Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs a al Jessica Alba

I was perusing Buzzfeed while at work. I came across this post: 27 Healthy Versions of your Kid's Favorite Recipes

Right away I wanted to try #4:
"Jessica Alba's Turkey Meatballs"

There is even a video within the link. She made these on Martha Stewart!  I was excited because the only thing I didn't already have was ground up turkey and I knew I could get that on my way home with no trouble!  Here is the recipe if you want to skip right to it. Jessica Alba's Recipe

As I began prepping the meatballs, my stepson, Calvin wandered into the kitchen he asked what was I making? When I said Turkey meatballs he turned up his nose and slunk away. I definitely did not tell him there were carrots and zucchini squash in the meatballs!  That's right!  Veggies snuck right in and your kids won't even know it!!

Turkey meatballs ready to be cooked! Kids will never know there are carrots and zucchini tucked inside!

I did just like Jessica said and had my daughter, Lily (3) help me. She was willing to toss the veggies into the bowl (I portioned out each veggie into a small dish just like they do on TV) but she drew the line at helping me squish the ingredients into meatballs.

Yummy delicious Turkey meatballs over spaghetti and Marinara sauce!

So how did they turn out? Well, when Calvin smelled these lovelies cooking, he started hovering around the dish trying to steal meatballs!  When it was time to eat he loaded up his plate so fast I was dizzy. And then he came back for seconds! We all liked them! I LOVED them!

Here is Little Miss Fancy! She wanted to eat her spaghetti off my Pottery Barn Cake Stand. (I hadn't gotten all the party servicing dishes put up yet. Oh well! Let her be fancy!)  :)

Mine is probably over 5 years old, but they still sell it.

You can get it here-Pottery Barn Cake Stand

Butternut Squash. The easiest soup you can make!

Butternut Squash Soup is incredibly easy to make. (And so yummy! If you make this for your friends they will think you so accomplished! But really it's just a Beginner's soup. Yay for getting difficult points on such an easy recipe!!!

Chop up 1/2 and onion. Add this a chunk of butter to your big sauce pot. I also added a bit of chopped Parsley. (optional)

I cut the squash in half at the fastest part. Then, I cut each section in 1/2 again. Scoop out the seeds and then you can either use a pairing knife to peel the outer skin or a good peeler. I prefer the peeler but couldn't find ours so I used the knife instead. The peeler wastes less.

Cut up the squash into chunks.  Brown the butter and onion while you are cutting up the squash.

Once translucent, add squash to the pot with 1 and 1/2 of these boxes of Chicken Broth (or enough to cover the squash by about an inch. I add salt, pepper, and Dill.  You could add any number of spices-even Curry if you like.

Bring the soup to a light boil and then let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the squash is fork tender.

This immersion blender is brilliant!  You just stick it in the pot and make sure to blend up every little bit. Voila! Soup!

I love to add a little bit of Quinoa to my soup. It adds some protein and a nice little crunch. You could add Avocado cut up, or sour cream or even Chia Seeds! It's an easy to do soup and so perfect for Fall and on into the cold winter months. (And CHEAP too!)

Yum-O!  Enjoy!