Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Turkey Meatballs

Ok.  So now for a change of pace.  A few days ago I posted my manifesto outlining my newfound dedication to changing my diet and lifestyle.  To further that change I thought I'd pay attention to what and how I cooked dinner tonight and then through the help of nutritional information on the packaging and www.NutritionData.com analyze the recipe for both Weight Watchers points values and nutritional values.

So without further delay here is my recipe for Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Turkey Meatballs

Whole Wheat Pasta with Turkey Meatballs (Serves 6)

Ingredients:
1 10oz jar Pasta Sauce (for this recipe I used chunky extra tomato with garlic and onion)
1 12oz box Whole Wheat Penne Rigate Pasta (you can use spaghetti or any other kind of pasta too)
1 lbs 93% Lean/7% Fat Ground Turkey
1/3 of a Large Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Parsley
1 tsp Rosemary

In a bowl combine the onion, turkey and spices.  Once combined separate and roll about 42 equally sized meatballs.  Spray a large non-stick pan with a little zero calorie cooking spray and place the rolled meatballs into it.  Cover and cook over low to medium heat until the meatballs have browned (make sure to roll them occasionally so they brown evenly).  While the meatballs are cooking prepare the pasta according to the instructions.

Once the pasta is cooked I like to heat up my sauce and then mix my pasta in with the sauce so it is all coated.  Dish out the pasta and about 6-7 meatballs per serving.  I'd also serve a side salad of greens with low-fat or fat-free dressing (not included in nutritional information).

You can choose to make larger meatballs.  With 6 servings 42 meatballs means there will be 7 a serving.  If you want larger meatballs you just have to multiply the number per serving by 6 to get how many you'll have to make.  Keep in mind though that smaller meatballs cook fairly quickly.

An even healthier alternative would be to make the pasta and/or pasta sauce yourself, but I really don't have the time or patience for that.

In Weight Watchers speak this is about 8 points per serving.  If you add a salad of greens and a low or fat free dressing that's going to be about 2 more points.  Add an apple or Sugar-Free Jell-O Chocolate Mousse (both about 1 point) for desert and you end up with a satisfying meal that's 11 points total.

Here's the nutritional data provided by www.NutritionData.com.
Serving Size 1/6 of recipe (267g), Recipe yields 6 servings, 406 Calories (90 from fat), 10g Total Fat (2g Saturated Fat), 60mg Cholesterol, 643mg Sodium, 57g Total Carbohydrate (8g Dietary Fiber, 10g Sugars), 24g Protein