Barbacoa-seasoned Taco Meat

Yeah. Paul's all about anything you wrap in a tortilla.

1.5lb ground pork
1.5lb ground turkey
1 can tomato paste (2.5 oz)
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, chopped
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs broth
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs adobo sauce
1 serrano, minced
1 Tbs smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Normally I'd go through an entire process browning the onions then adding the garlic and spices; stirring in the liquids then adding the meat. But I was kinda done with cooking when I got around to this recipe so i mixed it together and froze it to "freezer marinate" together. Thaw it out and cook it in your skillet.

Surprisingly good.

Potsticker Meatballs

Paul said he wanted some Chinese food the other day thus Potsticker meatballs. I always base my potsticker recipes off this recipe from 101cookbooks. I ran all the ingredient through my meat grinder since I couldn't get the Costco butcher to grind up a pork shoulder.

1.5lb ground pork
1.5lb ground turkey
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1/2 cup shallots, minced
1 serrano, minced
2 Tbs soy sauce
Salt and Pepper

Mince all the veggies and stir together with the meats. Roll into balls and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Margherita? Meatballs

I had more of the deer/pork meat than I felt we needed as taco meat. I made up some meatballs to use up the rest of it. I was going for pizza meatballs initially. When I couldn't find the pepperoni in my ubiquitous random ingredients freezer, I opted for Margherita flavor instead.

1lb ground pork
1lb ground deer
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 dried oregano
1/4 ground parmesan
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 garlic, minced
Salt and Black Pepper

Mix together all the non-meat ingredients. Stir that flavor mixture into the meat. Roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Makes 15ish meatballs.

Taco Meat

Paul loves taco meat. I don't get it but it's easy enough to cook. I ground up some deer and pork meat that was in the freezer for well over the recommended 6 months. Daniel loved watching the meat grinder. He insisted on peeling the garlic after I convinced him he might get sick from handling the raw meat. He very gallantly offered to handle the meat if I might get sick from it too. ❤

1.5 lbs ground pork
3 lbs ground deer
2 onions, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 cup dried oregano
2 Tbs cumin, ground
2 Tbs coriander, ground
1/2 cup ground paprika

Brown the meat in batches. Use some of the leftover fat in the pan to brown the onions, garlic, and jalapeno. Stir in the spices. Add salt and black pepper until it tastes "right." Made about 12 cups of taco meat.

I tossed the jalapeno and garlic in the grinder with the meat instead of chopping them by hand. This is a very loose recipe for me: Meat, onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, and paprika. I'll add in different stuff depending on what's laying around.

IBIH's Snack Cake

I made this cake to have a sugar-free cake at Moma's birthday this weekend. I used erythritol because I got a bag of it a while back. I'm really not into it though. I'm going to start trying monk fruit and stevia again in my keto desserts.

Salami Feta Frittata

4 oz chopped Dry Salami
4 oz crumbled Feta
24 eggs
1/2 cup half and half
salt and pepper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes

Turn the oven on to 350. Place the feta and salami on the bottom of the pan. Use a low speed on the blender to mix the eggs, half and half, salt, and pepper. Pour the eggs into the pan. I pour it slowly onto a spoon over the pan. The spoon overflows into the pan but my meat and cheese don't get pushed all around. Float the tomatoes on top of the egg mixture. Some of them will sink despite your best efforts. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

It turned out good but not mind blowing. Maybe a few kalamata olives would have added that last bit it needed to be great. Maybe mushrooms? Hmmm.

Sausage and Peppers Meatballs

This week's meatballs were chosen because I had some Italian sausage in the freezer.

1 lb sweet (or hot) Italian sausage
2 lb ground pork
1 egg
2/3 cup almond flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbs chopped parsley

Mix together the ingredients. Roll into balls. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes.

Tomato sauce:
1 thinly sliced onion
2 cups sliced peppers
3 minced garlic
28 oz crushed tomatoes

Toss the onions and pepper slices in the meatball pan after the meatballs are out or just saute them in a skillet. Add the garlic and tomatoes once the onions and peppers are lightly charred. Bake for 30 minutes.

Usually these meatball recipes are good to eat sauce-less. This one definitely needs some tweaks to make it a sauce-less meatball. I could probably add some minced onion and peppers along with a bit of tomato paste to the meatballs for a sauce-less meatball. I'd toss some parmesan cheese in too.

