Aidell's Chicken & Apple Sausage and New Teriyaki Pineapple Meatballs

It all started one day very long ago when I was in middle school and we were shopping around Costco.  They had a big demo pavilion set up with multiple hot plates going.  The product was Aidell's sausages.  They had cut up so many slices of the sausages and had all the different flavors to try out.  One kid that stood next to me said that he had 17 pieces of it already.  I laugh now, thinking back on it because when I first popped the piece into my mouth, it was love at first taste.  We ended up buying the chicken & apple flavor to try out at home.  It had become our go-to sausage if we wanted to purchase some because it was pre-cooked and all you had to do was heat it in the pan.

I had a moment of the same "click" with my trip this past weekend.  I drove back to NJ for a weekend visit and of course, I had to drop by Costco to pick up some things.  We cruised around getting the items we were looking for and we took advantage of the "free lunch" (we went around 1:30pm) that Costco offers.  Of the items available (cheese, mozzarella sticks, pork loin..), we were surprised by the meatballs offered near the meats/packaged section, not the freezer aisle.

There were meatballs available so I had one.  It was flavorful and not dry at all!  It was a juicy chicken meatball and as I tasted it, my eyes lit up.  I checked out the sign and found out it was Aidell's Teriyaki Pineapple Meatball.  It was a brand I trusted and loved and I quickly grabbed a pack from the shelves to bring home with me.  It was Costco-sized at 46 oz (2.875 lbs) for $20 and split into two vacuum-sealed packages.  As with their other products, it is pre-cooked.

They recommend that you have it with rice or other plainer fare.  I had to make something quick for lunch today so I took some macaroni pasta I had leftover in the fridge, chopped up an onion and chopped up the meatballs to match the size.  I cooked the onions first (S&P), then add the meatballs, and added (accidentally add a little more than I intended) marinara sauce to it.  Added some basil and mixed it all up for a hearty pasta.  I thought the flavor might be weird because of the teriyaki from the meatballs, but it actually tasted perfectly good with the tomato sauce. :)

I was hungry and it was so delicious so I didn't get to take a picture of the pasta for you!  Sorry!