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Hormone Balancing Meatballs

June 28, 2016

Paleo Hormone Balancing meatballs

I love meatballs. And when I love something, I obsess over it for a good month-ish…

There were the meatballs for breakfast.

Lamb meatballs with sweet potato pasta.

And who could forget the Fertility Feast meatballs?

Meatball-making reminds me of cookie-baking. You roll up all of these fantastic ingredients into tiny little balls, put them on a baking sheet, and fill your kitchen with all the smells, until it's time to pull them out and try one bite of the juicy, herby, spicy, meaty cookie. But unlike cookies, I don’t believe you have to follow an exact recipe. That’s the beauty of cooking after all. A pinch of this, a handful of that – as long as it’s all things you like, it will most likely be delicious.

Besides being addicting, these particular meatballs have so many health benefits, it’s ridiculous. The reason? Because they have liver. Yes, liver. WAIT! WAIT! Before you freak out and close this page, please do two things for me: 1) Read the benefits below. And 2) See how I’m going to make it really easy for you to incorporate the liver into your diet through this awesome recipe.

Hormone Balancing Meatballs

Ridiculous Benefits Of My Liver Meatballs:

LIVER is one of the most nutrient-dense foods. Period.

Greater than 65% of daily requirement of folate for 30-something women.

High in B12, B6, zinc and iron, which helps with…

  • Depression
  • Thyroid issues
  • Low energy

The highest source of vitamin A, which improves…

  • Thyroid function. It supports thyroid deficiencies so it's perfect for anyone with hypothyroid.
  • Liver health and detoxification.
  • Absorption of Vitamin A. We can’t get ANYWHERE close to this amount of Vitamin A from vegetables – not only because vegetable don't have as much, but becasue the body has to convert it to retinol first in order to use it. Unfortuantely, the veggie conversion rate is not good – especially for people with thyroid issues. But with liver, it's already converted and ready to use!

Anti-Fatigue factor:

  • In a famous study done by Benjamin K. Ershoff, PhD, liver consumption prevented rats from exhaustion, even after swimming for 2 straight hours.
  • Could have implications for human consumption; many people report feeling energized after eating it.

WALNUTS are high in Omega-3 which has been shown to:

  • Balance depression, anxiety and mood swings associated with hormonal imbalances
  • Reduce inflammation and balance insulin

COCONUT OIL is a medium chain fatty acid which:

  • Is essential for hormone production
  • Keeps inflammation levels low
  • Boosts your metabolism
  • Promotes weight loss

My personal experience with these liver meatballs:

  • Incredibly satiating – I've tried liver in many different ways and THIS baby finally made me enjoy them.
  • Improved digestion
  • More energy
  • GREAT for fertility

Paleo Hormone Balancing Meatballs

Ridiculously Easy Way To Make It Delicious:

  • So that you don’t actually taste the liver, we’re going to mix it together with grass-fed ground beef and lots of seasonings and ingredients.
  • So that you don’t have to touch the liver (too much), I’m going to ask that you ask your local butcher to grind it for you. And if you ask really nicely, they might grind it together with the beef. (Shoutout to Anthony at Local Foods for being the sweetest, most accommodating butcher ever 🙂 )
  • So that you don’t have to deal with liver often, we’re going to make one BIG batch now so you can freeze them later and have a ready-to-go, highly nutritious dinner any night of the week.

Okay, enough talk. Are you ready to put all your fears aside and try liver???

   Paleo Hormone Balancing Meatballs Ingredients

Hormone Balancing Basil Meatballs
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
45 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
45 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Hormone Balancing Basil Meatballs
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
45 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
45 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: Meatballs
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set out three baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Melt 1 teaspoon of coconut oil on the sauté pan and toss in onion; sauté for 5 minutes-ish.
  3. While that's cooking, chop up garlic cloves, basil leaves and walnuts; Set aside.
  4. Set aside cooked onions and let cool to room temperature.
  5. Whisk eggs in a bowl.
  6. Stir in garlic, basil, walnuts, nutritional yeast, coconut flour and red chili pepper flakes.
  7. Pour mixture into beef and liver; Pour onions in separately.
  8. Get your hands in there and mix it all together.
  9. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper.
  10. Stick in oven for 10 minutes.
  11. Bonus: Once cooled, stick in freezer ON THE PAN to flash freeze your meatballs. Doing so will keep them in meatball shape so you can stuff them in freezer bags and have them on hand whenever you need them. Believe me, nothing is better than coming home to an empty fridge, and then remembering that you have delicious pre-made meatballs waiting for you in the freezer.
  12. TO RE-HEAT: Warm in pan with a bit of coconut oil, bone broth and/or spaghetti sauce for approximately 10 minutes.
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Super Healthy Omega-3 Sardine Salad Recipe

August 12, 2015

Writing this blog often makes me realize that I am not following my own advice. I've written a lot about inflammation, including my most recent cauliflower post. But one of the most important things you can do to keep your inflammation low is increase your Omega-3 intake. And although I make a great effort to cook fresh fish once a week, I think I could be doing a lot better.