Chili Dog Soup

Husband seemed pretty interested in the recipe so it's our "soup" for the week. I didn't have enough room in my InstaPot to triple the broth amount. The soup turned out more like a chili.

4lbs ground beef

3 minced garlic cloves
1 chopped onion
1 cup salsa
4 cups broth
1-2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbs smoked paprika powder
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbs ground mustard powder
16 good quality hot dogs, sliced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbs red wine vinegar

Stir together all the ingredients and cook for an hour or so. You're just waiting for the ground meat to finish cooking. You're supposed to top the soup like you would a chili dog.

I was supposed to wait to add the ketchup, mustard. and red wine vinegar but I didn't notice that until later. Oh well.

Bacon Gouda Cauliflower

4lbs chopped and cooked cauliflower
3 Tbsp half and half (milk would probably work fine too)
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
4 slices of cooked, and chopped bacon
1 cup shredded Smoked Gouda cheese

Once the cauliflower and bacon are cooked, this dish is very quick. Toss everything in a food processor and puree it. I did it in two batches but it probably would have worked in one batch. Once it's pureed taste it for salt and pepper. Makes 8 cups of cauliflower deliciousness. 

Pulled Pork

We've been eating chicken thighs but are changing it up for pulled pork this week. Little did I realize that I was going to have to make homemade ketchup for this recipe. Sigh.

7.5lb boneless pork shoulder (aka. Boston Butt)
1 chopped onion
6 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp mustard powder
1 cup water

Mix the spices up and toss all of it into a giant slow cooker. Slow cook on high for 8 hours.

I tossed mine in around 1 pm on high and checked it around 7pm. I flipped it then pressured it for 5 minutes to make sure it got cooked since it's pork. I let it  slow cook on low until morning since I didn't want to deal with it at 8pm.

When it's done, you set aside the pork. Strain the broth add the following seasonings then set it to boil for a bit. Maybe 10 minutes. I got pretty distracted throughout the whole process. I'm really not sure how long it simmered.

For the sauce:
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp chipolte powder
1 Tbs smoked paprika
3 Tbs apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs ketchup

1 Tbs sweetener

When the pork is done, set it aside. Strain the broth add the seasonings. Set it to boil for a bit. Maybe 10 minutes. I got pretty distracted throughout the whole process. I'm really not sure how long it bubbled along. Stir the sauce into the "pulled" pork. It's better the second day. The flavors have time to mellow.

Finally the ketchup! The linked recipe calls for dried onions which I don't have.

1/2 c white vinegar
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 inch piece cinnamon stick, broken

14oz can tomato sauce

6oz tomato paste

Boil the vinegar with the spices in it. Strain the vinegar. Stir in the tomatoes. Simmer the ketchup until the tomatoes don't taste "raw." Five minutes, maybe?

Thankfully, that's it for the multi-recipe pulled pork. 

Tex-Mex Cauliflower

Still trying to get rid of the giant jar of salsa verde...

Puree together:

2lbs chopped cooked cauliflower
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp bacon fat
1 tsp  chopped chipotles in adobo sauce (canned)
3 minced garlic cloves

1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Stir in:
1/4 cup salsa verde

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup chopped raw tomatoes

Bake for 40 minutes.

This tastes like it would be a layer in Mexican layer dip with a consistency similar to mashed potatoes. I'll probably put green onions and black olives on top when I eat this. I might even add then to the ingredients I  stir in next time. 

Enchilada Meatballs

We still have salsa verde so it's Enchilada meatballs for this week.

1 egg
1/2 cup almond flour
salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp ground coriander
5 minced garlic cloves
3oz crumbled feta

1/4 cup salsa verde
2 lb. ground turkey

Mix everything together then stir in the meat. Roll into balls (I got 16) and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

I tossed these in the oven then totally forgot about them until I went to put the cauliflower in the oven 40 minutes later. I also didn't add the green onions from the original recipe purely because I forgot. 100% absentmindedness. They're really really good. The recipe could also head in an Indian direction with some tomato paste and curry powder added to them. Maybe next time.

Super delicious. Definitely make these.

Salsa Cheese Soup

Jalapeno popper soup seemed like it'd be right up Paul's alley. It's mostly cheese so I made a quadruple batch.

