Spaghetti with Meat Balls

Who doesn't like spaghetti and meatballs? This is one dish that I know my kids will always eat and like any good mom, I take advantage of this by sneaking extra veggies into the sauce!

Meatball Ingredients:

3 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Secret Sauce Ingredients:

16 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups of fresh or frozen carrots

Directions:

1)Pre-heat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.

2)In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix until everything is just combined, trying not to over mix that will cause the meat to get tough.

3)Form 2 ounce balls and place on the baking sheets. The baking process takes about 20 minutes. Half way through baking turn the meat balls so that all sides brown equally.

4)When meatballs are finished add to your sauce and serve. These are also really good for meatball sub-sandwiches!

Sauce Directions:

1)Steam carrots until fork tender. Don't throw out the water in the pan just yet.

2)In a blender or food processor put all of the carrots and puree.

3)If the mixture is to thick add some of the water that was used to steam the carrots. That will help to get a really nice carrot puree.

4)Add carrot puree to your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce! The carrots will make your sauce slightly sweeter but no one really notices at my house.