Baked Turkey-Zucchini Meatballs

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Yesterday I had myself a little meatball Monday!

I decided to make turkey meatballs a while back, but was just now getting around to it. I based my recipe/cooking time roughly on this great little tutorial found on Pinterest.

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.

Here's what you will need for my version:

•  1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
•  1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
•  2-3 tablespoons of garlic (per your liking)
•  1 package Italian dressing mix
•  1/2 cup of grated zucchini, pressed to remove some of the liquid
• (note on the zucchini, the other recipe called for onions and spinach, but I didn't have either on hand so I made this little substitution. Chopped onions, spinach or other veggie would work too!)
•  1 package lean ground turkey (1 - 1.5 lbs)
•  1 egg (not pictured)

Start by putting all the ingredients except the meat and egg in a mixing bowl.

Add in ground turkey and mix well - I like to use my hands for this, but a spoon or spatula should do the trick. Then drop your egg in and mix in as well.

Once the mixture is consistent, you are ready to get ballin'! Prep a cookie sheet by covering with aluminum foil (you can skip the foil, but it's way easier clean up that way!). Spray the tray with a little cooking spray so your meatballs don't stick. I also spray my hands for rolling the balls!

Roll meat into inch and half to two inch diameter balls. You can really do them any size, but that was what mine were. you can see them here.

Then pop them in your pre-heated oven.

I baked mine for 15 minutes per the instructions on the other recipe. I ended up adding 5 minutes to that time - so aim for 20 minutes total! Then they come out all browned and smelling delicious!

Cut one open to make sure they are cooked all the way through. With ground turkey you cannot have ANY PINK.

PERFECT!

From here you could do a lot with your meat balls! You could load up some subs with meatballs and marinara, make some gravy and have them over noodles or rice, or you can be like me and go with the classic - over pasta with marinara. I just used the jar stuff, but if you're real ambitious I am sure Pinterest can lend you a good homemade sauce recipe too!

So I boiled myself some whole-wheat spirals, and then added the meatballs to some marinara.

I let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for a little while. Then I dished up and topped with a little shredded cheese. YUM!!! Even James liked them - said they were really good! Although once I told him what was in them he was a little skeptical. That's the trick girls - have them eat a few first before you drop the bomb that they are healthy!

Last night I also got my new license plates in the mail! Wahoo! So excited for my University of Idaho flair!

Most random plate number ever.

Then I lounged around with these fools while trying to blog from my phone for my weekend re-cap. Who can resist these silly boys?!

That's all for now.

TTFN Friends!
Laura