Day Thirteen..time to get lean

Meatballs and sauce to go with your spaghetti squash!

Spaghetti and meatballs have been a staple in our house for as long as I can remember. There was also some kind of pasta dish at least three times a week. Spaghetti, rigatoni, lasagna, you name it. And surprisingly leading the charge was my Irish mother. What else was easier and cheaper to feed a family of six. My mom grew up in a large family and survived off of white bread and tuna noodle casseroles, so where she learned to cook, we're still trying to figure that one out. Over the years, my mom became one of the best cooks (just some brownie points) in my opinion (or at least the best an Irish girl could become). I think the day my mom started cooking Paleo, Tommy thought he died and went to heaven. Today's recipe is my mom's sauce (or gravy) and meatballs.

Meatballs
This recipe is made for one pound of ground meat, so tailor it to how much meat you have. For instance, I had 6 pounds of meet so I multiplied the whole recipe by 6. (6 pounds, which should last the boys here about 3 days, if were lucky) We usually use ground beef. An 80%-20% blend seems to work well. Any leaner and your meatballs will be dry. Also, try out using a mixture of meats, such as ground turkey, pork, or veal. These meatballs also freeze well. Either freeze them in a Ziploc bag or mix them with the sauce and freeze the sauce and the meatballs together.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic-minced
• 1 small onion or 2 Tbsp.. onion powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (makes them a lot better, but omit during the challenge)
• 1/4 almond meal (in our former lives be did use breadcrumbs)

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. (the only really way to do this is with your hands, the spoon is just for show)

 Next spoon the dough onto a sheet pan in about 3 Tbsp. pieces. (I use my cookie dough scoop). Roll the dough between your hands to make a ball.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  I usually split one open just to be sure it's cooked all the way through. (but then of course I have to eat it)

When the meatballs come out of the oven, drain some of the fat off of the sides. If you are not a fan of the fat puddle around the meatball, you can cook these over a cooling rack on a sheet tray. I then pick up the meatballs and slide them right into the pot of sauce.


Sauce
I tried and put this recipe together, although this one like most of my recipes haven't really ever been written down.

• 3 cans tomato sauce (look for one that is just tomatoes, no sugar) ( I know Tuttorosso has one and so does Wegman's)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 onions
• 4 or 8 cloves of garlic (probably closer to 8)
• 1/4 cup of dried parsley (fresh works as well, just add a little more)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp. of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper 

Basil works well in the sauce as well and usually I like to add some copped fresh tomatoes and a jalapeno pepper or two.

First sweat the peppers, onions, garlic and bay leaves in the bottom of your pot with some olive oil. (when you sweat you want to turn the vegetables translucent, but not add any color or carmelization. To do this keep your temperature medium-low)

 When your vegetables are soft and translucent pour in your cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. I usually let this cook down for about an hour or so at a low simmer.

 Finished tomato sauce with the meatballs.

Just be sure to take out the bay leaves before you dig into the sauce. The sauce freezes well and also is good over top of chicken or vegetables. With how simple and easy it is to make, you have no excuse to ever eat that jarred shit again. Just make sure you make yesterday's spaghetti squash recipe first so that you resist the urge to crack open a box of spaghetti.