When purchased pre-cooked, this dinner comes loaded with trans-fats and is high and sugar and salt. Make it yourself and make it healthier!
When checking out the nutritional labels on pre-packaged meatballs or spaghetti sauce, it is common to find chemicals, articificial ingredients, dangerous trans-fats and high levels of salt and sugar. The fact of the matter is that it is relatively easy to make home-made spaghetti and meatballs. These recipes use all-natural ingredients, are simple to make and extremely healthy to feed a family.
The best attributes about these recipes are that they can and should be customized to fit a family's tastes. If you don't like parsley - try it with basil. Add some mushrooms, crushed garlic or diced onions to give a different flavor.
Start with the spaghetti sauce as it takes a while to cook!
Ingredients:
- 3 large cans tomato juice
- 3 cans tomato paste
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- touch of cinnamon and nutmeg
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients togeter
- Cook all together over medium heat in a large pan (remember - you will be adding meatballs!)
- Cook at least 3 hours. Feel free to add more tomato paste if the sauce is too thin!
- Place homemade meatballs in sauce and let simmer another two hours
Now for the Meatballs!
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 good sized onion - diced into very small pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 to 1 cup finely crushed crackers or bread crumbs
Directions:
- Mix together beef, eggs, onion, salt, pepper and grated cheese
- Use a fork to mix, as it gets very messy when you use your hands
- Add enough of the crumbs to hold the meat together
- Make into balls
- Drop into spaghetti sauce and cook for another two hours
- Take care when stirring, as the meatballs - if not fully cooked - can break apart
- Your family will love the taste of spaghetti and meatballs and you will absolutely feel great about serving nutritious food with lots of vegetables and protein. Knowing that the ingredients are all-natural, wholesome can be a parent's greatest accomplishment at dinner.
- This recipe does serve quite a large number of people, so leftovers are to be expected. They can be frozen or used in other recipes. Don't just settle for the traditional meatball sandwich - look for some unique uses. Roll a leftover meatball in some refrigerator biscuits for a hearty appetizer or hand-held snack.
One great use for this leftover is to slice up the meatballs and use as a pizza topping.
- Get a pre-made pizza crust
- Add the sauce and slice meatballs.
- Top with mozzarella
- Bake until cheese is melted
The copyright of the article Spaghetti and Meatballs in Dinner Recipes is owned by Linda Banks. Permission to republish Spaghetti and Meatballs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