So I decided to reassess and see how I can shove it back in. 

I started by adding a spoonful of Omega-3 oil to my smoothie every morning. This made a noticeable difference. For one, I feel more satisfied after my breakfast. And because I am also giving up coffee for a bit (more on that later), I found that it increased my energy and morning concentration.

Feeling these differences only made me want to get even more in my diet. But not through supplementation. Through food.

Enter: the sardine.

Sardines at Jewel

Ahhh, the sardine. The bottom of the aquatic food chain. The kind of canned fish that you’ve passed a million times in the grocery store, but most likely never even considered picking it up. The kind of topping that Michelangelo would put on his ‘za. (The turtle, not the artist).

I know, I know. Your face just scrunched up at the thought of eating one. But in all seriousness, sardines are one of the best and most underrated health foods out there. Better yet, they’re also one of the cheapest. I'm talking less than $2 here. And because they are at the bottom of the food chain – feeding solely on plankton, their mercury levels are much less of a concern than other fish higher up on the food chain.

Need more reasons before you dive in? Well, let me see…

Vitamin D $$Rich$$

This is the stuff that you're supposed to get from the sun (but if you live in Chicago like me, the rays can be PRETTY hard to catch). Sardines have an unusually high amount (one can gets you 63% of your daily intake). Plus, they are a great source of phosphorus, a mineral that is important to strengthen the bones.

Loaded with Protein

Protein = Amino acids.

Amino acids –> Create new proteins.

Proteins = Basis of muscles and connective tissues, antibodies that keep our immune system strong, and deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout our bodies. Good stuff.

Hearty Heart Health

Sardines actually rank as one of the THE MOST concentrated food sources of B12 in the world (one can will get you to 100% of your daily intake). Vitamin B12 promotes cardiovascular wellbeing.

Very Mineral-y

This is one of the few cases where getting the can is even better than getting fresh because with canned sardines, you’re getting the whole animal – bones and all. Don’t get grossed out; sardines are so small and cooked so thoroughly that even the bones are soft enough to eat, providing a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats in one easy peasy package. I’m talking 35% of the recommended daily intake in one can.

Oh yeah, and the whole point – They are Omega-3 ROCKSTARS

They are one of the most concentrated sources of the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels; one can of sardines actually contains over 50% of the daily value for these important nutrients. One can is actually equivalent to taking a fish oil supplement, but with even more added benefits. That’s insane.

Anyways, enough chit chat for today. I’ve got a great recipe to help you get a little sardine love in your life. I’m 99% sure that, even if you don’t think you like sardines, you’ll like them like this. And everything else in the recipe is also really, really good for you. Can’t go wrong. Right?

Much Love,

HealthyStaceySignature

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SOURCES

  1. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=147
  2. http://paleoleap.com/eat-this-sardines/
Super Healthy Omega 3 Sardine Salad Recipe
Print Recipe
This may be the easiest, quickest meal recipe I've ever put on this blog. It is stupid, simple, but ridiculously satisfying and really really good for you. Every single ingredient is beneficial to your health. I know what you're thinking - SARDINES? Yes, sardines. If you're ever going to love them, it will be in this form. So go ahead. Un-scrunch your face and give them a try. You just might LOVE them.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Super Healthy Omega 3 Sardine Salad Recipe
Print Recipe
This may be the easiest, quickest meal recipe I've ever put on this blog. It is stupid, simple, but ridiculously satisfying and really really good for you. Every single ingredient is beneficial to your health. I know what you're thinking - SARDINES? Yes, sardines. If you're ever going to love them, it will be in this form. So go ahead. Un-scrunch your face and give them a try. You just might LOVE them.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: person
Instructions
  1. Slice your 1/2 avocado in a grid, then scoop out the meat with a spoon OR literally squish both sides of the shell together and squeeze out the avo.
  2. Toss the rest of the ingredients in there - including your sardines! And mash them up with abandon.
  3. Eat up and reap the benefits.
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