panKates: Sausage & cheese balls

Hard to believe it, but football season is upon us again. Which means fall will be here in just a few weeks (my favorite time of year!), which brings cooler temps, my parents' apple harvest festival, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and (eeek!) Christmas! Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself, but oh how I love this time of year.

I generally enjoy football season too...before going to Michigan for law school, I really paid little attention to the sport. But after living in Ann Arbor for 4 years (and rarely missing a home game), it's hard to not be glued to any Big 10 college game.

However...as many of you may know, Michigan's season got off to a rough start with a loss from Utah last weekend. We watched the game at a friend's house and left so depressed that I honestly forgot they would be playing again this weekend. Seriously. I went off and made plans to go shopping with my little bro's fiancee on Saturday afternoon, smack dab in the middle of the Michigan game. So not only was Russ surprised to not see me wearing my Michigan jersey Saturday morning (he thinks the jersey should be worn all day on game days, even if you're out running errands), but he was shocked to hear that I'd be out gallivanting around Charlotte with Jenn while our dear Wolverines were fighting for their first win of the season.

So to make up for this grave indiscretion, I decided to make some kind of football game finger food to leave with him while I was gone. I've always loved sausage-cheddar balls (I think they're a southern thing?), and I remembered seeing a recipe for them in my Paula Deen cookbook a few weeks ago. They only have 3 ingredients, and I thought I could substitute each one with something healthier. Instead of just cheddar cheese, I actually used both cheddar and feta, to amp up the flavor (when you're working with fat free cheeses, the flavor isn't always as strong). But don't let that freak you out...you can't really taste that there's feta in there.

Anyway, the finished product was pretty good. And you can have 3 for just over 100 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. I won't lie, this is one of those "healthy" recipes that you can kinda tell is a healthy knock-off (they aren't quite as greasy and crispy as the real thing). Regardless, we really liked them, and Jenn (who arrived just as they were coming out of the oven) tried one and gave her stamp of approval. I think these will make frequent game-time appearances on our coffee table this fall.

Sausage & cheese balls (makes about 3 dozen)
1 1/2 cups of reduced fat Bisquick
1 package of Gimme Lean ground sausage (make sure you buy the "ground sausage" style, not the "ground beef" style)
1/2 cup of shredded fat free cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of fat free feta cheese

Combine all ingredients (using your hands) in a large bowl, then form into small balls. I'd say a little smaller than a ping-pong ball. As you can see in the pic, mine were more like golf ball sized, but I think they'd cook up better if they're a little smaller. (And when I say this makes 3 dozen, that's if you make them more on the smaller, ping pong size.)

Place each ball on baking sheet (sprayed with fat free cooking spray) and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown.

Best if served immediately, while hot.

Nutritional info (per ball):
Cal.: 36
Fat: 0.3
Carbs: 5.2
Fiber: 0.9
Protein: 3