The Great Meatball Experiment AKA Liver and Onion Meatballs

I've always hated liver. I don't like the taste, smell, texture, or look of it. I'm not sure if my parents like it or not, but one day I remember coming home from school and all I could smell was liver. My Mother had cooked liver, and then made chili. She tried to hide the liver in the chili. It didn't work. Blech. I think the problem was that she cooked the liver first. She would have been better off to have ground or chopped it it to mix into the ground beef. Ah well. She tried, right?

There are many reasons why everyone should eat liver, especially that from grass fed cows. Liver is a great source of vitamins  A and B, plus essential fatty acids like Arachidonic Acid and DHA. Here is a great article by Chris Masterjohn on the benefits of these nutrients.

I want to like liver, I really do. But since I don't like it alone, I need to try other options, where you mix the liver in with other meats. I'm trying an idea I saw here at The Food Lovers Primal Palate (fabulous site, by the way, go check it out. They have resources, recipes, and lots of other cool stuff). Instead of using their recipe with cinnamon, paprika, and garlic powder, I'm using my stand-by hamburger patty/Salisbury steak seasonings: mustard, salt, pepper, and onion powder. I added chopped onion at the very end, mixed everything together well, and formed into meatballs a bit larger than 1oz each.

Does it look like there is liver mixed in here?

My husband and daughter had spaghetti and meatballs (they're still not 100% Paleo, but they're really close). I had the meatballs as-is, with a huge side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower drenched in pastured butter.

Taste Test Results:

Daughter (almost 4 years old): She ate it up. No complaints.

Husband: rated the meatballs a 4 out of 5, and said you couldn't taste the liver at all.

Me: I'd eat these again. I could totally mix that liver into ground beef for my Salisbury steak recipe and pour the mushroom gravy over it. I could probably add more liver, too.

Now I'm off to look at food processors.

Recipe for people who need that kind of thing:
1 lb pastured ground beef (I'm unsure of the meat/fat ratio, we don't do that in Canada, it's either regular, lean, or extra lean. I figure this is between lean and medium.)
1/4 lb pastured beef liver
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tsp dry mustard or prepared mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp sea salt

Mix that all together and form into meatballs - I got 15. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

One week on Low-Carb Paleo AND Salisbury Steak Recipe

I'm now on day 9 of low-carb paleo....except I can't count last night. I had a friend over and we made a bunch of tequila-and-club-soda-with-lime drinks. They were meant to be margaritas but I totally forgot. Anyway. As usual with alcohol consumption, I kind of strayed from the whole "eat in moderation" rule and ate about 3/4 of a batch of almond crackers with asiago and artichoke dip. Oh well.

For dinner I tried out a new Salisbury Steak recipe. The site is not a Paleo one, but the recipe is low-carb, gluten-free, and Paleo friendly. It does contain dairy, but you could use coconut milk instead of cream in the gravy.

Please excuse the picture, we ate our dinner before I thought to take photos. This is a pic of the leftovers.

It's a fantastic recipe but I did change it a bit. I've found I don't need egg in my ground beef to hold together patties, so I omitted the eggs from the original recipe, and cut the almond flour into 1/4 cup. Here's my altered recipe:

Patties:
1 lb pastured ground beef
1/4 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
1/2 tsp each: black pepper, onion powder, sea salt, prepared yellow mustard (use ground mustard if you have it)

Gravy:
2 cups beef stock
5-7 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash of salt (depends on if your beef stock has salt in it to start - mine doesn't)
dash of celery salt
2 dashes of wheat-free soy sauce (Bragg's makes some)
1 tbsp cream
1-2 tsp arrowroot flour (used as a thickener instead of flour or cornstarch)
2-3 tablespoons water (to mix with the arrowroot flour)


Directions:
Start the gravy: place the mushrooms, beef stock, and seasonings into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste and see if it needs more salt or pepper. Turn off the heat a few minutes before you want to thicken it. Stir in the cream. Just before serving your meal, mix the arrowroot flour into a small bowl or cup with a couple tablespoons of water and blend with a fork. Pour that into your beef stock/mushroom mixture and mix with fork. If it's not quite thick enough, repeat the process with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon or so of arrowroot flour. (Waiting to allow the gravy to cool a bit will help guarantee your arrowroot starch doesn't break down in heat and fail to set.)

Mix the meat ingredients together and form into 3 or 4 patties. Cook on a baking sheet or baking dish for 25 minutes at 350F. Broil for 2 minutes at the end. Remove to plates and ladle gravy on top.

Serve with a side of mashed/whipped cauliflower and a nice veg - I used sauteed asparagus. MMMM.

Turkey Breakfast Sausages

One thing I miss is pork - not that you could tell from my last three blog posts, right? It's not cut out of my diet due to the whole paleo thing, it's just that I don't make it much because Ben can't eat it. I can't even cook it when he's home, or he'll react to it.

