Chipolte Meatballs

CHIPOLTE MEATBALLS

Yes, I seriously have a thing for meatballs (and Mexican)! I have not tried this recipe yet but it is on my list! Ever since the kids and I ate at the famous Chelino's in OK last week (sorry honey!), I've been thinking about what new healthy Mexican dish I could try.  (I'm sure you guessed this restaraunt is not very healthy!!) I may even save this one for when my man gets home. :) 

Meatball Ingredients

• 1 lb. 94% ground turkey (any ground meat will do)
• 1/4 c almond meal
• 4 T bacon fat or butter (not melted)
• 2 eggs
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 t + 2 t oregano
• 1 c chicken stock
• 15 oz. diced tomatoes
• S & P

Guacamole Ingredients

• 2 avocados
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 t chili garlic sauce
• S & P

Method

Preheat the oven to broil.
Place the ground turkey in a large bowl. In the large bowl of your food processor combine the eggs, almond meal, bacon fat or butter, 1 t oregano, 1 chipotle pepper and some S & P. Process until smooth and add to the turkey. Mix with your hands until combined. The mixture will be wet, don’t fret. Form the mixture into balls and place in an oven safe dish. Broil until browned, about 10 minutes.
While the meatballs are browning, add the diced tomatoes, 2 chipotle peppers, chicken stock and 2 t oregano to the same bowl of your food processor and pulse until smooth. Once the meatballs have browned, turn to oven to Bake at 450°F. Add the sauce to your oven safe dish and continue to bake until the sauce has thickened a bit, about 15 more minutes.
Now for the guacamole, place all the ingredients into the smallest bowl of your food processor. Pulse until it’s the consistency you like.

Thank you Health Bent!

Fabulous Pumpkin Cake

This healthy dessert is just plain awesome!! No grains, no dairy, no sugar!!! How can you beat that???? I found this on one of my favorite food sites..The Food Renegade. Thanks FR!!!

For the Pumpkin Cake

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a medium sized bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Pour into an 8×8 oven safe baking dish (I suspect you could squeeze 12 cupcakes out of this recipe if you use a muffin tin). Bake until completely cooked through, about 30 minutes.

For the Pumpkin Cake
1 c pumpkin puree
1 c almond butter
1/2 c raw honey
2 eggs (from pastured hens!)
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves

For the Cinnamon Icing

1/4 c coconut butter
1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c raw honey
1 t cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and use either your mixing blade attachment or a whisk to beat the ingredients until fluffy.

Once the pumpkin cake has cooled, cut it into 9 squares and remove from the pan. Now…if the cake isn’t completely, 100%, no doubt in your mind, cool you are not allowed to proceed. I’m telling you, if your cake isn’t cool, the icing will just slide right off into a pile of goopiness and all will be wasted. If you haven’t experienced what disastrous-ness comes from not heeded the above warning, you only need try it one time to learn.

Use a small offset spatula or a spoon and drizzle the frosting over the top.

Store the Pumpkin Cake Bars you haven’t immediately annihilated in the fridge. The icing will harden in the fridge, let it come to room temp if you’d like it soft. If you’d like it softer, faster (for the impatient types, like myself) the frosting will melt beautifully if you stick the cake bar in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. Goes great with your morning coffee or tea!

Healthy Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe I found on www.health-bent.com and it has become a family favorite! This is a new spin on the ole traditional pot pie and I have to say...I don't miss the old one! Thank you Health Bent for such a great recipe! It is high in protein and healthy fats and amazingly grainless!!

Paleo Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients
◦2 carrots, peeled and diced
◦2 parsnips, peeled and diced
◦1 red onion, diced
◦1 small bunch fresh collards, any other green will work too (4-5 cups chopped, stems removed)
◦8 oz mushrooms, chopped
◦1-2 T fresh thyme
◦1 lb chicken breasts (or thighs or a mix)
◦4 T FOC (fat of choice)
◦3 c chicken stock
◦1 T potato starch**
◦s&p

For the Crust
◦4 egg whites
◦1 c almond flour
◦1 t baking powder
◦ 1 t salt
◦⅓ c butter (we used butter, but think non-hydrogenated palm shortening or coconut oil would work well too)

Method

In a large soup pot with a lid, heat your FOC over medium-high heat, then add your diced chicken. You want your pot to be pretty hot…you should hear a good sizzle when you add the chicken. Now…resist the urge to mess with it for a few minutes. You need to leave it down for a bit to get it a little brown. Test by peeking under a piece. When you’ve reached the desired brown-ness, go ahead and stir and finish cooking the chicken until done. This should take 4-6 minutes. Remove the chicken from your pot and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 T FOC and all of your peeled, diced veg (carrot, parsnip, onion, collards, mushrooms, thyme) to your pot and cover. Trapping the steam will help cook down your vegetables. Stir occasionally until all vegetables are cooked through and collards are almost finished cooking. Your collards should be wilted down and soft with a slight bite still to them. This will take 10-15 minutes. Now add the stock. Bring this up to a simmer and let the veg and collards cook a little longer, about 5 minutes. Add your chicken back in. The potato starch is going to be your thickener. To prevent it from clumping, add 1 T of starch to a small bowl along with 1-2 T water. Whisk or stir with fork until all lumps are gone and then add to the pot. Stir this through and reduce the heat until the mixture reaches a thickness that looks right for pot pie filling.

