On Top of Spaghetti (or Rice)

As it's getting late and Santa's helpers need to be busy, I'll just add this quick post for meatballs.  Yep, meatballs.  Not the imitation meat thingies that come in a can of Chef Boyardee or even the frozen meat nuggets you buy at Sam's Cub in a bag of 26,000 (Those aren't too bad, though).  Nope, these are homemade balls of real meat--no filler--100% ground beef, although I suppose you could make them out of any meat you wanted to.  That includes ground turkey for all my not beef friends...or ground venison for my hunter friends...or even tofu for my vegan buddies.  However, for this recipe I'm just gonna call it meat.  That way you can salivate over whatever tickles your hungry bone at the moment.  I'm also going to post two sauce recipes.

Nobody sneeze!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs (This recipe comes from Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen by Sara Wells and Kate Jones.)

1 lb. ground beef (or whatever)
2 Tbsp. dehydrated onion (the kids prefer them without)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. bread crumbs

Sweet and Sour Sauce
 3/4 c. packaged brown sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. water or pineapple juice
1/4 c. white vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1. In a medium bowl, combine meatball ingredients.  Shape into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Place under broiler in your oven for 5-7 minutes or until the meatballs begin to brown.

2. In a large saucepan, whisk together the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.  Add the meatballs and reduce heat, cover, and simmer fro 20 minutes, stirring often.

Another sauce that we like at my house is to simply mix a jar of grape jelly and a jar of chili sauce and let the meatballs, or little smokeys, or whatever simmer in the crockpot on low until game time (3-4 hours).

These meatballs can also be tampered with, seasoning them with more of an Italian flair to add to your spaghetti and marinara.  Or you can spice them up and serve them albondigas style.  Also try your favorite meatloaf recipe and make it into balls instead of a loaf.  It's great for sandwiches.  They freeze fairly well, too.