Classic Beef Meatloaf
I don’t make meatloaf very often, but whenever I do, this is my classic go-to recipe. I think it’s the veggie pieces in the meatloaf and homemade ketchup that really do it for me. It all adds color, and the veggies add some nice texture and flavor too. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! Also, you can definitely make this with ground turkey if you prefer or want to change it up.
P.S. Cirque du Soleil was amazing last night! We had a fantastic time.
For the meatloaf:
- 2 lb grass-fed ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced large
- 1 large carrot, diced large
- 2 small celery stalks, diced large
- 2 large cloves garlic, sliced in half
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed ghee or butter
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- 1 egg, preferably pasture-raised
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp coconut flour
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 batch homemade ketchup (see below)
Meatloaf directions:
- Place diced carrots, onion, celery and garlic in the food processor. Pulse until everything is finely chopped. You can also use a blender such as this one to prep the veggies.
- Melt the ghee in a large pan over medium heat. Then, add the veggie mixture from the food processor. Saute 3-4 minutes or until softened slightly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Once veggie mixture is cool, add to a large mixing bowl with the ground beef, egg, sea salt and pepper, tomato sauce, coconut flour and fresh parsley or cilantro. Get in there with your hands and mix well. Once everything is fully incorporated, place in a large loaf pan. Alternatively, you can form it into a freestanding loaf on top of a foil-covered baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Remove from oven and top with about 1/2 cup of homemade ketchup. Place back in oven to bake 30 minutes longer.
- Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve meatloaf with extra ketchup, if desired.
For the ketchup:
- 1 tube or can of tomato paste
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- 1/3 cup water, preferably filtered
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Pinch ground cloves
- Pinch ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- Squirt of raw honey, optional
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Store in the refrigerator.
Simple Supper Friday: Southwest Beef & Broccoli Slaw
For a while now, ground meat cooked with broccoli slaw has been one of my favorite, easy, go-to meals. I can easily change the flavor by using different spices and Tessemae’s All Natural dressings, and adding any extra veggies I have on hand. It always satisfies and I don’t get sick of it, nor does Jesse. My schedule varies and some nights I don’t get home until late in the evening, so having this easy and quick option to throw together works great. Plus, I always look forward to eating it. Even though I didn’t do it here, I usually always toss some avocado slices on top too because avocado makes everything better.
On another note, you have probably noticed that I’ve cut back on blogging quite a bit. This is just where my life is right now and what I need to do. To be honest, it feels kinda good and it’s nice not to stress over posts (after all, this was always meant to be fun). Even though I don’t post as much, I am still active on Facebook, so make sure to follow me there if you don’t already. I still aim to get at least one quality post up each week, so you can always look forward to that. Anyway, thanks so much for your support and understanding. Meanwhile, always know that I am here if you have questions, comments, feedback, etc.
Cheers and happy Friday!
Ingredients:
- 1.5 tsp grass-fed butter*
- 1 yellow onion, sliced into thin half moons
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb 20% fat grass-fed ground beef
- 2 large carrots, sliced into thin coins (rounds)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 12 oz bag broccoli slaw
- Tessemae’s Southwest Ranch, for drizzling on top, once served
*Note: you may need more butter if you choose to use leaner ground beef
Directions:
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion and garlic, and saute about 1-2 minutes.
- Then, add the ground beef and break up with a spatula. After a minute or so, add the sliced carrots and season to taste with a little sea salt and black pepper. Stir well, and then add the cumin and chili powder.
- After 5-7 minutes, once meat is browned, add the broccoli slaw. Stir and season to taste with a bit more sea salt and pepper, if desired.
- Continue to cook over medium-low heat for a few minutes or until slaw has softened a bit.
- Once done, serve into bowls and drizzle Tessemae’s Southwest Ranch dressing on top. You can also drizzle this over the whole pan after removing it from the heat, but it’s a little spicy and best served individually. If desired, throw some avocado slices on top too.
Yields: 3 servings
Simple Supper Friday: Roasted Cauliflower Curry Soup
Happy Friday, everyone! I have a tasty soup recipe to share today that was inspired by my recent stay at the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa. Jesse and I ate my birthday dinner in the restaurant at the resort, and started off our meal with a cup of their soup special that evening, which was a curried cauliflower soup. The waitress sold us pretty quickly on it, especially once she told us it was both gluten and dairy-free (it was also vegan, but that was not a concern). The soup was even better than we expected and we both found ourselves scraping the bottom of our cup to get every last bit of puree.
