Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sometimes I like to share recipes that help me use my Thrive foods from my Home Store.  It is always a good idea to "store what you eat and eat what you store."  I threw together this meal in record time thanks to the cooked ground beef and some other Thrive ingredients that I had on hand.  This recipe was a huge hit.  I had one serving left, only because I had taken some out to get a picture for the blog.  I didn't use that one and used my filled plate instead.

Ingredients:

2 cups THRIVE Cooked Beef, Ground

1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup THRIVE Instant Milk, re-hydrated (3/4 T. powder + 1/4 cup water)

2 T. THRIVE Chopped Onions (FD--freeze-dried)

1 t. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 THRIVE Whole Egg, re-hydrated (1 T. powder + 2 T. water)

1/2 cup THRIVE Brown Sugar, packed (I just used brown sugar from the store)

1 T. cornstarch

1 20-oz. can pineapple tidbits with juice

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 T. soy sauce

1/8 cup THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers

5 cups THRIVE White Rice, prepared (I used rice from the store)

1.  Re-hydrate freeze-dried meat by bringing 4 cups water to a boil.  Add beef and boil for 5 minutes. Drain excess water.

2.  Mix meat, dry bread crumbs, milk, onions, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and egg together; shape into twenty 1 1/2 inch sized balls.*

3.  Place in skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally until brown (about 20 minutes) OR (and this is what I did, so I could be working on something else like setting the table) Bake in an ungreased 9 X 13 pan at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until light brown.

4.  Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a skillet.  stir in pineapple with juice, vinegar, and soy sauce.

Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium, then add meatballs and peppers.

5.  Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.

* I made my meatballs ahead of time, put them in the fridge, and then baked them when I got home from work.  They are quick to come together anyway, because the ground beef comes precooked, but any little thing I can do ahead of time is good when you work until 5:00 and your guests are coming at 6:00, you know?

Source:  Thrive Cookbook, Food that Fits Your Lifestyle