Healthy Asian Meatballs

I've never cried during a reality TV show before. Yet last night I was crying over The Biggest Loser as Julio was voted off. I've mentioned here before Julio and his family are friends with my brother's family. I was so moved by the way that no one really wanted him to go and he was in turn telling them it was ok, he understood! I loved the pictures of how he has lost 100 pounds to date since leaving the show.

In honor of Julio today I'm posting the Asian Meatballs I made last week from my 1999 Simply the Best Weight Watchers cookbook, one of my all time modern favorites. I may also put in a few more healthy recipes. Don't worry, I won't do too many - there are almost none in my vintage cookbook collection! However, my brother's wife Laura will be guest blogging with her low fat cannoli cake towards the holidays too. That is amazing.

Asian Meatballs

10 oz. ground skinless turkey breast (I just used a pound)

1/2 green bell peppers, seeded and minced (I never mince. I was making this while my toddler desperately tried to help me. Impossible. My pieces were more like loosely chopped.)

4 scallions, thinly sliced (I skipped these)

1/3 cup fine dried bread crumbs (I had some regular Italian ones in the can.)

2 tablespoons minced water chestnuts (again, cut in chunks)

1 egg white

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup sweet and sour sauce

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a nonstick jelly-roll pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, lightly combine the turkey, pepper, scallions, bread crumbs, water chestnuts, egg white and soy sauce. Shape into 32 equal meatballs (or closely approximating equal...) about 1 " each; place on the pan. Bake until cooked through and browned, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a 2-quart microwavable dish, combine the sweet and sour sauce and applesauce; microwave on High until hot and bubbling, 2 minutes. Stir in the meatballs and serve with toothpicks.

My parents loved this too. I served it on yolk-free noodles, but the meatballs alone are 2 pts. each in WW speak. I'm down 12 pounds now, due to lots of eating out this week and lots of time sitting at the computer to make my deadline. I'll move more this week!

So far several libraries have booked my Crazy About Cakes program for Valentine's Day. Think of 5 special occasions in your life. What cakes were served? See? They are tied to special things often. What's your favorite cake? Mine is still Red Velvet. If you follow me on Twitter twitter.com/AmyAlessio, my photo is a Red Velvet cake.