Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs

I am in heaven!

I made turkey meatballs and had them with shirataki noodles for lunch. Life has blossomed again! 

I adapted this recipe from musclemag and changed the proportions since it was designed for a huge bodybuilding male. 

To be completely truthful, it isn't as good as the big, beefy, breadcrumb laden, olive oil coated, Parmesan cheese meatballs that I make for my family (and if you want that recipe, let me know, it's fantastic!)

Considering the amazingly low calorie and carb count though, I am a happy camper eating this, in fact, I froze 7 single serving bags for myself and stocked up on shirataki noodles.

This recipe makes 4 servings. If you were feeding a big guy, you may want to give him double :)

Meatballs:

1 pound ground turkey breast
3 egg whites (or use 1/2 cup liquid egg whites)

1 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

salt

pepper

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees, lightly coat a cookie sheet or baking dish with cooking spray.

Remember that spray has no calories only when you use the recommended amount, which is 1/3 of a second spray! I kept testing to see if I was using the correct amount and I am a slow sprayer, I couldn't spray in 1/3 of a second....a can of Trader Joe's olive oil spray has 564 sprays in it, maybe when I am bored some time I should track my usage to see if I am over using it, but I am fairly sure I am.

Mix all ingredients together, if using whole, dried spices, rub them together in your hands to pulverize them.

Scoop out spoonfuls of mixture to form 1" to 2" meatballs and place on tray.

Bake approximately 15 minutes. These won't brown, there isn't anything to brown, no fat, no bread, nothing.

While the meatballs cook, make the noodles. For 2 people use 2 packages shirataki noodles.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Drain and rinse noodles very well under lots of water, then boil 3 minutes. Drain again and place onto paper towels, blot well. It is very important to do this and dry them well to reduce the gelatinous texture. Leave noodles there until ready to add to sauce.

Sauce: 

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken or beef broth


Place sauce ingredients into a skillet, then transfer meatballs into the sauce, simmer 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked noodles, stir together and warm for a couple minutes. 

This will have very little sauce, only enough to coat the noodles. Feel free to add as much sauce, prepared spaghetti sauce, anything but remember that tomato sauce has a great deal of carbohydrate, so if you are really watching your weight, try to use more broth based sauces, with just a small amount of tomato sauce added, or use fresh tomatoes, chopped up finely.

Sauces can all be made more flavorful by using mushroom soaking liquid (from dried wild mushrooms), beef broth, a small amount of balsamic vinegar, truffle salt or chicken stock.

This dish, when prepared as I describe, without extra sauce or any cheese has the following nutritional breakdown: 

212.5 calories (yes that is the noodles and the meatballs!)
15.2 grams carbs (yup!)

33 grams protein (wow!)
3.5 grams fat (I love it!) 

Give it a try.