Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

As part of my 30 Meal Plan, I am putting together some of our favorite recipes.  One of the first things that came to mind was my home made spaghetti and meatballs!  This is sooo yummy, and a lot easier to make than you would think!

What you need:

Sauce:

"A bit" of Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained
1 can(6 oz) tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp pepper

1 package (16 oz) Spaghetti

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 C dry bread crumbs
1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg

Okay, now that you saw all that, here are some notes from me:

• We aren't onion people, so I usually use 1 onion total and split it between the sauce and the meatballs
• You don't have to use breadcrumbs, the dried onion stuff from Campbells (you know, the stuff you use on green bean casserole at Thanksgiving?) all crumbled up is also a yummy option.
• I don't think I have ever used fresh parsley.. even though it says to.. so do what you have around
• As you can see in the picture, its also not a hard and fast rule to put the sauce over spaghetti, any pasta will be yummy!

Directions:

1.  Meatballs:  Set the oven on 350*, mix up all the ingredients (I even use my mixer for this 'cuase touching all that raw meat is gross lol) and make it into balls.  I use my ice cream scoop to get about the same amount in each ball.  Put the balls in an ungreased pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they aren't gooey and pink inside.

2.  Take out your biggest soup pot and heat up your olive oil.  Add in the onion and garlic.  (I usually use that jarred garlic stuff too, sooo much easier than chopping garlic!)  Saute until the onions are tender.  I have a hard time being patient enough to wait, but it's really important that the onions are squishy.

3.  Once the onions are squishy, add in all of the other stuff on the sauce list.  Use your spoon to break up the whole tomatoes as they heat up.  Heat it to boiling, and then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes.  Make sure you stir it every once and a while.

4.  Add the meatballs to the sauce and cover and simmer for 15 more minutes.  Cook and drain the spaghetti at this point.  Put the pasta on a big plate, heap with the yummy sauce and meatballs and.. enjoy!

What "from scratch" recipes do you have?