KidMitts

Growing up I can remember many a meal at my grandparent’s dairy farm.  Meals were always cooked by my grandmother and they always consisted of meat, potatoes and vegetables.  Grandma sometimes cooked things that I wasn’t a big fan of as a kid but later on in life I came to enjoy.  One of those meals was her Sweet n’ sour meatballs. This recipe uses less than 10 ingredients that you most likely have in your house and  you can make this with either store bought or homemade meatballs.  The sauce is quick and easy to make and can be served with the meatballs, rice or even chicken.   Some kids may not like the sauce because it has small chunks of pineapple in it.  My daughter picks the pineapple out and seems to like it otherwise!

Grandma’s Sweet n’ Sour Meatballs

Sauce

14oz can Crushed Pineapple

14oz water (just use the empty can!)

1/2 cup of Ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vinegar (optional)

Thicken with a cornstarch slurry:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup water

Meatballs

1lb ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1tsp salt

1tsp pepper

Instructions:

For the sauce, mix all ingredients except the slurry mix in a sauce pot and bring to a boil.  Whisk in the slurry mixture and bring to a boil.  It should thicken up into a sauce.  Set sauce aside.

To make the meatballs, mix everything together and make into your preferred meatball size.  I like to make small meatballs for the kids so we don’t have to cut them up, or meatballs about 2Tbsp in size.  You can either fry the meatballs in a pan (watch out for burning!) or you can throw them on a baking sheet and cook them in the oven at 350F for about 20 minutes or until browned.  If you are doing up a large batch of meatballs, I suggest cooking them in the oven.

Either serve immediately, or put the meatballs and sauce in a dish to serve later.  This is a great potluck meal and can be served on it’s own or with a bed of rice. Or if you have kids, a side of rice that doesn’t come within 3 inches of touching the meatballs 🙂