Last night's dinner (Creamy Parmesan Pasta with Turkey Meatballs) was a disaster. Not a full-blown-better-order-pizza kind of disaster, but it fairly well stank. Luckily Doug was at a golf outing, and as long as I ate a little, I could pretend it was good enough for the kids to eat. Fortunately two of them just ate buttered pasta and meatballs. I really thought it would be a winner recipe, but that's the way the meatball bounces.
Which brings me to the lemonade part of this lemon recipe. One of the kids (one who was eating buttered noodles and plain meatballs) decided that the turkey meatballs tasted just like chicken nuggets. Not the kind of chicken nuggets that you make at home with real chicken, but the kind you eat here. The meatballs were a little more firm than I normally make (partly from the all white meat turkey and partly from the dry bread crumbs I used). And they were a little, shall I say, crunchy, from a not-so-quick trip in the oven while the pasta cooked. Apparently all of the above combined resulted in a chicken nugget-like meatball.
So, while I was munching on my meatballs and blah-tasting fettuccine, I thought, "These would actually be good lunch food." A little barbecue sauce or ketchup on the side and these would actually be good-for-you kid food. They are low in fat (unlike real chicken nuggets), a good source of protein and several vitamins, and there is nothing processed about them. So, I'm going to buy a couple pounds of ground turkey breast and make a couple batches of meatballs to keep in the freezer. A quick trip to the oven after thawing should be an easy and fairly good lunch, aside some cheese cubes or yogurt, and raw veggies or fruit slices.
Kid-Style Turkey Meatballs
1 pound white meat ground turkey
3/4 c. Italian style dry bread crumbs
1/2 t. ground pepper*
2 eggs
2 T. olive oil
1 T. corn oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients, except oils, together thoroughly.
Heat nonstick skillet and add oil.
Form meat into balls -- about 1.5 inches in diameter (almost a golf ball).
Fry meatballs, turning frequently until browned on the outside.
Transfer to a baking sheet and place in oven.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until done in the middle
(it really depends on the exact size of your meatballs and the temperature of your mix).
Cool slightly and serve with sauce for dipping.
To freeze, cool completely, and place in freezer bags.
To serve after freezing, thaw completely and pop in a 350 degree oven until hot
(I'm guessing here, but probably under five minutes).
* My meatballs were salty enough from the Italian bread crumbs.
You can add salt if you know your breadcrumbs will not make your meatballs too salty. I would just salt at the end as needed.
.
1 pound white meat ground turkey
3/4 c. Italian style dry bread crumbs
1/2 t. ground pepper*
2 eggs
2 T. olive oil
1 T. corn oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients, except oils, together thoroughly.
Heat nonstick skillet and add oil.
Form meat into balls -- about 1.5 inches in diameter (almost a golf ball).
Fry meatballs, turning frequently until browned on the outside.
Transfer to a baking sheet and place in oven.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until done in the middle
(it really depends on the exact size of your meatballs and the temperature of your mix).
Cool slightly and serve with sauce for dipping.
To freeze, cool completely, and place in freezer bags.
To serve after freezing, thaw completely and pop in a 350 degree oven until hot
(I'm guessing here, but probably under five minutes).
* My meatballs were salty enough from the Italian bread crumbs.
You can add salt if you know your breadcrumbs will not make your meatballs too salty. I would just salt at the end as needed.
.
2 comments:
I am going to try these! My kids would live on chicken nuggets if I let them, so these have some big time potential!
Let me know what you think, Aimee. Maybe we were way off base, but my kids are usually pretty darned honest (like it or not)!
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