Italian Meatballs, Marinara, Shells, and Garlic Bread!

While enjoying my morning coffee, I decided to get a head start on dinner by making three pounds of Italian meatballs from scratch. Then, I figured I may as well get a start on the marinara and used all of the available tomatoes from our garden, which included six different varieties. I added some tomato paste and sauce, some zucchini, onions, garlic, mushrooms, herbs, spices, and some Parmesan cheese.

I simmered the marinara for more than an hour and placed six meatballs in a freezer bag for another day. I then added the rest of the browned meatballs to the marinara for about an hour.

I cooked up some pasta shells and some homemade garlic bread, and we had a late-afternoon dinner.