Lazy spaghetti/meatballs

This is cheating to Italians. I don't mean to offend anyone.


There's nothing like dad or grandma's pasta dish with a cooking-for-hours&hours-made-from-scratch spaghetti sauce & meatballs, but there's no way I'm making that after a work day.

One a regular wed. night I came home from work & had limited motivation to make dinner but was a starvin' marvin. I was able to whip together a comforting (& healthy) meal!!

I scrounged around my freezer and pulled out some frozen bagged spinach (I seem to always have on hand for omelettes, scrambled eggs, pasta dishes, salads, sandwiches, and side dishes) and frozen turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's (TJ's). These are lower in saturated fat than regular meatballs and their sodium content isn't too bad either at 400 mg per 2 meatballs. BTW..2 meatballs=1 serving=100 calories! They're a good size too.

I grabbed some cubbard ingredients: S&S Nature's Promise Whole Wheat Rigatoni and Trader Joe's jarred roasted garlic sauce (not pictured).

I also purchased pre-peeled garlic cloves at TJ's that were super cheap and I didn't have to deal with the peeling of the cloves and that lovely garlic smell that sticks to your fingertips for days.

I first threw the turk meatballs in the oven at 325 degrees and let be for ~ 20 minutes.

I then boiled & cooked the Rigatoni (~1/2 the box) to 'al dente'. As the pasta was draining in the sink, I sauteed in the same pan 2 diced garlic cloves in a bit of olive oil (~ 3/4 tablespoon). Added about 3 cups frozen spinach right to the pan with the oil/garlic & cooked until soft. I added 1 jar of the TJ's sauce and a few sprinkles of oregano and simmered. Added the toasted meaballs and Rigatoni, and let all the flavors meld together on low heat for about 10 minutes.....

I used a measuring cup to dish out 1 cup of pasta/sauce & 2 turkey meatballs. Sprinkled some parmesean cheese on top too.

The Verdict: surprisingly DELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLICIOUS for a quick meal. It would have been good to pair this with a small salad, which I didn't have on hand :( I felt good about my nutrient dense meal though:

The whole wheat pasta lends a good dose of fiber, whole grains & vitamins, the sauce packs an antioxidant punch (lycooopennne!) for not a lot of calories, and of course the protein from the meatballs provides satiety(12 grams per 2!). Don't forget the veggie serving from the spinach (loaded with vitamin K-needed for blood clotting). You're also getting some heart healthy fats from the olive oil used to saute the garlic/spinach :)



This made a lot (probably 6 servings)...I'll get a couple more meals outta this :) Yuummmmayyyy!!!!!