Simply Norma

I never like to say that food is “heavenly” because I know there is no comparison with the food that will actually be served in heaven. So, let’s not call them heavenly but … hmmm … sublime.  (Not bad, eh?)

This recipe is called No Breadcrumbs Meatballs and the substitution of the almond meal/flour worked very well. I halved the recipe as I didn’t want to have a bunch of leftovers although my husband took some for lunch the next day.

Here are the two sets of ingredients that you’ll need. The first one is for the sauce, the second is for the actual meatballs.

I did not use the Italian Seasoning that the recipe called for as it usually has too much salt so I simply used oregano in its place and it turned out fine. You could use other seasonings and the only thing it will affect is the taste. I also used 1 pound of beef instead of 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork.

Ready to start making these wonderful meatballs?

Ingredients For the Sauce

• 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 small can of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Ingredients for the Meatballs

• 1 lb. ground sirloin
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 carrot, shaved
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. For the sauce — in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and then add the garlic and onion and saute.
2. Once the onion is clear, add the diced canned tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano and the black pepper then stir and cook on low heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the meatballs. (It works really well if you use your clean hands.)
4. Once all the ingredients are mixed together, form the mixture into balls about an inch or two around.
5. In a skillet, brown the meatballs (add some olive oil to the skillet if necessary). Be sure to turn the meatballs slowly and often. I did not have any problems with the meatballs falling apart which I thought might happen because I wasn’t “real” breadcrumbs.
6. Make sure the meatballs are well browned.
7. Once the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce.
8. Cook the meatballs in the sauce on low heat stirring occasionally for at least one hour.

Absolutely scrumptious!

Oh — did you notice I served the meatballs on noodles? We haven’t had noodles in awhile  because of the paleo diet but I decided to try these gluten free noodles. They were thin — very similar to the ones you would eat if you were eating Pad Thai (if you’ve had that dish before).

I was pleasantly surprised that they were good! Other gluten free noodles I’ve tried in the past tasted gummy but these Pumpkin, Ginger & Rice Noodles by King Soba tasted just like good ‘ol noodles.  Yum!

Enjoy!

Bleh — I don’t know what happened to all of the pictures I took while making this Herb Roasted Chicken Thigh recipe. I have the “before” picture of what the thighs look like when they are prepared and ready to go into the oven.

And — they were very very good as the recipe is a definite “keeper.” So — forgive my lapse in taking pictures (or deleting them).

Here’s the recipe for you to try. They were very very tasty. The original recipe calls for 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs but I used what I had a lot of — bone-in, skin on chicken thighs AND I only used 4 of them. I did not change the rest of the ingredients though.

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon gried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
3. Rub about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil on the bottom of the pan.
4. Place the chicken, in a single layer, in the pan.
5. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken thighs.
6. Turn the chicken thighs once to make sure they are evenly coated with the oil.
7. In a small bowl, combine oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.
8. Sprinkle half of the herb mixture over the chicken thighs then turn each thigh over and sprinkle the remaining herb mixture over the thighs.
9. Place the pan in the oven and cook for approximately 45 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is cooked throughout. (It takes longer for it to cook when you use bone-in thighs.)
10. Remove from the oven and let rest for approximately 5-10 minutes before serving.

That’s it. Easy, delicious and paleo friendly. Those are always my kind of recipes (although I do try the harder ones every now and again). I served this with Mashed Parsnips and steamed brussel sprouts.

Enjoy!

These Mashed Parsnips are a good side to any meal — even served at a picnic in place of mashed potatoes or potato salad.

The ingredients are fairly straightforward. Oops, I forgot to show the turkey bacon but it is listed in the recipe below.

You’ll be peeling, slicing then cutting the parsnps in half if they are large pieces. I like to have most of my pieces be the same size so they all are done around the same time.

Next put them in a medium pot and boil them.

Outside of frying the bacon, those are the major instructions so it’s pretty simple.

