Veggie filled spaghetti and meatballs for the win!

First Monday of Summer! Got up and had coffee in my Mother's Day gift. 

We had the last of the banana muffins and a nectarine then went for a run. 

Got in three miles in 27:38 and then Emma got out and ran the last stretch with me.

Running like momma! 

Today Emma had ham, a pickle, half a hard boiled egg, and a mandarin cup. (She did not eat that date roll) 

I had tuna celery boats! They were DELICIOUS - its tuna, hard boiled egg, onion, pickle, primal kitchens mayo, and tessemaes creamy ranch. (*Just a note on tuna - make sure you check the label because not all brands that say packed in water JUST have water and tuna! I have found starkist olive oil packed is my new favorite. It doesn't have soy like the one packed in water and it is cheaper than the wild planet or other sustainable health food brands of tuna)



Tonight for dinner I planned to make spaghetti and meatballs. She loves spaghetti and meatballs but typically it's been from a can because it's fast and I can get her fed when I walk in the door from work instead of making her wait until dinner cooks. 

Ingredients list: Tomatoes (tomato puree, water), cooked enriched spaghetti (water, enriched wheat flour [durum wheat seminola, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid], wheat protein isolate [wheat gluten, phosphate, lactic acid], glyceryl monostearate), meatballs (pork, dark chicken, mechanically separated chicken, beef, water, crackermeal [enriched wheat flour {bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid}, may also contain guar gum], soy protein concentrate, salt, caramel color, flavorings, soybean oil, citric acid), water, high fructose corn syrup, less than 2% of: modified corn starch, salt, sea salt, dehydrated onion, potassium chloride, hydrolyzed corn and wheat gluten and soy protein, citric acid, flavorings, ammonium chloride, enzyme modified cheese (cheddar cheese [pasteurized milk, cultures, salt, enzymes], water, sodium phosphate, xanthan gum), yeast extract, lactic acid, soybean oil.

The list of ingredients in tonights meal is a lot smaller and full of veggies.

I used 2 eggplants - only one is for the sauce the other is for Chris because he won't eat Zoodles. 

Cube one peeled eggplant and put in a pot 

Add olive oil and garlic herb seasoning and sauté 

Then add an 8 oz carton of imagine free range chicken broth (it is one of few brands I have found that doesn't have sugar or weird additives) and I added a packet of bone broth protein. 

Stir and simmer with a lid until the eggplant is super tender. 

While the eggplant simmers peel two zucchini 

WOW! These make long noodles 

If you have a veggie spiralizer you know you're left with this weird little center part. 

Instead of tossing it chop it up and add it to your pot of eggplant 

Here is the other eggplant - I cut it in half and made two eggplant boats. 

The center part is cut out - I chopped it up and added it to the sauce pot too. 

Season them and rub with a little olive oil and roast in the oven until tender 

Now for the meatballs! We used ground pork from a wild hog we had processed. You could use any ground meat. Emma is mixing in chopped onion. 

Sautéed spinach chopped in the food processor 

Put in a paper towel and squeeze out all the liquid then add to your meat

We then added in one egg and enough coconut flour to bind the meat into balls 

This mixture made 18 meatballs! We put them on a greased cookie sheet and baked at 380 for about 35 minutes. 

Also baked the noodles in the oven tossed with a little coconut oil 

While he noodles and meatballs were baking I took the eggplant off the burner and blended it with my immersion stick. 

This alone is DELICIOUS but I added in a jar of marinara 

Mezzetta is my favorite marinara! It is compliant and clean. No sugar, corn syrup etc. 

Emma also likes it... 

Here is her zucchini noodle pasta! If you peel the zucchini it has no green and so truly she doesn't really care that it's not a wheat noodle. 

Here are all of our plates. 

Chris has the eggplant boats with meatballs and marinara. 

I have zucchini noodles which totally look like real pasta! 

And Emma has the same plus a side of blueberries. She ate EVERY bite. She had eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, spinach, and blueberries for dinner. WHAT? I am impressed with myself.