Meatballs with Enchiladas Sauce using Grass-Fed Bison and Pork Sausage

First I want to acknowledge Sarah and John Fragoso @everydaypaleo for this recipe. I modified it slightly but it is pretty much straight from the EveryDayPaleo blog and the Every Day Paleo book(my first paleo book). Apparently Sarah was out of town doing an event and Sarah's husband John was assigned the task of feeding the boys and writing and posting the blog with the Mexican Meatball recipe. BTW, Great  job John! I am assuming John or even Sarah might actually read my blog. OK Probably not. Sarah is a great mom and promoter of Paleo lifestyle and practices what she preaches and John is a chiropractor. Those of you who know me, know I work at my sister and brother-in-laws chiropractic office when I am not cooking, traveling or working for EPTworks seminars.
Here's the super simple recipe. You know it would not be here if it wasn't super simple and fast to make. I got the bison at the farmers market. You can easily substitute ground turkey for the ground pork. End of the Trail Ranch is north of Zionsville, IN in Whitestown. You can buy bison by calling 317-488-1178 and talk to Micah Marsh. I will be filling my freezer with grass-fed bison from Micah.
Bison is a great lean grass-fed meat that can be used in any recipe calling for beef. It is lower in calories and fat. Here is a comparison of bison and beef:
2.42 grams of fat in 3.5 oz cooked bison
10.15 grams of fat in 3.5 oz cooked beef
Information taken from here

Meatballs with Enchiladas Sauce

Start here....
1 large onion finely chopped and divided 2/3rd and 1/3rd for sauce and meatballs

Enchiladas Sauce

Simmer while making meatballs

2/3rd of the chopped onion
2 Tbs coconut oil
2 cups tomato puree, I used a large can drained diced tomatoes
1 Tbs minced garlic, I used the organic garlic from tube
2 Tbs chili powder

organic garlic

1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt

Saute the onion in the coconut oil until translucent.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and whir for a few seconds. Pour into the pan with the cooked onions. Reduce heat and simmer while preparing meatballs.

Meatballs


1 lb grass-fed bison burger, I bought this from End of the Trail Ranch at the local farmers market
1 lb ground pork**, I used breakfast sausage from Archers Meat Market in Fishers IN
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 cloves garlic, I used 1 Tbs dried minced garlic
1 Tbs oregano
Remaining chopped onion
2 tsp cumin

Mix all the ingredients together and form golf ball size meatballs. I used my hands to mix everything together. Place the meatballs into a glass casserole dish. This makes about 24 meatballs so you might need a large dish or two dishes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the sauce that was simmering over the meatballs and bake another 15 minutes.

This was so yummy. I took it to work with me the other day and it got rave reviews from my sister, her husband, my daughter and a friend. They all asked for the recipe.

Nutritious, delicious, easy and fast to make. Why are you reading the label on that box of hamburger helper or jar of Prego when you can make it from scratch and know what is in the food you are eating. It really is that easy!
ENJOY!!
**Locally produced pork is available at www.grandpajays.com or from Grandpa Jay's at the Noblesville IN farmers market every Saturday, April through October.

Super Simple Beef Jerky

Thanks to Stupid Easy Paleo for this incredibly easy recipe for beef jerky. I promise. SUPER EASY!! If it wasn't I wouldn't be making it. I have a short attention span. I get easily distracted by something shiny. Yes, it's true. If it takes longer than 30 to 45 minutes to make, it might not get finished.

Beef Jerky

This takes a few steps but each of step is short.

You only need 2 ingredients. That's it. TWO ingredients. Lean steak(I used sirloin cap steak) and the marinade. Now for the steps.

Beef Jerky

• 2 lb Top Sirloin Cap or London Broil Steak
• 1 bottle Coconut Secret Aminos
• 1 Gallon ZipLoc bag

1. Trim all visible fat from the steak.
2. Place steak in the freezer for 30 to 60 minutes (this make it easier to slice thin).
3. Remove from freezer and slice thin, about 1/8th on an inch thick. Cut it against the grain and on the bias for wider pieces
4. Place the steak in the Ziploc bag with the contents of 1 jar of Coconut Secret Aminos and put in refrigerator for a few hours to overnight.( I left mine for 24 hours, I saw something shiny).
5. When you are ready to bake your jerky, preheat oven for 200 degrees
6. Place 2 racks over baking sheets. The racks are to make sure the oven heat flows above and below the meat. 
7. Remove meat from the ziploc bag and place on racks over the baking sheets and place baking sheets in oven.
8. Bake for about 2 hours.
9. Remove from oven when it looks like jerky.
10. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

It is worth the time it takes to freeze, slice, marinate and bake. Total time spent in the kitchen on this one was about 15 minutes. Slicing the steak was the longest step. Each of the other steps are "set it and forget it" steps. 

It would be easy to sub venison, elk or bison steak for the beef.

I bought the Coconut Secret Aminos at Whole Foods. 

Easy, nutritious and you don't have to spend half the day in the kitchen. Great to keep on hand for a quick snack that is full of protein and sooo delicious.

Let me know how yours turns out.
ENJOY!!

