Mid-Week Minute: It's a Spicy Meat-a-ball-a!

Well, actually it's just an easy, healthy, yummy meat-a-ball-a... but Wilder loooves them and your kid might too. My cousin Amber's son is about 9 months older than Wilder so I've gotten many a hand-me-down and many a piece of advice from her over the last year. When I started feeding Wilder solids I asked what kinds of real foods Henry liked and she gave me this meatball recipe with rave reviews. Wilder was still a little young for it at the time so I filed it away in my recipe section of Evernote (You don't know about Evernote?? Check it out! It's been a lifesaver for me.) to try later. Of course I promptly forgot about it, as a person with mommy-brain is wont to do. But when we got back from Tennessee a few weeks ago, Wilder went through a minor picky eating phase so I dug around in my files and decided to try the long-lost meatball recipe. Y'all. Wilder pretty much gobbles them up and I love them because you can literally throw in everything but the kitchen sink and know that your kid is getting protein, fiber, vegetables, etc. all rolled into delicious, easy little balls of goodness. The recipe is below but you don't have to follow the ingredients to a tee. I used ground pork, chopped spinach, garlic powder, and I also mashed some leftover garbanzo beans to throw in for good measure. 

Baby Meatballs

1 lb. of ground turkey or beef

1 egg

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 tbsp. of mustard

1/2 cup of shredded parmesan or mozarella cheese

1-2 mashed or chopped servings of whatever vegetables you have on hand

(sweet potatoes, beans, spinach/greens, edamame, peas, carrots, etc.)

Some kind of seasoning(s)

(cumin, cilantro, garlic powder, etc.)

Just throw all of this in a bowl and mix it up with your hands. Roll into little 1 inch or so balls and put onto a cookie sheet (may need to spray with Pam). Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 - 45 minutes (until browned).

These should keep in the fridge for about 3 days so you can leave a few out, freeze the rest, and just defrost in the microwave as you need them. 

So there you go! Let me know if you try them, how your kid likes them, and what combination of ingredients you tried. Have a great week and see you back here on Friday (or Saturday or Sunday... I'm knee deep in birthday party planning here people, give me a break!) for Wilder's Week 49 update.