Beef

I like to make this recipe in advance, so I can enjoy them during the week when I have less time to cook.

The key here is to use a lean ground beef of at least 90% beef and 10% fat, if you have a local butcher that you like, ask them to grind up a fresh batch for you, freshly ground seems to work better for me gut you can still get the prepackaged stuff, just make sure its 90/10.

The next thing you want is to use your homemade bread crumbs, this way you can be sure of the sodium count. Simply place them into your food processor or your blender and using the pulse setting, pulse them a few times to get a coarse grind. At this point, you can add some of your favorite seasonings if you like. I like to use Mrs. Dash Herb & Garlic blend, but you can use what you like.

When you're ready to mix it all together, make sure you put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl at once and always use your hands to mix it up. The gentle touch of your hands incorporates all of the ingredients without crushing the meat. You don't want to over-mix into a paste - full pieces of ground meat should still be visible.

Keeping in mind how you will use the meatballs, you should roll them to the size appropriate for the dish. For instance, you'll want smaller, bite-size meatballs if adding to soups. If they're served on their own, they should be pretty big, like the size of a golf ball (about 2 inches in diameter). If they're on top of spaghetti, a medium meatball will suffice. This one is all about preference, just consider how the meatballs will be eaten.

If you roll your meatballs with dry hands, the meat mixture will stick to your skin and make rolling a ball impossible. To remedy this, lightly oil your hands. You'll only need a light rolling motion to form a (not too tight!) ball.

Next sear the meatballs for a nice brown color in your favorite frying pan.  (Note: This is optional but recommended.)

For this recipe and for the sake of convenience, I microwaved them.

During the week I can use them with a nice pasta sauce with spaghetti noodles or I eat them on a sandwich. The uses are endless. Enjoy!

Total sodium per serving: 54mg Total calories per serving: 261 Servings: 8 Prep Time 5 minutes         Cook Time 45 minutes             Total Time 50 minutes Ingredients: ...

Weeknights are very busy when getting home late from work, taking kids to sports practices and helping with homework. I am always looking for some easy meals to feed the family that won't take up a lot of preparation time.

My family loves hamburgers, but they just get so boring. I love casseroles because they can feed many people, are easy to double, freeze very well and can be used for lunches. The leftovers are great when covered and reheated a few minutes in the microwave at 50% power. Casseroles can be made a day ahead and pulled from the refrigerator to bake when getting home for the day.

The family loves to eat salads along with casseroles, and I chop many colorful vegetables to add to the salad bowl. A good side vegetable for this casserole would be green beans, broccoli or cauliflower. In the summer a nice side dish would be fresh corn on the cob.

I like to use 90/10 ground beef, and the choices of pasta are many Macaroni, bow tie, penne or any pasta would work in this casserole. If making this for children, let them pick out the pasta they want to go into the casserole.

Casseroles are warm and comforting and bring smiles to the faces at the table.

The term sausage derives from salsus, meaning “salted” in Latin. Many years ago, about 3100BC, there were no refrigerators and salting meat was a common method of preservation.

Low sodium Italian sausage is very tasty and can be used in numerous ways I have listed below.

Stuffed eggplant is delicious. Linguini and peppers with Italian Sausage. Italian Sausage with Farfalle and Broccoli. Roasted Vegetables and Kale Soup with Italian Sausage makes a great dinner on cool nights. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms are a popular appetizer. Polenta with Italian Sausage and Vegetables make a wonderful meal. Make an Italian Sausage Tart. Have a bowl of filling Italian Sausage Chili. Use no salt pizza dough to make a fun Stromboli filled with Italian Sausage and fresh Mozzarella cheese. Make a comfort food meal of Stuffed Peppers with Italian Sausage. White Bean and Sausage Soup are a favorite. Use those many zucchinis from your garden when making Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats. I like to finish them in my air fryer to keep the kitchen cool. Grill some Italian Sausage and add a low sodium bun topped with grilled onion, peppers, and tomatoes. Make a Grilled Italian Sausage and Fennel Salad. Stuff some Sausage Calzones and enjoy. Baked Penne and Italian Sausage is a great meal. For cold winter nights, make some Italian Sausage Soup to warm you. Zuppa Toscana Soup is very popular. Sausage Tortellini Soup is very tasty, and I use small, dried tortellini that is very low in sodium. Baked Ziti is another great meal that is very filling. Try adding your Italian sausage to stuffing for your turkeys. Use a grilled Italian sausage patty on a low sodium bun, top with fresh Mozzarella cheese, a tomato slice, and some fresh basil and a couple of tablespoons of low sodium marinara sauce. Add your Italian sausage to your lasagna. Stir up some Italian sausage, onions, pepper and tomatoes and top rice or pasta with it. And finally, top your no salt pizza crust with some no-salt Italian Sausage and fresh Mozzarella cheese. Delicious!

