It didn't seem right to make ground turkey or chicken for dinner the day before Thanksgiving. What's a girl to do? I had some leftover pumpkin puree, some ground beef and a little thawed spinach. Meatballs were my answer. They were so moist, not too pumpkin-y, relatively healthy, and my almost 2-year old gobbled them up. I'd say that's a big WINNER!

Spinach and Pumpkin Meatballs

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 can 100% pure pumpkin puree
1 cup packed thawed, previously frozen spinach
1 egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in bowl until just combined. With an ice cream scoop (or your hands), form into meatballs. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through (adjust your cooking time if you make especially large meatballs). Broil for 5 minutes until the meatballs develop some color. I served these without a sauce, but they would be good with a simple marinara and pasta.