Sweet and Tangy Balls.... of Meat!

So the Fourth of July is just days away as I'm writing this and with my work schedule, I have very little free time.  We call it 'move-up' where we essentially cram 5 days of work into 4 days,... but also go in on the weekend, just to get an extra(?) day off. That's my excuse this week and I'm sticking to it! I've got to sleep sometime, so I'm just going to throw a quick recipe on the blog, and hopefully will do more in the weeks to come. I did the obligatory color changing text that some feel necessary to mark the holiday...lol!

Not sure if we are doing a party ourselves this weekend, but I decided to do recipe test run. I looked at a bunch of recipes, and decide to combine a few elements and see how it came out, I thought it was a success. The classic meatball appetizer recipes are usually Chili Sauce and Welch's Grape Jelly (and I underlined Welch's because apparently some people are emphatic that it can NOT be any other kind.).  As I was getting ready to prepare everything I noticed on the Heinz bottle it suggested a can of cranberry sauce instead, which I thought was interesting. But of course I also HAD to use the Welch's too!  Plus, I saw a recipe that called for lemon juice, and I thought with adding the extra jelly, I'd need a bit more tang....  so, here is the recipe I made this weekend.

The Lazy Diva's Sweet and Tangy Crockpot Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 bag of Frozen Meatballs
1 jar of Chili Sauce
1 can of  Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1/3 cup of Grape Jelly
1 squirt of Lemon Juice

1)  ADD ALL THE INGREDIENTS EXCEPT THE MEATBALLS TO THE CROCKPOT

I suggest using a crockpot liner, but it's up to you!  I turned the crockpot on high, and stirred and broke everything down.  Then I let it heat up for a few minutes and stirred it again.  

2) ADD THE MEATBALLS

Stir the Meatballs and the sauce together, and try to make sure everything is coated.

3) COOK FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS ON HIGH

If you're sticking close to home while this is cooking, just go in and stir it a couple of times to make sure everything is coated.  I had 4:30 hours until hubby came home, so I was sampling 3 hours in, but it was officially 4 1/2 hours of cooking in that we ate.

4) ENJOY!

We totally ate these as a meal!  I just left them in the crockpot and turned them down to the 'warm' setting.  I knew someone would be revisiting these again later in the evening.  In the end I went to bed and forgot about them, so when I got up in the morning, some were a little overcooked.  The meatballs were more solid and the sauce had simmered down.  SO GLAD I USED THE LINER!!!!  My husband happily had some for breakfast, and then finished them up for lunch.  They didn't taste burned, the meatballs themselves I think tasted better.

I enjoyed them, and got another compliment on the meal.  If you're looking for an appetizer for the holiday, these were pretty good.  If we do end up having friends over, I think I know one item that will be on the menu.  Practically no prep time, and it's very little effort.

Well, that's what I came up with this week......

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!  HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!