Vermont Balsamic Maple Turkey Meatloaf

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

  

  

Turkey & Veggie Mash Bowls

There are 22 days until the big move, and I have about 5,000 things to do in the meantime! Most important of all will be celebrating the birthdays of my mom and Mal down in Florida. I can't think of a better weekend plan than being down in Naples with my two favorite ladies (and Rosey) for some quality workouts, pool time, farmers markets, dinners out, and nonstop chatting/hugging. It doesn't get much better than that in my book.

I have to share something very gross with you. I was on Amtrak this afternoon heading back to Boston after a meeting in Providence, and the guy in front of me was scratching his head. He must have had a cut or bump or something, because he picked at it, and then ATE it! I should've apologized in advance for this story, but it just boggled my mind. He was a successful-looking businessman in his 40s, and he straight up ate his head scab. In hindsight, this probably isn't the best story for a food blog, but I really had no choice but to share it :)

Switching gears (hopefully you can build your hunger back), tonight's recipe is a turkey and veggie mash bowl. I had made something similar with sweet potatoes on the bottom, so I figured I would switch it up and try the carrots. I have to admit that I prefer the sweet potato version, but this was still great. I actually ate this for breakfast for a full work week which was perfect because I made it all in advance. If you aren't into a savory breakfast, try it out for lunch or dinner!

Turkey & Veggie Mash Bowls: Serves 5, Prep time: 10 min, Cook time: 25-30 min

Ingredients:
- 6 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped 
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil

- 1 large onion, diced

- 1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped

- 2 large green peppers, chopped
- 2 heads of broccoli, chopped
- 1lb. mushrooms, chopped
- 1 lb. organic ground turkey
- Fine sea salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Boil a pot of water. When boiling, add carrots and boil for 20 minutes or until soft
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat 
3. Add onions and garlic and cook 5-10 minutes until soft. 
4. Add ground turkey and cook about 10+ minutes until cooked through (no more pink)
5. Add peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms, and cook another 5-10 minutes until everything is cooked
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste
7. Drain the carrots, return them to the pot and mash with a potato masher
8. Split the carrot mash among 5 containers/bowls, and then evenly distribute the turkey/veggie mixture on top.

Spaghetti Squash & Red Pepper Meatballs

Happy early Passover to all of my fellow Jewish and non-Jewish readers who may be celebrating! Lexi and I celebrated tonight by going to Zaftigs in Brookline. I have to admit it was the first time I ever ordered gefilte fish at a restaurant, but it was delicious! I even tried the homemade beet horseradish, but sadly I still found that violently disgusting (sorry Zaftigs). 

Last week when Lexi came over for dinner, we made spaghetti squash with meatballs. Channelling my Italian roots (aka spending a lot of time with the Martinos) comes pretty naturally to me, or so I thought. This dinner was delicious, but the initial taste of the meatballs was a bit bizarre to say the least. When I asked Lexi how they were, she said "they taste Jewish". A week later, we still don't know exactly what that meant, but I did decide against naming them mini Jew balls. If you're daring, try them out, and let me know what you think! FYI - the longer they sat in the fridge, the better they got. Apparently mini Jew balls taste better with age! Happy Passover everyone :)

Spaghetti Squash & Red Pepper Meatballs: Serves: 4, Prep time: 30 min, Cook time: 45 min

Ingredients:
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow onion
- 6 large button mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 1 Tbsp. coconut flour

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and bake face down for 45 minutes
3. Meanwhile, add pepper, onion, and mushrooms into the food processor, and pulse until finely chopped
4. Mix ground turkey, pepper mixture, chopped garlic, and coconut flour until well combined
5. Place 16-20 meatballs on a foil-lined cookie sheet
6. Bake for 30 minutes until cooked through
7. When squash finishes, string it out of the skin with a fork
8. Serve squash with your favorite homemade tomato sauce (thanks Lexi!), and top with meatballs

  

  

  

Lean & Mean Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

I am officially ready for Spring! I had to pass on my daily wheatgrass routine this morning because it was only 12 degrees! I did some yoga in my warm apartment instead of braving the cold, and it was a great start to the day. I missed the morning walk but looked at this picture of my favorite part of Union Park while I sipped my tea. It may be freezing, but Boston is a gorgeous place to be. 

Last week some people (aka Mal) were weirded out by my spinach and mushroom turkey pie. It was simply a green meatloaf in a pie dish, but I know it raised a few eyebrows. I figured I'd switch it up this week and try a meatloaf muffin recipe. I had some fresh parsnips and onions from Silverbrook Farm in Dartmouth, so I threw those in with some celery and made 10 little meat muffins. They are the perfect travel meal or snack. Each muffin has about 2oz. of lean meat, and they are packed with flavor. You can switch up the veggies (think mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, or whatever you have in your fridge) and play with the herbs as well. It's almost impossible to mess these up, so be creative!

