Spaghetti and Meatballs

Yes, even with the gestational diabetes I can have this starch heavy treat. The trick, make everything yourself.
I made a veggie heavy red sauce and my own meatballs.
Here is the recipe.
(WARNING this is not a one pot recipe... But good food is worth a little extra cleanup)
Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey (you can change 1/2 lb of that for hot or itallian turkey sausage)
1/2 medium onion diced, fine
3-4 cloves of garlic minced (or 2 tsps of minced garlic from a jar)
1-2 Tbs breadcrumbs
1 egg, scrambled
Herbs (dry)
1 Tbs of Fines Herbs (or 1 tsp each of rosemarry, thyme, savory, and oregano)
1 Tbs of basil
1-2 tsps of pepper
(I don't cook with salt, but if you like salt 1/2 -1 tsp of salt also)
2 Tbs of flour and 1Tbs of breadcrumbs for dredging.
Mix all ingredients, (by hand is really best) the mixture should feel a little moist. I used a deep bowled 1 Tbs measuring spoon, but you could do it with a small ice cream scoop or a large spoon.
The meatballs should be about 1 inch across. Form them with your hands and drop them onto the plate with the flour. Shake them around a bit, just to get them covered, then try to shake off the excess flour. Cook over medium high heat in 1tbs of olive oil for 5 minutes before turning. Cook for another five minutes, cover with blended sauce and cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes.
Sauces (yes technically there are two)
1 lg can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained reserve the liquid
3 cans of diced tomatoes, drained reserve the liquid
1 zucchini, diced
1 carrot diced (i omitted this )
8-10 mushrooms diced
1/2 med onion diced
3-4 garlic cloves minced (or 1-2 tsps of minced from a jar)
Herbs (same ammounts as above for each sauce.)
2 bay leaves
Sauce 1 (for the meatballs)
2 cans of tomatoes, drained, and reserve the liquid.
1-2 tsps of minced garlic
Olive oil
In a medium pot heat the oil and garlic, for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
In a medium pan combine all the reserved liquid, one bay leaf and the herbs. Reduce, (cook over medium high to high heat for 20-30 minutes until the liquid is reduced.) this concentrates the flavor.
Pour tomatoes and reduced liquid (remove bay leaf), into a blender. Cover, remove small cap or vent the lid and cover with a tea towel. Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour 2/3 of this sauce over the meatballs when ready and cook acording to meatball recipe.
Sauce 2
In a large pan. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions. Sautee' for about 2 minutes, add zucchini and carrots, 2 minutes more. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 more minutes. Crush whole tomatoes, (by hand, over the pan) and add to veggies. Add diced tomatoes, bay leaf and herbs. Add reserved meatball sauce. Cook over medioum low heat for 20-30 minutes. It will thicken and reduce slightly, stir often. Serve over whole wheat pasta or spaghetti squash.
For my diet I had 1 c of pasta ( I prefer angel hair, 2 starches), 1 c of tomato sauce (2 veggies), 4 meatballs (4 protein), one piece of whole wheat toast with butter, garlic and riccota cheese, (1 starch and 1/2 milk) and some parmasean cheese on top (1/2 milk).
Super Yummy. Next day, have open face meatball sandwiches with tomato sauce and cheese.
You can eat yummy and eat healthy too..
Love Sara