This week we're taking easy weeknight dinners to a healthier level!
Meatballs are the first of our Healthy Dinner series. The classic spaghetti and meatballs is sure to successfully win over the pickiest of eaters. But how healthy is a serving of spaghetti and meatballs really? Let's take a closer look at the nutritional differences between a Classic Spaghetti & Meatball dinner and "healthified" version - Garden Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs.
*click on nutrition labels to see recipes
The health meter at the bottom is a good indication of how nutritionally balanced the meal is. It takes into account the proportion of healthy/unhealthy ingredients in the meal based on research backed nutritional benefits/risks of these ingredients.
As you can see, Classic Spaghetti & Meatballs contains almost twice the amount of calories per serving (where almost three times the amount of calories are coming from saturated fats). Calories aside, classic meatballs are usually deep friend - a cooking method that has been linked to various cancers (although research is still ongoing).¹
How to make meatballs healthier and still save time
More Healthy Recipes For Meatball Mondays:
References:
¹ "Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk." National Cancer Institute. 15 Oct 2010. Accessed at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cooked-meats