Biggest Loser's Main Event Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray

1 cup minced yellow or white onion

2 T freshly minced garlic

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup water

2 T. no-salt-added tomato paste

2 tsp. honey

1 T. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Salt, to taste

Directions:

Spray a medium nonstick saucepan witht he olive oil spray and place over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until just becoming tender (they should not brown), 4 to 6 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low an with a wooden spoon stir in the tomatoes, water, tomato paste, honey, oregano, basil, and pepper flakes until well combined.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour.  Season with salt, if needed.

I served this over Healthy Heart spaghetti noodles, with green salad and french bread on the side.  While this isn't as good as the Prego I usually buy, it definately was not bad.  The kids loved it just as much and at least it is a little more healthy and fresh.

Biggest Loser's Grilled Chicken with Warm Mango Salsa

Ingredients:
Pam Spray
4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 1 1/2 pounds
Salt and Pepper to taste
Medium red onion, diced small
Small jalapeno, chopped fine
Medium tomato, diced small
Large mango, diced small
juice and zest of 2 limes
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

Preheat grill or grill pan over high heat.  Spray chicken thighs lightly with Pam and season with salt and pepper.  Grill about 4 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. 

Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick pan over med-high heat.  Spray with Pam and add onions.  Season onions with salt and pepper and cook until almost tender.  Add jalapeno, tomato and mango to the pan.  Cook tossing often, until just heated through.  Add lime juice and zest and cilantro. 

Serve chicken with warm salsa. 

We also had it with noodles that we had just a little butter and Parmesan cheese on.  This recipe got mixed reviews from my family.  We had everything from a 2 (on a scale from 1-5) to a 5.  Some thought there was too much lime, so you may want to adjust that if you don't like a lot of lime.

Slow-Cooked Teriyaki Meatballs

This is a half made-up recipe.  I used the recipe for meatballs from the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook.  Then I made up the rest myself.  Here are the recipes:

New Favorite Meatballs (Biggest Loser Family Cookbook)

Olive oil spray

2 egg whites

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/4 cup fat-free milk

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 T. dried minced onion]

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb 96% lean ground beef

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly coat a large nonstick baking sheet with the olive oil spray.

In a medium bowl, using a fork, mix together the egg whites, oats, and milk until well combined.  Add the parsley, onion, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes and mix until combined.  Mix in the beef until well combined.

Make 32 uniform meatballs, each about 1 1/4" diameter (use a cookie scoop or 2 tablespoons for ease).  Roll the balls with your hands and arrange, not touching, on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink inside.

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Sauce

1 1/2 cups low-sodium, low sugar teriyaki sauce (kikomans)

Juice from large pineapple rings can

Mix sauce and juice together.

I made the meatballs one day ahead.  The morning we were having the meatballs, I put them in the slow-cooker and then poured the sauce over them and stirred until they were covered.  I then put the pineapple rings on the top of the meatballs and cooked for 6 hours on low.

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I served the meatballs and pineapple over rice.  This was really good.  The kids loved it!  Vince liked it, but he is not much of a sweet meat guy.