My absolutely favourite pork items (besides bacon) are breakfast sausages, and cheddar smokies...neither of which I am willing to eat anymore. Bacon is even a hard sell for me these days, unless it's nitrate free. Breakfast sausages and smokies are full of disgusting fillers, nitrates, wheat, and a whole lot of other stuff I don't even want to think about. But I digress.

I miss sausage. So I found a couple recipes to make breakfast sausage out of ground turkey, and bought a package of organic ground turkey (not as good as pastured but until they start selling that in the grocery store, I'm stuck). I've always been very dubious of ground turkey, chicken, and pork. My brother makes turkey burgers all the time but the last time I used it I didn't like it, and haven't, since. So this was a total experiment.

I used the recipe from cavemanfood, with a few changes because I didn't have exactly the same spices. But they turned out really well, aside from being kind of dry and needing salt - which was totally my fault because I missed that line in the recipe. I'm not sure if you can buy anything other than "extra lean ground turkey" but if you can, choose one that's not so lean. Or maybe baking these would keep them moist. I don't know. ***edited to add: I made up a double batch and added 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to the meat mixture before forming into patties. Made a HUGE difference in texture and moistness.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp of each: ground ginger, red hot pepper flakes, cumin, black pepper, nutmeg, oregano
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp of poultry seasoning (or 1/4 tsp ea of basil, sage, and thyme-mine has other stuff in it too but it worked fine)
1 lightly beaten egg

Mix all items together. The original recipe suggests you refrigerate it for an hour to let the flavours meld. I didn't and they turned out great. You'll have to use some kind of oil in the pan so they don't stick. I used a 50-50 mixture of cultured butter and organic olive oil.

Now, if I can find me some pastured pigs and order some ground pork, I'll be making up thousands of these puppies and throwing them in my freezer for when Ben's not home.

In case you're interested, each 120g serving has around 130 cals, 1g carbs, 1.6g fat, and 27g protein. Wowza! Add more fat grams and calories for the type of oil in which you decide to cook them. For some perspective, I used a .65kg package and got 8 flat little patties out of it. Two of those patties is 120g. This is a fantastic high-protein, low-fat and low-carb meal option!

Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Sauce

I've been really trying to stay away from fruit for the last week, since I'm trying to dial in my carb intake (more specifically, my fructose intake, which goes directly to liver glycogen rather than blood). This, of course, will go back to normal once I hit my goal weight/fat loss target. For now, though, I'm sticking to berries when I absolutely have to have some fruit.

So I was trying to find some inspiration for a sauce for pork when I stumbled across the Paleo Plan website and from there, the Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Sauce recipe. I altered it a bit, cut the amounts in half, and made up a batch. I didn't add honey or any other sweetener, because I figured the blueberries would be sweet enough. I was right. All it needed was a bit of salt to be perfect. My sauce didn't come out looking quite so...saucy, but that's ok. It was still delicious. I used a very small amount of sauce on a large amount of pork for this lunch. Today is supposed to be a workout day (legs) but I'm just not feeling it right now. Maybe tonight I'll do a nice Yoga video to change things up a bit. I trust that one skipped leg workout is not going to throw me off-track.

I had precooked some pork tenderloins in my slow cooker, so all I had to do was spoon this sauce over top for the first meal. Today, I threw some sauce into a small saucepan and laid the remaining tenderloin on top, heated it through, then shredded it up with two forks. I'm telling you, I'm loving the whole shredded-meat thing. Yums. I also had 1/4 of a cucumber, 1/4 cup of fermented (with kefir) cabbage, some grape tomatoes, and some Swiss cheese. I ate a HUGE amount of the pork - over 200g. I'll not be eating now until later tonight, around 8-9pm (it's only noon now), so this meal, which is also my fast breaker, has to last me all day. My total nutritional value work up for this meal: 439 cals, 61.5g protein, 11.75g carbs, 17g fat. Not too shabby.

I must say, this whole Paleo-style eating is really expanding my horizons when it comes to trying out new things. And you know what? I don't miss grains, sugar, potatoes, or processed food one little bit.

As for weight loss, I now have less than 15 pounds to go before I hit my (max) target weight range. I'm getting pretty excited. I know it's not going to happen overnight, but it's happening. And I'll most definitely be at a bikini-ready level of fitness by the summer. Good times!

Ginger Apple Pulled Pork

For the last 5 days now (plus today), I've been eating low-carb paleo. As in, under 50g of carbs a day, and none of those are from starchy vegetables. A small amount are from fruit, but not much at all. It's part of an experiment I'm doing after I listened to a podcast by Robb Wolf. If you want to listen to some, there's a list of podcasts in my sidebar. Click on "The Paleolithic Solution w/Robb Wolf" and listen to the very first one he did. He talks about reasonable amounts of carbs and how to lose fat.

