I made and still make meatballs which dts (now 4 so no longer toddlers!) love.
Turkey or steak mince (200g)
Onion
Pinch of chilli powder
Mixed herbs
Mixed together to form little meatballs, place in ovenproof dish, add a little bit of olive oil and cook in oven gas 4 for about 20-25 minutes. I usually serve it with tagliatelle (messy fun!) and some of the pasta sauce below, which I copied from a post I wrote earlier.
Makes about 3 litres for use as pasta sauce or pizza topping. I freeze it in smaller batches so I can defrost just what I need, for a more tomatoey sauce I add another 2 tins. It seems like tons but is easy enough to make and lasts ages so worth the time and effort.
3 tbsp olive oil
2 red peppers, chopped
3 small onions, chopped
3 courgettes, grated
3 carrots, grated
butternut squash, peeled and grated
6x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
2 bay leaves
pinch of dried oregano
Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large saucepan (I have to use 2 as I don't have a pot big enough as yet!) Fry onion, pepper, courgette, carrot and butternut squash for 5-10 minutes. Add oregano, bay leaves & tomatoes then season. Simmer about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before blitzing with a hand blender until sauce is smooth.
To make a smaller portion follow the cooking instructions as above but use:
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 courgettes, grated
2 carrots, grated
butternut squash, peeled and chopped
pinch of oregano
1 bay leaf
2-3x 400g tins of tomatoes
DH worked out how cost effective it was, he is a bit like that and it was a lot less than store bought stuff even if buying as many ingredients organic as possible. We are on a tight budget but as dts (4) love this so much I find it the best way to get as many veggies in them at one sitting!
This works brilliantly as pizza topping with just some cheese sprinkled over it.