How My Family Would "Do Us a Flavor" with Lay's

I participated in an Ambassador Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Lay’s. I received a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Does your family have a fall-back meal?

You know, the meal you make when you want the whole family to dig in. No matter how busy you are, you could make it in your sleep. Even the pickiest eaters will have their cheeks too stuffed to complain?

In my house that honor would go to my homemade meatballs and spaghetti. Meaty and juicy little orbs of flavor swimming in a tasty marinara sauce and resting on a nest of pasta. Mmm... pasta.

 I could buy frozen meatballs, but they lack the love that I put into each of mine. Well, that and the copious amounts of garlic and extra Parmesan Cheese. When you cook from scratch you have complete control over everything.

I usually make up a big batch and freeze most of them. I store them in the freezer and pull some out every week. Yeah, we eat a lot of spaghetti and meatballs in my house.

I enjoy this family favorite so much, I think I could even snack on it as a potato chip flavor.

Do you remember the contest from Lay's last year where people could create their own potato chip flavor? The winners had their creations transformed into chip form and they hit the shelves. I swooned just a little over the Sriracha flavor.

Well, Lay's is bringing out "Do Us a Flavor" this year and asking nationwide for potato chip lovers everywhere to create the next great potato chip flavor. Submissions will have the chance to win a $1 million grand prize ("See Rules"). A judging panel made up of chefs, foodies and flavor experts will narrow down the contest submissions to four finalist flavors. The four finalist flavors will then be fully developed by Frito-Lay’s culinary experts and unveiled in summer 2014 and sold nationwide. From there, it will be up to fans to vote for the finalist flavor they want to see stay on store shelves, and the finalist behind the winning flavor will take home the million dollar grand prize.

And this year, fans can even choose the type of chip - Lay’s Original, Lay’s Kettle Cooked and/or Lay’s Wavy - to bring their culinary creations to life.

The "Do Us a Flavor" contest ends April 5th, 2014, so there is no time to waste! Push up those sleeves, pick up your forks and start looking for the next best potato chip flavor.

Mine will definately be spaghetti and meatballs...

Andrea's Best Meatball Recipe

You Will Need:

• 1 medium yellow onion, grated
• 1-2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
• 2/3 c. milk
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 1 large egg
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 Tbsp. dried parsely
• 2 tsp. granulated onion powder
• 1 tsp. Worchestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil

Start by sauteing the onion till translucent over medium low heat with a teaspoon of olive oil. Set the onions aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients, except the canola oil, and mix gently by hand till everything is combined. With a small cookie scoop, portion out the meat mixture and roll into balls.

Heat up a cast iron skillet with a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Working in batches, place a single layer of meatballs in the pan.  Do not overcrowd them. You need enough room to turn them once they begin to carmelize on one side. Keep turning till they are uniformly browned all over. Place on a rack over paper towels to drain off any excess grease. Continue until all the meatballs are cooked. Let them cool and then freeze in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Transfer to freezer bags for storing.

To use, in a small saucepan add tomato sauce and thin with a little chicken stock. Place the frozen meatballs in the pan and simmer for 20 minutes on low. Serve over pasta and enjoy!

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I hope my meatball recipe helped to inspire your own "Do Us a Flavor" submission. I can't wait to see what delicious ideas everyone comes up with. Good luck!