Gluten free Swedish Meatballs... these aren't Ikea's, they're better.

I found this fabulous recipe here, made a few tweeks & decided to keep the recipe for posterity since bloggers tend to break my heart and move or delete things. While I was originally angling for an Ikea clone, these are so so so much better.

For the Meatballs -

1/2 lb ground pork

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 cup almond meal/flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 onion, blended

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp butter or two scoops bacon fat

1 dash each of ground nutmeg, all spice, salt, & pepper.

Blended beef liver (oh yes, healthy way to sneak it in....do you dare?)

For the sauce - 

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp almond flour

1/2 cup beef broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

I used the onions "as is"... Optional step to cut some of the strong onion taste is to:

Melt one tbsp butter or one scoop bacon fat on medium heat and add the blended onion. Saute for about 2 minutes and set aside to cool. 

Mix all meatball ingredients thoroughly with hands. Here is a good chance to throw in some blended liver. It made the meatballs a little looser than anticipated and as you can see, the meatballs started coming apart when I cooked them. No biggie, we just had a few extra pieces, but next time I will probably compensate with a little more almond meal. 

Now it's time to cook the meatballs. Form 1 inch meatballs. Warm another tbsp of butter or scoop of bacon fat (bacon fat... do it!!!!!). Add half the meatballs and turn and saute until cooked. Since my meatballs ALWAYS brown way to quickly, I put a lid on the pot and let the meatballs steam for a few minutes after browning all sides. Meatballs should be done in 8-10 minutes. Remove the first batch and repeat with the remaining meatballs. 

Making the sauce. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a sauce pan or skillet, then add the almond flour. Cook for approximately 1-2 minutes or until the almond flour starts to take on a light peanut butter color. Stir in the beef broth and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Deglaze your meatball pan with a layer of beef broth and add to the gravy mixture. Add the cream and simmer for several minutes. Remove from heat and allow sauce to thicken. (I honestly had a bout of crazy trying to make this sauce because I decided to add more broth, etc. Twas a mess with us adding more broth, more cream, throwing in arrow root powder, and finally just calling it. Next time I will just follow the dang recipe). 

Serve the meatballs in sauce. Optional serve with a brown rice pasta. I like the bowtie or penne. 

How to Eat Liver: A Guide for Beginners

Credit to Thank Your Body.

1. Thaw liver slightyly. While still mostly frozen, cut liver into chunks.

2. Place chunks into a food processor and process until its gross and gooey.










3. Scoop liquefied liver into an ice tray.

4. Cover and freeze.

Next time you are cooking a meal that require ground meat, simply throw in a cube or two of liver. Just brown it with the other meat. You don't need to defrost these cubes either, as they are small enough to break up just fine frozen.

Start small! Use one cube and see how it goes. If you can't tell the liver is there, add another next time.

More about the benefits of adding liver to your diet here.

Shrimp & "Grits"

I was skeptical about Paleo Grits, but since riced cauliflower and cauliflower mash have been a success I decided to give them a try- Shrimp & Grits style.

Ingredients

1 batch Paleo Grits

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 pack bacon

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

salt & pepper to taste.

The paleo (cauliflower) grits are pretty straight forward. I found I had to much liquid after the 20 minute cooking time had passed, which might be due to using a finer ground almond meal/flour. I tasted the grits after 20 minutes and gave them a few extra to compensate for the altitude. Finally I decided the texture was right & any longer would likely result in mush so I just strained out the excess liquid in a fine mesh strainer and returned the grits to the pot.

Cut the bacon crosswise into bite size pieces. Cook in skillet until brown & crispy. Remove the bacon to drain. To the bacon grease, add the shrimp and cook until pink. This should take around 3-5 minutes depending on size. Be careful not to overcook. Remove shrimp to drain (just throw it on top of the bacon). Add the chopped onion, celery, & garlic to the pan & cook until translucent and the onions start to brown a bit.

Add the cheddar cheese to the grits, then the shrimp, bacon, and sauteed veggies. Serve garnished with extra shredded cheese.

Spinach & Bacon Crustless Quiche

I love quiche. LOVE love it. I don't miss the crust one bit either.

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked spinach, drained

1 lb bacon

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan

10 eggs

2 1/2 cups half & half

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. I bake mine in my Pampered Chef deep covered baker stoneware greased with olive oil.

Slice your bacon crosswise into bite size pieces, throw into a pan, and cook until crisp. Remove from pan & drain.

Layer the bacon, spinach, & cheeses. I layer like I would a lasagna so that every bite gets a full helping of spinach & bacon. Bacon, spinach, cheese, bacon, spinach, cheese.. Depending on the depth of the dish you're using, you'll have at least 2 and possibly 3 layers.

Beat the eggs, then add half & half and salt and pepper and stir to combine. Pour the egg mixture over the layered ingredients. I take a spoon and push it straight down in a few places just to get the egg mixture into all of the crevices faster.