Since we enjoyed the soup so much and it seemed pretty easy to make, I decided to create my own version. Mine is definitely different and even a different color, but it’s just as delicious, if not more (roasting the cauliflower adds a lot more flavor). I don’t think the restaurant version actually contained any curry powder or paste because the soup was completely white and very coconutty. I think it was called a curried soup just because of the coconut. If there were any curry spices added, it was definitely minimal, which the lack of color made obvious. As you know, curry powder adds an orange-ish color and the pastes are either yellow, red or green, so a white curry soup is nearly impossible.
Keep in mind, there is no protein added to the soup, so you’ll want to have something on the side for a complete meal. Otherwise, this isn’t going to fill you up very much. We ate ours with some local curry lamb sausage and dunked bites into the soup. It was awesome! A hearty salad with roasted chicken, beef or lamb mixed in would pair nicely as well.
Ingredients:
- 2 small heads of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1.5 tsp curry powder, plus more to taste, if desired
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 cup full-fat coconut milk, plus more if needed
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade
- 1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
- Dash of paprika
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed ghee or butter
- Toasted unsweetened coconut chips for garnish, optional
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cauliflower on a large pan and drizzle with coconut oil. Then sprinkle on the curry powder and sea salt to taste. Roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Meanwhile, slowly heat coconut milk and broth in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the Thai red curry paste. Once dissolved, remove from heat and pour into a blender container.
- Once cauliflower is done, add half of it to the blender with the milk mixture. Puree until nearly smooth and then add the remaining cauliflower, along with the ghee or butter and paprika. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, and puree again.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (I added a dash more curry powder here) and add a bit more coconut milk if soup is thicker than you like. Once done, serve immediately or pour into a pot to keep warm on the stove or reheat slightly if it cooled off too much.
- Serve hot with toasted coconut chips and a side protein of choice. It’s also delicious with sliced toasted almonds on top.
Simple Supper Friday: Italian Sausage “Fettuccine”
Snow is coming down in Portland, or at least it was at the time I wrote this post on Thursday. I actually haven’t seen this much snow in the city since my first winter here, back in 2008. It’s beautiful, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t impact my early morning flight to Kentucky today. I have some buffer room to get there, as my seminar doesn’t start until Saturday morning, but the less hiccups, the better. Really though, I kinda wish the snow would have held off until next week, but it is what it is. The same can be said about this head cold that I got too. Quite the combo to get right before a weekend of travel, but I guess it makes it that much more of an adventure (well, minus the being sick part).
Meanwhile, enjoy this simple, satisfying meal, which was inspired by the cauliflower recipe I shared last week. Cheers and happy weekend!
Ingredients:
- ~1 lb bulk Italian chicken sausage
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter, separated
- 1 large or 2 small/medium zucchini, noodled with a spiralizer (straight blade attachment)
- 3 Tbsp blanched almond flour
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dessicated garlic
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, optional
Directions:
- Melt 1/2 tbsp of grass-fed butter in a large pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the chicken sausage. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up large chunks with a spatula.
- Once sausage is browned, after 5-7 minutes or so, transfer to a large serving bowl and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the noodled zucchini and heat briefly over medium-low heat. After a couple minutes, transfer to the bowl with the sausage.
- Combine the almond flour, oregano, dessicated garlic, sea salt and pepper in a small bowl. Melt the remaining butter in the same pan over medium-low heat and then add the almond flour mixture.
- Stir mixture, allowing it to soak up the butter and continue to cook a few minutes, until golden brown.
- Sprinkle on top of the sausage and zucchini. Serve warm and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, if desired. Add more sea salt and pepper to taste, if needed. If you tolerate some dairy, you could also sprinkle on a bit of raw Parmesan cheese.
Yields: 2-3 servings
Simple Supper Friday: Curried Squash and Cabbage Pork Stew
Anyone else relieved that it’s Friday? Whew, I sure am. It’s been a tiring week with a little different change of pace. It was good though, but I’m ready for some downtime tomorrow and sleeping in (I was up around 5:30 a.m. every morning this week).
Anyway, It’s been a while since I’ve shared a curry recipe, so I figured it was about time again. Not only that, but I had a craving for it. This one is a stew, so it’s thicker and less creamy than some of the other regular curry recipes I’ve made, but it’s so, so delicious. It’s think it’s best eaten as is, but if you want to, you can eat it over spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. Whatever floats your boat.
