One of my favorite meals growing up has always been spaghetti. Not just any spaghetti, though--my mom's spaghetti. That woman makes the best spaghetti I have ever tasted in my life. I have never even thought to order spaghetti in a restaurant because I know that I would be disappointed, it simply will not measure up to my spaghetti standards. So, along with the many other things I learned from my mother, I also learned to make her spaghetti sauce (although I don't think I will ever make it quite as good as she does).

The problem came, however, when I no longer could eat noodles. I thought for quite a while that no noodles meant no spaghetti, but I was oh so wrong! I came up with this super duper easy and delicious Paleo substitution that, while it certainly will not fool you for noodles, will beautifully satisfy your Italian cravings. As long as you don't mind the taste of cabbage (although it is almost undetectable underneath the sauce) then this will definitely be an extremely easy, delicious, and cost-effective alternative to your typical spaghetti dinner.

Paleo Cabbage Spaghetti:
*yields approximately 6 servings*

Ingredients:
2 heads of cabbage
2 T butter

1lb ground beef
2 large cans (the really big ones) tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 T Italian seasoning
1 T Oregano
2 T Mrs. Dash seasoning blend
1 beef bouillon cube (Knorr brand)
1 T sugar (optional--if you don't mind a little sugar it helps to cut the acidity of the sauce)
Splash of cooking wine (optional)

Directions for Cabbage:


1. Cut up your cabbage. I am not an expert at this, so I am not sure if I have any good advice for how to do it, but I cut the bottom core part out of it, sliced it in half from the top (to create two mirror images), laid it on its now flat side and sliced into slivers. Basically you just want it in shapes that are vaguely reminiscent of a noodle.
2. Rinse cabbage and put in large pot, and fill with water (to about 3/4 of the way up the cabbage)
3. Add 2 T butter and cook on high heat until desired tenderness, approximately 30 minutes or so and drain excess water.

Directions for Sauce:


1. Brown ground beef in a large pot; when cooked, drain liquid from pot.
2. Add remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes (or as long as you would like--the flavors will just continue to get better)

Serve with your favorite Italian side and enjoy!
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Chopped and rinsed cabbage.
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Cabbage noodles!
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Browned ground beef.
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And there you have it!



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