Okay so here goes! I used a box of frozen blue menu lean italian meatballs for this. It has 64 meatballs in the box for $6.99. There is very little fat on them and they taste good. This is faster than making meatballs, which I do sometimes do but not this month!
Sauce:
1 can crushed pineapple
4 tbsp of white vinegar
2 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
sprinkle of hot dried pepper flakes
sprinkle of seasoning salt
1/4 cup of pureed broccoli/spinach/peas
palmful of sesame seeds (optional)
2 cubes of spinach juice
1 colored pepper cut in rough chunks (to be able to be picked out - lol)
a few extra pineapple wedges (optional)
Mix up all your sauce ingredients (not including the cornstarch or pepper chunks or pineapple wedges) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then add your pepper wedges and pineapple chunks.
Meanwhile, pour your frozen meatballs into a slow cooker. Turn on low.
Pour your sauce over your meatballs and continue to cook on low for about 4 hours. This sneaky sauce has fruit (pineapple), veggies (broccoli, spinach and peas) and extra veggie power (the spinach juice that 1 tbsp is the same as 1/4 cup raw spinach leaves - so two cubes is equal to 4 tbsp which is the same as 1 entire cup of raw spinach leaves!)
What I like to serve with this is quinoa! Have you tried it? Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It has a tasty, fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. It is also extremely nutritious. Not only is quinoa high in protein (6g of protein in 1/4 cup!), but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, and quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. It also has 3g of fiber in a 1/4 cup.
In order to make the quinoa more nutritious (of course I have to meddle with it!) here is what I do:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup pureed cauliflower/zuchinni
I cook my quinoa in my rice cooker. It is fast. Pour the quinoa and water into the cooker and cook! Once done, I add my pureed veggies and a bit of salt and pepper for seasoning (optional). Mix and serve with your meatballs! Sooo yummy!
To be extra veggie-ish I also will serve this with veggies on the side. Today it will be raw veggies since I am sure my kids will at least eat one carrot stick - lol!
Enjoy!
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