Meatballs with shredded vegetables, simmered in a zippy sweet and sour sauce. Serve over brown rice or barley for a healthy and tasty meal.

Meatballs
1 lb lean ground beef
2 tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 egg
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup shredded carrot
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray

Sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yellow mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix together meatball ingredients. Scoop and shape into small meatballs. Fry in a non-stick skillet with cooking spray on medium heat. Or bake them at 350 for about 25-30 minutes until no longer pink inside. In a measuring cup, combine sauce ingredients, then pour into hot pan with cooked meatballs. Cover and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Serve over cooked brown rice or barley.

You should have seen Cole’s reaction when he saw we were having meatballs for dinner. He gasped and exclaimed ‘meatballs!! I love meatballs!!” and jumped up and down. I was shocked, because his normal reaction is to take one look at the food and proclaim his dislike for it before even trying it. This time though, he sat down and ate everything on his plate. ALL of it!  You don’t know how exciting that is for me. I was glad I snuck those veggies in the meatballs too so they were extra healthy. Oddly enough, it was Bennett who refused to eat anything. It was like I was in Bizarro world or something.  Tony and I both liked it a lot. I remember my mom used to make sweet and sour meatballs when I was a kid so it reminded me of home. It was real comfort food.

-Sauce recipe adapted from GoLo Kitchen