Anyway. So that's where I am right now. I've hit my ten pounds lost mark since I went Primal/Paleo at the beginning of January, but I would be much farther ahead if I'd not had a 2-week falling-off-the-wagon incident. Regardless, I am where I am and am moving forward!

So. You want the recipe for my Ginger Apple Pulled Pork, do you? Good for you. You'll love it. Feel free to adjust as you go. Mine was pretty much unsweetened, because I'm keeping that to a minimum. The original recipe from paleOMG calls for honey and garlic, which I omitted. Actually, I didn't totally omit garlic; I did use a pinch of garlic salt. It doesn't seem to affect me nearly so badly as "real" garlic. (For those reading who don't actually know me, my body can't digest garlic.)

I made enough "sauce" to cover about 9oz of pork. I had 2 pork tenderloins that I cooked in my slow cooker on the weekend. I cut off 9oz worth and threw the pork in on top of the finished sauce, heated it up, then shredded the meat with two forks. It worked perfectly. We had it with some Brussels sprouts sautéed in coconut oil. So so so awesome. <3

Ingredients:
1 apple, peeled and cored, chopped
2 T chopped onion
1 t olive oil
1/2 c chicken stock (you could use beef stock, or water if you don't have stock)
1-2 t grated fresh ginger (use dried ground ginger if you don't have fresh - 1/2  t should be enough)
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t garlic salt
1/8 t onion powder
pinch black pepper
pinch sea salt

Directions
Heat the olive oil and onions in a small saucepan and cook until the onions start to caramelize. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the apples are soft enough to mash with a masher or fork.

Throw the meat on top and stir it around. Heat it through, then shred with a fork.

Shove it in your face.

~
You could totally multiply this recipe and cook an entire tenderloin in it in the slowcooker, then shred the meat at the very end. I would say to at least double the recipe if you're using a 1-lb tenderloin, and cook it for 8hrs at least on low. If you want a bit more sweetness, go ahead and add 1-2 T of honey or maple syrup when you're putting in all the ingredients.

Nutritional info for the entire meal, which counts 8oz of pork tenderloin and all of the sauce, even though I didn't actually eat all of the sauce:

537 cals
52g protein
25g carbs
27g fat

Please leave a comment if you make this!

Primal Macaroons

Today I made a batch of plain salted almond crackers, and figured I might as well use up some of the shredded unsweetened coconut in my cupboard. Originally I bought it to make coconut butter, but I killed the attachment on my immersion blender. :(

Not sure where I got the recipe, but here it is:
2 egg whites
1 cup coconut flakes
1/16 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract (real)
pinch salt
cinnamon (optional)

Mix egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in maple syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir until just combined. Stir in coconut and cinnamon. Drop onto parchment lined paper in rounded teaspoons and bake at 325F for 12-15 min. Check at 12 min, do not overbake.

Mine were a little brown when I checked at 14 minutes, hence the caveat about checking at 12 minutes. They taste fine though!

Nutritional info (for 4 macaroons if you get 28 out of the batch like I did):
100 cals
8g fat
4.8g carbs
2g protein

Omelette Muffins

I'm constantly on the lookout for easy, inexpensive yet TASTY primal/paleo snacks for me and my family. Tonight I was browsing through an ebook I got from Mark's Daily Apple - called "The Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook." It's absolutely chock-full of delicious primal recipes. I wish I had a fully-stocked kitchen and freezer right now so I could make all of the dishes!

One of the recipes that caught my eye is the "Omelet Muffins" on page 11, submitted by Amy Schoenherr. I took the basic instructions (6 eggs, filling you want, bake at 350F for 18-21 min) and created what I'm sure will be a hit. I know I find them pretty darned tasty! Now hopefully I can convince my snack-picky husband to try them!

For my muffins, I stirred in 1/4 cup of chopped roasted chicken breast; about 1/4 cup of mild chunky salsa (sugar free); and some leftover sauteed red, yellow, and orange pepper rings in to a half dozen eggs. This made 8 muffins. Here's an actual recipe for people who need that kind of thing:

6 eggs beaten
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup chopped red/yellow/orange sweet peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup chopped chicken breast
some freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together and then spoon or ladle into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 18-21 min or until knife inserted comes out almost clean (will continue to cook for another couple minutes, do not overcook). Cool slightly and enjoy! Eat while warm. Store leftovers in fridge. I assume you could freeze these, too.


I admit that I didn't wait quite long enough for them to cool down to the point where I could peel the lining paper off them without sticking, but they were awesome, nevertheless. I'll definitely be making these in the future. I'm envisioning Greek versions with chicken, feta, tomato, and kalamata olives chopped in; Western with bacon or ham, onion, and green pepper; and a deluxe version with bacon, mushrooms, and green pepper. MMMMMM!

