Naked Sliders

My mom used to make us "hamburger steak" all the time growing up. This is my take on her recipe. Experiment with seasonings and flavors that you enjoy; it's hard to go wrong here. I served these alongside a delicious Sweet Potato and Fennel Hash.

1 lb grass-fed beef

2 Tbsp butter or ghee

garlic salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Worcestershire, to taste

Form beef into 8 sliders, sprinkle both sides with garlic salt and pepper and a few dashes of Worcestershire, all to taste. Heat butter in a skillet or grill pan over medium high heat. Grill burgers for approximately 6 to 7 minutes and then flip. Cook for an additional 6 to 7 minutes or until cooked to your preference. 

Hope to post a pic soon. 

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce with My Spaghetti Squash

My mom is a genius with a pound of ground beef and various cans of tomatoes. This is one of her specialties and one of my favorite spaghetti sauces. Those of you doing a New Years Whole30, eat your heart out!

• Large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise (be careful!!) and seeds discarded
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T fresh basil
• 1lb ground beef or turkey
• 1 can(6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1-2 T Chili Powder, or to taste
• 1T Italian Seasonings, or to taste
• Garlic salt, to taste

 To roast spaghetti squash: Heat oven to 375. Place squash cut side down in a large baking dish. Add water to the dish, about half an inch. Roast for 35-40 minutes or until squash can easily be cut with a knife. 

 

While your squash is roasting, brown beef very well then add Chili powder. Add other ingredients in order and cover. Simmer 20 minutes or until you are ready to eat, the longer the better though. 

 

Transfer squash to a large plate, hollow sides up, and set aside until cool enough to handle. Next, scrape squash out of rinds with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Toss squash with olive oil and basil.

 

Top a portion of spaghetti squash with a generous portion of sauce. Serves 4-6. Enjoy!

Paleo Meatloaf Cups

I followed this basic recipe but made several changes. The ketchup topping is key to this recipe so don't skip it! Try to use an organic ketchup from the store that has the fewest ingredients possible.

• 2 lb ground beef/turkey (or 1lb beef and 1lb uncased sausage)
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 zucchini
• 1-2 peeled carrots
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• other veggies you have on hand (squash, etc.) 
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tsp fresh thyme, minced (or substitute dry)
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, minced (or substitute dry)
• ½ cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp honey, optional
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pulse onion, zucchini, carrots, other veggies and garlic in a food processor until they are very finely chopped but not so fine that it is a paste. In a large bowl, combine the meat, salt, pepper, egg, veggie mix, red pepper, thyme, and oregano. Mix well, making sure to break-up the meat.
Lightly grease cupcake tins with coconut or olive oil and fill with 1/4 cup of the meat mixture. Place on top of a cookie sheet (sometimes the grease spills over the top and the cookie sheet catches it but also helps with moving the tins in and out of the oven) and cook for approximately 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ketchup, honey and Worcestershire sauce to make the sauce for the top of the meatloaf. After cooking for 10 minutes, gently spread the sauce on the top of the meatloaf cups. Continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through and 165 on a meat thermometer.

This makes approximately 20-24 cups that freeze and reheat very well. If you want to freeze them, cool completely, arrange on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen through, transfer to storage container of choice with wax paper between layers. To reheat, microwave for ~1 minute (we have an intense microwave so you may need longer).

Hold the Phone Spicy Poblano Pot Roast

Yowza this was a tasty pot roast. If you aren't really into spicy, take out the serrano seeds and it will hardly have a kick. This recipe is a very simple way to make several meals for a hectic week. You can serve this with whatever veggies you have on hand, a side of rice or quinoa, or even my soon-to-be-posted Colorful Kale Salad. 

3lb boneless beef roast

1 onion, coarsely chopped

any extra veggies you want/have on hand, coarsely chopped

3/4 c water

2 poblano peppers, seeds removed, sliced lengthwise into 6 slices

2 serrano peppers, sliced lengthwise into 4 slices

Place onion and veggies (not the peppers yet) in the bottom of a crock pot and put the roast on top. After pouring the water over roast and veggies, lay the peppers on top of the roast. Set the crock pot on low for 9-11 hours. Slice or shred with two forks and serve. This recipe yields 6-12 servings depending on the amount of meat you want per serving.

