Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs

I have been cooking up a storm this week.  I don't have enough posts to showcase all of the recipes.  The dilemma I am running into is having the time to write my posts out.  I have been training a new hire at work for the past two weeks which gives me less time to myself at my desk.  Actually, it's no time to myself at my desk because I give one-on-one training for the full 8 hours.  It's exhausting and like I've said before, when I am at my computer all day sometimes its the last thing I want to look at when I get home.  But writing for me is a stress reliever.  It feels good to get my emotions out on "paper".

This week with WW has been awesome.  I didn't have the funky/grumpy day like last week and it's nothing compared to how I have felt on other plans I've tried.  I still feel very positive and motivated to keep tracking my precious points.

My roommate told me something that has been stuck in my head that her old boss said once.  She said, "Just because you are hungry doesn't mean you have to eat."  I have thought about that sentence a lot in the past week.  I don't have to eat every single time my stomach grumbles. It's what I'm used to doing but I have ignored it this week and guess what?  I'm still alive and okay and happy!  I love to snack and I really love carbs.  This plan really cuts down on carbs but it doesn't have to cut down on snacking.  Just substitute fruits or a small piece of cheese instead.  I bought some Laughing Cow cheese wedges last week and they really satisfy my cheese cravings that I have daily.  It's only 1 point a wedge and it will cover a piece of bread.  Try eating 1/2 a piece of bread and use the entire wedge and it's cheesy goodness.  You still get the carbs but if feels like a ton of cheese.

This week I made a baked spaghetti with meatball dish that I found on a blogger's website (danicasdaily.com) I follow.  Her recipe was adapted from another website, here is the original recipe:

http://wegottaeat.com/janice.cook/recipes/clean-eating-spaghetti-meatball-casserole

Here is how I made it.  It's only 9 points per serving and each serving was about 4x4 inches.  It was a nice big piece.  I also treated myself to a piece of garlic texas toast this night since I hadn't used all of my daily points.  I would salt accordingly, it doesn't call for any and the final result was very bland.  The basil cream sauce and mozzarella make the recipe more gooey without adding too many additional calories.  Also if you would rather use jarred marinara sauce, that can be easily substituted into the recipe.

On a side note, the mozzarella balls have been a new snack for me.  I can eat 2 1/2 balls for only 2 points.  Can you tell that I love cheese yet?

Ingredients

8 ounces Barilla PLUS spaghetti

1 cup fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

1/3 cup fat free cottage cheese

1 ounce parmesan

2 TB EVOO

6 ounces 90/10 ground beef

1 TB panko bread crumbs

1 TB skim milk

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 box Pomi strained tomatoes
8 fresh mozzarella balls, split in half

1 bay leaf

Gather these ingredients.

Process garlic, basil, and 1/2 the Parmesan in food processor.
Remove 1 TB of mixture and set aside.

Add cottage cheese and process again.  Set aside for later.

Mix beef, garlic/basil mixture, milk and breadcrumbs.

Form into balls using a teaspoon to measure equally.

Add onion to pan with meatballs.

Cook until browned on all sides.

Add tomatoes and bay leaf to pan.

Cook over medium low heat.  Add salt/pepper to taste.

Spread 1/3 of mixture in lightly greased 9X13 pan.

Mix remaining sauce/meatballs with cooked spaghetti.  Use half of mixture, dot with basil cream and mozzarella.  Add rest of spaghetti mixture and dot with basil cream and mozzarella.

Grate rest of Parmesan over top.  Bake @ 400 degrees for 10 minutes with foil, remove and bake additional 10 minutes without foil.