I entered the info into Sparkpeople and figured out the nutritional info for you all in case you bother with that stuff. I used XL eggs so make sure you do, too.

Calories in each muffin: 100
7.9g fat
1.2g carbs
6.3g protein

How awesome is that!?!

Primal Recipe - Coconut Shrimp with Tropical Dipping Sauce

For dinner tonight, I made coconut shrimp with tropical dipping sauce. It was delicious - and very easy to make. The only thing I would change is to buy raw shrimp next time, because with the ones I used being precooked they were a LITTLE overcooked...but considering I detest looking at raw shrimp, it's probably never going to happen. hah.

Here's the (somewhat) recipe:

• shrimp - as many as you think you'll eat
• raw egg, whisked to mix yolk and whites together, in a bowl
• coconut flour in a bowl
• shredded unsweetened coconut, medium grind (you could use coarse, but I think  medium is better) in a bowl
• coconut oil in which to fry the shrimp
• frying pan

For the dipping sauce:

• Plain yogurt, with the whey drained off - use a metal sieve or a piece of paper towel. Let it sit on your counter for an hour or so. The dip should be served at room temp anyway.
• 1 can of crushed pineapple - you could use any kind, really, since you'll be blending it together.
• A little of the juice from the pineapple
• Shredded unsweetened coconut
• A pinch or two of xylitol (this is a sweetener that's actually GOOD for you - it stops dental cavities and restores the pH in your mouth so you are much healthier - and it doesn't require insulin to metabolize, so it's safe for diabetics! Get some at your local health store - just make sure it says "Non-GMO" on the label.)
• Immersion blender or food processor

Directions:
Take up a shrimp by its tail and dip it into the egg, making sure to coat it on all sides (the tail does not have to be covered). Let the excess drip off, then dredge it through the coconut flour. Dip it again into the egg, then dredge it through the coconut flakes and lay the shrimp on a plate. Continue until all of your shrimps are coated. Toss any of the remaining flour or coconut.

Put some coconut oil in the bottom of a pan. I used my stainless steel high-sided skillet. You only need about 3-4 Tbsp to do it if your pan is 8-10". Let the oil heat up until a piece of coconut dropped in sizzles. Don't get the oil TOO hot. Place the shrimps in one layer leaving some space between them into the oil. Let cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Make sure the coating is light golden brown. If you're using raw shrimp, follow the instructions for cooking time - but I think it's about the same. Just make sure you have enough oil in there. Once you flip the shrimp, cook them until the 2nd side is nice and golden brown, then remove to plate.

Mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together and blend with immersion blender or food processor until the pineapple pieces are fairly small, almost incorporated. Add xylitol to taste. Add pineapple juice until it is the desired texture. Serve at room temp and store any leftovers in the fridge - this would be great with some frozen blueberries! You could even partially freeze it and eat it as frozen yogurt! mmmmmmm Tastes like a pina colada!


As I said, I used pre-cooked, peeled and de-veined shrimp from Walmart - you can get 2 lbs of the stuff for around $8. I did about 35-40 shrimp, used 2-3 Tbsp of coconut flour (from Bulk Barn), and about 2 Tbsp of coconut.That served 2 adults and a 3-year old. We had a few leftovers because I was stuffed before I even ate my salad!

I served the shrimp with a baby spinach salad with red pepper, English cucumber, and a balsamic vinaigrette sauce I made using balsamic vinegar, olive oil, xylitol, salt,  pepper, and some onion powder.

The best part about this meal is how GOOD it is for us. Shrimp - 4oz worth - has over 100% of the daily recommended tryptophan (which helps restore good sleep habits), 64% daily selenium (helps protect against cancers); around 48% daily protein (!!!); 40% of the daily recommended value of vitamin D (although we eat about 5-7 times the RDA); 30% of the RDA of B12; 20% RDA of iron; about 18% of RDA of omega 3 (the good fats); plus vitamin B3, zinc, copper, and magnesium! IN JUST 122 calories. Not that I'm counting calories, of course.

The yogurt I used was fresh and made for me ever two weeks. So we also got a serving of some good bacteria to help keep our guts populated with good flora to prevent illness and to aid in maintaining healthy weights.

All around a great recipe, and one I'll definitely make again.

Edited to add: nutritional info on shrimp taken from HERE.

Three-Day Review of Homemade Coconut Oil Products

We're now on day 3 of using my homemade coconut oil products.  I made toothpaste, deodorant, and I have been adding coconut oil to our morning smoothies.  I also have been using the oil for oil pulling on a regular basis, 3 times a day.  I have one thing to say about coconut oil: I love it.