Raise your hands if your kids LOVE spaghetti, but the mortgage payers are tired of it being on the weekly rotation. If you are feeling a breeze in your pits, this one’s for you!

George’s favorite part of spaghetti night is the “spaghetti bread.” In our house this is typically leftover hamburger or hotdog buns baked with garlic butter. Abbey, on the other hand, loves the pasta but has recently found a slight obsession with meatballs. This quick, easy, and cheap meal makes everyone happy and has the husband asking to have them more often. Win Win Win.

Ok, here is what all you will need and it rings in at Aldi for around $9 including a bag of chips! Have a big family or hungry guests? Grab another pack of hoagie rolls and you are still around $12. Can’t beat it!!

I only have a half block of mozzarella pictured because I used the other half for our last round. There are a bunch of meatballs in the bag, but you only need 4 per boat. We go ahead and cook them all because they make great after school snacks. But seriously, this is what is leftover after putting 6 boats in to bake.

Ok. So now how to put them together. Turn your oven on to 350 and dump the frozen meatballs on a pan with some foil for easy cleanup. After they go in, put your hoagie rolls on another foil lined pan. Why the foil? Nobody likes scrubbing pans.

Using a paring knife, cut rectangles into the tops of your hoagies. Smash the rectangle down and pinch the sides to make your boats like so.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a bowl and put as much garlic and Italian seasoning as you want. I use unsalted butter so a pinch of salt may be needed. Brush your boats with the garlic butter and pop them in the oven while your meatballs finish up.

Now the fun part! Spoon a little sauce in the bottom of each, and then add 4 meatballs to each. This is a fun task for kids as well, and also a great fine motor exercise…. teacher at heart.

Now add a little bit more sauce, pile on some mozzarella, and sprinkle with a little more Italian Seasoning. Back in the oven to get melty and you are good to go!

Let me know how you and your hungry crew like them! Eat up and be happy!

-C