I had the hardest time photographing this dish because the neighbor’s cat, Meg would not leave me alone. She was up on the deck going crazy, and really wanted to get her paws on the stew. She also had a fire in her eyes and kept clawing the deck posts like a mad cat. I had to sneak back into the house fast, so she wouldn’t get through the door and wait for her to go away. Once I came in, she sat directly in front of the door, crying (see picture below). Our cat, Dutch actually saw her through the patio door and threw a fit, which ended up scaring her away. In the end, I was able to quickly get back outside and snap a few photos. Cats are so silly.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 large red onion, sliced into half moons
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb pork stew meat
- 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 large head green cabbage, chopped
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk, plus a little more if needed or desired
- 1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 Tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Melt coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute a few minutes, until onion is softened. Remove from heat and place in the bottom of your slow cooker. Then, add the butternut squash cubes.
- In the same pan you cooked the onion, add the stew meat and season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Brown on all sides over medium heat, about 6-7 minutes total. Then, remove from heat and add to the slow cooker.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, curry paste, curry powder, coconut aminos and paprika. Once smooth, add to the slow cooker and stir. Then, add the broth and stir again.
- Place the chopped cabbage on top and stir slightly. Don’t worry about getting all the cabbage mixed through though, as it will soften with cooking.
- Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-5. Serve with a garnish of fresh cilantro, if desired.
Yields: ~3 servings
Simple Supper Friday: New Year’s Beef Stew
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2014 is treating you well so far and that you’re not too blue with the holiday season being over. I’m always a little sad when it’s said and done, but the fact that it only comes once a year is part of what makes it so special. The rest of my decorations and the tree will come down this weekend…sigh. Since New Year’s, I’ve gradually been taking things down, but saved the lights inside and tree for last. There’s a lot to look forward to this year though, and I’m excited for what’s in store and what I’ll create for myself.
Meanwhile, this stew came together on a whim on New Year’s Day, hence the name, New Year’s stew. I didn’t make any special trip to the store or anything like that, but just used what was in the fridge and cupboards. I threw everything together in my slow cooker and then Jesse and I went out for a nice walk in the sunny, 40-degree weather. After more than five years of living out here, I’m still not used to the weather being like this during the holidays and winter, but it is pretty nice. If I could have snow for Christmas though, I’d take it. There’s really nothing like a white Christmas.
Anyway, have a great weekend and enjoy the stew if you choose to make it. Also, if you want to follow along with me for the January Instagram challenge, check out my Instagram page here. You can also participate if you want, as it’s not too late. Cheers!
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter, ghee or tallow
- 1/2 large red onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb grass-fed beef stew meat
- 3 large carrots, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 2 small parsnips, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- ~1/2 medium head green cabbage, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
Directions:
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and place in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the chopped carrots, parsnips, tomatoes to the slow cooker as well, atop of the onion mixture.
- Meanwhile, in the same pan over medium heat, add the stew meat. Brown a couple minutes on each side. Then, remove from heat and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the broth, vinegar, oregano, thyme, black pepper and cayenne; stir. Then, add the chopped cabbage atop of everything. Stir gently, if desired (not necessary though).
- Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Stir well once done and serve.
Yields: ~3 servings
Simple Supper Friday: Red and Green Scramble
Well, Christmas is nearly upon us, as is the Winter Solstice. I absolutely savor this time of year and the time leading up to Christmas, so I’m not sure if I’m actually ready for it to be here. But, ready or not, here it comes! I do look forward to celebrating with Jesse though and tomorrow, we actually have a big party to go to at our boss’s house, which should be a blast. It’s going to be a full house, with about 40 people! Let’s just say there will be lots of merry making going on!
Meanwhile, here is the fantastic scramble I talked about on Facebook the other day. It’s so simple, obviously, and oh so good! The recipe only serves one, but can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more people.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, torn into smaller pieces
- 3 eggs beaten, preferably pasture raised
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp pure tomato sauce (I like this brand)
- Splash of full-fat coconut milk (I like this brand or this brand)
- Avocado slices for serving, optional
Directions:
- Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the torn spinach leaves and toss in the butter, until slightly softened.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, sea salt, pepper, oregano, tomato sauce and coconut milk. Add to the pan with the spinach, adding a little more butter first, if needed.
- Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring the eggs occasionally with a spatula to scramble the eggs. Once cooked through, remove from heat and serve with avocado slices, if desired. If you tolerate some dairy, grate some raw cheddar cheese one top (preferably grass-fed).
Yields: 1 serving
Simple Supper Friday: Leftover Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s pie is one of Jesse’s favorite meals, so when I told him I was contemplating making it with some leftover Thanksgiving turkey, his eyes lit up. It has been a long time since I made shepherd’s pie and quite honestly, the last time was maybe even a year ago, when I shared my winter squash variation. I adore the winter squash version, but I think I like it even better with mashed cauliflower. Lately, I’ve been a little obsessed with buttery, mashed cauliflower anyway.
