Spaghetti Squash Meatball Bites

"Your energy is through the roof, you’ve kicked the cravings, you’re experimenting with new, delicious food, and you’ve finally got the time to notice that your clothes fit better, your workouts are stronger, and you are generally more awesome."

The "tiger blood" is for real. The Whole30 website talks a lot about this stage of the cleanse where you feel a kind of energy you've never before experienced.

For me, this struck last week without me really noticing. I've been training for a 5K and suddenly I'm actually able to keep up with my training program. I'm cleaning up a storm at home. My to do list is like a tornado of items blowing in and out faster than you have time to read them I'm loving the extra energy.

At this point in Whole30 you've become so accustomed to the dietary restrictions that they're second nature. In 5 minutes I can whip up an incredible gourmet salad, cook up some fish in 20, and enjoy a nutrious meal.

On top of all of this, I can see the changes in my body. More so than any other time I've done this, the changes are very visible. I attended a wedding last Saturday. The skirt I decided to wear to the wedding decidedly did NOT fit me the last time I wore it. This time it slid on effortlessly, swished the way it was supposed to, and did not cut of circulation to my lower appendages.

I have a confession to make: I make a concerted effort not to use these 30 days as a weight loss technique, but I finally weighed myself today. I had to, my pants were falling off! Sure enough I've lost some weight since beginning, but more than that, the energy to run and workout on top of the healthy eating have made some positive changes in my body. The last signs of winter are disappearing :)

Spaghatti Squash Meatball Bites

adapted from PaleoLeap

This recipe is actually really easy despite all of the instructions below. If you know how to prepare spaghetti squash and have a go-to meatball recipe, just cook the squash, place it into a muffin tin, place a meatball and some sauce in each and enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash nests

Ingredients:

• 1 Spaghetti squash

• 2 egg whites

• 1 pinch tumeric

• sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Cut spaghetti squash in half (lengthwise)

3. Use a spoon to scoop out seeds

4. sprinkle olive oil on each half and lay facedown on a foil-covered baking sheet

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes

6. (while squash is baking, prepare meatballs)

7. When the squash is ready, use a fork to remove stringy pulp from the squash and place into bowl

8. Mix in egg whites, some salt and tumeric.

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 egg

• 1/4 tsp dried parsley, basil, and thyme (I used italian seasoning mix)

• 1 cup tomato sauce*

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1/4 tsp dried parsley, basil, and thyme

• sea salt and pepper

*I purchase ready-made tomato sauces to save on time. You can find great ones with great ingredients at most grocery stores. My favorite is.. If you do this, you can skip the remaining ingredients and use that sauce.

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl combine beef, seasonings, salt, and pepper and mix until incorporated.

2. Roll meat mixture into 1 inch meatballs

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute meatballs until browned. Add tomato sauce and cook 10 minutes (until meatballs are cooked)

Assembly

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Scoop spaghetti squash into muffin tin. Fill each cup then create an indentation in each to create a cavity for each meatball.

3. Place one meatball in each muffin cup

4. Bake 15-20 minutes

5. Drizzle remaining sauce on top and enjoy

#food #paleo #whole30 #meatballs #beef #spaghetti