21st Century Keeper at Home: Recipe Review: Sweet and Sour Meatball Skewers

I used to get Kraft Foods Magazine and I've gotten a lot of good recipes from them, including these Sweet and Sour Meatball Skewers.

First, the recipe as written:

Prep: 10 minutes Total: 20 minutes Makes: 4 servings, 2 kabobs each

What You Need:
32 frozen fully-cooked 1-inch meatballs (1 lb.), thawed
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1/4 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce

Make it:
1. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Thread meatballs and peppers alternately onto 8 skewers.
2. Microwave jam in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 15 seconds. Stir in barbecue sauce; brush half onto kabobs.
3. Grill 8 to 10 minutes, or until meatballs are heated through, turning occasionally and brushing with remaining jam mixture the last 2 minutes.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with corn on the cob and a side salad.

What I Did

My ingredients:

32 frozen full-cooked 1-inch meatballs (1 lb.), thawed (I used Great Value Italian style meatballs which were FABULOUS. Will be using for other things like spaghetti and BBQ Meatballs)

1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1/4 cup apricot jam (Smucker's No Sugar)
1/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

brown rice + water

How I made it:
Earlier in the day, I counted out 32 meatballs and put them in a bowl in the fridge to thaw.
1. Start the brown rice cooking. Soak six skewers in water (in the 9x13 baking dish I used to cook the kabobs).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Cut up the bell peppers. Here's a tip: I turn them over upside down and cut along the lines, then pull the sections apart from the top which has all the seeds. It makes it easier to clean up the bell pepper.
4. Thread the meatballs and peppers on the skewers. Lay them crosswise on the 9x13 baking dish. (This is my idea for how to cook all meatballs that need to be baked. This prevents the crusty flat sides from appearing on the meatballs.)
3. Mix up the sauce. I put both the jam and BBQ sauce in the bowl and microwaved them together. Brush them on the kabobs, turning the kabobs as you go.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes. Serve with the rice.

Robert loved it and called it a "keeper." I whole-hearted agreed!! Gracie was more interested in playing with her "bome" (spoon and fork) than eating. If she would've tried it, she would've liked it, though.

There was one kabob left over with some rice. Not enough for a full lunch, but Robert said it's enough for an appetizer, and he said, "I'll figure out something" -- already laying claim to it! LOL! We have a rule in our house: You Snooze, You Lose! So whoever gets to it first gets it.

Here are a few pictures: