This sun dried tomato and olive turkey meatloaf is gluten free and filled with tons of flavor. There are black olives (at my husband’s request, he loves olives), sun dried tomatoes, and shallots cooked in sun dried tomato oil. Using the oil, which is full of flavor is a great way to avoid waste and save some money. I also added garlic and fresh parsley. There is Parmesan cheese in this, but feel free to omit it, and the egg will keep it together.  If you are going to omit, add a little extra salt.

I missed cheese, especially Parmesan, and I’ve not found a good alternative, so I’m eating some dairy again. I’m doing pretty well with it actually, so I’m not going to deprive myself of one of my favorite foods. I’m trying a new thing where I don’t stress about following a diet perfectly. I have so much to stress over, I don’t need to add to it.

This dish was inspired by a meatloaf my mom used to buy at our local gourmet grocery store called The Market Basket. It has a delicious sun dried tomato flavor, especially in the glaze, that was just so good.

Like my mom, I’ve bought meatloaf to reheat, usually from Trader Joes, and while theirs is very good, and a easy weeknight meal, it didn’t have the flavor that I associate with meatloaf growing up and it wasn’t gluten free. I used Trader Joes gluten free white bread to make breadcrumbs and it turned out great.

Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Turkey Meatloaf

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

2 hours

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 shallots
• 2 minced large garlic cloves (3 medium or 4 small)
• 3 tbsp sun dried tomato oil (from the jar of sun dried tomatoes)
• 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs from gluten free white bread
• 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup of oat milk
• 2 lbs of Italian ground turkey (I use Jennie-O)
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 can pitted black olives chopped
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 8 fl oz jar of sun dried tomatoes
• ½ cup of ketchup
• 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Saute shallots and minced garlic in a sun dried tomato oil, let cool
2. Then add shallots and garlic to a large bowl with turkey, fresh parsley, and Parmesan cheese.
3. Toast gluten free bread for 12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 minutes for each side, then add to food processor with Italian seasoning to make gluten free breadcrumbs. Add breadcrumbs to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Add oat milk over breadcrumbs in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
5. Add half jar of sun dried tomatoes to food processor, puree, then add to bowl with rest of the ingredients.
6. Chop a can of pitted black olives and and to bowl with the rest of ingredients.
7. Mix two eggs and add the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.
8. Use your hands, and mix up all the ingredients together until evenly dispersed.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. Add ketchup and rest of the jar of sun dried tomatoes to the food processor and puree together to make the glaze.
11. On a sheet pan lined with foil, grease foil with olive oil, then mound together the meatloaf mixture on pan and mold into a meatloaf loaf shape.
12. Cover the loaf with sun dried tomato and ketchup glaze, don't forget the sides.
13. Then bake uncovered for 60-70 minutes or until temperature is over 165 degrees.
14. Let it rest for at least ten minutes before slicing and serving.

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My mom and I were practicing our pasta skills with my kitchen aid attachment and we found that 4 cups of all purpose flour to 3 eggs with a little extra virgin olive oil worked best to make the pasta dough. We refrigerated the dough for a half hour to an hour and pasta thickness was level 5 for the attachment. We ran out of room on our pasta drying rack and had to start using our clothing drying rack!

I know this isn’t low carb, which is more typical of this food blog, but cooking from scratch is still healthier, and I’ve been trying a lot more Italian recipes since my Italian grandmother passed away. We always loved cooking together.

Also, I think moderation is healthy in the long run, especially when it comes to diets, even low carb ones. Cooking from scratch with love and care for the food we put in our bodies is not something we should feel guilty about. That said, consult your doctor about allergies. This recipe does contain gluten.

Fresh Fettuccine

 

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Prep time

45 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

47 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. In a food processor, with a dough attachment, mix all purpose flour, add eggs but scramble them first, then a little olive oil and mix until it forms a dough.
2. Then roll out sheet of pasta to level 5 in the kitchen aid attachment, add flour if it sticks.
3. Then let the sheets dry out a little for an least 1-15 minutes to make it easier to put through the fettuccine attachment. I skipped this step once and my pasta was a sticky mess.
4. Once sheets are dried out a little, run then through the fettuccine attachment and then hang them on something to dry, and separate them so they don't stick together.
5. To cook noodles, boil in water with a little salt for a few minutes. Fresh pasta will cook quickly so I keep an eye out and taste test until al dente.

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Chicken and vegetable Thai red curry is a delicious way to use frozen and canned food. I used canned red curry paste, coconut milk, defrosted chicken breasts and frozen green peas. I also added some mushrooms and carrots that I needed to use right away, but frozen carrots and mushrooms would have worked as well. I love how you can just add whatever you like to this recipe and it will taste amazing because of the curry sauce. So if you don’t have these ingredients feel free to improvise and let me know how it turned out in the comments.