1 Tbs bacon fat
4 cloves minced garlic
16oz cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream
8 cups broth
1/2 cup salsa verde
1lb shredded pepper jack cheese
1lb shreddded cheddar
1/4 cup chopped roasted serano chilies

Sautee the garlic in the fat. Simmer the broth, cream, and cream cheese until the soup is smooth. Stir in the salsa, jack, cheddar, and chiles. Once the cheese melts, it's done. Enjoy!

Cheese soups are not really my thing. I much prefer potato but this one's good if you are on low carb.

Update: This soup is really good the next day. I was on the fence about it until I had it 3 days later. It's great. It also works as a dip with a thickener added to it. I use psyllium husk since it's low carb but cornstarch would work just fine.

Ham Mushroom Frittata

Our frittata for this week features ham and mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I'm always glad to have an excuse to buy them. Saute them in garlic and butter then eat on everything. Mmmmm. I used turkey ham in this recipe since I had to know what turkey ham tasted like but regular ham works just as well.

2 Tbs butter

2 cups chopped mushrooms

8oz turkey ham

24 eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

4oz shredded cheddar

handful chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Saute the mushrooms and ham in the butter. Mix the eggs with the cream, cheese, parsley, and seasonings. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

I lined the sides with squash slices - a cheap veggie - in attempt to alleviate the cleaning nightmare the last frittata left. This one turned out amazingly delicious. I think it would be better with Swiss or goat cheese instead of the cheddar. I had upped the mushrooms but the original author was on track with the mushroom content. Dial back the mushrooms to 1 cup.

Italian Meatballs

Our new batch of meatballs this week are Italian style meatballs.

2.5lbs ground beef
1 egg
3/4 cup water
Palmful of chopped parsley
Palmful of chopped oregano
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup grated parmesan
3/4 cup almond flour
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Roll them into meatballs. We got 19 meatballs from this batch. Bake them 350 for 20 minutes.

These are good if you're looking for a generic meatball recipe. They taste good but there's nothing special here. Your sauce is going to have to bring all the show.

Cavolfiore alla Vodka

The newest thing to hit our fridge is some cauliflower with vodka sauce. We used a version of Epicurious's vodka sauce and Heidi's five minute tomato sauce. Heidi's tomato sauce is how I start any kind of red sauce.

2 15oz cans tomato sauce
1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes
1 head of minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup yogurt
3 Tbs chopped parsley

Put the garlic, oil, pepper, and salt in a pan over medium-high heat. Let it cook for a minute "until fragrant" as Heidi says then dump the tomatoes in the pan. Leave it at a "lively simmer" for 30-45 minutes. I stir this every 10 minutes but it could probably sit there bu itself. Stir in the vodka and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat off. Stir in the yogurt and parsley. Boom. Done. Well add some butter to it right before you eat it. Butter gives this sauce it's decadent richness. Makes 5 cups.

I would have used heavy cream instead of yogurt. I wasn't sure I'd have enough for the week if I did. Sour cream would also work instead of the yogurt or heavy cream. This sauce is the kind of thing I start before I putter in the kitchen making pancakes or grating cheese or cutting up vegetables for other things. I stick on the back burner and most forget about it in the "lively simmer" stages.


1 floreted? and cooked cauliflower
3 cups vodka sauce
2 Tbs heavy cream
2 Tbs melted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Palmful of chopped basil leaves
6 slices Provolone

Lay half the cauliflower into your baking dish. Stir together the vodka sauce, cream, butter, parmesan, salt, pepper, and basil. pour half the sauce over the cauliflower in the baking dish. Add the second half of cauliflower to the baking dish and pour the remaining sauce over the cauliflower. Top the cauliflower mixture with the provolone slices. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

The provolone slices don't add anything to this dish. If you want more cheese then cut the provolone into chunks and stir it in the mixture before baking. This was not a quick dish like I was hoping but it's one of the best ways I've had cauliflower. Except maybe roasted. Ooooo, I bet roasted cauliflower would be good dipped in the vodka sauce. Mmmmm. The twins love this one, especially Jeremy.

Frittatas

Finally, the last recipe on this week's menu is frittata. I had a pound and a half of ground turkey leftover from making the Sundried Tomato Meatballs so I made the breakfast sausage for the recipe with that instead of buying it. I realize now that I should have made a double batch of the super delicious meatballs. Now I know, double IBIH's meatball recipes. The breakfast sausage was delicious too. Maybe I'll just buy more meat next time. A somewhat hysterically hilarious idea since we bought 15lbs of meat this week. Ah, well.

