As some of you may know, I have been on a diet of 1200 calories per day for about a month now.  The good news is – I’ve lost 5 pounds!  And not just 5 water weight/bloating pounds either, these are 5 real, fat-has-been-burned-off pounds that has not returned despite my monthly weight fluctuations.  Yay!  Now, the bad news is that it isn’t always easy to find foods that will satisfy that craving for carbs (noodles, rice, bread) and still stay within the calorie limits, but I have been able to created a few dinner entrees that can satisfy that need and are under 500 (yes 500!) calories.  Last night I made a delicious bowl of pasta with three huge turkey meatballs and tomato sauce for just 450 calories!

The great thing about ground turkey is that it is an incredibly versatile meat – it takes on any spices or flavors added to the meat elegantly, and adds a slight sweetness that is reminiscent of ground pork.  A meat that can be made to taste like pork for 1/2 the calories and 1/3 less of the fat…yeah I’ll get that!

Turkey Meatball recipe

This was originally Jessica Alba’s turkey meatball recipe, but I changed it up a bit and made it my own:

 

Makes about 28 1-inch meatballs

2 pounds lean ground turkey

1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1/4 cup finely chopped carrots

1/4 cup finely chopped zucchini

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 large pinch of cumin

1 large pinch of white pepper

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

STEP 1

In a large bowl, mix turkey, panko, carrots, zucchini, onion, eggs, Italian seasoning, and salt until well combined; form into 1-inch balls.

STEP 2

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning, until browned, about 7 minutes.  I like cooking the meatballs on the edge of the pan so that they can be turned more easily and will stand on the side that I want them to stand on.  Once the meatballs are almost all the way cooked, add chopped garlic into the middle of the pan.  The garlic will brown evenly using the oils that are already in the pan.

STEP 3

Pour tomato sauce over the garlic, bring to a slight bubbling boil, stir the sauce, then cover and reduce heat to low. I continued to cook the turkey meatballs on the edge of the pan because I like my meatballs and my sauce to have two very distinct flavors when I eat them, but if you like your flavors blended, then go ahead and stir the meatballs in with the sauce and coat each meatball evening.  Add any leftover chopped tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, and onions to the sauce, as well as a dash of cumin and white pepper (optional) for an added woodsy peppery flavor.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve over 1 1/2 cups of cooked thin spaghetti.

 

Caloric count:

1 1/2 cup of thin spaghetti – 315 calories

3 Turkey meatballs (per recipe) – 124 calories (each meatball is about 40 calories, so add more if you prefer!)

1/4 cup of tomato sauce – 15 calories

Total calories for entire entree:  454 delicious and filling calories, 6.7g of fat.  At these numbers, you can add a dash of parmesan and not feel guilty about it!