Homemade Chef-Boyardee

With a husband and a two year old, Chef-Boyardee is a staple in this house but lets face it, canned meals are not exactly the healthiest thing on the planet. A single serving(half a can) of Chef-Boyardee's Spaghetti and Meatballs has 44% of your daily sodium intake! If you are like my husband, and can eat a single can in one sitting - that is 88% of your daily sodium in one meal. I set out to make a healthier version for my family and this is the final result.

This is a somewhat time consuming endeavor, but the flavor alone is worth the time!

***Full recipe at the bottom of post***

While my pasta was cooking, I started making my meatballs.

The meatballs were then cooked in small batches.

If you have young children, cutting up the spaghetti until smaller pieces is a wise idea.

Once the sauce and meatballs were finished and the spaghetti was rinsed & drained, the sauce was added to the pasta.

Then the meatballs.

Finally I divided it up into 1 c. servings in ziplock baggies and froze.
 

Homemade Chef-Boyardee's Spaghetti and Meatballs 

Ingredients:

Pasta  

• 1/2 package uncooked spaghetti 

Cook in boiling water with a tbs of oil until desired consistency is reached.

Meatballs:

• 1 lb ground beef 
• 1 egg 
• Dash of Worcestershire Sauce, Ketchup, & BBQ Sauce 
• 1 tbs parsley 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 1/2 tsp onion powder 
• 3 tbs breadcrumbs 
• 1 tbs marjoram 
• 1 tsp paprika 

Mix all ingredients together well. Form into small meatballs and cook on a skillet until brown.

Pasta Sauce

• 1 can tomato sauce(15 oz) 
• 1 can diced tomatoes(15 oz) 
• 1 can tomato paste(6oz) 
• 2 tbs oregano 
• 1/2 tsp paprika 
• 1 tbs rosemary 
• 1 tbs parsley 
• 1 tbs marjoram 
• 2 tbs chopped dried onions

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer 10-15 minutes. If you prefer a sweeter sauce, 2 tbs of brown sugar may be added.

In a large bowl, combine pasta & sauce and mix well. Add in meatballs and gently mix them throughout the pasta being sure to avoid breaking the meatballs. Divide into 1 cup servings and freeze.