Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Sometimes you just get some cravings; lately mine are mexican food and stuff with tomatoes in it like pizza, spaghetti, etc. I had a delicious meal and it was paleo. try it!

Ingredients: preheat oven 350 degrees
spaghetti squash
1lb ground beef
1fresh tomato
1 regular can diced tomatoes (no salt added) *drain the juice if don't want runny spaghetti, as mine was
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
dash of oregano
Marinara sauce -mine is Pomi marinara and it comes in a small box - super yummi! I also used this to make my pizza with a few posts back.

Cut the spaghetti squash in half. If you cut it long ways then you will get smaller spaghetti strands when it's done. If you cut it short ways they will be longer. Either way doesn't matter. Put some foil down on a baking sheet; dribble olive oil on the foil. Place the squash face down, and put it in the oven for about 35 minutes. You can check it's readiness by taking it out of the oven, and with a fork see if the squash strands easily poke away. You do not want it to be mushy, and you do not want it to be hard - just like normal spaghetti.

OR. you can cut it in half (short ways), take out the seeds, put the squash face down in a bowl, add 1 TBS. water, and cover with saran wrap to steam for 6 minutes or so until soft.


Next, brown your beef on medium heat. Once brown, I added the garlic first, then sauce, then diced canned tomatoes, then fresh tomato. I added the onion last because I liked that raw taste. You can add it first to cook it more thoroughly. This doesn't take much time, so you might want to start it about 15 minutes after you put the squash in the oven.

Taco Salad

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
cumin
chille powder
romain lettuce
1 tomato
1 avocado
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 onion diced
cilantro
lemon

This just really hit the spot tonight! When I was turning paleo, I looked on the back of the Ortega packet, and figured out I could do what they do. So I lost the other useless ingredients and invested in Cumin. First, brown your meat on medium.

While the meat was browning I made guacamole - theres no way I can have taco salad w/out this. Mash 1 avocado, lemon juice (i sqeeze and taste; do a few drops at a time. You dont want tang, just a little umph!), 1/2 - 1 clove of garlic minced (continuing to taste so it's not overwhelming), and some salt. I also cut up some tomato for the top of my salad.

When you're finished with the guac, and the meat is brown, add 1/2 of the 1/2 onion to the meat (and i like raw onion, too, so i saved the other half raw for topping). Add 1-2 cloves of garlic to the meat (1 first, then more if you want). Add cumin, chile powder, and salt (i just sprinkled lightly all around and tasted to my liking).

In the end you just pile it all on together with some cilantro and it's a delicious taco salad! Make it! Tonight! Ole!

Meatloaf and Beet Chips

Ingredients: preheat oven 350 degrees
1lb beef (makes 6 patties)
1 egg
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1/3 garlic clove minced (could've used 1/2)
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1/2 cup almond meal
1 Fresh Beet thinly sliced
as many brussel sprouts you want chopped up
some salt, some pepper

Add everything (except the beets and brussel sprouts) and finger mush it until it's all blended. Tell your kid to wash his/her hands and start mashing. I made patties (takes less time than a loaf), put them on aluminum foil, and had them in the oven for 20 minutes or so. They were probably sitting for another 10-15 minutes after I turned the heat off, waiting for Shaun to return from the gym. This was plenty of time to make our side dish!

I like to try new things week to week. This week, BEETS! I was never one to try them at the dinner table when I was growing up, but there's no doubt your kid would love them when you give it to em chip style! I made them tonight because I bought the Primal Cookbook and saw veggie chips. Basically, get some olive oil really hot. Cut the beets thin like a potato chip. Put in a few at a time (you don't want to crowd them), but keep your eye on it because it'll burn quickly. After 30 seconds-1 minute turn them over; after 30seconds-1 minute put them on a plat to the side. Just keep repeating the process until you are out of beet...fyi to new cooks like me, don't put the beet chips in the oven to keep warm because they will get soggy :( When you do them right, They are so SWEET and CRUNCHY and YUMMY and PALEO! I had leftover olive oil in the pan, so I chopped some brussel sprouts and let them get a golden brown.