We have so many choices to enjoy. I make my sausage into patties. You may choose to make links. Whichever is your choice, make them low sodium, add lots of other seasonings and enjoy!

If you’re lucky, you have an Ikea store near you. You know it’s the Swedish store best known for its space-saving designs and most delicious food court where you can get a giant plate of Swedish meatballs in this wonderful cream sauce.

I have been craving these Swedish meatballs ever since I had to go low sodium. I’m so glad to finally take the time to create a low sodium version. I don’t know why it took me so long to make it – it’s so easy to make and it really tastes just like the Ikea version.

Mincing the onion, celery and parsley are key here. You want to mince them as small as you can so they incorporate into the meat and be chunky. Once you have sautéed the veggies let them cool a little before you mix them into the meat. I like to make the meatballs about the size of a Walnut. I figure the smaller the more I can eat! Yum!!

While the meatballs are cooking in the oven I make the sauce.

Now the sauce is where you either make a great Swedish meatball or you just have meatballs in a gravy sauce. I like to heat the beef broth with the cream cheese slowly in a saucepan allowing the two ingredients to fuse together. This requires lots of stirring but the effort is worth it. If you’re pressed for time you can use a blender for this process, just be careful blending as the hot liquid in a blender tends to blow the lid off and you will get it all over the place. I prefer to use an immersion blender, this way you have less clean up.

Let the sauce simmer over low heat until it thickens a little bit. You don’t want it really thick like the gravy you would have over biscuits but you want it thick like the gravy you would use on mashed potatoes.

Layout some cooked eggs noodles on a plate then top with the cooked meatballs and pour the gravy over the meatballs letting it absorb into the noodles. Top with some chopped parsley and you have a great tasting Swedish meatball dish.

In the Autumn when the colorful leaves are falling to the ground and the nights are getting chilly, One Pot Chili Mac is a great meal to serve. When the Winter winds blow and you want a warm dish to serve the family, this hearty, quick meal is what you need. It will feed a crowd on a busy weekend, and the leftovers are delicious when heated for lunch or dinner. It is very economical when feeding a large family, and freezes well. Thaw in the refrigerator or defrost in microwave, and heat in the microwave for a few minutes for a really quick meal.

If you need to get vegetables into meals, this is a good recipe to choose. You may already have all the ingredients in your pantry. If you don't have macaroni, choose another pasta, maybe penne or rotini as both would work well. Be sure to use freshly minced garlic, as that makes a huge difference in taste.

Children love this recipe as much as adults. Growing teens find it very filling and tasty, and the recipe will be a staple on your meal rotation. If you want to serve something along with One Pot Chili Mac, a good side dish choice would be low sodium cornbread or muffins. You might also add coleslaw with a vinegar and oil dressing or even a simple salad with a homemade low sodium dressing.

One-Pot Chili Mac will be a family favorite.

Total sodium per serving: 149mg Total calories per serving: 333 Servings: 4 Ingredients 1 pound lean ground beef 1/4 cup low sodium homemade bread crumbs 2 tbsp no salt added...

I was searching the web looking for an easy yet comfort food type of recipe when I came across a very similar recipe. I love just about anything when it comes to gravy. So I decided to convert this to low sodium and after a few rounds of experimenting with flavor, I came up with what I hope you will enjoy as much as I do.

The smothered meatballs in chunky onion gravy is a simple yet satisfying weeknight dinner recipe that the whole family will enjoy.

You can serve the meatballs smothered with an onion Gravy over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.

This meatball dinner is a hearty meal that comes together with little effort.

The meatballs are a basic ground beef mixture that are pan-fried to get a nice golden brown to them. Then you sauté the onions, make the gravy and let the meatballs finish cooking in a rich, flavorful sauce. This will be a new go-to meal that the entire family will love!

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