Spaghetti & Meatballs

Monday night I made Spaghetti with Vegetable Marinara and Parmesan Meatballs. I'm quite pleased with how this meal came out because I just kind of made it up as I went along. My one regret is that I put my sauce over my meatballs so you can't really see them in the pic. I've never made meatballs before, so this was a bit of an experiment for me. This made enough for us to both have a good meal, and I have extra sauce and meatballs in the freezer for another night. I didn't really follow a set recipe for any of it, so I'll just try to re-cap as best I can.

Spaghetti with Vegetable Marinara & Parmesan Meatballs
Recipe from me!
Meatballs-
1 lb. ground beef
1/5 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/5 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/3 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/3 teaspoon dried basil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using a fork or your hands. Roll meat mixture into balls about the size of ping-pong balls. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
• If freezing for later use, arrange on cookie sheet and place in freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and place in airtight container or freezer bag. Flash freezing beforehand will keep them from sticking to one another.

Vegetable Marinara-
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, ribbed & seeded, chopped
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and chopped
1 can Hunt's Garlic & Herb Tomato Sauce
Crushed red pepper flakes
Dried oregano leaves
Dried basil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, pepper, and zucchini; cook, stirring, until vegetables have softened.
• Add tomato sauce. Add seasonings to taste. Stirring occasionally, cook until heated through.

My notes: I just eyeball how much spaghetti I want to cook. I usually have leftovers but we were hungry people. :) I was going to add carrots to the sauce, but I discovered that Josh had taken the baby carrots to work with him that morning. So, you might add carrots, if you're so inclined.

The rest of this week has been comprised of repeat performances from Red Beans and Rice and Chicken Pot Pie. I was planning on making grilled cheese and soup tonight, but I actually didn't have the supplies in the pantry that I thought I did. I've been having real grocery problems lately. I've already spent over half my monthly budget, and it's only the 12th of the month. Jeezy Creezy! I've gotta do some re-thinking of the way I go about things, I guess.