Monday Meal 12: Meatballs and pasta

A few weeks ago I published a similar dish which was spaghetti bolognese. Meatballs & pasta and spaghetti bolognese are similar in what nutritional content they deliver to the body. They just look a little different. What I’m trying to show you is that you can make a a similar meal in all sorts of different ways. Therefore, you won’t get bored with eating the same thing every week. The body likes variety in the food it consumes. This makes sure it gets the right amount of each vitamin and mineral.

There are many vital nutrients the body maybe missing if you diet hasn’t got a variety of nutritious foods in it. For example, you may not eat any lentils, pulses or nuts. These foods can offer a great deal of help to the body. If you decided to have 1 or 2 meals a week with them in. They will also make sure you have fibre in your diet which is crucial for helping digest certain foods. As a personal trainer I educate my clients on what other foods they can eat. This opens their minds to new foods.

Nutrition (ingredients) for the dish

The sauce:

400g Passata

1 Red Pepper

1 Onion

2 Garlic cloves

2 tsp of marmite 🙂

The Meatballs:

500g turkey mince

2 tsp of paprika powder

Handful of chopped up rocket

Salt and pepper

Handful of oats

How I put the dish together

The sauce

1. Cut the onion and garlic cloves up and fry in a pan until golden
2. Add the red pepper once cut.
3. Grind some salt and pepper into the pan for taste
4. Pour the Passata in to make the sauce.
5. Add the marmite and let the sauce simmer whilst you prepare the meatballs.

The Meatballs

1. Finely chop up a handful of rocket and place in with the turkey mince.
2. Add the salt, pepper and paprika to the mix.
3. Mix everything up with your hands or a wooden spoon.
4. Add in a handful of oats as a bulking agent if needed.
5. Create small meatballs with he mince and fry in a pan until done.
6. Whilst the meatballs are cooking place the pasta in a pan for 12minutes unit done.

How a personal trainer looks at nutrition:

I look at nutrition in a way that is vital for my survival. I have to make sure that I get a certain amount of foods with the right amount of vitamins and minerals each day. It’s a bit a mouthful. However, this makes sure I get the right amount of nutrition that my body needs. This doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy food. I really enjoy food and I like to cook nice meals to make sure I’m healthy. These meatballs and pasta for example, a wonderful dish that taste great and gives you the right amount of nutrients. There are some nutrients that the dish doesn’t have. This means that I will have to get those vitamins and minerals from other meals in the day.