Turkey loaf

I never really made meatloaf prior to our Paleo conversion. My husband thumbed through the newest cookbook gracing my shelf, "OMG. That's Paleo." a few weeks ago, and flagged the chicken basil meatloaf recipe. Since then I've concocted various versions of meatloaf or meatballs, inspired by the recipe he saw, but I have not following it exactly. My recipes have varied based on what I have in my fridge, or what I want to sneak into my two-year-old's tummy.

Today it was turkey loaf (or turkey meatloaf, or turkeyloaf - whatever you want to call it), with carrots, onion and chard!

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey (or meat of choice)
1/4 cup steamed carrots, chopped
1 chard leaf, chopped or minced
1/3 of a small red onion, chopped
1 tbsp flax seed meal* + 3 tbsp water (OR 1 egg, whisked)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp fat (coconut oil, bacon fat, etc.), melted + more for greasing the baking dish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. If using flax meal in place of an egg, place 1 tbsp flax meal into 3 tbsp of water, mix and allow to set for 5 minutes
3. Combine all ingredients except for turkey (meat)
4. Add the meat, and mix thoroughly (wooden spoon or your hand)
5. Grease a small baking dish - I used a Pyrex bread dish (see below)
6. Place mixture into dish, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or so. Remove foil, and bake until golden brown and cooked through (about 15 more minutes)

Chopped veggies

Flax meal setting in water

Turkey loaf prior to baking - sorry, I didn't get an after photo - we ate it all up!

*Depending on who's Paleo rules you may follow, flax seed meal is either OK or a no-no. According to the Whole30 program from "It Starts With Food," flax seed meal is permitted in small quantities on the Paleo diet. I use it once or twice per week at most.

Cashew butter

Nut butters are a bit of a staple for our family these days. Michael is in LOVE with Sunbutter. I really like the Trader Joe's Almond butter, and can swallow the price. But I can't find a simple, affordable cashew butter (made with just cashews and salt). Hence, I made my own!

Ingredients

1 C cashews (whole, raw, unsalted or salted)

1 tbsp coconut oil (room temperature)

salt (to taste - i used 1/2 tsp)

Instructions

1. Place ingredients in food processor
2. Grind or pulse for 5 minutes total. Stop to scrape if/when necessary (when you hear the motor revving higher, or notice that the contents within are no longer moving - I had to scrape 3-4 times). I wanted a super smooth texture - it was thinner than butter when I finished. 
3. Store in a jar in the fridge. After refrigeration it hardened a bit, but is still spreadable (rather typical of refrigerated all natural nut butter texture).

It's delicious - I need to double the batch next time!

Tomato soup

My two-year old has been on a bit of a vegetable strike (though he sometimes eats steamed carrots, AND willingly eats meatloaves, mini quiche and salmon cakes with greens incorporated). He loves soups, particularly those puréed. So I made a tomato soup this evening, specifically because I can't find a dairy-free version without added sugar.

Ingredients
2 cans tomato paste
1/2 roasted sweet potato, puréed
1 C canned coconut milk
2 1/2 C water
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Place small pot over medium heat
2. Add all ingredients and stir thoroughly and consistently until blended (10 minutes or so)
3. Serve (or store in fridge, or portion it out for freezing)

My son enjoys drinking his soup via straw - that's how he rolls! I guess it makes things more fun and that's fine by me! The soup is a nutritious addition to any meal (he even has soup with breakfast some days).

Turkey roll-ups and sandwiches

We have decided to go grain free in our household, my two-year old included. I expected a heck of a battle from the tiny guy who practically lives off of toast with butter or jam and peanut butter sandwiches. Much to my surprise, however, he has taken it quite well! He sometimes asks for bread and I reply, "we don't eat bread anymore." Then he'll ask for a sandwich, and I whip out turkey (deli slices) and make sandwiches for him.

Today I made two turkey roll-ups to take along to our lunch date at Panera (where I enjoyed the Power Mediterranean turkey salad from their secret menu). This may not be appetizing to the average individual, but my little guy loves these:

Ingredients
2 thick slices of turkey deli meat
2 tbsp Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) - any nut butter will do
1/2 leaf of Swiss chard, minced (I use a Tupperware Smooth Chopper)

Instructions
1. Lay turkey slices out flat
2. Spread one tablespoon of Sunbutter on each slice
3. Sprinkle the minced chard on top of the Sunbutter
4. Starting at one end if a slice, roll up tightly. Repeat with the other slice.

These puppies travel well, and are fast and easy to make. Adding more veggies could make a perfectly balanced meal. 

Today I took along a container of tomato soup to balance the meal. He ate everything and drank all of the soup as well.

Variation: some days I use a cookie cutter to cut shapes from. The deli meat (I eat the remnants). Then I slather nut butter on one shape and add another shape to make a "sandwich."

A little bit of progress

The boys and I spent part of the morning outside - what a gorgeous day!  I managed to clear weeds from a good portion of the garden in between keeping the baby out of the son and watching my toddler as he moseyed back and forth between his sandbox and my garden, often bringing dump trucks loaded with sand. He also kept demanding that I find more worms, as if that was going to be a problem!

Nearly half of the raised bed is now weed-free and prepped for planting. 

A view from the southeast side of the garden.

Simple breakfasts

Photos and descriptions of a few recent simple breakfasts:

This one was fast and simple. I fried some bacon, used the fat to cook swiss chard, cut up a bell pepper and threw on a slice of cantaloupe.  Perfect. Delicious. Healthy!

This morning's breakfasts for my son and I included a combination of my pork sausage, veggies, eggs, nuts and soup.

My plate: 1/2 of a red bell pepper, 1/4 C raw cashews, 4-6 ounces of my pork sausage, and a delicious sliced tomato with a bit of salt.

Breakfast for my two-year old: 1 egg scrambled in a bit of clarified butter, 1 piece of pork sausage, vegetable soup in a cup with straw (he had actual water for drinking, but enjoys consuming soup via straw), and about 1/2 an avocado.

Chard or Kale cooked in bacon fat

Ingredients 

1 bunch chard (or kale), cleaned, de-stemmed
2-4 tbsp bacon fat*

*either fat that you saved after cooking bacon previously, or fresh from a new batch of cooked bacon. you could use any fat of choice - coconut oil, clarified butter, etc.

Instructions

1. Place bacon fat in a frying pan over medium-high heat (a bit more toward medium than high).
2. Break/cut kale into pieces (2x2 inches or so) and place in pan
3. Stir periodically until kale wilts (usually about 8 minutes)
4. Serve and enjoy!