The one thing I would do differently (so I’ve adjusted the recipe) is to use less chicken broth as 2 cups of broth made the mashed parsnips taste more like chicken than parsnips. Not good if you happen to like the taste of parsnips. And, it made them taste really heavy in the belly.

With that change, I think this recipe would be really really good. Ready to try it?

Ingredients

• 1 lb parsnips, peeled skin and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 cup chicken broth plus enough water to cover the parsnips
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives, chopped
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Place the parsnip chunks in a medium sized pot.
2. Pour the chicken broth and water over the parsnips.
3. Bring the parsnips to a boil over medium high heat.
4. Keep boiling over medium high heat until all or most of the liquid has evaporated — about 20 – 25 minutes.
5. Once all or most of the liquid has evaporated, turn off the heat then add your butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
6. Mash the parsnips until you reach your desired consistency.
7. Add in the bacon and chives and stir until all is blended together.

That’s it! Here’s the finished product.

What a great lunch idea — Paleo Tuna Salad. This recipe is really good and I’ve made it twice already in the past week with a little variation.

The ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery store. Make sure you have the paleo mayonnaise made ahead of time so that you can keep things moving as it’s so so simple to put this together.

Are you concerned about the cayenne pepper? Don’t be. I don’t like spicy foods and the amount of cayenne pepper in this recipe gives it a nice hint of spice but it is not overpowering at all.

Ingredients

• 2 cans tuna, drained (or you could use 10 oz cooked tuna)
• 1 Celery Stalk, diced
• 1 Shallot, diced
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 3 Tablespoons Paleo Mayo
• 6 Tablespoons Dill Pickle Relish
• 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Stoneground Mustard, or more if you like a strong mustard taste
• 1 Teaspoon Dill
• 1/2 Teaspoon Parsley, chopped
• 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a large bowl and combine everything. 

Whala! See how simple that is?

Now, for the variations …

The first time I made this recipe, I used 2 cans of tuna in water.

The second time I made the following adjustments:

• One can of tuna in water and one can in olive oil, drained
• 2 tablespoons paleo mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons dill pickle relish
• No lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons mustard

I liked this better the second time around but you can play with it and see what you think.

These Rosemary Paleo Biscuits were surprisingly good. They are bite sized and even though I made them small, they could have been smaller as some of them didn’t quite bake all the way through although they were edible and got eaten.  I served them with a little bit of honey on top.

I was quite leery of making biscuits with almond flour because I haven’t had much luck in making anything “bread-y” with it. This recipe alleviated my fears so I will be bolder in the future.

There aren’t too many ingredients needed to make these biscuits. (And no, the coconut oil didn’t make them taste like coconut — another surprise.)

The dough, surprisingly, came out dough-y — just like bread that uses white or wheat flour.

I almost forgot to flour the cutting board. The texture of the flour was more coarse than what I used to bake with but it worked well.

You’ll be rolling the dough out to about 1 inch thick. I didn’t roll mine out evenly which is why I had some that didn’t cook all the way through. Next time I’ll know better.

The recipe said to use a biscuit cutter (which I didn’t have) so I just used my hands to form them. I’m sure it will work better with a biscuit cutter. (Note to self: buy a biscuit cutter.)

Then you’ll be baking them and they’ll come out like this. I checked the bottoms of them before I took them all out of the oven and it was lightly browned — any more brown and they would have been burnt so they came out right on time.

Ready to try it?

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (I used dried rosemary)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and rosemary in a bowl.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey, and oil.
5. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones until a nice dough forms.
6. Roll the dough out until it’s about an inch thick.
7. Use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds out of the dough.
8. Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. (If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, just form 1-inch thick round biscuits with your hands.)
9. Bake biscuits for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.
10. Makes about 12 biscuits.

Here’s one with honey on top. Now, enjoy this great tasting paleo biscuit.

These will go great with soup, beef stew or for breakfast — anytime you want bread.

Thanks to Walking for Dummies for this recipe.