Well hello there. Today was a big day with my blog hitting over 100,000 hits and my health coaching certificate and card coming in the mail. I am now officially a board certified health coach, and I am thrilled! It has been an interesting journey of self-reflection throughout my studies, and my life is completely different (in so many wonderful ways) than when I started. I have been a bit MIA from blogging over the past few weeks with some major things going on. Luckily in the midst of the craziness Ry came home from Dubai and we had an amazing getaway in Vermont. We celebrated Heather and Kenny's wedding and had tons of adventures along the way. I wanted a souvenir from the trip, and I ended up with some special Vermont-made food products to experiment with. One of the treasures was maple flakes which basically looks like brown rice krispies. The only ingredient is dried maple syrup, and they are crispy and sweet. I figured I could sprinkle a few of them on tonight's recipe instead of covering my meatloaf with the more traditional sugary ketchup concoction. It was just a hint of sweet mixed with the tangy balsamic, and it came out great. Enjoy!
Vermont Balsamic Maple Turkey Meatloaf: Serves 4-5, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients:
- 1.25lbs ground turkey
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, peeled & chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1+ tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. basil
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
- 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Vermont maple flakes
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes until soft
4. Add carrots, celery, salt, pepper, garlic powder (more is better!), basil, and thyme and cook for another 10-15 minutes until soft
5. Mix turkey, egg, almond flour, and veggie mixture in a bowl
6. Form into a loaf on a foil-lined pan
7. Brush with balsamic vinegar
8. Sprinkle meatloaf with Vermont maple flakes (if you don't have these you can use a mixture of balsamic and maple syrup for the topping)
9. Bake for 20 minutes
10. Brush the meatloaf with the leftover balsamic
11. Bake another 15 until cooked through (no pink in the turkey)
12. Cover the meatloaf and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving
