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The 3 Meatball Pro Tips That Will Take Your Spaghetti Game to the NEXT LEVEL
Join us for a delicious healthy twist on this classic Italian dish! »
In this recipe, we’re not just focusing on flavor but also on creating a health-conscious meal.
We use ribs to enrich the sauce and make it velvety, balance acidity with a mix of tomatoes, and add alkaline ingredients like onions, parsley, and spices to promote wellness.
Plus, there’s 3 Pro Tips on forming meatballs at time mark 2:40
Serve the noodles and meat separately for a customizable dining experience.
Perfect for anyone who loves hearty Italian dishes with a healthy twist!
Recipe:
1 – 28 oz can tomato puree
1 – 12 oz can tomato paste
2 – 28 oz can whole tomatoes. Plum tomatoes preferred.
1 – 28 oz can filled with water
1 cup red wine
Extra wine for making meatballs.
2 tsp dried Oregano
2 tsp dried Basil
1 – 2 tsp crushed red pepper depending on personal taste.
2 tsp Celtic salt or sea salt.
Fresh ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic
3 Medium yellow onions.
1 – Bunch of Parsley.
1 package of hot or mild Italian sausage.
3 pounds of ground beef.
1 package of baby back ribs.
1/2 loaf French bread.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
1 package of Italian spaghetti
Cooking directions:
Remove the ribs from their packaging and rinse. Take your time and remove the thick connective tissue from the back of the ribs. A small knife works best. The goal is to start at a bottom corner and once you have separated enough for your fingers, you can get it to peel.
Cut into individual ribs and set aside.
Rinse sausage and cut into 2 in. pieces. Set aside.
Turn on oven to 425 degrees.
While warming cut bread into small bite size pieces. They will go inside your meatball.
Add bread cubes, one teaspoon of salt, ground pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil in stainless steel bowl and mix together.
Bake until hardened and slightly golden brown. 10- 15 minutes.
While the bread is in the oven remove skin from onions. Rinse the onion to remove any bitter oil. Reserve the smallest onion for later use.
Using a stand up grater shred the two onions putting pulp in a large stainless bowl. You will use this bowl to make meatballs.
Cut the cloves of garlic through the center and remove the green stem. Finely chop and add 2 cloves to the bowl.
Chop 1/2 of the Parsley leaves.
The bread should be cooked to a golden color by now. Add to your bowl.
Add ground meat.
Chopped parsley.
1 tsp of salt, oregano, basil, hot pepper flakes, and ground pepper.
Mix with a large spoon and then your hands to thoroughly combine.
Run wine on your hands while forming the meatballs to your preferred size. The wine prevents the meat from sticking to your hands. Set aside on a plate. Push the bread to the center of the meatball when forming.
Using your largest stainless bowl add 1 tsp of salt, oregano, basil, hot peppers if desired, and black pepper. Add the 2 cans of whole tomatoes and mix. Using a spoon separate the whole tomatoes. Then add the purée and paste.
Add 1 cup red wine
Add 2 cloves diced garlic.
Chop the remaining parsley leaves and add to the bowl.
Mix well set aside.
Add olive oil to a large pot and under medium heat brown the meat starting with the ribs. Once browned remove and add in more working in sections. The meatballs last.
Return the meat to the pot layering the ribs first followed by sausage and last the meatballs. Slowly add the tomato sauce.
Using one of the empty 28 oz cans of tomatoes, fill with water and add to the sauce.
Cook on stove top medium heat until a low boil and then reduce to low heat to just boiling for 2 1/2 hours or in the oven at 425 degrees for 3 hours.
When finished cooking let set in pot while you prepare spaghetti.
Bring heavily salted water to boil and cook spaghetti until medium soft.
While spaghetti is cooking separate meat into its own serving container.
Remove the cooked spaghetti and put in its serving container and add the sauce on top, mix well.
Serve side by side allowing your guests to enjoy the different meats of their choosing on top of the spaghetti.
Savory Zucchini Tian with Eggs and Goat Cheese
The inspiration for this video came from the April 13th 2024 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The article was called “Why Americans Crave Southern French Cooking Now?” By Alexander Lobrano.
Rosa Jackson is a Canadian who moved to the south of France and wrote a cook book called Nicoise.
I like this because it is a high energy dish that is easy to digest and is high in vitamins/minerals adding to the ability to create energy making this an energy gain and not an energy drain.
I liked the idea of using zucchinis as we see them in the grocery store and if you’re like me – a better tasting recipe to use more of them sounds fun.
My goal was to make this without cow dairy so we are skipping the cream/butter and substituting with coconut milk.
- 2 pounds of zucchini, green and yellow
- Avocado or Olive Oil
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 4 large eggs – recipe calls for 6 but I am using Duck Eggs for people with food sensitivities to chicken eggs
- 1/4 cup of fresh basil or dried
- 3 ounces of Goat Cheese
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Bake for 30 minutes and serve at room temperature, lightly puffed
Enjoy!
Stuffed Pumpkin
Dish
pumpkin just yet!
This recipe works best with the small pie pumpkins that show up at the grocery close to Thanksgiving. The big pumpkins make a great presentation, but the flesh of the pie pumpkins is sweeter.
