I hope you can stand two ground meat posts in a row.  That had not been my original intention this week, but the apple bars I made were only okay, and not really something I wanted to eat more of.  That was okay though, because then I made these meatballs for dinner last night I was floored with how tasty they were and I knew I needed to share them.  Not only did I think they were tasty- but the kids agreed.  Zander actually cleaned his plate of meatballs. That is unheard of around these parts.  Even if he really likes something, he just doesn’t clean his plate, so you know these meatballs must be good.

I found the original idea and recipe on a blog that I’ve been meaning to give a shout out to anyway.  A Year Of Crockpotting is Stephanie’s brainchild which involves cooking something in the crock-pot every single day of the year.  I find that task amazing, because as I’ve said before, crock-pot cookery is not my favorite.  But reading through her blog, she inspires me, and I already have my eye on a new crock-pot so that I can try some of her recipes out.  I also love that she’s honest, every recipe gets a verdict, and there have been one or two that still give her nightmares, so before you get all excited about trying a recipe, be sure to read through to the end of the post.  Anyway, I saw Stephanie make these meatballs a few weeks ago, and they’ve been in my mind ever since.  I wanted to use her recipe as a guideline and tweak it to be a stove-top recipe, and last night I did just that.

I made just a few changes to the recipe, mostly to suit our tastes, and also to utilize some fresh sage that I have a TON of in the garden.  Granted, two leaves hardly makes a dent in my large plant, but at least I can feel good about using it!  These meatballs came together in mere minutes.  It took just a minute or two to assemble the ingredients, another minute to roll them into balls, and then about 15 minutes to saute them to golden brown perfection.  While the meatballs were cooking I reheated some leftover egg noodles from the other day and assembled a spinach salad- bringing this meal to a 20-minute meal, tops. But the best part was that these meatballs were delicious! The apple in the ground turkey really gave it an unexpected burst of flavor but combined with the cheese and sage, it was a perfect marriage of fall flavors.  No leftovers indicate that this one is a keeper, although I did make just a half recipe for the three of us.  Check out these Cheddar-Apple Turkey Meatballs, and be sure and check out the original over at A Year Of Crockpotting, either way, these meatballs are delicious.

Cheddar-Apple Turkey Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey

1 small apple, peeled and shredded on a box grater

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

ground pepper to taste

2 fresh sage leaves, finely minced (alternately, 1/4 teaspoon dried)

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl until well combined. Roll mixture into walnut sized balls with your hands.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet set over medium heat.  Drop the meatballs in and cook, rolling occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through and nicely browned on the outside.  Serve immediately