Bake in oven for 45 minutes. When I bake in the deep covered baker it is NOT set in the middle at this point. For some reason I have a perpetual problem with getting the middle of a quiche cooked so I pop it in the microwave for about 8 minutes and it firms up the middle. I pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes & then call it. The middle might be a little moister than the edges, but it'll continue to cook after removed from the oven, and if you're reheating throughout the week it'll definitely get cooked when heated up in the microwave.

Adjust cooking time depending on the depth of what you're baking in, but 45 minutes should be the minimum it'll take even in a shallower dish.

Fried Apples

Try not to eat the whole batch by yourself in one sitting. I dare you.

6 Apples, washed, cored, & sliced (I used Gala)

4-6 tbsp butter

2 tbsp honey

1/4 cup Simply Apple Juice

Cinnamon

Salt

Heat 2 tbsp butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add half the sliced apples and and cook until browned on one side. Give the apples a good sprinkling of cinnamon and then flip with a fork and brown the other side. Remove the first batch to a plate. I quickly cut the apple slices in half before removing them.

Add 2 more tbsp butter to pan & repeat browning with second batch of apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and return the first batch of apples to the pan.

Add the apple juice to the pan & cover it for about 2 minutes to get the apples good & soft. Removed the lid & add 2 tbsp honey and a light sprinkling of salt. Let the sauce reduce for a few minutes and add the last 2 tbsp of butter to the sauce. Take a taste & decide if you need more cinnamon, honey, etc.

Spinach, Artichoke, Chicken...Heaven.

God bless you, Wellness Mama. This Spinach & Artichoke Chicken is perfection. I really thought I'd miss the appetizery goodness of digging in with toast points or chips. Miraculously, the empty carbs didn't even cross my carb loving mind thanks to the filling combo of chicken and everything else that is good in this world (cheese).

I didn't have the patience to wait out the full crock pot method and for some reason I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to cooking down my own spinach. So here's how I did it, but if you want the ease of the abbreviated version check out the link above.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil or bacon grease

1-2 tbsp butter

2 lbs chicken breasts

3 (12) oz bags baby spinach (or one 10 oz bag frozen spinach)

14 oz artichoke hearts, drained & roughly chopped

1 (8) oz package cream cheese

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

1/8 - 1/4 cup chicken broth if needed

Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces, season with the garlic, salt, and pepper. Heat coconut oil or bacon grease in nonstick pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until almost done. I place the lid on for a minute or two. Just don't overdo it. You don't want rubbery chicken here - it's going to spend another hour or two in the crock pot.

In a large sauce pot, heat 1-2 tbsp butter and start dumping in the bags of baby spinach. Press down with a wooden spoon, stirring and turning as it wilts. It's going to take a while, so I'd work on this step while cooking the chicken. The spinach is going to wilt and release moisture and the plan is to get rid of as much moisture as possible. If you find a decent size pool of liquid in the bottom on your pot, drain it off and keep on cooking the spinach down. Tyler Florence says cook that spinach until it's dry. That's never going to happen. Eventually you'll need to take the spinach out and drain it well. Once drained, roughly chop your gob of cooked spinach. Stand back and marvel that the roughage that was once taking up the entire bottom drawer of your fridge is now the size of your fist. Or you could defrost a bag of the frozen kind. Again, drain well.

Throw the chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, greek yogurt & 1/8 cup chicken broth into the crock pot. Cook on high for an hour until melted and creamy. Stir everything together, then taste it and give it a once over. Add salt if needed and if it's not quite as creamy as you envisioned, add a bit of chicken broth. Go ahead and throw in 1/2 cup of mozzarella and work it in to the mixture. Serve topped with additional mozzarella.

Verdict: This is taking up permanent residence in my fridge.

Alterations: I pre-cooked the chicken, added a little more cheese & greek yogurt, and a threw in a splash of chicken broth. I also unnecessarily cooked down my own spinach.

Garlic Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

Halloween night I tried this Garlic Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce recipe. Though I believe it's a virtue to be able to cook without precise instructions, I got a little unnerved over the amount of garlic. We're a garlic loving family and I didn't know if 21 small cloves of garlic was going to be enough. But, go big or go home, right? I took the plunge and instead of 21 small cloves I went with about 20 cloves. Some were quite large. Followed form with the garlic required for the sauce - same number, bigger size. I'm pretty sure no vampire was within a 50 mile radius of our house last night.

I also added a tad more parmesan than called for because, well, I always add more cheese than a recipe calls for. The recipe calls for honey, which based on previous experience I'm guessing was to cut some of the acidity of the tomatoes. As evidenced by this tried and true masterpiece, it's all about the butter, baby. Instead of the honey I threw 2 tbsp of butter in the pot to smooth the flavors out. Worked like a charm. If you're impatient, give the tomatoes a once over with a potato smasher once they've started to soften up.

Verdict: This one is a keeper. Even Ethan gave it a thumbs up once I threw some parmesan cheese on top.

Alterations: Adjust the garlic to your comfort level.

LOVE = large/regular size cloves and

LIKE = small cloves (or 1/2 the number of large/regular size).

Smooth any tomato bite over with some butter and skip the honey altogether.