Healthy Chef Boyardee

So what's wrong with good o' fashion spaghetti and meatballs? Nothing, if it made with actual food and not chemically processed goo! This Chef Boyardee is very high in sodium (like many processed foods) and is high in fat and bad carbs!

Another thing to always think about when eating meat is where did the meat come from? If you want a good reason to take a second look at where your meat products are coming from, just type in "Meat Recall" into Google/Bing. Remember the 2007 E.Coli meat scare! In my opinion, over the last 3 years the FDA has not completely fixed the problem regarding food regulation, especially in light of the recent egg recall.

But why is E.Coli such a problem? Well, currently most cattle feed on corn mill just like nature intended. You remember learning about how cow's have evolved to pick and shuck their corn in grade school, right? Yeah, I don't remember that either because cows EAT GRASS! Corn is much cheaper, though; so cows just tolerate eating it. These corn-eating-cows are more susceptible to getting disease because they aren't getting the nutrition they need; so a highly contagious disease called E.Coli spreads. In the slaughter houses, the E.Coli can contaminate the meat via feces that get on the meat (amongst other ways)! That's a great mental picture, huh?

So where can we find grass-fed-cows? Eatwild.com is a website I found that will help you find local farms that grass-feed their cows (and don't inject them with steroids). They also have ways to get poultry, pork, and other farm fresh foods! AND there are some that will deliver to you! How easy! Now you can't make excuses. :)

Now that we have an education on beef. 

Let's make a healthier version of the Chef Boyardee.

RECIPE

-Lean ground beef (grass-fed) or turkey ground meat (lower in fats)

-1-2 Eggs

-Bread Crumbs 

       (Take bread and crumble it or use what is at the bottom of the bag. No need to buy over-salted pre-packaged bread crumbs)

-Wheat Noodles

-Low Sodium Tomato Sauce*

       (Many healthy options: Prego, Classico, Del Monte; *skip the ones with cheese flavorings)

-1 Can Tomato Paste

-Parmesan Cheese (Organic Valley Brand is USDA Organic- no pesticides/hormones/etc)

1.Cook noodles as instructed on package

2. Fold eggs and bread crumbs into meat until mixture is sticking together

3.Use ice cream scoop to form small balls of meat

4.Brown meatballs in a pan with a dab of e.v.o.o., season with salt/pepper

       *Sacrifice one meatball to make sure they are done in the middle.

5.Mix tomato sauce and tomato paste in a pan; warm over stove

6.Fold in cooked meatballs and noodles gently

7. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

*You can make this meal in bulk one weekend and store it in the freezer in portioned out containers. This will make it easy to pull one out, warm, and feed the kids.

Enjoy!