Whole30 Week 4 Meal Plan

Again, sorry this took so long to post. Seeing as how we finished our Whole30 a month ago!  I will post results from our Whole 30 next!!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Squash and green beans	Spinach and Bacon Frittata
Snack	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Lara Bar	n/a
Lunch	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken salad	Spinach Salad with sausage	Soup Leftovers
Snack	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	n/a	n/a
Dinner	Chicken and Turnip Curry	Out to eat at Chili's-Steak with double Broccoli	Leftovers	Fish Packets with Squash	Muffin Cups with Squash	Rotisserie Chicken with Leek and Sweet Potato Soup	Chicken and Mustard Greens with mashed cauliflower

Whole30 Week 3 Meal Plan

Sorry these last two weeks of meal plans have taken soooo long to post!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies	Scrambled Eggs with Veggies
Snack	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)	Guac (F) Carrots (V) Deli Meat (P)
Lunch	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken Salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken salad	Wholly Guacamole Chicken salad
Snack	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)	Almond Butter Fruit (V) Sausage (P)
Dinner	Baked Fish Packets	Baked Fish Packets	Meatloaf Cups with Green Beans	Veggie-Packed Paleo Chili	Veggie-Packed Paleo Chili	Veggie-Packed Paleo Chili	Veggie-Packed Paleo Chili

For the Baked Fish Packets:

On one half of a large (12" by 12") square of foil, pile up lots of veggies and drizzle with olive oil. Place fish filet on the top of veggies, season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Fold the foil to create a packet. Bake on 400 degrees until fish is cooked through.

Veggie-Packed Paleo Chili

This yummy chili is based on a recipe I found using the Whole Foods app. It is super hearty and packed with veggie goodness.

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets (~3 cups)

3 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 t ground cumin

2 T chili powder

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

Heat large pot or dutch oven over high heat and brown the ground beef. Add the onion and carrot until both soften. Add the water and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 

Next, add the cauliflower and garlic until softened. Add cumin, chili powder, vinegar, and tomatoes along with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 45 minutes.

This makes 4-6 servings depending on how hungry you are.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

This recipe is from a fellow Urban Acres co-op member. Access the original recipe here.

• 1 lb of grass-fed ground beef 
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 15oz can of organic pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• handful of fresh basil
• 3 small sweet peppers or 1 medium bell pepper
• 1 Tbsp Italaian seasoning
• 1 butternut squash

Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a saute pan brown the beef, along with the onions & garlic. In the meantime, cut the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Split it into 1/4′s (right where the squash starts to turn bulbous, cut it in 1/2, width-wise and split those two halves in half, lengthwise) and scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into planks (see picture).

In a food processor, puree the pizza sauce, olive oil, peppers, basil and seasoning.

Using a 9×9 oven safe baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up…trying to reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.

Bake for 45 minutes. You’re looking for a bubbly pan with a crispy, browned top. Right out of the oven, the lasagna may by liquidy, let it set for a good half hour before cutting into it, as it will solidify. By creating an aluminum foil house, you can keep all the heat intact while the lasagna is setting. 

This makes 4 LARGE servings and is, by far, our favorite Whole30 meal to date.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed Acorn Squash--Adapted from here.
 

• 1 acorn squash
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2 lb ground beef 
• 1 link Italian sausage 
• 1/2 onion 
• 1/2 bundle Swiss chard 
• 1 small zucchini 
• 1 carrot
• 1 clove garlic, crushed 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place squash on a baking sheet covered in foil, and dot each with a bit of coconut oil and a dusting of cinnamon. Bake for 35 minutes or until soft.

In the meantime, prepare the stuffing. Using a food processor, combine the onion, carrot, zucchini, and Swiss chard. 

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the meat. Crumble the sausage in with the beef. Stir in the vegetables and garlic. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Mix in the eggs and stir to combine. Fill softened squash with mixture and return to the oven (still at 400 degrees F) for about 40 minutes or until mixture is brown and cooked through. Serve immediately!

We ended up with leftover stuffing mix that would not fit into the squash. Jeremy ate this for breakfast with some extra veggies the next morning.