I used the whole 4 oz can of red curry paste, because I love spicy food, but if you can’t handle heat, I would recommend starting at two tablespoons and add more gradually as you taste test. I also used a low sodium chicken broth, and I didn’t add additional salt in my recipe. Surprisingly, the curry sauce didn’t need more when I tasted it at the end. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is salt already added to the curry paste, lemongrass paste, and fish sauce so be careful adding extra salt. My salt philosophy is, “it’s easier to add at the end, then it is to take it away.”

Chicken and Vegetable Thai Red Curry

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 can of red curry paste (4 oz)
• 1 can of coconut milk unsweetened
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar
• 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth (stock works too)
• ½ tsp lemongrass paste
• 2 carrots thinly sliced, for quick cooking
• 3 cups of chopped mushrooms
• 2 cups of frozen peas
• 1 lb of boneless chicken breast, chopped bite sized
• 1 tsp of fresh lime zest

Instructions

1. Thinly slice carrots for quick cooking and chop mushrooms
2. In a large pot, add coconut milk, red curry paste, chicken broth or stock, fish sauce, palm sugar, lemongrass paste, lime zest and chopped carrots and mushrooms.
3. Set pot to medium low heat and let ingredients simmer.
4. Crop chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and add to pot and simmer chicken for at least 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through at 165 degrees.
5. Add frozen peas to pot with six minutes left before serving.

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Jerk fish tacos are officially my new favorite way to eat more fish. I bought frozen barramundi from Whole Foods that tasted surprisingly fresh and I used salt free jerk seasoning from Penzeys that I’ve had in my spice rack forever. For toppings, my husband and I prefer to keep it simple with cilantro, red onion and salsa. I chose a sweet peach and mango salsa by Desert Pepper to compliment the jerk seasoning.

You could easily make this dish more paleo friendly by using lettuce leaves, paleo tortillas, or even with a side of vegetables instead of traditional tortillas.

Jerk Fish Tacos

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 frozen barramundi fish fillet
• 1 tsp avocado oil
• 1 tsp salt free jerk seasoning
• sea salt to taste
• 6 tortillas

Toppings

• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped red onion
• 3 tbsp salsa

Instructions

1. Coat top of the fish in avocado oil, jerk seasoning and a sprinkle of sea salt.
2. Bake fish at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes.
3. Warm tortillas and when fish is done, chop it with a fish spatula and scoop it over warm tortillas.
4. Then add desired toppings, such as chopped cilantro, chopped red onions and salsa.

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This massaman beef and potato curry was really easy to make and will save you time and money on delivery when you are craving Thai food. I had to omit or substitute a few ingredients since we are trying to limit our trips to the grocery store during lockdown. Despite that, I was really happy with the flavors of the curry sauce even though I was missing tamarind paste. Instead, I substituted one tsp of fresh lime zest and squeezed a small amount of fresh lime juice over the dish before serving. I also didn’t have peanuts in my pantry so I just omitted it altogether.

Finally, the beef at the grocery store was slim pickings so I went with precut stir fry beef, which I found tough but tasty. In the future, when all this craziness dies down, I would like to try this recipe with stew meat or boneless short ribs that will be better cooked on low for a long time on the stove or in the instant pot. Since I used my instant pot for jasmine rice, I opted for the stove for the curry. The used Maesri Thai Massaman Curry from Amazon and would definitely repurchase.

To make this recipe more paleo friendly, you could serve this over spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice. Also, palmini noodles would turn this into a delicious paleo curry noodle dish.

Massaman Beef and Potato Curry

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb stir fry beef
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1 can of coconut milk unsweetened
• 1 large red potato peeled & chopped
• 1 can of massaman curry paste (4 oz)
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp freshly grated lime zest
• a pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Simmer all ingredients in a large pot until potato is cooked through. Cut small cubes of potato for shorter cooking time.
2. Serve over rice with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

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Instant Pot pork verde can be used for a bunch of different dishes. It makes great tacos, but I also combined it with beans and onions to make pork chili verde. This pork recipe will also taste great over instant pot quinoa. Some ideas I haven’t tried yet are scrambling it with eggs, eating it in a sandwich or burrito, making enchiladas, or adding it to a soup. Since this recipe makes plenty of leftovers, there is still time.

I used Mild Herdez Salsa Verde because it was conveniently on sale and makes a great pantry ingredient for cooking. I wasn’t a fan of it for eating with chips, but it was very helpful for flavoring the pork and little bit over tacos was delicious. Just add some fresh chopped cilantro and diced onions and you have your taco toppings.

Instant Pot Pork Verde

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 pork loins
• 1 cup of salsa verde
• ½ sweet onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ tsp of sea salt or to taste

Instructions

1. Add pork, salsa, onion and garlic to instant pot and seal lid.
2. Set on high pressure for 45 minutes. Quick release when done.
3. Remove pork from instant pot, shred pork, then add pork to large pan or pot on stove.
4. Add remaining liquid in instant pot to a blender. (If you don't have a blender, skip this step and add it directly to the pork).
5. Once liquid is blended, pour over pork, and saute pork on medium to low heat for maximum juiciness and flavor.
6. Then add sea salt to taste and you are read to serve.

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