1 lb chopped and lightly cooked broccoli
8 oz crumbled feta
20-24 oz breakfast sausage
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
Salt & pepper
24 eggs


Mix together the broccoli and feta cheese then break apart the sausage and mix that into the broccoli and feta mixture. Separately - I just mixed the egg stuff up in the bottom of my casserole dish - beat together the yogurt and milk. Add the eggs and seasonings. Stir in the meat mixture (I used this opportunity to break up some of the bigger clumps of meat) and bake it all up at 375 for 50 minutes. It turned out great but I'd definitely add some garlic next time. I love garlic.

I upped the spices in this breakfast sausage so it was strong enough to stand up in a mixed recipe like this. The frittata has a bunch of other bland flavors - eggs, milk, yogurt - that need the loud spices. I'd tone down the spices if it was going to be on it's own in a patty or meatball.

1.5lb ground turkey
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp rubbed sage
2 tsp ground fennel
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme

Mix this up like you would meatballs. Use "The Claw" hand position to mix it so it stays soft. Add 2-4 Tbsp of water if you make it into big clumps - meatballs or patties - to keep it soft. Ditch the water if you want a tougher texture. The tougher texture is good for crumbles. Gives it that nice bouncy texture that's terrible in a large clump.

Happy breakfasting!

Sundried-Feta Meatballs

Next up on the keto week meal plan was this Sundried-feta meatball recipe. Daniel was helping me so this one got made pretty closely to the original recipe.

1.5 lbs ground turkey
2-3 oz crumbled feta
0.75 oz chopped sun-dried tomatoes and soaked in 3 Tbs of water
1 tsp dried thyme
1 egg
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup almond flour

Mix all the ingredients; roll into balls; and bake at 350 in an oiled pan for 30 minutes.

I thought about drizzling some kind of shredded cheese on top. I couldn't decide what to go with so no cheese on top. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jeremy, Paul, and I loved this recipe.

Mexican-y Roast Soup

I made a version of this for leftovers this week. I always end up making minor changes based on laziness and preference.

4lb round steak, cubed
1 cup+ salsa verde
1/4 cup green chile condiment (This came in a bottle like Sriracha does. I think I picked it up at Whole Foods or Rousse's.)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cloves pressed garlic
10 mini peppers, cut into strips
2-4 Tbsp ground cumin
2-4 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp Chili powder
2-4 Tbsp Cider Vinegar

I browned the round steak in batches on the stove then dumped everything in my Instapot on the slow cooker function for 4 hours.

It came out roast meat in a Mexican restaurant soup. Not exactly what I was expecting but delicious.

Friends-giving Vegetable

I confess I've been neglecting my Facebook account. So Friends-giving kinda snuck up on me this year. During an evening visit with Pippie, I mentally listed the few ingredients we had left at the house and tried to come up with something respectable to bring as my dish. Hopefully for the friends sake, the cauliflower will turn out well.

Olive and Garlic Cauliflower

• 2 cauliflowers
• 6-12 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil (or butter) & more for roasting
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped kalamata olives
• Salt & Pepper

1. Turn your oven on to 450 degrees. Don't wait for it to finish preheating.
2. Break the cauliflower heads into bite-sized florets. 
3. Toss the cauliflower with salt, pepper, and some oil (or bacon fat).
4. Spread 1/3 of the cauliflower onto a baking sheet and pop that baking sheet in the oven.
5. While the first batch of cauliflower cooks, mix the olive, 1/2 cup oil (or butter), and chopped garlic in a microwaveable dish (like a coffee mug). Microwave the oil mixture for 15-60 seconds depending on the power of your microwave. You want the garlic lightly cooked not golden or crunchy.
6. Check on the cauliflower after 10 minutes. You want the spots touching the pan to be medium to dark brown. If it's not done yet, check every 5 minutes.
7. Spread 1/2 of the remaining cauliflower onto a baking sheet and pop that baking sheet in the oven. Check on the cauliflower after 10 minutes. If it's not done yet, check every 5 minutes.
8. Spread the remaining cauliflower onto a baking sheet and pop that baking sheet in the oven. Check on the cauliflower after 10 minutes. If it's not done yet, check every 5 minutes.
9. Once all the cauliflower is cooked, stir the garlic oil into the cauliflower and serve.