Roni’s Weight Watchen Page(s) - Take 2 (the rebuild)

Originally Posted on February 10th, 2007 11:09 am

As requested my sauce recipe! At first I was hesitant to post this. I make it a little different each time, if I have fresh ingredients I use them if not, dried works, I don’t really measure anything and I cook it all day on a Saturday or Sunday. Well today, I made it and jotted a few things down. I hope it will give you a few ideas for your own homemade sauce.

By the way, my husband did not want me to post this. He said I was letting out a family secret! Seriously, he can eat pasta with my sauce every day of his life and be happy. It’s pretty hysterical! He is really upset!

Note: I’m including the meat because I think it adds to the flavor of the sauce. If I try to make it alone it never comes out right. So I make a HUGE batch of the sauce and use it all week. I have also been known to freeze the finished sauce in freezer bags with a meatball or two for single servings so I can pull them out in the middle of the week.

• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz) I use furmanos
• 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (15 oz)
• 2 small cans of tomato paste (6oz) or 1 larger can
• Package of Turkey Sausage with each sausage cut in half (I use shadybrookfarms)
• About 1-2 tbsp of garlic powder, onion powder, basil, parsley
• About 1 tbsp of oregano
• 1-3 crushed bay leaves (or you can leave them whole and fish them out later)
• A dash of crushed red and black pepper
• 1tsp olive oil

In a large pot brown the sausage with the olive oil over medium heat to get a nice crust. Add the crushed tomatoes and a full can of water (using the crushed tomato can), 2 cans of diced tomatoes and the 2 cans of paste with 2 paste cans of water. Add in the cooked meatballs (recipe below or use frozen premade). Turn up the heat to high and add all the spices. Stir and bring to a boil, you should see pinkish red bubbles forming. Once the bubbles form, lower the temp to simmer and place the lid on the pot. Cook all day! Make sure to stir occasionally! Note: About halfway through cooking, take the lid off and the sauce will thicken a bit.

Quote from one of my favorite movies… Tell Michael not to let the sauce stick. - Henry says don’t let the sauce stick. - I’m stirring it.

Homemade Turkey Meatballs

• I only make these with sauce so I didn’t think they needed their own post.
• About a pound of lean turkey ground turkey, (I had about 12 oz when I made this batch)
• 1 egg
• ½ cup quick oats (instant oatmeal)
• About 2 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, basic and parsley
• About 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until well blended. Form into 1.5 oz balls and broil 2 racks from the top for about 4-5 minutes. Learn from my mistake; spray the broiling pan with non-stick cooking spray! This batch made 10 meatballs.

As for the points, I never figured it out. I have always counted everything at 1 point and never had a problem. 1 meatball = 1 points, 1 sausage (which is really ½) = 1 point and 1 point for the sauce when I top pasta with it. If anyone wants to run it through the recipe builder that would be great!

12 Original Responses to “Roni’s Homemade sauce with Meat”

1. on 10 Feb 2007 at 8:26 pm1 Jessica

   Can he see it as doing the rest of us a favor? Tell him his picture can be on the jar when you go commercial :)

2. on 11 Feb 2007 at 8:03 am2 Sandy

   Thank’s for posting your recipe!!! I can’t wait to try this!! Tell your husband sorry~I just LOVE all your recipes and idea’s!!!

3. on 12 Feb 2007 at 11:04 am3 Chris

   Hi Roni - I ran it through the recipe builder on WW.com and came up with 4 pts for 12 servings or 2 pts for 24 servings — so I guess it depends on how big a serving you use!

4. on 28 Feb 2007 at 8:42 am4 kat

   Chris - thanks for running it through recipe builder, but how large are the servings for the 12 or 24 servings? 1 cup sauce and 2 meatballs or 1/2 cup sauce and 1 meatball or ??

   Sounds yummy!

5. on 14 Mar 2007 at 2:58 pm5 cathy

   I made this sauce today it is great! I measured out everything it made 9 cups of sauce,10 1/2 pieces of sausage,20 meatballs. The meat that I used was 97% lean hamburg and the package was 1.25 lbs,The sausage was TJ sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage. I came up with 1 pt for 1 cup sauce,1 pt per meatball 2 pts for 1/2 sausage. If you use 1/2 cup sauce it would be 0.5 pts for the sauce. I will be making this often. I also sprayed my entire pan with nonstick spray I think it kept the sauce from sticking.

6. on 18 Mar 2007 at 11:56 am6 Deb

   I made this yesterday evening & let it cook all night. I wasn’t sure I would like the meatballs because I am used to the ones I always make (fattening) but I LOVE them. This sauce is the best I have ever had !! I can’t wait to try it on my family. I am making the “Lasagna” right now & it smells so yummy!! The only changes I made to the sauce were the tomatoes. I couldn’t find the brand you use so I used Contandina brand with Itilian spices. Thanks for all your hard work !!

7. on 18 Mar 2007 at 1:58 pm7 Molli

   Thanks for the sauce recipe. My family just loves it! So easy and so delicious.

8. on 01 May 2007 at 3:48 pm8 Lauren

   Well….I felt like spaghetti and decided to make your recipe today while I am home sick. The only problems I have run into and wanted to question are:

   1 - I have the sauce simmering as of 2:30 and I’m looking to have it at 7:30 or 8. Hopefully this will be enough time, as it wasn’t simmering “all day”

   2 - When I made your meatballs, I broiled them for the 5 minutes, and when I took them out…..they really didn’t look completely done. Was this just to get the outsides solid enough to hold together in the sauce, then during simmering, the rest would cook through?

   It smells delicious though (what I can smell through this stupid cold I have) and I can’t wait for dinner!!

9. on 01 May 2007 at 10:45 pm9 roni

   @Lauren - That should be enough time. I’ve cooked it everywhere from 3 to 8 hours. As for the meatballs, you are correct. They finish cooking in the sauce. Your 5 hours will finish them off. :)

   Hope you liked it!

10. on 01 May 2007 at 11:04 pm10 Lauren

    Loved it!! It did make a TON so I am definitely going to set aside most of it into individual freezer bags for future use.

    Thank you so much for posting it and I can understand why your husband didn’t want you to let the recipe out for public consumption!

11. on 06 May 2007 at 1:55 pm11 Eloisa

    Hello there:

    I am new to your web site, and I am learning a lot. I have read all your recipes and tips, and I am just loving them. I am running to the grogery store to buy all the ingredients missing in my pantry for this wonderful recipe.. Thanks for being so generous.

    Eloisa

Labels: DinnerIdeas