Browsing Tag

Liver

Paleo Fast Food + US Wellness Meats Featured Chef + Giveaway (YAY!)

November 30, 2017

Before I get to my chit chatting, I'm going to guess you saw "Giveaway" in the title and might want to cut straight to the chase. Here's the deal. I'm December's US Wellness Meats Featured Chef and we're running a contest together until December 10th (Woohoo!). Sign up to win ALL OF THIS STUFF from US Wellness Meats at the link below. 

HEALTHY HAPPY HOLIDAY FEATURED CHEF PRIZE PACK


In May of this year I decided to send an email to one of my favorite companies to tell them how much I love their products. I had just put in an order with them and was thinking how much easier they had made my life by making grass-fed meat and bones (for my broth!) so much more accessible (Why do I care about grass-fed? I explain here). Much to my surprise, they emailed me back thanking me, and also with a special request:

Would I be their featured chef for December?

Umm, YES! I thought. Is that a rhetorical question? At the time I was still only 5 months pregnant and had no idea how life would be for me come December. 

LiverSaladsPaleo_HealthyStacey

When their marketing representative emailed me in November with a reminder — it was time for me to write my post — I may have had a heart attack. With a 6-week old baby who would not nap for more than 15 minutes, and me going on little to no sleep, how could I possibly find the time to write a post and create recipes for them? For the first time in my life, I truly understood what my readers mean when they tell me that they DO NOT HAVE TIME TO MAKE PALEO FOOD. 

SkilletMeal_Paleo_HealthyStaceyFastFood

Before Charley arrived, I had only myself to take care of. I had no idea how much time I spent in the kitchen tinkering with recipes and making complicated meals until I didn't have it anymore.

I am now the proud parent to a beautiful, rambunctious, curious, curly-haired, smushy-faced 2-month old. I’m going to state the obvious here, but I am madly in love with her and I can’t imagine life without her in it now. As expected, my whole world has been turned upside-down and priorities look very different than they did just a few months ago.

YogurtParfait_PaleoFastFood_HealthyStacey

Every waking moment is spent feeding her, changing her diapers, changing her (poopy, spit-uppy) clothes, tickling her, smiling with her, shhhh-ing her, rocking her, bouncing her, and loving on my Charley girl.

YolkyEggs_HealthyStacey_PaleoFastFood

Come breakfast or lunch time, I’m waiting for just the right moment to throw something on a pan or in a bowl, and shove it down my (very hungry) throat. I’m not saying that I’m resorting to McDonald’s drive-thru runs or Lean Cuisines (no judgement if you do). I still put eating whole, unprocessed food very high on my list of priorities — not to mention that I’m breastfeeding which means what I eat, Charley eats. But what I needed was to simplify.

BoneBrothPaleoFastFood_HealthyStacey

I pulled it together and got US Wellness Meats their recipes, using some of my favorites from past posts. In fact, their beef liverwurst was the perfect thing to work with because it literally takes no cooking at all, but gives me the nutrients of three different organ meats and it's DELICIOUS.

You can see the post here (eek, my head looks HUGE as the header). But this little exercise also made me think about the kind of cook I need to be at this time in my life. I can no longer be the spend-hours-in-the-kitchen type of cook. But that doesn't mean I have to stop cooking all together. 

So I started taking all the last-minute recipe searching, marinade-ing, spice mixing, and time-intensive meals out of the equation. I finally realized that this is a time for fast food. Or at least, faster food. All I ask is that my meals are Paleo-ish, comforting, and satisfying. But they should all take 15 minutes or less to cook. I searched the interwebs looking for such a guide, but could not find one. So I created my own.

I give you…

My Paleo-Friendly Fast Food Cheat Sheet

PROTEINS:

Pork Chop or Loin
Cook Time: 5-8 minutes per side on the stove top (depending on how well done you like it)
Method:

  1. Season with Salt
  2. Turn pan to medium-high heat and let sizzle on side 1 for about 5 minutes
  3. Turn over and put temperature reader in pork until it reads 145 (medium rare) to 160 (well done).
  4. Let rest for 3 minutes before serving.

Optional: Before cooking, add Dijon mustard and sprinkle seasonings of choice (thyme, oregano, cumin, paprika, etc.) on top of sauce.

 

Ground Meats (Beef/Lamb/Chicken/Turkey/Pork/Bison)

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes depending on meat

  1. Heat pan on high until sizzling, and plop meat in pan (I usually avoid adding fat because it creates so much on its own)
  2. Add in seasonings (cumin, cayenne, chipotle powder, etc.) + salt, chop up into small chunks with spatula, turning over frequently; turn pan down to medium heat
  3. Cook until you no longer see pink; season to taste.

 

Fish

Cook Time: About 10 minutes (rule of thumb is to cook about 10 minutes per inch of fish, turning it halfway through cooking; internal temperature of 145 degrees

Method:

  1. Season your fish with salt and pepper (other seasonings welcome, such as dill, tarragon, cumin, parsley, basil, etc.)
  2. Heat your skillet over high heat, add fat of choice
  3. Lower heat before you plop fish on and let sizzle for 2-5 minutes per side (see rule of thumb above).

 

Yolky Eggs

Cook Time: 5-8 minutes

Method: 

  1. Heat pan till sizzling and add fat of coice
  2. Crack egg over pan and let sizzle for approximately 3 minutes
  3. Sprinkle salt and cover pan with lid. TURN OFF burner and let sit for 2 minutes (I like my egg yolk runny, but let it sit longer if you want a more solid egg yolk)

 

Bone Broth

Cook Time: 2 minutes (re-heating)

Method: 

  1. Re-heat homemade (see my recipe here) or store-bought broth on stove or in microwave
  2. Add leftover meat, chop up vegetables, wilt in spinach…or just drink it straight with a sprinkling of salt and seasonings of your choice

 

Liverwurst Sausage

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Method:

  1. Slice into thin circles and use it to top salads, eggs or crackers. No need to cook.

*Note: I recognize that this one is not easily available at most stores so I highly recommend ordering it from US Wellness Meats. All of their meat is grass-fed and finally gives us a way to get this incredibly nutrient-dense food into our diets easily and quickly. This Liverwurst is a mixture of grass-fed beef, liver, heart, and kidney. DAMN. That is a whole lotta healthy.

 

Sardines

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Method:

  1. Throw canned sardines with extra virgin olive oil (ideally, wild caught) on a big bowl of lettuce – I like this brand.
  2. Add chopped veggies (if you have time)
  3. Toss with lemon juice and sprinkle salt.

 

Smoked Salmon

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Method:

  1. Take it out of the package and toss it on a big plate of greens 
  2. Toss with lemon juice and sprinkle salt.

 

VEGETABLES
Asparagus

Cook Time: 4-5 minutes

Method:

  1. Drizzle with avocado oil/ghee/coconut oil/olive oil
  2. Sprinkle with salt
  3. Put in oven at 425 for a quick flash of heat — just enough to get it hot and crunchy

 

Bed of Greens

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Method:

  1. Literally lay your protein over a bed or a big bowl of greens.
  2. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice.
  3. Sprinkle salt. Done.

 

Broccolini (unlike broccoli, it's ready to cook – no chopping required) 

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Method:

  1. Heat up large pan on medium-high heat, once it’s sizzling add fat of choice
  2. Toss in broccolini with plenty of room for them to breath
  3. Sprinkle with salt
  4. Stir fry on high heat until desired doneness (less time = more crunchy).

 

Baby Bok Choy

Cook Time: 2-3 minutes

Method:

  1. Slice baby bok choy into strips,
  2. Sauté on pan at medium-high heat
  3. Sprinkle with salt

 

Much Love,

HealthyStaceySignature

Recipes

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.
Share this Recipe
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe