Hawaiian Meatballs

This is an old family favorite of ours. I originally got this recipe from my Mother-in-Law (a source of many of my best recipes). It is quick and tasty. I usually try to keep all the ingredients for this recipe on hand, so I can make it when I can't figure out what else to make. I also sometimes make a whole bunch of the meatballs in advance and freeze them. Then all I have to do is prepare the veggies and the sauce and put the casserole in the oven. I always serve this dish over rice. The kids are OK with this one.... Claire picks out the green pepper and Marco picks out the pineapple, mandarins, green pepper, mushrooms and almonds (that's right- he basically will only eat the meatballs and the rice, but he's only 4 and all that other stuff is just too exotic for him).

Hawaiian Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef, lean
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Heinz 57 sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup rolled oats.

Remaining Ingredients:
19 oz can pineapple tidbits
1 can mandarin sections
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper chopped
1 package blanched almonds

1. For meatballs: Mix all ingredients and shape into 1" balls. Spread on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Place meatballs in casserole dish that has a cover.

2. For sauce: In a saucepan, mix juice from the pineapples, juice from the mandarins, vinegar, soy sauce, vinegar and cornstarch. Whisk and bring to a boil. Stir until thickened.

3. To the meatballs in the casserole dish, add mushrooms (drain the mushrooms and discard the liquid first), green pepper, pineapple, mandarins and almonds (don't mix just layer it all up).

4. Pour sauce over casserole and bake covered at 350F for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.