Meatball Tortellini Soup for the Trail

[@ninagerulski8832]

Well..I tried this recipe and my husband, who I have lovingly nicknamed ‘Mikey’, loved it. Thank you for this quick, easy and delicious meal ❤

[@trailgrazers3690]

You are so welcome!

[@lynnstubblefield5206]

Freeze drying Costco meatballs I use my kitchen shears and cut them into 4 pieces while still frozen, then they rehydrate quite quickly. The Winco brand which are smaller get cut in half. I do enjoy the ease of freeze drying already made foods ( I am lazy)!!!

[@trailgrazers3690]

Great idea!!! Thanks.

[@byronspade1633]

Another great meal prep idea. I am going to make this with venison burger and freeze dry it. Thanks for all your great ideas. I love yiur channels

[@trailgrazers3690]

Sounds great!

[@gardengrowinmawmaw8642]

When I freeze dry meatballs, I cut them in half before freezing them. This works well.

[@trailgrazers3690]

Good to know. Thanks.

[@DeeDeeDIY]

Yummy. Thanks for sharing.

[@trailgrazers3690]

My pleasure 😊

[@donnamullins2089]

Soup looks delicious. Thanks.

[@trailgrazers3690]

You are welcome.

[@danniemcdonald7675]

That looks delicious! Its getting cold here in Mississippi, so time to get out the soup pot!.😊

[@trailgrazers3690]

Getting cold here as well. We love soups in the cold weather.

[@pattf1002]

Pam, I took several cans of tomato paste and plopped tablespoons full onto my silicon covered tray and freeze dried it. I keep it is a quart jar with a desiccant packet. It is so handy to use only what I need, which is almost always in Tablespoons, if not small cans. It works great!!

[@trailgrazers3690]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this great idea.

[@mickeyhinkson1750]

I flip the top of my freezer bags down into a “cuff” while filling them. It works well to protect the zip seal from food particles so they seal properly.

[@trailgrazers3690]

Very clever! Thanks for the tip!

[@melinaz3385]

Great recipe for meatball soup! If necessary, the meatballs can be cut into smaller pieces for Freeze drying into 8ths. For trail food. But mostly for here at home, for now, until late spring we preserve them by freezing, or canning. We did try some retort commercial packaged Beef & Chicken Meatballs in spaghetti sauce from Hereford, a bit salty, but in a pinch could rinse and reduce the salt.or make it a soup

[@trailgrazers3690]

Great tip! Thanks.

[@cathiruh1979]

I can't remember who taught me this trick, but it works very well to get the air out of freezer bags! Fill a large bowl or pot with water, then submerge your bag until the water has expelled the air and seal your bag.

[@kayeh3881]

That is a GREAT idea!!! Thanks for sharing! 😊

[@lillypatience]

That’s how I do it for sous vide 👍

[@trailgrazers3690]

That is how I do sous vide as well! Yes, great tip! Thansk.

[@marthawallen]

You can actually put left over tomato paste on parchment paper and then in a ziplock bag and freeze it for later use. I have done that many times and it really comes in handy.

[@trailgrazers3690]

Great idea! Thanks.

[@lisapop5219]

The leftover tomato paste can be put into the washed broth bag and put in the freezer. I do it all the time. If you don't want to reuse a bag, you can use a fresh one. I have been known to wash a bag and put the same thing in it again next time. I don't reuse ones that had raw meat

[@TheErador]

Yep I'm never convinced that you can wash it well enough after raw meats

[@trailgrazers3690]

Great tip! I am with you on not reusing bags that held raw meat.

[@wayne2091]

I buy tomato paste for everyday use in a tube for an easy way to keep what I don't use.

[@trailgrazers3690]

I just saw that the other day and think it is a great way to package it! Thanks.

[@lisagoldberg5178]

Perfect recipe for a cold fall/winter day! I have everything on hand except tortellini, but I have plenty of gnocchi, so I will make it with gnocchi. Going to Costco on Sunday so I will see if they have tortellini for the next batch. This will be great with some garlic bread and a side salad. Thank you Pam and Jim.

[@trailgrazers3690]

Sounds great! You are very welcome.

[@marygallagher3428]

The soup looks yummy! Could you crumble up the Costco meatballs and then put them in the soup and freeze-dry the soup (instead of using ground beef)? Would solve the rehydration problem?

[@trailgrazers3690]

Others have reported that they cut them in quarters and they do just fine. We will be trying that soon.

[@wendydriggs1539]

Pam and Jim, Have you tried cutting each meatball in half before freeze-drying them? I have started to do that so they can rehydrate all the way to the center.

[@trailgrazers3690]

Others have also made that suggestion and we think it is a great idea!

[@barbeewear4240]

Topic for another video - what methods do you use to pack freeze dried meals for a hotel road trip (jars vs Mylar bags for rehydration ease). ( I haven’t reviewed the other video series so sorry if already covered.)

[@trailgrazers3690]

Great suggestion! We have not yet tried out our food in hotel rooms, but that will be coming up this winter with our road trips and we will definitely make a video on that topic! Thanks.

[@wayne2091]

how is it that I don't see your post until 7 days later?

[@trailgrazers3690]

Not sure!!! No one else has mentioned that problem.

[@elizabethhesson4720]

@Trail Grazers can this be canned as a soup minus thr tortellini?

[@trailgrazers3690]

Provided you follow the USDA recommendations for canning your own soup recipe. I would not use meatballs if canning but cooked hamburger would work.

[@marilynweber7957]

In my freeze drying 6 years I've found that most of the slices of sausage, meatballs, etc. are way too big - I cut them up into little chunks so that they rehydrate with the rest of the food - but in this I would probably just cook the meat and add it in -

[@trailgrazers3690]

Thank you--great tip.