worcestershire and saute for 3-5 minutes until they are tender but not completely cooked through
-Remove from heat, and mix the breadcrumbs and the mushroom mixture in a bowl. Add water to get a stuffing-like texture, and then spoon that mixture into the mushroom caps.
-Top with your cheese of choice
-Bake for 20 minutes at 350
-Fall in love ;)

When that's all finished, serve it up with your awesome sauce and spaghetti! 

We did end up watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs while eating spaghetti and meatballs, too. Yes, I completely caved on the screen detox for that moment. But I mean, the holiday just wouldn't have been complete otherwise! So there you have it, Meatball Day for the masses ;) Now, go celebrate!

Til next time,
Xoxo Xile