Cheesecake, dairy free

Dairy-Free Cheesecake

   I was so excited with the delicious results I got with my Pumpkin Cheesecake, I wanted to try a regular cheesecake, dairy free of course. I used the same basic concept, cashews, lemon juice. I made the same almond flour crust as I used on the Pumpkin Cheesecake. It's an easy recipe to stir together, press into my springform pan and bake till browned.
I have to admit. I am still impressed. I just don't understand how ground cashews can taste like a cheesecake but I really works. It got the "delicious" stamp of approval from Mindy and Eric's taste test.
 
Remember, this is dairy free, grain/gluten free, sugar free, egg free. 

Cheesecake, DairyFree

"Graham Cracker" Crust(Grain free)

• 4 Tbls melted butter or 5 Tbls coconut oil
• 2 Tbls coconut nectar or agave, honey or maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour, packed
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir together all ingredients until combined
3. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment or wax paper.
4. Spread mixture using your hands into the pan.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. If using a pie dish use a crust shield after 7 minutes of baking.
6. Fill with the cheese cake filling when crust is cool.

Cheesecake filling

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup agave or coconut nectar or maple syrup

1. Warm coconut oil and sweetener of choice over low heat in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine
2. Using either a powerful blender or food processor place all ingredients for filling in and blend until very smooth. You will need to scrape down the sides occasionally.
3. Pour over the prepared crust that has cooled.
4. Place in freezer until solid.
5. To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to serving.
6. Serve with fresh fruit.

Another delicious nutritious dessert that satisfies and doesn't create unnatural cravings that are hard to overcome. So easy to make and have on hand for company or pot lucks. Gluten and sugar eating folks won't even miss the gluten or sugar. Seriously!!!

ENJOY!!

Chocolate Coconut No-Bake Cookies

I love coconut. I love chocolate. I love no-bake cookies. Fast and finger licking good. This recipe is easy enough, the kids can make them.
These are grain, nut and sugar free. The kids will be asking you to scrape the pan clean.

No-Bake Cookies

Chocolate Coconut No-Bake Cookies

Sunflower seed butter

• 2/3rd cup of maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 5 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

1. Over medium heat, combine maple syrup, oil and cocoa powder.
2. Bring to boil, stirring constantly.
3. Turn down heat to simmer and continue to stir and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Stir in sunflower seed butter, vanilla and coconut.
6. Spoon onto parchment paper by heaping teaspoon 



Flaked and shredded coconut

7. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and set in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set up.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on how big you make your cookies or how much you eat from the pan. 

I don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and this recipe fits the bill. Nutritious, delicious and you'll be satisfied without risking over indulgence. 

Spoon onto parchment paper

Coconut milk Chocolate Ice Cream or Mousse

I was sharing my chocolate ice cream recipe with a friend today and promised I would post it very soon. So this post is for you, Vicki!

I made this last week at a healing retreat. It is my job to see that those attending is well fed. Everyone gave it a thumbs up. I had doubled the recipe before I realized it was too much for the ice cream maker. So I put the extra in the fridge while the ice cream freezer was being cranked. Once we ate all the ice cream, we just dug in to the mixture in the fridge. "Can I lick your dish clean for you?" Did I say that out loud? YES it's that good!! Mousse or Ice Cream, YUMMO!!

Coconut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

Coconut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1/4 cup agave or pure maple syrup or coconut nectar
• 1 cup cocoa
• pinch sea salt
• 1 Tbs vanilla

1. Heat the coconut milk and agave in medium pan until it boils.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for a couple minutes then remove from heat.
3. Stir in cocoa until fully incorporated
4. Cool mixture to room temperature, about 1 hour.
5. Mix in salt and vanilla.
6. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the instructions for you machine.
7. Serve.

Chocolate Mousse variation

Coconut milk Chocolate Mousse

Follow instructions to #6, then instead of putting mixture into an ice cream maker, put it into a covered dish in the refrigerator until fully chilled. Serve in a beautiful stemmed dish.

It is THAT good! Frozen or chilled it is a delicious nutritious satisfying decadent dessert. Don't be surprised if you see your guests licking the dish clean.

I served this ice cream over chocolate chip brownies.

ENJOY!

Thanks mamaseacat for inspiring this recipe!

Banana/Chocolate Chip Flax Muffins

I've been having fun making variations of my original Flax Muffin recipe. I have blueberry walnut muffins in the oven right now. My favorite variation to date is the recipe that follows. I served it as a dessert and what didn't get eaten at dinner were eaten at breakfast. The banana made a super moist muffin that remained super moist overnight. The muffins didn't last any longer than that.

Banana/Chocolate Chip Flax Muffins

Banana/Chocolate Chip Flax Muffins

1 1/4 cup flax meal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbs Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
4 large Eggs
1/4 cup Coconut oil(melted or softened) or butter or ghee
3/4 cup Pure Maple syrup or agave or coconut nectar
1/4 cup Water
1 Tbs Vanilla
1 1/2 very ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips(I used ghirardelli 60%)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease 12 muffins tin very well with coconut oil or line with cupcake papers.
3. Mix dry ingredients together then mix in the remaining ingredients.
4. Let batter stand for 10 minutes. I skipped the step the first time I made it, however I found the muffins were lighter when I don't miss this step.
5. Scoop the batter into prepared muffin pan.
6. Bake for 18 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes before removing from pan as the muffins will hold together better.

These are nutritious, delicious, real food muffins. 

FYI: 2 Tbls of flax meal has 3 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. 

Tell me what variations you have tried?

ENJOY!!