Spaghetti squash and sausage meatballs

Another version of spaghetti and meatballs--because, really, can you ever get enough spaghetti and meatballs? This is definitely a lighter version using spaghetti squash instead of pasta --it is so good. The squash has the consistency of rice noodles. Mild taste, but makes me think of ratatouille with the spaghetti sauce on it. Of course, turkey sausage used for the meatballs keeps it light.

Italian sausage meatballs

• 1# Turkey Italian sausage
• 4 cloves garlic--finely chopped
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs
• Drizzle of olive oil
• salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Form into quarter-size balls--makes about 16 meatballs. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Light Tomato Basil Sauce

• Medium yellow onion--chopped
• 4 cloves garlic--chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4-1/2 cup white wine (a few glugs)
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 20-25 fresh basil leaves--chopped

Heat olive oil in deep skillet. Then cook onions and garlic until soft. Add wine and cook down for a minute or two. Add tomatoes and sauce. Simmer. Add fresh basil a minute or two before serving and allow to wilt.

Spaghetti squash

Stab whole squash several times with a fork or knife. Cook in the microwave for 10 minutes. Allow to sit in the microwave for 5 or more minutes. Carefully remove from the microwave with hot pads. Slice lengthwise--scoop out seeds from the middle and discard. Then scoop out the rest of the flesh--it looks like thin noodles. Add a little bit of salt.

Serve squash "noodles" with sauce and meatballs. Good with a little parmesan on top. Yum! My boys eat this pretty well, but I often cook some regular spaghetti noodles or "Wacky Mac" for them.

Mushroom and swiss turkey burgers

This is actually a new recipe I found looking through my Rachel Ray cookbook. This was really tasty and the mushrooms and swiss cheese made it taste more decadent. Her recipe called for ground chicken but I had turkey in the freezer so here is my version.

• 1-1.5 pounds ground turkey breast
• 10 oz. frozen spinach (thawed in microwave and wrung out in paper towels)
• 1 shallot--finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp parsley -- finely chopped
• 8 basil leaves -- chopped

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Draw an X in the bowl with your spoon to separate into 4 more or less equal portions. Form into patties and cook in hot skillet or grill pan sprayed with olive oil. Cook about 6 minutes on each side.

• 20 white mushrooms sliced
• 3-4 clove of garlic chopped
• olive oil
• white wine (may substitute chicken broth for wine, if desired--but, seriously, don't do it because the wine adds such a good taste to the mushrooms and all the alcohol cooks out so you don't have to feel bad about it!)

While patties are cooking, cook mushrooms and garlic in olive oil until brown (about 5 minutes). Then salt and pepper and add a little white wine (1/4 to 1/2 cup) and continue to cook until most of the liquid is gone.

• Swiss cheese slices
• Thin sandwich buns (see Greek turkey burger blog for more information)
• Dijon mustard
• lettuce
• tomato

When the patties are done turn off the heat and spoon mushrooms on top of each patty and cover with swiss cheese (low fat swiss cheese tastes great, too, and will lower the calories and fat without sacrificing the flavor). Spread Dijon mustard on thin sandwich buns. Place turkey burger with melted swiss cheese on the bun and top with lettuce and tomato. This is a really good burger. The spinach helps keep the turkey meat moist and the shallots ad such a good flavor to the meat.

What about the kids? Fortunately, Ethan loves mushrooms and Seth is coming around. I cut up one of the burger patties into bite size pieces and divided between them. They both got a small serving of the mushrooms and a slice of Swiss cheese. I always let them dip meat into ketchup if they want. They ate this really well. Oh yeah, Ethan added a pickle to his meal and Seth added a carrot. We have convinced them that spinach (and vegetables, in general) really do make them strong, and Ethan loves spinach (again, Seth is coming around!) Sometimes, I let them arm wrestle me to see if they have eaten enough of their dinner to make them strong--they know they have eaten enough when they can beat me. This method is getting a little harder now. I wonder how long it will work--Ethan especially is getting bigger and stronger and it is not as easy as it used to be to beat him! Fortunately, my boys enjoy the game even though I am sure they know that it is just a game.