Low Salt Spaghetti and Meatballs

My mother-in-law has been ill, suffering from diabetes, heart and kidney issues. Taking care of her is becoming a full time job for my father-in-law.

In an effort to “do my part”, I decided to spend Sunday cooking a meal they could both enjoy. I took pride in the fact that I did not like salt. I never added it to my food, not even my french fries or salads. I barely added it to the foods I prepared and what I prepared always tasted great. Cooking a low/no sodium meal that would also taste great would be easy for me.

I spent over an hour in the grocery store reading all of the labels. Even the foods that boasted “low sodium” contained more sodium than my mother-in-law was allowed to consume. No, this would not be easy. Even the raw, prepackaged vegetables contained sodium.

If you have a recipe for a low sodium and/or no sugar dish or beverage, please share it.  I will feature your recipe on this blog.  I would like to be able to post at least one new recipe per week.  I need help.  Cooking for a diabetic with heart and kidney issues is NOT easy.

After much time spent “label reading” I picked the following ingredients to prepare my low sodium spaghetti and meatballs.

2 pounds 90/10 ground beef
4 cups seasoning mix – onions, celery, bell peppers, parsley, garlic  (I used Guidry’s Creole Blend
1 can Del Monte diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 can Hunt’s tomato paste (no salt added)
1 jar low sodium prepared tomato sauce (I used Sal & Judy’s Heart Smart Roasted Garlic)
1 16 ounce package thin spaghetti (prepared according to package directions)
1 egg
1 slice of bread, toasted and made into bread crumbs
1 small can low sodium V8
Garlic powder, red pepper, dill weed, parsley flakes to taste

Finely chop the seasoning mix in a food processor.
Saute 1/2 of this mixture with the diced tomatoes.  While waiting for this to turn into a paste, mix the ground beef, the other 1/2 seasoning mixture, egg,  bread crumbs, add garlic powder, pepper, parsley flakes, dill weed.  Mix well roll into meat balls.
Once the diced tomatoes and seasoning mix turn into a paste, add the tomato paste and one can of water (tomato paste can).  Cook for 20 minutes on medium heat.  Add the jar of tomato sauce and the can of V8 cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.  Drop in the meatballs and cook until the meatballs are done.