Crockpot Paleo Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ok. It's not a great picture...but I promise it was tasty! 

I've been looking for an excuse to use Jonathan's slow cooker, and came across this recipe on Pinterest. I had to make a few adjustments (like who has almond meal just laying around the house?) But overall this is a pretty food recipe for meatballs.

INGREDIENTS

For Sauce

- 1 medium spaghetti squash, cut in half

- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce

- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced

For Meatballs

- 1 lb. ground beef

- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage

- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

- 1/4 cup ground pistachios (original recipe called for the same amount of almond meal, but I only had pistachios on hand so I ground them up in a blender until I got a flour-like consistency)

- 1.5 tbsp Italian seasoning

- 2 eggs

1) Mix the ingredients for the sauce (except for the onions and spaghetti squash) in a large bowl. (Feel free to taste, but remember that when it cooks with the meatballs, it'll be a lot tastier.)

2) Mix ingredients together for the meatballs. Roll them into large balls, about an inch and a half in diameter. It should make about 12 meatballs.

3) Line the bottom of the crockpot with the thinly sliced onions. Place the two halves of spaghetti squash, open-side down. (Am I totally immature of does that picture make you laugh too?)

4) Pour in some sauce and them gently start placing the meatballs in, anywhere they'll fit. When I had to start stacking. Them, I poured a later of sauce between the meatballs. I don't know fitbit actually helped in making them not stick to one another, but I like to think it did.

5) Cover and cook for 6 hours on medium or high.

6) Be careful pulling out the spaghetti squash, it'll be soft. You can either scoop out the insides (the "pasta") and serve it in a bowl, or just pour some sauce into the cavity and use the squash itself as a bowl. I opted for the former.

I was really afraid the sauce would be bland, but after 6 hours of cooking along with the meatballs, it came out thick and tasty. I'll definitely be making this again!