This is a super meal in itself! So rich and satisfying. It smells amazing when cooking and tastes even more wonderful. It freezes great too. Each main course serving has 251 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 6 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. Although this is a crock-pot recipe, I’ve included directions for making it on the stove-top.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours 0n low and 3 hours on high heat
Ingredients
1 pound extra lean ground beef or ground turkey, see shopping tip
1½ cups onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can reduced-sodium beef broth
1 (26.46) ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 (26 oz) jar pasta sauce
2 cups zucchini
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1½ teaspoons steak seasoning or Lawry’s seasoning salt
3 cups cooked whole grain elbow macaroni (1½ cups uncooked) or penne pasta
2 cups fresh spinach, packed
Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
1. In a large nonstick pan or soup pot, brown ground beef, onions and garlic until ground beef is no longer pink.
2. To make in the crock-pot: add the cooked beef, broth, tomatoes, pasta sauce, zucchini, red bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce and steak seasoning. Cover and cook in crock pot 6 hours on low and 3 hours on high heat.
3. Stir in cooked macaroni and spinach. Cover and continue to cook for 15 minutes until heated.
4, To make on the stove top: add the cooked beef, broth, tomatoes, pasta sauce, zucchini, red bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce and steak seasoning. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Stir in cooked pasta and spinach. Cover and heat for 5 minutes.
Makes 12 cups total (each serving 1½ cups)
Shopping Tip
I used Trader Joe’s 96% fat-free ground beef. Most supermarkets sell lean ground beef.
Weight Watchers (old points) 5
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6
SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving (1½ cups each)
251 calories, 4g fat, 0g chol, 18g protein, 37g carbs, 6g fiber, 1, 172mg sodium, 2g sugar
FAT FACTS: for 1 serving made with regular ground beef and pasta
364 calories, 17g fat, 49mg sodium, 17g protein, 37g carbs, 1,350mg sodium, 12g sugar
Find more delicious recipes on Nancy Fox’s website, Skinny Kitchen
Nancy Fox
Nancy Fox is no stranger to the food industry. She founded Mrs. Beasley's, a gift-basket company featuring baskets full of decadent baked goods. It became the "hot" gift to give among the Hollywood community. Nancy later opened 2 low fat restaurants called Nancy’s Healthy Kitchen. Her line of reduced-fat cookies were featured on "Oprah's Favorites" gift show. Continuing her passion for cooking and baking Nancy created a recipe website called Skinny Kitchen. Each week she shares skinny recipes, cooking and kitchen tips, food finds and the healthy benefits of many recipes. There’s also nutritional facts and Weight Watchers POINTS on each recipe.
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Wednesday 22nd of January 2014
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Tuesday 21st of January 2014
Thanks so much Anne and Sharon for sharing my recipe. It made the list of top 10 recipes on Skinny Kitchen in 2013. So easy and super yummy!