Meatballs

On my previous Whole30s, I did indulge in a few meatballs.  My hubby made his delicious meatball recipe, and then made mine without the breadcrumbs.  Sure, we could've added some almond flour or potato starch, but I figured why mess with something good.  I'd toss them with homemade marinara sauce, and eat them as is, or serve on top of some spaghetti squash.

But when I saw a recipe for BBQ meatball stuffed sweet potatoes, I knew I had to try them!  They've been on my "to make" list since my last Whole30.  And truth be told, I will definitely make them!  But so far, I made the meatball part of the recipe and I cannot.  stop.  eating.  them!

I made my meatballs on the smaller side, since I generally prefer snack-sized foods.  I served them today with some cauliflower rice, and celery sticks (with Whole30-compliant (!!) Tessemae's Buffalo Sauce).  These would be great with sauce over spaghetti squash, on top of a salad, or -- as the recipe intended -- slathered in Whole30-complaint BBQ sauce!  Now I don't have an instant pot (I know, I know, what is wrong with me?!), so I made mine on the stove top and then finished them in the oven.  I've included my cooking directions below.

Meatballs
Recipe from this delicious looking recipe from Healthy Little Peach (And trust me, I'll be making the original recipe soon!), cooking instructions by yours truly

Makes 36 1-1.5 inch meatballs

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef (the recipe recommends 90/10 but all I had was 85/15)
1/3 cup chopped sweet onions
2 Tbsp coconut aminos
1 tsp garlic powder (I had granules on hand)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 large egg
3 Tbsp tapioca flour (I left this out)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Roll meatballs into 1-1.5 inch balls.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Rub a cast iron skillet with avocado or olive oil.  Just a thin layer is all you need.
Heat the pan over medium-high heat.
Put about 1/3 of the meatballs in the pan.
Turn every 2 minutes, ensuring that the majority of the meatball is seared (I flipped mine twice, 2 minutes on a side for 2 sides).
Remove from the pan and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Repeat with another 1/3 of the meatballs, removing them and placing them on the same baking sheet.
Repeat with the remaining 1/3 of the meatballs.

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 6 minutes.
Check a meatball to make sure they are cooked through.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

It's no secret that I love meat.  Every once in a while the story comes up about how I wanted to give up red meat in high school like some of my friends, and mom my told me that since I loved the corned beef sandwiches that I ate twice a year, it wasn't worth giving up.  I'm not quite sure how that logic worked with my adolescent brain, but it did, and I've never looked back.

And while I haven't found a Whole30 approved corned beef -- and doubt I ever will -- beef is a big staple of my Whole30 diet.  The first two times around, we'd often have steak and sauteed spinach (with or without a shared baked potato) and the occasional meatballs (my hubby would just make mine without breadcrumbs) for dinner.  This time around I was so excited that I came up with the idea to make meat sauce.

Honestly, meat sauce is nothing new, and I'm sure a bunch of you who've done Whole30 before have made it and it was absolutely delicious.  Neither is spaghetti squash, which I made as a side and also to put under my Whole30 meatballs in the past.  But for some reason, this time, this combination sounded delicious.  I decided to serve it with a Whole30 Caesar salad with prosciutto "croutons," but some spinach sauteed with garlic would work nicely, too!

The added bonus is that there were leftovers....LOTS of them, which is great for using for meals the next day.  Make a bed of spaghetti squash under your avocado and veggies for breakfast, or just have the spaghetti squash and meat sauce for lunch (or dinner) the following day!

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp olive oil (or more, if needed)
Salt and pepper

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion (or 1/2 large onion), diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 T finely grated carrot
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
Olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of two pans
Salt, pepper to taste
Fresh basil
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.
Remove the seeds.
Rub the cut edges of the squash and the inner cavity with olive oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the squash on the baking sheet cut side down.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until squash is tender and easy to shred into "spaghetti."
Let cool, and then pull apart squash so that it resembles spaghetti.

Place olive oil in a medium sized frying pan with deep sides over medium heat.
When warm, crumble the meat into the pan.
Mix, stirring to break up the meat into smaller pieces.
Sautee until meat is cooked through.
Remove meat with a slotted spoon and place on a plate (I cover my plate with paper towels but you don't have to).
Set aside.

Add more olive oil, if needed, to coat the bottom of the pan.
Sautee the onions until translucent.
Add garlic and sautee until garlic is soft and pale, do not allow it to burn.
Add tomatoes.
Add shredded carrot, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using.
Mix well.

Keep the sauce on a medium flame and stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Taste, and add more salt, pepper, and chili flakes to your liking.
At this point, you can lower the heat to medium-low.
Add the cooked meat.
Continue cooking until sauce is reduced and thickened (can be anywhere from 30-50 minutes).
Stir in chopped basil, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes.

Serve sauce on top of a bed of spaghetti squash.