Italian Burgers with Marinara and Eggplant

Sometimes I absolutely love it when I screw up. Don't get me wrong, there's more times than not when I'm kicking myself for it. Like the one time that I waited six months to get my son in to see this "premiere" neurologist only to find that I left the house, got completely lost, didn't have the phone number and had an old address. That was no bueno. Or the time when I decided to go to my favorite ethnic grocery store deep in the heart of Anaheim on a Tuesday afternoon. Tuesdays are their "sale" days where you can actually save 1/2 a cent on their already rock bottom prices and it seems to bring out the entire populous of Southern California. Every cart was taken and I felt like Steven Segal in Under Siege trying to get to the cucumbers.



But let's get to the good screw ups. Like the time last year when my husband loaded my bar at CrossFit much heavier than I thought he did. I told him the weight I wanted and he upped it by 10 pounds. I finished the WOD without ever knowing and ended up doing "heavy Fran". I screwed up for not checking my weight, but came away with a sense of accomplishment I would have never allowed myself.



And now let's talk about the screw up that created this post. I've been making dinner in the morning the past week or so. It's the only time that I have to do it since my husband and I are now the proud owners of Anaheim CrossFit. Our partner coaches in the morning and we coach in the evening. Yes, the evening... right across dinner time. This leaves me with exactly zero time in my day to be disorganized or forget anything. Alas... last night, dinner was forgotten. I was scheduled to make my meatballs (the first recipe post on this blog). They are super yummy and cook in the crock pot so they are really easy. But the trick is that you have to remember to actually make them. Fail.



So I had the grass fed ground beef and Hot Italian Sausage defrosted. What in the world was I going to do with that? Pasta?... Not on your life. Then by divine Italian intervention, it came to me. I would make a version of nothing I had ever heard of.

What you'll need:

a pound of grass fed ground beef

a package of Hot Italian Sausage (I used pork)

a jar of Trader Joe's marinara (look for lowest sugar possible)

an eggplant (optional)

What you do:

Mix the ground beef and 4 links of sausage (casing removed) with your hands. Give it a good squish to really get it mixed well. Shape the meat into hamburger patties and set aside. Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch slices that can be put on top of the burger. Brush the eggplant with oil and sprinkle with pepper. Grill the eggplant on a grill pan or saute it until it's soft and set aside.

While the eggplant is grilling, cook the burgers in a deep skillet until no longer pink in the center. Top each burger with a slice of grilled eggplant and then pour the Marinara sauce over each burger. Turn the flame down low until the dish heats through.

I knew that this was a keeper when I had to leave the kitchen to tend to my boys. When I returned the pan of six burgers had been reduced to four... sans eggplant. The lonely mutilated eggplant lay in the bottom of the skillet clinging to life. Mental note... husband despises eggplant. So except for the eggplant faux pas I got two thumbs up and no leftovers. I hope you enjoy this easy dish as much as we did... eggplant or not!

Burgers the Yummy Way... and a recipe contest!

Warning: This picture was meant to make you laugh. Do not attempt. Results ARE typical.

Specialty hamburgers are sooooo much better than throwing a plain old hunk of meet on the grill. You can put almost anything in a burger to make it better. I make up a bunch of burgers for my lunches and eat them several days a week. That way I am always prepared... okay, that's a bold faced lie. The truth is I am never prepared. I struggle everyday with a schedule that is way to full for one woman. I am a hamster on the wheel of life. It seems like every day I am faced with a snake in my hamster cage, trying to devour my hamster self. Some days it's a little Garter snake, while others may as well be an Anaconda. But since Anaconda's usually eat Water Buffalo, I figure I am too scrawny to be too much of a meal. So I may hide my head for a moment but ultimately I come out of my hamster hiding, eyes bulging and ready to face what the Universe has to offer.

So the latest Primal Mama news is that both of our twins have to have their tonsils out and tubes put in their ears. They haven't been well for more than a week since November. We've been put on house arrest by the Pediatrician. Gone are our days of going to Knott's Berry Farm, the bounce house, petting zoo... preschool, you know... all those things that break up the day and keep mom sane. So if anyone out their has an idea for me to help pass the day indoors or in our yard while cut off from society, I would welcome it with open arms. The boys are two-years old but keep in mind they are behind a bit... so nothing too complicated please!

Alright! Back to burgers. Not much in life makes me happier than seeing a huge burger on my plate. Just because you remove the bun does not mean all the burgery goodness is gone. So let's take a walk down the lane of burger possibilities. The following are a couple of choices you can make. Now her comes the big news:

Primal Mama is having a burger recipe contest!

rules:

Starting right now through 10pm pacific time on March 13, post your best burger recipe to the comments section of this post. It can be anything you come up with but must follow the primal rules. So no dairy, no gluten, no grains. I'm not a purist so if you want to use vinegar or soy sauce like I do, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure they are gluten free. The winner will be chosen at random by a secret panel of judges. (Oooohhhh sounds so intriguing) The winning burger recipe will be posted on my FaceBook fan page. The winner will also get a little Primal Mama kitchen gift pack. Items to be determined by.... ME!

