Zesty Crock pot meatballs for Meatball sandwiches!!

Occasionally when its been a pretty busy weekend, we will order out from a restaurant in our neighborhood called Leona’s.  It’s an Italian restaurant, great pastas, pizza etc… but every time we order, my son and I will split the meatball sandwich.  We split it, because the first time we ordered from there, we laughed because there were two meatballs per sandwich and each meatball was about the size of a grapefruit!!  It was an unbelievably humongous serving!  So now, we know better and just share one. We still can’t even finish half of it!  The best part was it was served on a garlic bread roll with tons of mozzarella cheese on top.  Now, once in a while, that won’t kill you, but I wanted to do a healthier version I could not only make healthier, but I could start it in the morning, throw it in my crock pot and dinner is pretty much done by the time I get home.

• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped onion, (Beth, my sister, if you are reading this, you can omit the onions!)
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1 pound ground turkey (I have also used ground chicken too)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (with Italian spices is even better!)
• 6-8 hoagie style rolls

In a large bowl, beat the egg with salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and garlic.  Add the chopped onion, beef, turkey bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and mix well.Shape mixture into 1 inch balls.  I have a melon baller that size that works perfect for shaping them.  Brown the meatballs in a skillet, drain any fat and put the meatballs in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add the crushed tomatoes and extra Italian seasoning on top and cook all day on low.  Take 3-4 meatballs and add it to the hoagie roll, add some sauce and you have an awesome meal that won’t make you fat!! Each one is 450 calories, 15 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. I think the version we get from the restaurant is probably over 1,000 calories!!  And with the buttered garlic bread and tons of cheese, its probably got 50 grams of fat too! But my version is just as tasty!!