Good Eating Monday: Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs!

Last Friday I wrote about how Cardinals have figured out how to get inside my squirrel-proof feeder cage that's designed for smaller birds. Last year one male Cardinal figured it out. This spring a female figured it and since then, they've been teaching all their youngsters how to get in and dine like kings, too.

Here's a photo of a typical day at the feeder: two juvenile Cardinals sitting on the bottom of the feeder, hogging the feeding holes. (Being too big to sit on the perches!)
 A Purple Finch is sitting on the hook above, waiting her turn.  Amusing.


Today's Good Eating Recipe is one I've got in the slow-cooker right now: Slow-Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs!

It's a Pinterest recipe I'm trying out that someone pinned from SixSistersStuff.com. 

Basically they're sweet n' sour meatballs and I love just about any recipe that will let me use frozen turkey meatballs! Plus my bell pepper plant presented me with a beautiful green pepper I wanted to use!

Slow- Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs 

Ingredients:

1 32 oz  package of precooked, frozen meatballs (you could use turkey meatballs)

13.5 oz can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (drain juice & set juice aside to make sauce with)
1 large green bell pepper cut into chunks  1/2 in. to 1 in. size.

1 cup of brown sugar

2 Tablespoons. cornstarch
2/3 cup of white vinegar (apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar would also work, if that's what you have.)
2 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce

Directions:

Place meatballs in crock pot and top with green pepper and drained pineapple chunks.  In a separate bowl, mix reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce.  Pour sauce over meatballs, pineapple and green peppers.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. Serve over steamed rice. 
*****
After Action Report: 
These were delicious! It's a keeper recipe!
Though, I must say, the result was lighter in color then the photo, but not unexpected: adding cornstarch does lighten things.
We especially liked that the fresh green pepper didn't get mushy, but retained a touch of crispness.
I also found it helpful to put the slow-cooker on high for the last 30 minutes to get the cornstarch to thicken well and I had to add a bit of extra cornstarch, but that's because I used fresh pineapple. I learned that fresh pineapple is sooo juicy by itself, it doesn't need extra juice added. It makes it's plenty of it's own. So, there's that if you use fresh: skip the extra juice addition and up the cornstarch by another tablespoon. :)
*****

Eat up, me hearties, yo-ho!