February.
Truly a blah month. I mean there is the Superbowl, The Grammy's, the coveted "Oscar Race". Really though, Ottawa is frozen over and I can't bike. Without Whole30 to distract me, I've been thrust into the cold wondering what to do with myself.
So.. here's a blog post! No, I'm not my typical chipper online self but I'll allow myself this moment.
So yes, January was my second attempt at Whole30. I say 'attempt' because I decided to go gluten-sugar-dairy-grain-sulfite-additive-nightshade - free during the holiday season. I didn't make it past Thanksgiving.
I'm already gluten-free full time but something caught up with me. Without going into too much detail (you can learn more about my history here) I needed a health reset and to get back to eating how I had been suggested to by my health professionals. It was actually way easier than I thought it would be!
I committed to using my day off to take 3 hours to meal prep. This was truly a lifesaver. I had everything I needed to whip up a meal any day of the week. It kept me from caving into the hanger and going out to eat.
Meatballs (recipes inspired by the Meatball Shop in NYC) were a life saver. So versatile and delicious. I can't get enough of The Meatball Shop cookbook (I mean, their official hashtag is #showusyourballs). Ground turkey is a nice change to your typical beef meatballs. They also lend themselves to lighter cream-based sauces and fresh southern-hemisphere delights. I scaled up the meatball recipe so that you can freeze half in single portions for emergency ball cravings. Check out my recipe below!
Turkey Meatballs with Mango Avocado Salsa
Makes around 4 dozen meatballs. paleo, grain-free, nightshade-free
2kg ground turkey
4 eggs
1 cup ground almonds (aka almond flour)
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup apple cider
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp ground black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 450F.
Take two large baking sheets (approx 21"x15") and grease them with 2 tbsp olive oil per sheet pan.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Grab a 2" cookie scoop and use it to make 2" round balls. Make sure you pack in the meat mixture into the scoop before releasing it directly onto the sheet pan. There is no need to roll it into a perfect ball. Repeat with the remaining ground meat mixture. Don't be afraid to crowd the meatballs together!
Bake for 20min or until a meat thermometer reads 170F.
Mango Avocado Salsa
makes around 2 cups, not enough to accompany all of the above meatball recipe but just enough for about 2-4 portions.
1 ripe mango, peeled & stoned, cut into 1 cm cubes
1/2 english cucumber, cut into 1cm cubes
2 ripe avocados, flesh removed, stoned and cut into 1 cm cubes
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all the above ingredients together and enjoy!
