Sneaking more goodness into your family's meals

If you're like me, you may have trouble getting those five servings of produce into your daily diet. I stole an idea from my daughter Cora who feasts almost exclusively on fruits and vegetables. She does a version of this without meat that is yummy - it works with meat, too.

(Below - just a sampling of what was fresh & local at the market last week.)

Good-for-you Spaghetti and meat sauce

Use whatever ratios works for you. & whatever veggies are fresh from the market.

On Sunday, this is the combo I made.

Dice:

eggplant
sweet pepper
onion or several green onions

Mince:

clove elephant garlic

Heat in a skillet enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan lightly. Add above ingredients and saute, stirring frequently, until tender.

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain (Sunny Lane Farms will have their all-natural beef at the Winter Market on the first and third Fridays of each month)

Combine beef and vegetables. Add spaghetti sauce (we like Ragu's Original). Add Italian seasoning to taste.

I do all this the day before serving and refrigerate overnight so the flavors blend. Then about 3 hours before serving, I put it in a crock pot and simmer until thoroughly heated.

Cook spaghetti, drain and top with sauce.

Last Sunday I paired this with an all-market salad - Romaine and loose leaf lettuce, edible pod peas, green onions, and tomatoes.

And did the anti-veggie crowd complain? Not a bit, in fact they took big second helpings!