Meatballs

I love meatballs, and these are my favorite.  Not only are they tender, flavorful and delicious, but they are versatile as well.  So far I have five different ways to serve them, but there will probably be more in the future.  The mix of meats is what makes these meatballs so delicious.  I find meatballs made only with beef to be a little dry and tough.  Adding ground pork and veal makes all the difference. I multiply this recipe by six, so I'll have plenty of meatballs for all these different applications

Difficulty: Moderate
Category: Simple Side
Column: EG & EH
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

Meatloaf Patties

A while back I wrote about the possibility  of making meatloaf patties instead of the traditional loaf shape.  I finally got around to it, and it's way, way better than the loaf shape.  

Reasons patties are more convenient than a loaf:

1. No thawing - When I made meatloaf in a loaf form the loaf needed to thaw for 48 hours before cooking.  Patties can be taken from the freezer and go directly in the pan.
2. Cook faster - The loaf shape takes at least an hour to cook.  These were done in less than 30 minutes.
3. No oven - These are cooked in frying pan.  The oven doesn't need to be turned on, which is especially nice in the summer.
4. Easy portion control - A full sized meatloaf is enough food for my family for two meals, and we'll still have leftovers.  With individual patties it is easy to make as much as we will eat in one night.  

Gyros

The last thing I posted was about all the time I spent making freezer meals.  It was a lot of work, and I'm guessing it seemed like too much to some.  I intended to make a list of things I was able to do because I had the freezer meals, but... I didn't.  I forget to document stuff.  So I don't have a comprehensive list, but I will say that I find life a lot easier when I have freezer meals.  It's easier for to find the time and energy for other things when I don't have to worry about dinner, and it's easier for me to keep up on cleaning the kitchen and other housework when I don't have cooking messes all the time.  I didn't keep a written record, but from memory here's some of the things I did now that dinner was taken care of: