Month: August 2019

I’m getting more and more dependent on meals I can prepare in advance so my husband can just pop in the oven if I’m still at work or busy with the kids! I love when the whole meal can be in one tinfoil pan too. This means easy to cook and easy to clean up…for a working mom it doesn’t get much better than that! I usually spend one day each week prepping a few pre-made pans of food for the nights I work late. Turkey meatballs and cabbage has become one of our very favorites for flavor and ease of preparation!

In my recipe for EASY Stuffed Peppers I explain that ground meat loses about 25% of its weight when cooked. So if you’re measuring your meat raw you need to account for this decrease. For the Meatballs & Cabbage recipe I measure 4 oz +/- for each meatball. So if you have a package of 40 oz of ground turkey (Sam’s and Costco sized packages) then you should get 10 meatballs.

Again, super easy to assemble. I take a head of cabbage and remove the outer 1-2 leaves. Then slice into thin “steaks” and place in the bottom of tinfoil pans. Usually 1 head of cabbage will make two pans for me. Then I thinly slice a sweet onion and spread around the two pans as well. I season the vegetables with salt, garlic powder and pepper. Before I portion out the meatballs I season with Italian seasoning or a mixture of whatever spices I have on hand. I’m a big fan of the Penzey’s salt free blends! Place the meatballs on top of the cabbage and onions. Add 1-2 TBSP of low sugar tomato sauce to the top of the meatballs and bake uncovered at 400-425 degrees (depends on your oven) for 55 min-1 hour.

Some helpful notes:

5 meatballs per pan seems to be the max to not have too much liquid cook out and saturate the cabbage. Add your fat portion after the meatballs are cooked. We love feta or Parmesan on the meatballs & cabbage meal but you could also drizzle a good quality olive oil!

We have so many healthy EATS that you can make right in your own kitchen!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

So there’s stuffed peppers then there’s EASY stuffed peppers. If you’re looking for the easy way to make this meal, then you’re in the right place! In my regular recipe, I first cook the ground turkey. It’s something I thought was necessary for portion control. Turns out, after some research, there is consistency that ground turkey/beef in general loses 25% of its weight when cooked. So, if you measure each raw portion of meat to be 4 oz, then cooked it will be 3 oz which just happens to be a perfect fit in a small to medium pepper.

How to Prepare:

For the EASY stuffed peppers, all you do is clean the peppers and remove the top and inside membranes and seeds. Season your ground lean meat with Italian seasoning. I also like to add fennel seeds as it makes the meat taste and smell like sausage when its cooked! Measure your raw meat to be 4oz give or take a little and stuff it into the pepper. Top with a few tablespoons of low sugar tomato sauce and 1-2 oz of cheese of your choice. You can also wait and add the cheese after the EASY stuffed peppers are cooked. Feta is one of my favorite cheeses to top with!

Bake the peppers at 400 degrees uncovered for approximately one hour. Let cool slightly before serving. Make a few pans up ahead of time with chopped vegetables and you’ll have easy weeknight healthy cooking ready to go for your family!

Check out more healthy EATS recipes here!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!