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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
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Tag Archives: almond butter
Easy Paleo Turkey Satay Burgers
I’m just going to throw this out there: Satay sauce is next to Godliness in my humble opinion.
It’s creamy, nutty and sometimes spicy — and really what more can you want from a sauce? Just typing that made my mouth water. The only two problems I have with it? The peanuts make it very un-Paleo (Peanuts are a legume and not actually a nut…who knew?) and there is generally some type of soy sauce in it which I avoid like the plague (mostly due to gluten). So while I occasionally throw caution to the wind and order if I am out, I wanted to make a version that I could eat anytime and know I wasn’t deviating from the style of eating that has kept me happy and healthy over the last year.
I set out to make a sauce that would hit all the same notes as a good peanut satay (and would be a nice dipper for chicken) but also because I am lazy on most weeknights (shocker!) I wanted to find a way to turn it into a burger. Burgers = King of Easy Weeknight Recipes! Everybody knows (said in my best Phaedra impersonation) that if you are looking for a good burger recipe, Rachael Ray is a great resource. She’s written something like 1000 burger recipes so whenever I’m in a pickle I seek out one of her recipes. This time I used this recipe as inspiration (and did some tweaking to satisfy my own dietary needs.)
The results were PHENOMENAL. I have to admit this surprised me a little. I thought for sure it would be edible, but I wasn’t certain I would love it. I only had turkey on hand and I thought it might be a weird combination, but it actually works out awesome because the creaminess of the sauce lends well to turkey because and its low fat content. The toppings give a great texture combo and overall I LOVED IT! I hope you will too.
Paleo Turkey Satay Burgers (adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
Ingredients
for burgers
Fat of Choice (I used coconut oil on this one)
1.25 lbs of Ground Turkey
2 Large Garlic Cloves, grated
1 Inch Ginger Root, grated
3 Green Onions, finely diced
Salt + Pepper to taste (I went lighter on the salt than usual due to the salty sauce.)
for sauce
1/2 Cup Almond Butter
3 TBS Coconut Aminos/Tamari
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth to thin out sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you don’t want your sauce to have some kick)
for garnish
1 Bag of Broccoli Slaw (My favorite thing to have in the fridge! So useful!)
Instructions
1. Heat fat of choice over medium in a 12 in skillet (or you could grill these — I just chose a pan because I’m lazy, remember?)
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix all ingredients through salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties.
3. Cook patties for 6 minutes one side, flip, cook 3 minutes on the other side so that the surface gets brown, then cover and continue cooking until inside is desired temperature. I like my turkey fairly well done so I cooked it another 5 minutes covered.
4. When turkey is almost done cooking, in another small pot, combine almond butter and coconut aminos over medium low heat. Stir until combined and then add chicken broth little by little until sauce has desired creamy consistency
5. In a separate bowl toss broccoli slaw with a few TBS of satay sauce
6. Serve cooked burgers on butter lettuce garnished with a dollop of the satay sauce as well as the sauced broccoli slaw
7. Enjoy your super rich, spicy Paleo-friendly satay dish!
The flavor is so complex considering the ingredients are so simple and it has become a great way to fancy up your everyday turkey burger. If you end up trying this let me know how you like it!
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Crock Pot Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps
One of the things I missed most when I first went Paleo was the ability to throw a chunk of meat in the crock pot, cover it in sauce, serve in on a freshly baked roll and call it dinner. Most pre-made sauces are loaded with sugar and since I no longer eat anything on a bun, my crockpot gathered a bit of dust while I transitioned. But when I rediscovered my love for lettuce wraps (HOLY MOSES those are good!) I busted out my crockpot again and sang love songs to it because it makes my weeknight life so much easier.
After a few trials and tribulations, and some super disgusting dinners (which, HELLO, seem like an extra betrayal when they happen in the crockpot because you come home expecting dinner to be ready only to find out that you have to figure out a Plan B!) I finally came up with a a combo of yummy flavors that has found its way into the regular rotation in our kitchen. And a bonus, it gets Garrett to eat pork with a smile! Although you could certainly substitute chicken in this dish and get great results.
Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps
For the chunk of meat
2-3 lbs of pork shoulder or any type of pork roast (or this would be super good with chicken thighs or chicken breasts)
Liberally salt and pepper and if you’re feeling really crazy throw in 3-4 smashed whole garlic cloves. If you don’t feel crazy, just sprinkle on some garlic powder
For the sauce
Mix all of the following:
4 TBS Coconut Aminos (or Soy Sauce if that’s your bag)
2 TBS Almond Butter (Peanut Butter would be fine too)
1 TBS Honey (I eyeball it)
2 TBS Vinegar (I’ve used a bunch of different ones, just to get some acid in there)
2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 TBS Sriracha (or more if you are real spicy)
1/2 tsp of Black Pepper
1 TBS minced ginger (dude, I totally used the jarred stuff sometimes, go for it!)
Recipe Steps
1. Put prepared chunk of meat in crockpot
2. Pour sauce over it
3. Resist the urge to add more liquid (you will want to, don’t you worry you don’t have to)
4. Set and forget (well for about 4-6 hours at least on your low setting)
THIS, internet, is how I like my crock pot recipes. Short, sweet and tasty!
When it is done cooking shred with a fork and serve atop your favorite lettuce and add the garnish of your choice. Because I am usually lazy on the weeknights, I throw on some pre-shredded cabbage or broccoli slaw and slice up a bell pepper for some color and call it a day. You could do any toppings you want — chopped peanuts, jicama, cilantro, shredded carrots. And Garrett says don’t forget the extra hot sriracha sauce! But that guy is crazy for heat, so take his advice with a grain of salt (and a glass of water!)
Green Smoothies: Breakfast of Champions
5 days a week, I always start my day with this amazon green powder smoothie– and at least one day a week I hear something about it:
“What the heck is that?”
“Did you make that yourself?”
“What’s in that?” or the ever so tasteful “That looks gross.”
And the truth is — it does kind of look gross. It looks like lawn clippings mixed with water or something, and just typing that made me dry heave a little. But it is the best tasting, most-efficient, on-the-go breakfast ever so I remind myself regularly that food doesn’t always have to be pretty to be delicious. And this Breakfast of Champions is definitely delicious. If you are not sold on the delicious factor, what if I told you it had 2 CUPS OF SPINACH in it. I mean, hello, when else are you going to eat 2 cups of spinach?? If you are like me, probably never, since I don’t even like spinach that much. But in this smoothie? You can’t even taste it! So here we go…
Add the following to a blender and give it a whirl:
1 Cup of Almond Milk (I used unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, but you could use plain too)
1 Frozen Banana
1 Scoop of Protein Powder of Your Choice (you need an emulsifier so it’s milkshake-like)
1-2 TBS of Almond Butter (You could use Peanut Butter if you have it on hand)
2 TBS of Ground Flax Seeds (Or anything else you’d like to sneak in)
2 Cups of Spinach
You all, it tastes like a giant peanut butter and banana smoothie but you just ate 2 cups of spinach. How badass is that? Plus, with the almond butter/milk/protein powder combo you will not be hungry until lunch, I promise.
IT. IS. AWESOME!
And if nothing else, Popeye (and your mom, no doubt) would probably be proud.
