Musiccosmos

Porcupine meatballs was a childhood favorite of mine! This healthier version is now my kids favorite! If you grew up in the 80’s, you might remember how popular Rice-A-Roni was.  Rice-A-Roni is a boxed dinner that included rice, pilaf pasta, and some seasonings, that you cooked on the stove top and was ready in about 20 minutes.  By adding things like veggies or meat to it, Rice-A-Roni became a complete dinner.  The back of the box had all sorts of add-in ideas and recipes that my mom would try.  I remember the Porcupine meatballs the most! To make the porcupine meatballs, you would combine the uncooked rice with ground beef. Roll the meat into meatballs, and proceed to cook until both the meat and the rice were cooked all the way through. The rice inside the meatball would expand as it cooked, and look like little porcupine quills. Making the meatballs this way is fine, but the seasonings from the packaged Rice-A-Roni is often high in sodium and other unnece...