Sweet & Sour Meatballs

When I was growing up, my mom would let us choose our birthday meal, not just our birthday cake. I ALWAYS chose her amazing Sweet & Sour Meatballs. She served these flavorful meatballs with peas and fettucini alfredo. Are you drooling yet?

I tend to make several batches of meatballs at once and freeze them for future Spaghetti & Meatballs or Sweet & Sour Meatballs dinners. My meatball recipe is slightly modified from Mom's since I take advantage of Egg Beaters to lower the cholesterol of the recipe (and garlic powder rather than garlic salt).

Meatballs

1 lb lean ground beef

1/3 c seasoned Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Egg Beaters

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

splash of milk

Blend the meat, but don't overmix or the meatballs will taste tough. Form 1" meatballs and place on a baking dish. Bake at 500 degrees until browned, approximately 10 minutes. Use or freeze immediately.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 batch of meatballs

1 jar La Choy Sweet & Sour Sauce

1 14oz can pineapple chunks

Warm the ingredients on the stovetop or in a Crock Pot. Tastes wonderful with mashed potatoes (or fetuccini alfredo). Serves 3-4.

Smashing Super Bowl Chili

Ok... Apologies in advance for not having a picture! It's a testament to how quickly this meal was eaten.

One of the really challenging culinary days for me is Super Bowl Sunday. All those nachos, wings, pizza, etc are delicious, but clearly not Weight Watcher friendly! Therefore, I carefully planned our menu this Super Bowl Sunday to include modified family favorites that have a healthier spin. That and watching portion sizes should make the weekly weigh-in as palatable as the food!

The chili was so good, my sweet husband asked me to make chili with this recipe from now on. It had a rich, satifying meatiness and just enough spicyness to make you feel like a super hero....

Super Bowl Chili
1 15.5oz can Brooks Hot Chili Beans
1 15.5oz can Brooks Mild Chili Beans
2 15.5oz cans diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 bell pepper, diced
1lb lean ground beef, browned
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 c small pasta shells, cooked al dente

Brown the beef, then "sweat" the peppers until tender. Add everythig to the Crock Pot except the pasta. Cook on Low for 8 hours. Add the pasta right before serving. Enjoy with corn bread!