Sweet & Sour Meatballs

hello lovely readers of danica’s daily! my name is janetha (no worries, you only have to read it, you do not have to try to pronounce it!) and i write a little blog called meals & moves. i am thrilled that danica asked me to write up a guest post for while she is on vacay! she and i are both in the middle of a body for life challenge and i often get support, ideas and encouragement from the amazing danica. one thing that danica always does that i LOVE is convert yummy recipes into healthy ones! i am a fan of converting recipes as well and so today i am going to share my healthified version of sweet and sour meatballs. these meatballs were a staple in my home when i was growing up. i have fixed the original recipe on several occasions for friends at dinner parties and have even made miniature meatballs for cocktail parties. this is definitely a go-to dish for me and brings me a lot of comfort when i eat them. i love to take comfort foods and turn them into a meal i can eat all time time (without the guilt!). i also love this dish because it is VERY quick and easy and takes only a few minutes to prepare! it can also be made ahead of time and baked later. so without further ado, i give you the secret to meaty balls of love (as my friends and i so fondly refer to them as!) ingredients:

meatballs:

• 20 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3 egg whites, slightly beaten
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1/3 cup skim milk or milk substitute (i use almond milk)
• 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

sauce:

• 1/4 cup splenda brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 to 3 tsp yellow mustard, depending on how much you like it 😉
• 1/2 cup low sugar BBQ sauce
• 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TB corn starch, give or take.. to thicken sauce

directions: mix all ingredients for meatballs in a bowl

tip! when i dice onions, i first cut them one way, almost all the way through the onion but leaving just enough so it is still intact: i then slice it the other way: and then turn the onion on it’s side and slice into bits! i use egg whites from a carton~ a money saving tip is to buy these in bulk (if you can find them) and then freeze them! they can be frozen for up to a whole year. when you need a carton, just take it out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge a day before. by the time you are ready to use them they will be thawed out. once all your ingredients are in the bowl, mix the ingredients well. you can use a spoon, but honestly, your hands work best! tada! form mixture into equal size balls about 1 1/2” to 2” in diameter and place in a 13”x9” baking dish. next, whip up the sauce! mix all ingredients together and mix well with a whisk or fork. pour sauce over balls cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 [f] for about 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through time saving tip! you can cover these with plastic wrap and cook in the microwave for about 15 minutes if you are short on time. while they are baking, whip up a batch of brown rice. this makes 20 meatballs. for the calculated nutrition information, i used 3 meatballs and 1/3 cup of brown rice. serve these up on a bed of rice and douse in some of the sweet and sour sauce and enjoy! nutrition stats per serving: 231 calories, 26g protein, 26.5g carbs, 2.1g fat there you have it! a nice, clean, balanced recipe that tastes simply sinful. thanks for tuning in, come visit me sometime at meals & moves for more clean eating recipes! thanks for letting me guest post danica, i sure hope you are having fun on your trip! xo. janetha b.