Well Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, or really my recipe consultant Jessica, did it again. They found me an outstandingly delicious meal for my whole family.
- Meatballs:
- 2 lbs ground beef (lean) - (I used ground turkey)
- 2 large eggs
- cup dry breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- teaspoon garlic powder
- Sauce:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 ¾ cups pineapple juice (reserved from pineapple tidbits – use water to make up the difference if you don’t have enough reserved juice)
- cup white vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 (14 oz) can pineapple tidbits
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Make the meatballs by combining all meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into about 1” meatballs.
- Brown Meatballs in a non-stick frying pan and drain on paper towels (or if you want to save time brown in the oven on a cookie sheet while you’re making the sauce).
- Make the sauce by combining cornstarch and brown sugar in a sauce pan. Then add 1 ¾ cup pineapple juice and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and stir. Simmer uncovered on medium low until thickened (about 8 minutes – mine only took about 4 minutes to thicken).
- In a casserole dish pour sauce over meatballs and add pineapple tidbits. Lightly mix meatballs until they are coated with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until fully cooked.
These were unbelievably delicious, everyone (yes, everyone) loved them. Two caveats though – one is that it was a little too time consuming for my life. I always feel good when I make things from scratch but rolling the balls, sauteeing them and THEN baking!!! By the time dinner was ready, the locals were restless! The second issue is that they were really sweet and I gather very high in sugar (given the brown sugar, pineapple everything, etc.). I put it all over brown rice and used ground turkey but my inkling is that these were not remotely low fat. I will say that it was worth it to have a meal that everyone enjoyed.
I'm a mother, wife, daughter, and friend. Until recently I was also an employee. Now that I'm a full time mom, I've decided to make my thoughts, concerns and feelings public.