- 1-2 Cans of Coconut milk – depending on the size or how many pumpkins you are using.
- 1 clove of garlic minced.
- 4 cooked Chicken thighs or 1 pound of cooked bacon. cut into bite size pieces.
- 2 medium onions diced and sautéed with olive oil and 1/2 tsp. of Celtic sea salt.
- 8 ounces of nuts: walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
- 1 Package Manchego Sheep’s Cheese – cut small pieces.
- 1 pound of mushrooms cut into bit size pieces and sautéed – small amount of oil and 1/2 tsp of Celtic sea salt.
- 1 package of Wild Rice cooked as per instructions.
- 1 tablespoon of Nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon of Sweet Paprika
Inspect your pumpkin before you start. We need good clean flesh on the outside. Any tiny blemish or brown spot can be a big decay spot on the inside and might cause a leak later.
Cut the top off of the pumpkin making sure to stay to the outer edge of the round. If you cut too close to the top it is difficult to remove the stuffing after cooking, and you risk the top falling in.
Clean out he pumpkin with an ice cream spoon – it’s heavier and you can scrap out the seeds easier. Otherwise a sturdy spoon. Clean the seeds and bake later.
Add the wild rice into the pumpkin first. The rest of the ingredients in order.
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Meat – Chicken thighs or bacon.
- Nuts
- Nutmeg
- Sweet Paprika
- Manchego Sheep’s Cheese
- Fill with coconut milk and lightly stir.
Place the stuffed pumpkin on a baking sheet as it will be soft on the bottom when transferring after cooking. Put the top on the pumpkin and bake in the oven for an hour at 375 degrees. Or on the grill with the lid, away from direct heat 350 – 375 degrees. The grill will give the pumpkin a darker color. (worth the extra effort)
We want the pumpkin to be soft with finger pressure. Keep an eye on the bottom as it will collapse and leak if you over cook.
If the cooked pumpkin feels stuck on the bottom of the baking sheet do not remove it. Serve with the sheet. It is better than to have a blow out.
When serving the stuffing scrape the side of the pumpkin to add the flesh.
Roasted Cauliflower and
Red Pepper Soup
- Boil cashews for 15 minutes and let cool before blending so they are soft.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place cauliflower, red bell peppers, yellow onion, and garlic on baking sheet and let bake for 30 minutes tossing 1/2 way.
- Medium sized head of cauliflower, broken into florets
-3 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
-1 yellow onion, sliced
-5 garlic cloves, peeled
- Transfer above items to a large pot and add remaining ingredients below:
-1/2 cup raw cashews that have been softened and cooled
-1 teaspoon smoked paprika
-1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
-1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Allow to cool until safe to handle. Puree with immersion blender until completely smooth
Immunity Boosting
Soup
Boost Your Immunity with Chicken Soup:
A Seasonal Remedy
In this video, we explore how seasonal changes increase stress and susceptibility to viruses, making chicken soup the perfect remedy.
Inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s “Côte d’Azur Cure-All Soup,” we dive into a recipe that highlights the antiviral benefits of garlic and chicken fat.
Key tips include:
- Using a whole chicken and organic vegetables for a nutritious stock.
- Adding garlic at the end of cooking to preserve its antiviral potency.
- Enhancing flavor by removing the garlic’s green sprout and rinsing onions to eliminate bitterness.
Watch this video to learn how to make a flavorful and health-boosting chicken soup that’s perfect for colder seasons!
1 package of chicken breast, thighs, or 1 whole chicken in water until cooked.Preparing the chicken: The amount of chicken you would use will depend on the number of people you are serving. If getting individual pieces make sure to have the skin.
Add a small amount of olive oil to your pot and place the chicken skin side down. The goal is to get a color change in the skin to a medium yellow by lightly cooking the skin. This will give the soup added color. If using the whole chicken move every few minutes to get as much of the skin lightly seared.
Add water to cover the meat and the following:
- Fresh sage – 3 sprigs or 6-8 leaves.
- Bay leaves – 2
- Thyme sprigs – 2
- 1/2 tsp of sea salt.
- 3 grinds of black pepper.
Boil until cooked. Debone the chicken and cut into bite size pieces, and set aside. Discard the herbs.
Save the water, this is the foundation of the soup.
Chop the following into bite size pieces combine.
- Celery – 6 stalks
- Carrots – 1 pound bag
- Garlic – 1 clove. Cut lengthwise and remove the green inner stem. Mince.
- Onion – 1. Cut in half and rinse under cold water to remove any bitter fluid.
In a separate pot sauté with Olive Oil and a 1/2 tsp of sea salt for about 8 minutes, just long enough to soften. The purpose is to bring out more flavor in the vegetables.
Add the chicken to the sautéd vegetables. Add the boiled chicken water and add:
Organic Chicken Stock – 32 oz container.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until desired softness of the vegetables.
3 grinds of black pepper.
Check for salt before adding.
When finished cooking add 1 clove of mined garlic and 1 package of Egg Noodles. The garlic added at the end of cooking helps keep the antiviral properties.
Simmer until noodles are medium soft. The noodles will continue to soften with the heat turned off.
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