Best Spaghetti & Meatballs

 Spaghetti is one of those classic comfort foods that I wanted to find a REALLY good recipe for. So over the years I have tried several marinara sauce recipes as well as meatball recipes. With some adaptations of my favorite recipes, I have finally found one that I love and it is also healthy, of course!

Best Spaghetti & Meatballs

Marinara Sauce:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 ounce of mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 green pepper, diced (optional)

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 cans tomato paste

2 cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon stevia

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions:

In a large pot, saute onion, garlic, peppers and mushrooms (optional) in oil over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Add seasonings. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
This makes a lot of sauce. You can also use the left over sauce for a roll over meal, like Eggplant Parmesan!

Meatballs:
1 pound of lean ground beef or Italian turkey sausage or combination of both
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
1 large slice of wheat bread, crumbled
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon parsley, fresh or dry

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a medium size bowl beat egg with fork, add milk and bread. Let it sit for 5 minutes so the bread is moist. Add ground beef or Italian turkey sausage, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and parsley. Mix well and then shape into meatballs. (I like small meatballs better!)
Place meatballs on a sprayed rack (cookie cooling rack) with a cookie sheet underneath.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs.
Add meatballs to the prepared marinara sauce.
Serve over spaghetti squash or whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Health Tip:

Tomatoes are a treasure of riches when it comes to their antioxidant benefits. In terms of conventional antioxidants, tomatoes provide an excellent amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene; a very good amount of the mineral manganese; and a good amount of vitamin E. In terms of phytonutrients, tomatoes are basically off the chart!

Read more health tips at:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=44

Low-Fat Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe was posted by my sister in law Erin! 
Macaroni and cheese is one of my husband's, and subsequently my children's,  favorite meals! When we first got married I got his mom's recipe so that I could make it just the way he liked it! Only problem, is that we couldn't have it too often (in good conscious) because of how much fat there was in it. A few years ago I was watching a Rachel Ray episode and she made a healthier version of macaroni and cheese from her Yum-o cookbook. That is what inspired this recipe!

Low-Fat Macaroni & Cheese

2 tablespoons coconut oil (can sub butter or other oil)

2 tablespoons flour (wheat, white, or oat)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup medium-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

6-8 cups of your favorite (wheat!!) noodle, cooked

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut oil, flour, salt, and pepper, blending well and creating a rue, over medium-low heat. When rue starts to bubble add chicken broth. Stirring frequently, turn your heat up to medium, stir until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Remove from heat and add your cheeses. Stir until all cheese is melted and incorporated. Pour over your prepared noodles and stir until all noodles are coated with cheese. Enjoy!

This recipe has so much flavor to it! Using the coconut oil gives it a little bit of a nutty flavor, and then with the chicken broth and different cheeses, it makes it SO good! Be creative with this recipe too! Add your favorite cheese blend and make it your own! I've always dreamed of using havarti and making it really gourmet, but alas, my family doesn't go for "different".  Either way, there is so much less guilt when giving your kids something they love, and you know its not contributing to their chances of childhood obesity!! Win-Win!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

* A little cheese tip: When you have a sharper cheese, there is more flavor, reducing the amount of cheese you need to use, which in turn reduces fat and calories! 

Spinach Chicken Stuffed Shells

This meal is definitely going on the menu rotation at our house! It is so yummy, and if you plan ahead, is pretty quick to prepare too! I got this idea for a meal because I had a bunch of spinach that I needed to use quickly. My first idea was lasagna, but the day I went to cook it I didn't have enough lasagna noodles! Luckily, I had shells... which in my opinion can be even better! This makes a lot, so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you are not feeding very many, or do not want leftovers! I welcome leftovers, so this was perfect for a full dinner and lunch for my whole family (2 adults, 2 children). 

Spinach Chicken Stuffed Shells

 2 large chicken breasts, finely chopped

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

2-4 cups of chopped spinach (the amount is just to your liking) 

>1tbsp. olive oil

ground pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

3 cups low-fat cottage cheese

2 eggs

1 tbsp. parsley 

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

about 23 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, and drained

Combine Chicken, onion, pepper, garlic, and olive oil in large saucepan. brown until chicken is cooked through. Add spinach a cup at a time until wilted enough to add more. once all spinach is added and cooked through, remove pan from heat and set aside. 

This is what mine looked like. You can tell I didn't originally chop the spinach, and I wish I had! It is much more kid friendly when you don't have long strings of spinach coming out of your shells! 

In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Once well mixed, add the chicken mixture.  Begin filling your shells! I used a large soup spoon, and scooped heaping spoonfuls into the shells. It was the perfect amount. Pack your shells into a large baking dish, sprayed with non stick cooking spray. 

My mouth was watering at this point! I could not wait to eat them!! 

Top shells with mozzarella cheese, bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Enjoy your yummy meal!!!

This was posted by my sister in law Erin!

Recipe Tips: I used my food processor to chop my onion, and chopped my chicken about a 1/4 of the size I usually cube my chicken. I think the closer to the same size everything is, the easier it all fits into the shells, and the better each bite is because you get a little of everything! 

If you have extra mixture, it freezes great for future use, or just dump it over the top of the shells before you put the cheese on!

Guess what?? We all know that Popeye made himself super strong by eating spinach, but you may be surprised to learn that he may also have been helping to protect himself against inflammatory problems, oxidative stress-related problems, cardiovascular problems, bone problems, and cancers at the same time. Sweet! Eat more Spinach!!

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=43