Lean & Mean Meatloaf Muffins: Serves 5, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
- 1.2 lbs ground turkey 
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 Tbsp. italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil, rosemary, and sage)
- sea salt & pepper
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 parsnip, peeled and diced
- olive oil

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. While oven preheats, heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onion and garlic, and saute for 5 minutes
4. Add celery and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Add parsnips and cook for another 5 minutes
6. Mix veggies with the meat, egg, almond flour, italian seasoning, sea salt, and pepper in a bowl until thoroughly combined
7. Spoon mixture into a greased muffin tin - I made 10 muffins (about 2 oz. of meat each)
8. Bake for 30 minutes until there is no pink in the center

  

  

Spinach & Mushroom Turkey Pie

I have inadvertently become the gadget queen. My latest addition to the kitchen is an awesome Misto sprayer that I use for olive oil. It was only $9.99 from Bed, Bath, and Beyond ($8 with the coupon!). It basically sprays your oil like traditional cooking sprays but without the chemical additives. It was a little stiff at first, but after a few uses, it is really perfect now. You can save a lot of olive oil by using one of these - you can perfectly cover pans, veggies, salads, etc. with a fraction of the oil. 

Today's recipe was supposed to be a traditional turkey meatloaf, but I got a little creative (aka carried away) in the kitchen. I decided the meatloaf should have a lot of veggies in it, and then I realized my food processor has been lonely lately, so I threw everything in there. The finely chopped spinach/veggie mixture turned my meatloaf green, and then I decided to bake it in a pie dish. The meatloaf quickly transformed into a spinach pie/quiche lookalike. In reality, the consistency is similar to your typical meatloaf, but the added veggies and herbs give it a great distinct flavor. This is an incredibly quick and easy dinner to prepare - mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and then pop it in the oven. Serve with salad or some freshly steamed veggies, and you're good to go!

Spinach & Mushroom Turkey Pie Serves 5, Prep time: 15 min, Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
- 1.25 lb. ground turkey (or other ground meat of choice)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped
- 4 medium button mushrooms
- 1 cup spinach
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp. dried basil
- 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add spinach to food processor and pulse until finely chopped
3. Add mushrooms and onion and pulse until chopped 
4. Put veggie mixture, ground meat, and all other ingredients in a bowl, and mix until well combined
5. Press meat mixture into a pie dish or arrange it on a cookie sheet in the shape of your choice (heart for Valentine's day anyone?)

6. Bake for 45 minutes until cooked through (toothpick should come out clean)

7. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then slice and enjoy!

  

  

Paleo Thanksgiving Turkey

OK, so I know Thanksgiving is almost a week behind us, but I have pounds and pounds of leftover turkey to eat, and I needed to post this recipe. This was my first attempt at making a full turkey, and I was blown away with the result! There is quite a lot to share...

If I focused on the positives, I would tell you that:

• It tasted amazing
• It wasn't dry at all
• I carved it like a pro
• My dinner guests raved about it
• The house smelled amazing all day

If I focused on the negatives, I would explain that:

• I dropped a huge glass bottle of olive oil on the floor when I was elbow-deep in turkey
• I probably need 5 years of therapy to offset my discovery of the 7 inch neck inside the turkey
• I sweat as much carving this turkey as I do in my hardest WOD

Clearly the positives outweigh the negatives, and I will definitely be excited (and more prepared) to make another turkey next year! Best of luck to all the first-timers out there!

Ingredients:
- 16 lb. defrosted turkey (get a pastured turkey from your local farm if possible!)
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- 1 bunch rosemary
- 4 lemons, cut into wedges
- Sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and basil

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Make sure your turkey is fully defrosted, and then remove it from the package 
3. Time to clean the turkey - if you have disposable rubber gloves, put them on! (wish I could say that I had some...)
4. Thoroughly rinse the turkey (inside and out) with water. You may find a bag of giblets, a 7+ inch neck, and other surprises, so remain calm, and save those pieces for later (soup, gravy, etc.) or immediately throw them out so you don't have to think about it (my choice)

5. When the turkey is cleaned, empty, and trimmed of any strange things (veins, excess skin, etc.), put the turkey in a roasting pan. I highly recommend buying a disposable foil pan to save with post-turkey cleanup. 

6. Generously rub the whole turkey with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and then cover it with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and basil.

7. Put all of the lemon wedges and the bunch of rosemary into the center of the turkey.

8. Bake for 4 hours (15 minutes/pound), basting every 30 minutes. Flip the turkey after two hours so both sides get a nice golden brown color.

9. Take the turkey out of the oven, cover tightly with foil, and then let it sit for 30 minutes.

10. Carve like your uncle taught you!

Note: Since there was no real sauce or heavy marinade, there was next to no juice to baste the turkey with after the first 30 minutes. I re-brushed some oil and vinegar on the outside to keep it moist. By the second round of basting, there was plenty of liquid from the lemons and the natural juices from the turkey.