Remove this from the heat and add to any oven save bakeware (pyrex, stoneware, etc.). You could use ramekins and make individual pot pies here. Try to choose a size that will be filled to the brim by your mixture. However, this is not essential.

For your biscuit topping…

Let the butter (or palm shortening/coconut oil) get slightly softened and add it to your mixer bowl with the almond flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until evenly distributed. If you don’t have a mixer, do this with a fork. Now add your egg whites to the mix and stir to combine. Keep this mixture in the fridge if you make it ahead. When you’re ready to bake just top your pot pie veggie mixture (ramekins or other) with the dough. Bake at 400 F for 12-15 minutes until the top(s) is/are golden brown.

*Standard American Diet

**If you have issues with potato (though it’s been stated that, digestively speaking, you shouldn’t), I’m sure arrowroot powder would suffice as a thickener, but can’t estimate, off-hand, the quantity that would be needed…

Marvelous Meatballs!

This meatball recipe is AWESOME! Enjoy!

Mix together with your hands:
2 lbs grassfed ground beef
1 lbs of pork sausage
chopped celery, onions, and carrots
3 organic eggs
1/2 cup almond meal (I just ground almonds, its cheaper)
lots of oregano, garlic powder, cracked black pepper, and a little cayenne
small drizzle of honey

Form into meatballs and cover the bottom of a crock pot. You may have to stack. Plus, I make them huge! LOL!

For the sauce:
1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
handful of fresh torn basil
5-6 coarsely chopped garlic cloves
pinch of sea salt
pepper to taste

Cover meatballs with sauce and cook all day on low. These are great the day after for lunch! I love mine on a bag a organic broccoli. Yes, I eat an entire bag!

Quick Salmon Patties

Ever have those nights where you just don't feel like doing much for dinner? ABSOLUTELY!! If you haven't, I know you are lying or you the Proverbs 31 women that I have yet to meet!! Well, this week has been great but has left me a little more tired than usual in the evenings to keep up on my regular menu plans. I wasn't feeling all that hungry but I knew I still needed to eat and feed the family. This was a great solution for those more 'lazy' nights. This gave us plenty of time to enjoy dinner together and keep to our season premier schedule for NCIS.

Salmon Patties
3 oz canned salmon, drained
2 organic egg whites
1/4 cup oats (not instant and preferrably organic)
1/4 chopped onion
seasonings of choice
**I tripled this recipe for my family.

Beat eggs in bowl and mix all other ingredients together. Combine eggs with salmon mixture and form into patties to grill on an electric skillet with olive oil. These will fall apart if you try and use the regular grill. The smaller the patty the better though I did manage to use our hamburger press. I also added did 1/2 oatmeal and 1/2 almond flour instead of all oatmeal but you can do as you choose. Serve this with lots of fresh veggies....(as you can see I skipped that and did fruit). A great blend of protein, fat, and carbs. I did let my kids eat these on low carb whole wheat buns. This would also taste great on a bed of lettuce or spinach. Be creative! Top with all the fixings you would with a great burger!!

Pics of CP Shake

These are the pictures of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake Recipe that I posted. For some reason I couldn't get additional pictures to post...I'm still a little slow at this blogging thing!!

Check the blog tommorrow for 30 ways to pray for your children!!

Shakin' it in Pitkin, CO

What a BLAST! We just returned from an amazing vacation in Colorado! Our family (along with about 16 others) challenged the Rockies on ATV's for 6 days (over 250 miles and reaching over 12,000 feet) in Pitkin, CO. The beauty of it is just breathtaking...how could you not think of our Creator!?! With a full day of riding each day, breakfast for me was a Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Shake. It was perfectly balanced (though not as ideal as 'real' food) to keep me going until lunch which was what we could fit in a backpack. There was no chance to cook until dinner so this kept me full, satisfied, and energized for the day. If you are short on time in the morning (yeah, never right?), this may be a tasty trick!

Angie's famous Choc./Peanut Butter Protein Shake:
1 cup of lite coconut milk (canned, you can buy at Hy-Vee or Target) or organic milk
1 scoop of protein powder (I use a whey Gluten-Free product from Hy-Vee in either Choc.Peanut Butter, Milk Chocolate, or Vanilla Carmel flavor)
2 TBS Lite Hersey Syrup
2-3 tsp. of Organic Peanut Butter
1 1/2 -2 cups ice (depending on preferred consistancy)
Put ingredients in order into blender and blend away!!

This gives you at least 22-30g of Protein, is low in carb and has good fat...And GOOD!!!

Dry Rub Burgers

Here is what the Starmers' had for dinner tonight!
Dry Rub Burgers were a hit!

1 1/2 T of chili powder
2 1/4 tsp. of paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. caynenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper (I used black)
2 1/2 pounds of grass fed ground beef
sea salt to taste

Mix all dry rub ingredients together and generously rub on both sides of hamburger patties. Grill or pan fry till done.

I enjoyed these patties on a bed of chopped steamed organic broccoli (yep, I ate a whole bag to myself!) with diced organic tomatoes and a few sliced slivered raw almonds. It was awesome! The kids still eat burgers on low carb buns and had steamed corn as well from our garden. I'm not a huge corn fan but I will serve anything to my family that comes from the ground!

FYI - Costco sells economy size bags of Organic Frozen Broccoli for about $6!! What a deal!

This recipe was taken from everdaypaleo.com. Though I am not a firm Paleo believer, they do have many great recipes to mess with!

Enjoy!