Finally I am ready to join the blogging for Karina with my own addition – care of my wonderful husband. I must say avoiding cow’s milk, goat’s milk, cheese, whey, casein, eggs, chicken, turkey, gluten, lemon, avocado, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, soybeans, pineapple, papaya, green beans and kidney beans is quite a challenge! In fact I become stuck several times because I tend to eat a lot of nutty foods, use nuts in cooking, goat’s milk/cheese, and beans. Those are some of my favorite foods! Leave it to my talented hubby to come up with the perfect dish for dinner the other night so I could post it here for our darling GFG!

Pasta with Meatballs

Meatball Ingredients:
1-lb extra lean beef
1 pkg of Rice crackers
1 pkg of button mushrooms, rinsed
3-5 cloves of roasted garlic (I make my own – vampires beware!)
Spices (however you like to flavor – oregano, basil…)
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large food processor combine mushrooms, rice crackers, garlic, spices, and salt & pepper. Using a large bowl and your clean hands, combine meat with food processor contents as evenly as possible. Form meatballs to your own preference for size. Place meatballs in a large saucepan and saute, turning every few minutes to sear each side of the meatball (golf ball size is better than tennis ball size). I would recommend you wait 5-10 minutes before covering the meatballs with about 1 cup of tomato sauce. By cooking them with the sauce you keep them moist, I just prefer them to be seared before the sauce is added.

Heat a large 6-quart pot of water (please use filtered, it affects the taste of your pasta) after sprinkling salt and olive oil in the pot. Add 1 package of DeBoles Corn Pasta (my favorite!) to the boiling water and cook to your desired doneness.

After draining pasta, return it to the pot and dump the rest of your favorite Muir Glen pasta sauce on top.

Note: Here is what’s interesting about these meatballs. The mushrooms carry a good deal of moisture so when done right the meatballs have that garlic and mushroom flavor but remains intensely moist and delicious. For grated cheese, I can only suggest a vegan cheese that are readily available at most Whole Foods or Harris Teeter markets – especially wide variety of Vegan Cheese is available at MOM’s Markets (if you are blessed have one nearby).