Meatballs!!

I have children with different tastes. Some of you who personally know my children know this is an *understatement* about one of my children in particular!! :) Whenever I say "all my kids loved this" just know that that means 5 out of the 6 unless I specifically say HER!! So in this case--all of my kids loved these (except the one!) I have yet to find anything much beyond plain roasted chicken and peanut butter sandwiches for this one!! But anyway, my others devoured these. They made 24 good size meatballs. If you have a smaller family you can 1/2 the recipe or freeze them (I always love that option!!) I actually ended up freezing 7 of them. I figured I could give them to the kids as a quick meal one night when Jon and I are going out. They wouldn't be a whole meal for anyone (unless a couple of them were gone) but they would be some good protein!! So here they are--

The Meatballs
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. mild italian sausage
3 celery stalks, diced
1/4 white onion, diced (could use more, but my kids like lesser amounts of onion)
2 carrots, diced
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond meal
1 Tbs. dried oregano
1 Tbs. garlic powder
4 or 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
pinch of cayenne pepper
sea salt and black pepper to taste

I put the celery, onion, and carrots in the food processor. It gives the taste and nutrition without the kids seeing the chunks of orange and such in the meatball!! :) Plus, it's a lot easier than dicing!! Also, next time I'll leave out the cayenne. I liked it, but it was a bit spicy for a couple of mine. Ones that would have probably eaten another one but just couldn't because it was spicy. :) This wasn't the case with the baby though. He ate two of them--spiciness and all!! Use your hands to mix all ingredients together. Form the mixture into large meatballs.  (I probably did between a golf ball and a baseball size.) Place them on the bottom of a crock pot, stacking if necessary. (I cooked them on the stovetop in a deep pan on low for about 2 hours.)


The Sauce
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste

Cover the meatballs with the tomato sauce and cook 6-8 hours on low. (In the crock pot.)