Crock Pot Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Ok, so this recipe was a HUGE hit.  I can’t even begin to tell you how easy it is, you just need to make this tonight.  It’s full of healthy and cheap ingredients, cooks itself, Knox LOVED it and so did we!  In fact, we loved it so much  we forgot to take a picture but I just had to share the recipe.  The original recipe is called ” Stupid Easy Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs” from the paleopot.com blog.

We aren’t doing “Paleo” but rather the meal plan we have lined up had a link to this recipe, and other Paleo recipes, and we eat like this anyways so it works.  I altered the recipe to our tastes, so it’s got more tomato sauce that has more flavors with onion and garlic.  If you really want to go ” stupid easy” please follow this recipe link! Every time I ate this, it was while feeding it to Knox, who didn’t want me to stop shoveling it in to his mouth, so I was scarfing it down when I could and thusly no photos were taken- sorry!

Crock Pot Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 medium spaghetti squash

1 pound of ground Italian sausage

2- 8oz cans tomato sauce

1- 14oz can diced tomato

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic,minced

Olive Oil

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (Oregano, Basil, Thyme)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Use a large 6-7 quart slow cooker
  2. Dump your tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, diced onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning into your slow cooker and stir well.
  3. Cut both your squash in half on the horizontal ( so the halves are taller not wider) and scoop out the seeds, drizzle the flesh side with olive oil and salt and pepper
  4. Place your 4 squash halves face down into your slow cooker, nestle in to the sauce.
  5. Roll your ground sausage into meatballs, nestle them in the sauce around the squash.
  6. Cook on High for 3 hours or cook on low for 5 hours.
  7. Use a large fork to pull the “spaghetti” out of your squash, then top with your meatballs and sauce.
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Beef Confetti Chili

Best Chili recipe so far, we used 93/7 lean ground beef and loads of fresh veggies, and this was the PERFECT hearty rich chili.  We love letting it meld together all day while we work, so when you get home there is no cooking, just eating and relaxing!

photo 3

16 oz  Beef, Ground, 93% Lean Meat / 7% Fat
small  onion, diced (1 cup)
medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (1 cup)
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
habenero pepper, seeded and diced
teaspoon  ground cumin
teaspoon  ground coriander
teaspoon  Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon  garlic powder
28 ounce  crushed tomatoes, with their juices
cups  Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
tbsp  chipotle chile
1/2 teaspoon  dried oregano
14 ounces  canned reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
28 ounces  low sodium pinto beans canned, drained and rinsed
cup  corn kernels
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions

Saute onions with a bit of olive oil, add beef and brown till cooked through
Add all ingredients to crock pot, stir, cover and cook low 8 hours
Serve with cilantro and sour cream and cheddar cheese!