Dinner was ready....

Well in my head anyways. We were supposed to be having guests for dinner, but with all this shelter in place stuff going on, our guests had to cancel. And of course I wasn't told until AFTER I started making dinner because hubby forgot to tell me they weren't coming.
No problem, just put the extras in the freezer right? Except my freezers are FULL. I just got my meat order from the farm, and there isn't any room!

Homemade Buns

First we made buns for our dinner. But after I mixed it, I was confused as to why it didn't smell right.  Then I felt the dough.. Oh crud, I forgot the yeast!  UGH. I had doubled this recipe and my mixer was getting full. So to remedy the problem, I added the yeast for 3 batches, the ingredients to make it a total of a triple batch. This got a little messy. BUT, it worked, and the buns were amazing. So amazing in fact that my hubby requested I make more to live in our freezer. He said they were light, and yummy.  And would be good for sub sandwiches.

While the dough was rising, I ran an errand. When we got back the dough was crawling out of the bowl, I forgot I would need it to rise in a larger bowl because I tripled it. No problem, it was not over proofed, thank goodness. After I got the dough cut and shaped and onto the pans to rise. I made the next ingredient for dinner.

Meatballs!  I really like my meatball recipe. My oldest ate an entire pan himself  once(24 meatballs)!  Glad I made 6 pounds!  Whew, he loved them, but he always has liked my cooking. He is my best eater, always has been.

These are also pretty easy. I will put the recipe at the end. These are tender, and can be made gluten free, and they are dairy free.

 Want to know the best way to doctor up a store bought spaghetti sauce? Add a little pesto. I know it sounds weird, but it works and it just makes it a little bit more special. So after I baked the meatballs, I put them into some hot spaghetti sauce and kept them warm until my buns were cool enough to do assembly.

 What is this? Egg salad? Potato Salad?

NOPE, this is the special cheese mix that makes this dinner creamy goodness! Now my little guy is allergic to dairy, so his is made without the cheese mix in it. BUT he loves this dinner, he scarfed it right down.

Here they are! All assembled. It is like a meatball sandwich. Whenever we are having new missionaries over for dinner, our kids request we make this for them. Sometimes it is with meatballs, and sometimes it is just the meat browned and added to the sauce. Either way it is delicious and I know my kids will eat it. 

This is just for pure temptation. Look at the cheesy goodness, look at the fresh bun, the moist meatballs. Oh my foodgasm!  Sorry couldn't help it. No leftovers tonight. I feel bad we couldn't take any to the missionaries (our guests that couldn't come), their mission president said not to accept any meals. We have to keep them safe and healthy. But hopefully we can serve them soon.

My kids say this meal is comfort food.

I hope you like it too.

Now for recipes. I will share the meatball recipe here. I will to the buns recipe another day.

MEATBALLS

• 2 # italian sausage, bulk
• 1 1/2 # ground turkey 85/15
• 3 eggs. beaten lightly
• 2 palmfuls Italian Seasoning
• 3 pinches kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 1 cup gluten free oatmeal (or quick)*
• 1 cup gluten free oatmeal soaked in cold water for 3 minutes (or quick), drained *

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients with hands in large bowl.
Make 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet or on cast iron pans. Bake 15 - 25 minutes or until done. DO NOT OVER COOK.
*I use gluten free oatmeal, it is usually quick cooking. You can use normal quick cooking oatmeal. Regular oats tend to give a different texture, so we use the quick oats.

We use these meatballs for spaghetti and sandwiches, or plain. They are delicious.

Cheesy Mix  

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar*
• 1 cup mozzarella *

In a food processor, blitz the cottage cheese until it is about the consistency of ricotta. Stir into the shredded cheese.

SAMMY
Put meatballs into your favorite spaghetti sauce. Open buns, but do not pull apart the halves completely. Slather some cheesy mix onto both sides. Next put a few saucy meatballs into the bun. Place in oven proof dish. When pan is full, cover with foil and bake sandwiches about 20 minutes or until every thing is heated through.
Serve with salad or fruit or both.