Meatball/Meatloaf recipe

I bought a big batch of ground beef the other day, see July 11th FOF post. So decided I had better do something with it all. Here is what I made on the Friday afternoon. A Baked Bean Lasagna, Mince and gravy with peas, Mince and gravy with peas and sliced potatoes on top, two meatloaves, (using the recipe below).



The next day (Saturday) I made a big batch of meatballs with the remaining ground beef. Here is a link to the original recipe, as you can make small or large batches of these. I made a double batch. Now I have to say you are supposed to get 120 meatballs out of a double batch. I obviously make huge meatballs as I only got 55...oh well.

Ingredients (for a double batch)

3 lbs lean ground beef
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups ketchup or tomato sauce



Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together with either your hands or a spoon...I don't do the mixing together with your hands routine, its icky, just thought I'd mention that.



Meatloaf: go on to the freezing directions.

Meatballs: Form meatballs with your hands or a small cookie scoop. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam for easy clean up. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake at 375 °F for 20 to 30 minutes until lightly browned and no longer pink in the center. Cool.



Freezing Direction:
Meatloaf: Put the meat mixture in a 2lb loaf pan, seal, label and freeze.
Meatballs: Package cooled meatballs in appropriate size freezer bags or containers, seal, label and freeze.

Serving Directions:
Meatloaf: Thaw at least overnight in the refrigerator. Bake at 350°F for an hour or until no pink shows in the centre of the loaf. I also top mine with more ketchup when I first put it in the oven.
Meatballs: They are fully cooked, so just thaw and use in what ever recipe you like.



So with just under 7lbs of ground beef I got quite a few meals out of it, all in the freezer ready to use.