Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs

My new routine has been to pick up fruit at the train station on my way to my office on Monday mornings – I just buy whatever is on sale – this week: .99 per pound for honeycrisp apples – yes please! D’Anjou pears for $1.29 a pound and bananas were .50 cents each.

Breakfast was what I call a “shower omelette.” I heat a non-stick pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Take it off the heat, pour in two eggs and an ounce of Trader Joes lite mozzarella (1) – put a lid on it, and by the time I get out of the shower, its cooked through. I brought it to work, heated it up for 40 seconds, then stuffed it with ham (1) and cold chopped romaine. If you haven’t tried romaine in an omelette, its delicious. With a perfect pear on the side, breakfast was 2 points.

It was near 40 degrees so my sister and I walked the Riverwalk – so pretty!! I just loved that the sun was out.

I’ve already had a dozen people send me pictures of this chickpea and pumpkin curry – love! I served mine yesterday for lunch with sauteed zucchini and 1/2 cup of rice – lunch was 7 points.

I couldn’t believe how fast the day went by yesterday – before I knew it, it was time to head home.

For a second I thought my sister and I may have switched bodies on our lunch – I was making pasta for dinner and she was making shrimp! I can’t even remember the last time she cooked with seafood – granted it was a pasta dish, but a cajun shrimp pasta dish which is out of her comfort zone – and she loved it!

Mine really doesn’t need a recipe, but I know people will ask me, so here it is. My secret to weeknight meatballs is to take the sausage out of the casing, and make tiny meatballs out of the sausage – they take about 5 minutes to brown, and they will finish cooking in the oven. This is literally a 20 minute dish – and that includes the cooking time of the pasta.

Top with an ounce of Trader Joe’s lite mozzarella – bake at 450 for 5 minutes (Hannah just happened to have the oven on 450 for what she was cooking) then broil until the cheese gets all melty.

Sprinkle with dried parsley and dinner is done. How cute is that small Lodge cast iron skillet?!

Perfect comfort food dish – and I ended my day with 20 points – #winning!

And this is the look the dogs give me at night when I try to put them in the back room where their beds are – as if to say “can we sleep with you grandma?!” I usually give in. 😀

I got a mystery gift yesterday in the mail – a necklace that says “Shine Bright Like a Diamond” – I sing that on my Instagram stories every once in a while – I’ll keep you posted! But whoever did – THANK YOU!

And a huge shout out to my friend Rachel – we’ve been blog friends for years and years – she sent me this cookbook – not only do I love cock (recipes) but I wish I would have thought of this idea for a cookbook. Nothing screams Christmas like cock and balls! Thanks Ranch!