Sunday, February 7, 2010

Steakhouse Meatballs

Pin It When you go to college it's called "The Freshman 15". What's it called when you start a food blog? "The Foodie-Blogger 10"? :)

I started Weight Watchers on August 11, 2007 (yes, I do remember the actual date). Over the next 1 1/2 years I lost 50 pounds (size 18 to a size 10). It took me that long because I'd lose my umph for a few weeks here and there. Then, in the spring of last year we decided we were going to move. At the same time I started this blog. And between the move and the blog, I gained 10 pounds back by December. Ahh! I started counting my Weight Watchers points again, but the 10 pounds would not budge. I needed something else.

I ended up with something that's a hybrid of the Atkins diet and what my husband had to do when he was diagnosed with diabetes a couple years ago. A big part of the change is how I look at carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Carbs aren't bad, but I was eating way too many (don't we all!), especially treats. I love treats! So I set a net carb limit of 150 g or less per day, and increased the amount of protein and fat I eat. Of course, I get my carbs from veggies, some fruit, and some whole grains (I must have my morning oatmeal). It's a little hard for me to believe, but it's working. After I lose the 10 pounds (again) I'll gradually decrease the protein and fat amounts and gradually increase the carb amount until I find the tailor-made formula that maintains my goal weight.

This meatball recipe was an effort to make a meatball that could stand on it's own, without a sticky, sweet, carb-laden sauce, and that didn't need any pasta or rice. I served it on some lovely sauteed onions (Go here for the onions--for the meatballs, I didn't cook the onions quite as long as for the tarts), with broccoli on the side. OK, I had 1/2 cup of couscous with it, too, for 23 g net carbs. :)


Steakhouse Meatballs
Printable Recipe

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ground steak seasoning**
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Heat your oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with non-stick spray.

2. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and gently mix with a fork or with your hands. I like to use my hands because I think it's easier to get everything mixed without beating it up. This is one of the moments I break out my disposable latex gloves--I hate trying to pick the meat out from under my fingernails. Gross.

3. Use a muffin scoop, or a 1/4-cup measuring cup, to portion out the meat mixture. Gently roll the portions into meatballs and place them on the prepared baking sheet. You should get 9 meatballs.

4. Bake the meatballs for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. There will be some nasty cooked-meat-stuff that collects around the base of the meatball. To serve beautiful nasty-cooked-meat-stuff free meatballs, gently wipe the meatballs on a paper towel before plating.

1 meatball: 98 cal/5g fat/.2 fiber/3.5g carb/11.5g pro/2 WW points
3 meatballs: 294 cal/16g fat/1g fiber/11g carb/34.5 pro/7 WW points

**I have something called "Chicago Steak Seasoning" I bought at Sam's Club. I'm sure any type of seasoning or herb mixture for steak or beef would work.

Confession: I was out of Italian parsley, so I chopped up some celery leaves to sprinkle on the meatballs. They desperately needed the green :)

9 comments:

  1. I LOVE that you've been putting nutritional information on the recipes lately. Especially since I still have 10-15 I want to lose.

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  2. These look great! I don't eat gluten, so i will substitute oatmeal for the bread crumbs and see how that works.

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  3. Yum!! I will definitely be trying these out soon. I assume they freeze well too?

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  4. OMG! That looks really delicious.

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  5. These look great love the name as well.

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  6. I made these the other night and they were fabulous! My husband and friends were skeptical that the meatballs wouldn't need sauce and made me put the bbq sauce on the table... but you were right and no bbq sauce was used! I do think the onions were key though... they put the finishing touch on the meal.

    Thanks a lot! I'm always looking for something a little healthier for supper :)

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  7. @pom.sugar, I have to tell you your comment made my night last night. I love that you made them and that they turned out great for you! And yes, the onions are a must ;) Thanks for letting me know how it went! :)

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  8. so what do you think of the new weight watchers "points plus" biz? i am still getting used to it, but it seems to be the healthier route and takes into account carbs and protein, unlike before.

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  9. @MJ, I actually just heard about the new WW Points Plus. I haven't looked at it yet, but if they are including carbs and protein that sounds awesome--it's one of the things I didn't love about the program. I think it all needs to be considered. :)

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