Not only are these a great snack, but they can be popped into and simmered in your favorite spaghetti sauce for an entree. It's essentially my favorite meatloaf recipe, minus the bread and tomato sauce on top. These can also be put into a low-carb roll with some pizza sauce for a great meatball sandwich! I make them mainly for snacks, so I decided to post them on this forum. They are pictured here: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/0...lian-meatballs/

I like to make a huge batch of meatballs when I make them so I’ll have a bunch to freeze for convenient future use. Not only do these make wonderful snacks as is or with your favorite low-carb sauces, but it’s nice to have them already cooked to pop into your favorite spaghetti sauce. They make a wonderful meatball sandwich on your preferred low-carb bread as well. This recipe is Induction acceptable.

INGREDIENTS:

3 lb. lean ground beef
4 oz. onion, chopped very fine
4 oz. green bell pepper, chopped very fine
2 T. bacon grease
1/3 tsp. dried oregano
1 c. parsley, chopped
3 eggs beaten
4 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease two baking pans with sides. Place meat in large mixing bowl. Chop onion and pepper and saute in bacon grease until completely fender. Add to meat, grease and all. Add oregano, parsley and Parmesan. Add the beaten eggs, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, which is most efficiently done with your hands. I use a small ice cream scoop, or you could use a large melon ball tool if you have one. Scoop up equal amounts of meat mixture, enough to roll into 1½” balls. Place closely together on two baking sheets. I get 48 meatballs out of this recipe. Place pans of meatballs in a 350º oven and bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes. Check one for doneness. They should be grey and not pink in the center. Remove from oven and cool unless using some immediately. These will exude a lot of beef juice during cooking. When removing meatballs from the pan, if you twist them as you lift, they will come up without that congealed juice attaching to the meatball. I scrape all that good solid juice stuff off the pans for my two little rat terriers to have as gravy on their next meal. They love me.

I set aside 10-12 for immediate use and snacks and then freeze the rest on a clean. dry baking sheet so they will freeze individually. Then I pour them all into a gallon ziploc bag and put the rest in my freezer. For snacks and future use, just defrost the ones you need!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 48 meatballs approximately 1¼” in diameter. Each meatball contains:

88 calories
5.9 g fat
.44 g carbs, .12 g fiber, .12 g NET CARBS
7.91 g protein
139 mg sodium
34% RDA Vitamin B12, 7.8% B6, 11% iron, 11% niacin, 13% selenium, 23% zinc