If you don’t have any leftover turkey on hand, don’t fret. It has been over a week now since Thanksgiving, so this is probably the case for many of you. Anyway, just use leftover roast chicken, a store-bought rotisserie chicken or even ground meat, which is what I normally use, actually. Make it work with what you have!
Meanwhile, it’s snowing here in Portland today. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it coming down in yoga early this morning. It’s not much, but it’s still pretty and enough to commence panic in the city. Portland doesn’t know how to handle the littlest bit of snow and being from Michigan, I think it’s pretty darn funny!
Happy weekend!
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed ghee
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 10 oz bag organic frozen broccoli florets
- 3/4 cup homemade bone broth
- 1/4 cup coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk (I used this)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2.5 cups leftover turkey meat (I used a mix of white and dark)
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 Tbsp grass-fed butter
Directions:
- Place cauliflower florets in a steamer basket over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, with the lid on and tilted slightly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer florets for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat and set aside once done.
- Meanwhile, melt ghee in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots, and saute for about 3-4 minutes. Then, add the broth, coconut cream or milk, oregano, thyme, sea salt and pepper. Stir well and then add the frozen broccoli.
- After a few minutes, once broccoli has softened a bit, add the leftover turkey. Stir well to make sure everything is evenly distributed.
- Pour mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Then preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- While oven is preheating, place the cooked cauliflower in the food processor container with the butter. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides in the container as needed. Taste and add more butter, sea salt or pepper, if desired.
- Spread mashed cauliflower on top of the meat mixture evenly. By now, the oven is probably ready, so place the dish into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until top has some golden brown color.
- Let cool a bit before serving. Enjoy!
Yields: 4 servings
Simple Supper Friday: Leftovers
I have one thing to say about today’s Simple Supper Friday suggestion…leftovers! Leftovers are the best and easiest dinner of all. As a kid, I kind of despised leftovers and always turned up my nose when mom said that was what we were having, but now, they’re my saving grace.
Anyway, I kept my cooking basic this week, in preparation for the big Thanksgiving cook-off and feast. This is also where most of our grocery money was spent and now that Thanksgiving is over, we plan to eat leftovers for days. The sides will be finished quickly, but since we got a 13 lb bird for only two people, we’ll have lots of turkey to work with (yay!). I plan to make some recipes with the leftover meat, including a soup of some sort, but here are six suggestions and ideas in the meantime:
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (make with turkey)
- Chicken Turkey ‘Noodle’ Soup
- Garlic Butter Noodles with Turkey & Broccoli (use leftover roast turkey instead of ground turkey)
- Cheater’s Chicken Pot Pie (make with turkey)
- Chicken Curry Egg Bake (make with turkey)
Simple Supper Friday: Fennel and Sausage Meat Sauce
This is a new sauce recipe that I whipped up the other day and is probably one of my favorite meat sauces yet. I’ve been toying with small bits of highly fermented, low lactose cheese (usually raw or grass-fed) in my diet and have learned that I can tolerate very small amounts on occasion and feel okay. This is fine for me right now, but does not mean it’s okay for you…remember that. With that said, I simmered some Parmesan rinds in this sauce to add another element of flavor, but the rinds can easily be left out. If you do tolerate small amounts of cheese, I encourage you to try using the rinds because it adds an amazing flavor. This is something I learned to do years ago from a chef at a fine Italian restaurant here in Portland. I was vegetarian then and he told me it was an easy way to add more flavor to sauces since I didn’t eat meat. He was right, but guess what? It’s even more flavorful when used in tandem with meat in sauces. No surprise there. So, anyway take the rinds or leave ‘em, but do what works for you.
Oh, and I leave for Honolulu in the morning and my seminar with Kelly Starrett is all day Sunday! Can’t wait!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tbsp grass-fed beef tallow
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
- 3/4 lb bulk spicy Italian pork sausage
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
- Up to 1 cup bone broth, if needed
- 1 or 2 Parmesan rinds, optional (can be found in cheese sections of some stores, like Whole Foods)
Directions:
- Melt tallow in a large saucepan over medium heat. Then, add the onion, garlic and fennel; stir. After a few minutes, add the pork sausage and ground beef, and break up the meat with a spatula.
- Continue to brown the meat, stirring occasionally. After about 7 minutes or so, when the meat is browned, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, sea salt and pepper and cayenne or red pepper flakes. Stir and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the Parmesan rind(s), if using.
- Continue to simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add splashes of bone broth during simmering time, if needed.
- Once done, remove Parmesan rinds and serve sauce atop of spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles or other vegetable of choice.
Yields: 4-5 servings
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