I get a lot of food-related email.
Surprise!
Some of it gets trashed right after I look through it, some of it gets marked to explore again at a later date, and some get looked over, then quickly copied to my desk top or ‘stuff to try’ folder.
This idea – from the very nice folk down the road at Kraft – got quickly stashed in that ‘stuff to try’ spot.
A bit of crushed pineapple, a drizzle of barbecue sauce (Kraft, of course), a 16 oz. bag of frozen meatballs, and 20 minutes in a skillet would yield a pretty interesting looking little munchie.
Except.
I needed to change things up, just a wee-tiny bit. I had only sliced pineapple in juice in the pantry (one never knows when one will want Banzai Burgers). No worries – a whiz with the hand blender worked a treat.
For the rest? Well, let’s make a list:
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 can sliced pineapple in juice – or 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, undrained
•1/2 pint my barbecue sauce – or 1/2 cup Kraft original barbecue sauce
•20 buttermilk meatballs – or a 16-oz bag of frozen meatballs
If you’re using bottled barbecue sauce and want things a bit zippier – stir in 3/4 tsp ground ginger and 3/4 tsp granulated garlic. Fortunately, my barbecue sauce has enough zip on it’s own.
I had made a large batch of buttermilk meatballs, baked them, and then stashed ’em in the freezer in bags of 10 – so pulled out 2 bags and let them thaw, then popped ’em in a crock pot.
I then stirred the crushed pineapple and barbecue sauce together, poured it all over the meatballs, covered the pot, and waited.
And waited.
OK, whichever pineapple, barbecue sauce, and meatballs you choose to use, the good folk in the Kraft kitchens were quite correct when they recommended combining and 
cooking the whole thing in a skillet; bringing it to a boil, then reducing the heat and simmering for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce and heat through. So, I moved my, kinda soupy, meatball and sauce mixture to a Dutch oven, and proceeded as directed.
TaDa!
Once I (finally) followed directions, my sauce thickened nicely, clung to the meatballs, and smelled Oh! so good!
If you’re planning these as a munchie, tumble ’em back into a crockpot to keep warm, plan for 3 to 4 per person (the Kraft folk say 2 (!) – but I believe them to be crazy. Once folk try these tasty little balls o’ goodness, they will have more), and proved those cute little toothpicks for people to spear – yum.
OR, you can opt for serving them for dinner, which is what I did.
Served over some basmati rice with a salad on the side, there was enough for dinner for the two of us, with a nicely packed container stashed in the freezer for a future lunch as well.