Homemade Italian Meatballs

I am so excited about this. I have never tried anything like it before and it was so much fun.

I put 1.5 lbs of lean hamburger meat in a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile I used my chopper to chop up fresh spinach (its a cuisnart chopper). The idea is to sneak in vegetables where my kids don't notice. I added fresh chopped spinach (a handful of it), 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs and 2 minced garlic cloves. Then I used my hands and mixed it all together.

After I did that I rolled them into small balls and placed in a greased 9x13 dish. I then used 3 diced sweet peppers, 1 jar of marinara and 1 can of diced tomatoes (drain the juice) and poured on top. I also chopped up a zucchini in thin slices to add more veggies to it.

 

I then baked it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I served it with a side of whole wheat pasta and used the juices from the meatballs for the pastas topping. This seriously was so amazing and my kids ate two meatballs each! They loved it.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of hamburger meat
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/3 cup of breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 tablespoon crushed redpepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
handful of fresh spinach (or frozen if you prefer)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
3 sweet peppers or substitute a diced red or green pepper
1 zucchini (optional)
whole wheat pasta or salad for the side