Spaghetti and Meatballs

The last few weeks have taught me one thing….being busy makes eating healthy much, much harder!  I am still trying to cook more often than not but the last couple of weeks have been hard.  Work has been really busy and I’ve had to work a few nights.  Thankfully when Dewey & I have to work Evan stays home with our nanny & eats food from home.

I have been keeping cut up vegetables around the house with dip for all of us to eat.  I really fills in the gaps at meal times and ups our intake of veggies.  I think it is one of the THE easiest ways to eat healthier.  Storing your vegetables already washed & cut up is definitely a must.

Sunday night I needed a quick and healthy meal to fix for supper with the kids.  I flipped open my copy of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution to see what I could find.  Spaghetti & meatballs?  Perfect!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

A family favourite, spaghetti and meatballs is worth the work!

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Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American/Canadian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 824kcal

Author: Adapted from Jaime Oliver

Ingredients

• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 12 cream or plain crackers such as Jacobs
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 pound ground beef or pork or a mixture of both
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic diced
• 1/2 fresh or dried chili
• 28 oz diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 pound dried spaghetti
• Parmesan for grating

Instructions

• Strip rosemary from the stems and finely chop (throw stems away). Crush crackers. Mix ground meat, rosemary, cracker crumbs, mustard, oregano, egg and salt and pepper. Mold meat mixture into a ball. Divide in quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 pieces and roll into meatballs. This will give you 24 meatballs.
• Heat a skillet over medium high heat with a glug of olive oil in it. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil to cook pasta. Add meatballs to the hot skillet and cook. Make sure to check the interior of the meatballs to make sure they are cooked through.
• Cook pasta according to package directions.
• Heat another skillet over medium heat with olive oil in it. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic & cook for another minute. Strip large leaves from basil and add to skillet. Add diced tomatoes and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Turn to a simmer. Add the meatballs to this sauce once they are cooked.
• Drain past but reserve some of the pasta water. Add a bit of the pasta sauce to the pasta & a bit of the pasta water. Serve this pasta with the meatballs & sauce on top.

Nutrition

Calories: 824kcal | Carbohydrates: 105g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 242mg | Potassium: 1044mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 9.4% | Vitamin C: 35.6% | Calcium: 14.4% | Iron: 38.6%