  

Turkey Burgers w/ Roasted Beets & Carrot Mash

Writing this blog has been incredible for me for so many reasons. I am finally able to share my love of eating, cooking, feeding others, and health and wellness with such a wide audience. I am thrilled that in only two weeks, I have had around 1,500 hits from 10 countries around the world! I have reconnected with some old friends and classmates and had the opportunity to meet some fantastic new people as well. I have already provided guidance to people transitioning into a paleo lifestyle, and I taught my first cooking class. I can't wait for all of the adventures to come as this continues!

One of my Pi Phi sisters from Vandy sent me a message last night saying that she is in Boston for work and has been enjoying the blog. She has been doing Crossfit for almost a year and knows about the whole paleo movement. I was so excited to hear Kat was in town, and I invited her over for dinner so we could catch up. It was great chatting and learning how many things we have in common five years after graduation. I tried a slightly new variation on turkey burgers and made two brand new sides. If you can believe it, this was my absolute first attempt at carrots and beets. Kat was very brave and was my taste-tester... I hope she left happy!

Apple Cinnamon Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:
- 1 package all natural ground turkey (mine was 1.2 lbs.)
- Olive oil
- 1 apple, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onions and saute for 5-10 minutes until soft
4. Add apples and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Add all ingredients (including cooked onion/apple mixture) in a mixing bowl
6. Form into patties (I made 5 quarter-pound burgers), and put them on a foil-lined baking sheet
7. Bake for 30 minutes until cooked through 

Roasted Beets

Ingredients:
- Two medium beets, chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Put all ingredients in a large ziploc bag and shake what your mama gave you (Side note - I let a woman squeeze my butt at the Avon walk campsite because she thought it was fake. This is a true story!)
3. Roast for 45 minutes until slightly crispy, and stir/rearrange beets every 15 minutes so they cook evenly

Carrot Mash

Ingredients:
- 1lb. of carrots 
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 1 Tbsp. of chopped garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Trader Joes "21 seasoning salute" (or random herbs/spices from your cabinet)

Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat
2. Add onions garlic, salt, pepper, and TJ spices, and cook for 7-10 minutes until soft
3. Put carrots in a pot, cover in water, and boil for 6-10 minutes until tender
4. Add drained carrots and onion mixture to the food processor
5. Pulse until smooth and add additional seasoning to taste

Viewer's Choice: Paleo Meatza or Egg-Bake

With only 13 days left until the Avon walk in NYC, I have decided I am going to walk as many days as possible to get my feet prepared for the 40-mile trek even though I already completed my 500-mile challenge. My feet, as (too) many of you know, are not exactly my nicest feature. My mom always said that I will have no problem finding a husband one day as long as I am always wearing at least one sock! Maybe I will post a picture of my feet if I reach 10,000 followers. On the other hand, that may decrease my following back down to 20 random paleo cavemen with foot fetishes. I will have to think about this one...

On today's 5-mile lunchtime walk, I was pleasantly surprised to see there was a Tufts women's 10k road race for Columbus Day. There was amazing energy in the city, and it was a perfect day for a walk. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the public garden with "Eye of the Tiger" blasting from the Common. I then escaped the race commotion for a bit and walked through the esplanade. I snapped a gorgeous picture of a perfect fall tree. I wish this time of year would stick around for a lot longer.  

Today's recipe started out as a variation of my standard once-a-week egg-bake/casserole, but as I went, I decided it also could be a wannabe recipe for paleo meatza. I'm leaving this one up to you! Either way, this is a perfect recipe for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and is great because it can feed five hungry people. All the veggies came from my SOWA trip yesterday, and the eggs are from Siena Farms - everything is so fresh, and I am convinced you can taste the difference. It took a serious amount of restraint to stop eating this, but I decided that a pound of turkey and a dozen eggs is probably a bit much for one day. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

- ~1lb. all natural ground turkey (or any other ground meat)

- 12 eggs

- 1 onion, chopped (I like the sweet ones)

- 1 big shallot, chopped

- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

- 2 zucchini, sliced

- 2 big heirloom tomatoes, sliced (forgot to include them in the picture, but I promise they were beautiful)

- Sea salt, pepper, & oregano

- 1 tsp. fat (I used bacon grease - other options are coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil...)

- Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Melt your fat in a pan over medium heat, and add your chopped onion, shallot, and garlic

3. Let them cook down and soften up for 5-10 minutes and then add the ground meat

4. While the meat is cooking, put your zucchini in a gallon sized plastic bag and add some olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Seal the bag and dance around for ~45 seconds or until the zucchini is evenly seasoned

5. Lay the zucchini slices on a baking sheet (I covered mine in tin foil for easy cleanup) and bake for 20-25 minutes flipping halfway through

6. Once your meat mixture is fully cooked, transfer it into a greased casserole dish using a slotted spoon to get rid of any extra fat

7. Layer your thick tomato slices on top of the meat

8. Take your zucchini out of the oven and carefully layer that on top of the tomatoes

9. Crack a dozen eggs on top of the layered dish and bake for 12-20 minutes depending on your egg preference

P.S. A few of my yolks broke during the baking process, so I broke the rest of them with a fork so everything would cook evenly.

P.P.S. If you like spicy food (I don't), you could add some cayenne pepper, hot sauce, etc. to this.