Below Freezing Football Playoff Meatballs

When it’s below freezing with dangerous windchills and the Packers are playing San Francisco at Lambeau Field, and the forecast for today from Channel 5 KSTP weather is as follows:

Twin Cities Metro Area Forecast today through Monday:  Sunny to partly cloudy and very cold today with highs near -9 below and winds from the Northwest at 10 to 15 mph which will produce wind-chills of -30 to -45 below.  Partly cloudy to clear tonight with lows near -26 below and wind-chills of -35 to -55 below.

What do you do besides be glad the Vikings Season is over and you’re not at that game?  You make some meatballs and watch the game from the warmth of your couch, and hope no one dies from hypothermia as you watch the trainwreck.  The field will be frozen into an unforgiving ice chunck and who knows how the ball will feel, if indeed the players hands still have the basic function of catching.  I know they have heaters on the field, but there are not enough btu’s to warm up the entire northland.  Pray there’s lots of medical people with their trucks running.

Ok, well there’s nothing for me to do but make something hot. This is not a new recipe by any means but it is tried and true.  The original recipe for making your own meatballs can be found here, and the rest of the recipe for the crock pot is here.  Thanks to Detours in Life for posting it on Pinterest.

For the Meatballs you’ll need:

2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 c. tomato paste

Italian Seasonings: thyme, basil, tarragon, oregano, a couple shakes of each

1/4 c. parmesan or romano cheese

1/3 c. fresh chopped parsley

1 T. wet mustard

a little salt

3 garlic cloves, pressed

 

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until mixed.  I like to make the meatballs a consistent size and place them onto the baking sheet that’s been sprayed with Pam.  Using the 1.25″ diameter melon baller and two pounds of ground beef yielded 66 meatballs.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 –  18 minutes, or until nice and brown. The farther down in the oven, the darker the meatballs will be, so if that’s something you worry about, just switch the trays halfway through baking.

Place the meatballs in the crock pot and cover with this basic sauce:

1 bottle chili sauce

1/2 jar grape jelly

1/2 cup honey if desired.

Cover and set on low until the meatballs disappear.

Then all you have to do is hunker down with a beverage and a blanket and watch the game.