Sooo, Here are my best burgers:

Meat loaf burger:

one pound grass fed ground beef

one egg

1/2 small can tomato paste

1 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 green onions, sliced into little rounds

1 tsp soy sauce (gluten free)

Guacamole

Mix all ingredients together with your hands and shape into patties. Grill or pan fry and serve with guacamole on top.

Greek Burger:

1/2 pound ground lamb

1/2 pound grass fed beef

2 T. dried mint

1/4 cup pine nuts

4 chopped pepperoncinis (Greek peppers)

1 minced roasted red bell pepper (in the jar or do your own)

1 or 2 fresh cloves of garlic, crushed

one egg

sliced tomato and cucumber to top burger

Dressing:

1 T. tahini (sesame paste, looks like peanut butter available at TJ's or health food stores)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all burger ingredients together and grill or pan fry. Make dressing by whisking all dressing ingredients together. Top the burger with slices of tomato and cucumber. Top with dressing.

These are just two of many variations on the burger. Let's see what you come up with!

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Traditional cabbage rolls are supposed to take forever to make. Some recipes call for hours of slave like preparation and two days of cooking. Those were the cabbage rolls of my Russian grandmother's era. I'm not so sure why they need massive amounts of preparation. They taste just as good to me the "quick" way. I think it's in Russian women's blood to do everything the hard way. I constantly fight against this in my genes. But when it comes to cooking, I refuse to spend hours on something that should take minutes to accomplish. Oh, and by the way, these are not the traditional version anyway. I have made them paleo friendly and changed up the ingredients.

You do need a bit of time for the preparation so keep in mind that this is not a 15 minute recipe. It is best reserved for the weekend or a time when you aren't rushed and out of breath which for me is precisely two times per year.

When you are done your efforts will be rewarded in that you will have a wonderful, flavorful and joyous dinner where everyone at the table will be singing your praises. Who wouldn't want that!

What you'll need:

A green cabbage

1lb grass fed ground beef

1T Italian seasoning

1tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup of onion, grated

1 egg

for the sauce:

1 8oz can low salt tomato sauce

1/2 can of tomato paste

1T Dijon mustard

1/2 a lemon, squeezed

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Put the cabbage in a large pot and cover it with water. Boil the cabbage until the leaves are soft and easily removed. This takes about 15 minutes from the boiling point. I promise the nasty boiling cabbage smell is temporary. While the cabbage boils take your meat, spices, onion and egg and mix them up in a bowl. You know the rule: mix with your hands not a spoon. When the cabbage is soft, peel the leaves off one by one and put them on a plate to drain and cool. While they cool mix up the sauce in a separate bowl. Ok, so you're about 25 minutes in. Not bad considering you could have been toiling for about eight hours by now. On what, I'm not quite sure but I promise that tradition says you must spend at least this amount of time before you get the cabbage rolls in the oven. Maybe my grandmother was secretly making vodka while making the rolls and that is what was taking so long.

So now you're ready for the assembly. If you're really into it you can put on a house coat, apron and scarf. Now you look like my Russian grandmother. It's good karma... your rolls will taste better if you do. Make sure you send me a picture. Line the bottom of a baking dish with some of the smaller cabbage leaves. Take a cabbage leaf and hold it in your hand. Trim the thickness of the stem down so it's easier to roll. Plop some of the meat mixture on the leaf and roll the leaf up tucking the sides of it in so the meat is completely covered. If the leaf is too big you can cut the excess off. Put it in the baking dish. Repeat until all the meat is used. Pour the tomato sauce on top of the rolls and cover the dish with foil. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on how big you made your rolls. This recipe makes between seven and ten rolls. Double up if you have a larger family.

That's all there is to it. No days of labor needed!

Enjoy!

Chili in a Pepper Bowl

I think everyone alive must have their own chili recipe. Chili tastes great and is easy to make. Back in the day I used to love to make chili and put it in a sourdough bread bowl. I would scarf down a mountain of chili and eat an entire loaf of bread with it because it had soaked up the sauce and well, who can resist that? I may as well have taken the bread bowl and pasted it to my thighs. What in the world was I thinking? You're exactly right... I wasn't thinking at all.

Now life has changed and I workout way too hard to eat a bread bowl... or any bread for that matter. I am healthier for it. My blood glucose levels have come down from an all time high of 220 to 74. In case I forgot to mention it before, I was considered prediabetic. I say "was" because for a long time now I have had no signs of the disease. It is completely controlled by my diet and exercise program alone. I don't suffer angry mood swings any more when my bloodsugar drops. Hubby must be delighted since he was the one on the receiving end of those "feed me now, or die" tirades.

So I have replaced my bread bowl with a beautiful and colorful bell pepper. Tonight I chose yellow. It's a fun and new way to serve chili. I hope you enjoy it.

