Meatball Sub Casserole

Well, I don't know about you but this winter weather is getting to me already.

I miss the sunshine.

I miss the warm air.

I miss my motivation!

For some reason, I have not felt like cooking at all this past week

I mean, I'm even too lazy to put something in the crockpot

Yeah... it's that bad.

My kids need clean socks

Hubs needs clean work clothes

And here I am.... sitting in my heated blanket.

Blah! 

I just don't feel like doing anything.

I think I have that seasonal affective disorder

Or I'm just lazy...lol 

Luckily, I have a stockpile of things in the freezer

And my father in law made dinner for me one night.

He's a great cook, by the way! Mmmm!

Last night I got a little motivation and made a recipe I haven't made in years

My friend Laura made it for me when I had a baby and I had to have the recipe.

It's great!

I've been wanting to share it with you, but didn't have all the ingredients in the house at one time

Until recently.

See, I have these rules....

Like, grocery rules.

There are certain things I WILL NOT buy unless they are a certain price.

My friends are laughing right now because they know this and make fun of me for it

For example I will not buy grapes unless they are under a dollar per pound!  No exceptions.

Yes, really.

It can't be helped..... I have standards....lol

One of the other things I won't buy is pre made meatballs.

They are expensive...

So I wait until they go on sale BOGO and then I buy a few bags and keep them in the freezer.

Last week they went on sale....

So now I can share my recipe with you!

And in case you're wondering, yes, I do have my own meatball recipe. 

But remember above how I said I was being lazy?  Yeah.

I'll share that recipe with you another time.

Ingredients:
1 loaf Italian bread
8 oz. Cream cheese
1/2 C Mayo
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 C Shredded Mozzarella
1 lb.  Frozen meatballs (thawed)
28 oz. Jar pasta sauce or make your own with my homemade sauce recipe
1 C Water

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Slice bread into 1 inch slices

Arrange slices in an ungreased 9x13 baking dish

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo & spices
Spread them onto bread in dish

Sprinkle bread with 1/2 C shredded cheese

In another bowl, mix meatballs, sauce & water and stir
Pour meatball mixture over bread in baking dish

Sprinkle with remaining cheese

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! 


***Review:
I got an all thumbs up for this!  ALL of them!  Can you believe it?  It's a Christmas miracle!
This is a great comfort food on a cold night! I love it!  Now that I have lots of meatballs, I can make it more often ;)

**Tips:
You may want to use more than 1 lb of meatballs.  There just wasnt enough in this dish... although I didn't measure them, I think next time I will just make sure the whole top of the dish is covered in meatballs. 
As for the Moz. cheese, I think I might add more of that too.  I actually added a little fresh Parmesan to the top of mine as well to give it a little more flavor (aprox. 1/4 C)
Also, I forgot to defrost the meatballs before I added them to the sauce so they went in mostly frozen.  It seemed to work out fine.  I just left it in the oven a few minutes longer....making sure to keep and eye on it so the cheese didn't burn.  No one likes burnt cheese. 
The only complaint I got from this dish is that it was "too cheesy" meaning the cream cheese part.  I didn't add the whole bowl of mixture to the bread slices.  I just basically "buttered" each slice with the mayo/cream cheese mix and had a lot left over. Next time I might just cut that part of the recipe in half and see if that is better.  I still liked it this way, but I think a little less cream cheese would be good.
Oh and last but not least, this took about 45 minutes from fridge to table.  Not too shabby!