Garlic Bread Meatballs – Middlest in the kitchen

It’s summer.  (It’s still officially summer at our house, since school doesn’t start for another week.)  I don’t know about you, but cooking really becomes a chore for me during the summer.  Not that I love it during every other season, but in the summer it’s just too hot for me to want to do anything but send Hubby out to the grill with a couple of Franks or Patties.  So this summer we (meaning the Meanest Mom Ever – aka: me) decided that once a week each child would help mom cook.  It’s lovely when it’s Oldest’s turn, since I can pretty much turn him loose in the kitchen with a reasonable expectation that he will emerge with something, if not delicious, at least edible.  And on Middlest’s and Littlest’s days it’s kind of fun to hang out with them and teach them the magic of mixing “secret ingredients” to create something lovely.  And I’ve learned a surprising lesson myself: if they make it, they will eat it.  Can you believe that?  I actually got Littlest AND Middlest to eat pasta sauce on noodles, by calling it pizza!  But that’s a story for another post.

At the beginning of each month, I sat down with each of my boys and went through all the thumbnails of my Pinterest recipes and had them pick four recipes that they thought looked yummy.  I then made a grocery list of all the ingredients we would need to create their fabulous feasts and we all trekked to the store together.  (Ah the joys of a family trip to Wal-Mart.  The fighting, the whining, the begging, the fighting.  That’s one part of the summer I won’t miss!)  And we’ve found several new recipes to add to our collection that (gasp!) everyone in the family enjoys.  Starting with:

Garlic Bread Meatballs

found here

makes 20

1 can Pillsbury golden layers biscuits

10 frozen fully cooked Italian style meatballs - thawed and cut in half

2 sticks string cheese - cut each into 10 pieces

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon Cheff Tess Italian seasoning (or your fave)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup marinara sauce

Heat oven to 375˚.  Separate dough into 10 biscuits.  Separate each biscuit into 2 layers.  Press each layer into a 3” round. 

Place 1 meatball half and 1 piece string cheese onto each round.  Wrap dough around meat and cheese, pressing edges to seal.  Place into an ungreased 8” or 9” round cake pan, seam sides down in a single layer.  Sprinkle evenly with parmesan, seasonings and garlic powder. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center.  Serve with warm marinara for dipping.