Turkey Meatballs

Over the last few months, I have taken a preference to cooking with ground turkey over ground beef, especially in the instance of meatballs or meatloaf. I've become partial to both the flavor and the leanness of the turkey. I love making meatballs as an appetizer for parties served both warm and cold or for sandwiches and pastas. I've made several variations of these, usually determined by what I have in the house at that given moment, and what I love is that they are so easy and always turn out delicious! Fun ingredients such as pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes are great for a unique flavor, but since we've been counting calories, I decided to keep these fairly simple...

Ingredients:

1 package (1.25 lbs.) Jennie-O Ground Turkey Breast, thawed (I feel like I should get paid for all the shout outs I give, but they are consistently lower in calories than other brands)

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/4 cup grated yellow or white onion

1 Tbs minced garlic

1/4 cup apple sauce

3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes

3 Tbs egg whites

3 slices Sara Lee 45 calorie per slice bread

1/2 cup turkey pepperoni, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Dehydrate your bread slices. I like to put them in my oven heated to 170-175 and forget about them for a good 30 minutes to an hour.

Combine all the ingredients into large bowl and get good and dirty! Crumble bread slices as best as possible. Use your hands to thoroughly mix.

Shape them into balls- larger than golf ball size, maybe 1.5 to 2"- and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 degrees.

Yield: 24 meatballs, at 41 calories a piece!

Try serving 2, sliced in half, with 1/4 cup of marinara, 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella, open faced on a slice of toasted 45 calorie bread and you have a yummy meal for only 237 calories!