Apple Cheddar Veggie Meatball Skewers

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GameTimeClean#CollectiveBias

Everyone in my family has an obsession. My dad and brother are obsessed with football; I’m crazy about cooking (obviously); and my mom–well, she loves puzzle games and…paper towels.

I kid you not.When we went out for some quality grocery shopping time a few weeks ago while my dad and brother were at home watching the football game, she said to me: “Now where’s Viva?”

“What?”

“Viva. You know, Viva.”

I had just begun to look around in bewilderment for a dog or person who might answer to this strange name when I looked up–and realized that we were standing in front in the paper towel aisle.

“Oh,” I said. “Ohhhhhh. VIVA.”

My mom likes to tell the story about how she once visited a friend in Boston and brought her own paper towels with her, heaven forbid Massachusetts suddenly put a tax on all paper products and there was a towel shortage or something. The roll she brought with her was, predictably, a Viva® one–and the friend, as it turned out, must’ve made excellent use of it after my mom left, because the next week my mom received a phone call. It was her friend, who demanded to know how she had never used such incredibly soft, absorbent paper towels in her life.

Again, this is a true story.

And my mom, in usually fashion, simply replied:

“Viva.”

“What?”

“VIVA.”

So we’re kind of Viva® purists over here.

All of this brings me back to the grocery trip a few weeks ago. When the two of us finally got back from the store, scores were in full swing and my brother and dad were “OOOH”ing and “OHHHH”ing like madmen. I’m not an avid watcher of football, but I’ll take any excuse I can get to cook, and hey–a little bird once told me that tailgating is basically that excuse neatly gift-wrapped in shiny silver wrapping paper, so why not, right?

These apple cheddar veggie meatball skewers were the culmination of our family obsessions: football, tailgating, and–yes–paper towels. The skewers are by no means an inherently “messy” recipe; if anything, I feel slightly guilty about calling it a recipe, because you can literally jab three cubed ingredients onto a stick in alternating fashion and call it a day. But somehow (and this might be another reason why my mom loves paper towels even more than usual when I’m visiting home) I managed to make a crummy mess of things all over the counter anyway as I was spearing everything, so…yeah. So much for being an adult.

Cue Viva® Vantage® Towels to save my adulthood–I’m so excited to be sharing them alongside this recipe today!

As a quick sidebar: When my mom found out I was going to be blogging about Viva®, the grin on her face was approximately ten times bigger than it was when I first told her that I had gotten accepted into a top ten English PhD program, and she nearly leaped off the chair in her haste to express her joy. Thanks, Mom. (Jk, I love you!)

These towels really are miracle workers for a messy cooking bug like myself, though. They feel like cloth–soft, strong, but amazing when it comes to cleaning up messes. They’re also idiot-proof (i.e. me-proof), because I rip through napkins all the time but have absolutely no trouble with tearing when I use these paper towels on my greasy, splotchy countertops.

It’s like they know me or something!

If you want to raid your local Walmart right now for a Big Roll 6 Pack or 12 Pack while you’re shopping for apples, cheddar, and veggie meatballs–I don’t blame you. In fact, let me enable you ($1 off coupon here). Yep, you’re totally welcome!

Who says I can’t do adult things like clean tabletops and crumb-less food photography? (See, Mom?) Ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom!

Proof:

 Nailed it.

Clean up and skewer up! What’s your favorite way to tailgate?

Apple Cheddar Veggie Meatball Skewers

This 5-second appetizer is PERFECT for all the vegetarians at your tailgating party! All you have to do is spear and go! Feel free to experiment with different fruit and cheeses.

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Ingredients

• 1 apple, chopped into small cubes
• 20 veggie meatballs
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, cubed

Instructions

1. Spear each ingredient onto a long skewer, alternating (apple, veggie meatball, cheese). That's it: you're done!