What you'll need:

1 pound grass fed beef or turkey if you prefer

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 big (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

2tsp ground cumin

1T chili powder (or more to your liking)

2 bell peppers (pick the color you like)

What you do:

Get a pot of water on to boil. Take your pepper and slice it in half the long way. Remove the guts. When the water is boiling put the pepper in and boil it for about 6 minutes. Take it out and set it aside. Saute the onion and ground beef together until it's browned and the onion is soft. Add in the garlic and saute a minute more. Poor in the crushed tomatoes and the spices and simmer. Now, walk away. Let the stove do the work while you sneak off to the bathroom and apply a clay masque to your face. You know you need it. You've been putting it off way too long. While the masque is on lock the bathroom door and dim the light. Take deep breaths and let a few moments slip away. Ignore the unintelligible banter coming from outside the bathroom door: "Mom... mom?... DAD WHERE'S MOM!!!!" Instruct your husband to say, "Mom who?" while you chant "I will get my fran time down... I will get my fran time down" in the final few minutes of pure solace that you have.

Back in the kitchen, scoop the chili into the pepper and put it in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. That is it! Can't get much simpler that that.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini

Tonight was another last minute dinner decision. Are you sensing a pattern? Actually, most of my dinners are not well thought out. I defrosted some grass fed beef but nothing seemed to come to mind. I had to stop by my boyfriend's (Trader Joe) for some end of week supplies and out of nowhere this yummy looking Italian sausage started calling my name as I tried to wheel my cart one handed, while talking on my cell phone, reading my shopping list and swerving around the riot going on at the sample corner. I think it was pizza. So I decided to pick up the sausage and make it part of dinner.

Earlier, hubby and I went to CrossFit (like most nights) and did this crazy workout where they had us walking on our hands, holding two minute handstands and doing handstand push ups. We were upside down for most of the workout. It was fun for me since I have a gymnastics background... even if it was 30 years ago. By the look on hubby's face, I don't think he felt the same way. This time my old bones weren't so forgiving and I ended up loosing feeling in my right arm. Yup, it's pretty much dead at the moment, but I'm glad I can still type. My error rate has gone through the roof, though. I quickly learned that I need to proof read the url I'm after before pressing enter. I was trying for "hotmail" and ended up with a full page of men's torsos in tiny underwear with their parts magnified and wagging in my face. I would like to say that I didn't mind, but truth be told that was a little too close up for me. I may be permanently scarred... I'll let you know.

What were we talking about? Oh... dinner... right. So my point in all this chatter is that I have one good arm and I still managed to make this wonderful stuffed zucchini. What's your excuse?

What you'll need:

4 zucchini

1lb grass fed ground beef

1 package Italian turkey/chicken sausage (I used sweet, but hot would be good too)

olive oil

1 can tomato sauce (6oz)

1tsp Italian seasoning

1tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

What you do:

Remove the sausage from it's casing. Brown the ground beef and sausage together in a pan breaking it up into small pieces. While the meat is browning cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scrape out the "guts" with a spoon making a little trench. When the meat is cooked poor in the can of tomato sauce and the spices and give it a stir. Try not to drool into the pan. That's just bad form.

Now poor about a tablespoon of olive oil into a baking dish. Rub it all around the bottom of the dish. Rub some of the olive oil all over the zucchini. Fill up the zucchini trenches with the meat mixture. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. When the zucchini is done it should be tender but still slightly crisp. Now, take a giant whiff of your gorgeous creation. That, my friends, is pure love coming out of your oven.

Enjoy!

Let's Get Rolling - pun intended Meatballs

I love meatballs. Who doesn't? When they are made paleo-style they are healthy and hearty.

Disclaimer: I make mine in the crockpot.

If my mother-in-law knew, she would certainly make the sign of the cross and possibly put the Maloik on me (an Italian curse). Alas, I am only one person. I used to fry them first and then finish them in the oven along with a home made sauce that has been in my husband's family for years. And then something happened to me called twins. So for time and sanity sake, I had to find a short cut. Don't tell my mother-in-law, but they are just as good. They come out moist and delicious every time. And the beauty of putting them together and then walking away is priceless. It gives me time in the day to change a thousand diapers, wipe up drool, play on the floor and sing songs that are horribly out of tune. Lucky for me my sons are too young to notice.

For this recipe I will use a jarred sauce that I purchased from Trader Joe's. (Oh the shame) It's called Trader Giotti's Puntanesca. ( I wonder if TJ knows that he is selling a sauce who's approximate English translation is "Street Walker"). Oh well, it's Robb Wolf approved and that's all that matters in my book.

Ingredient List:

1 Pound grass fed ground beef

4 Italian chicken or turkey sausage links

1/4 cup Almond meal

1T. Minced garlic

1T. Italian seasoning

1/4 Cup dehydrated onion

1 Egg

2 Jar TJ's Puntanesca Sauce

Remove the casings from the sausage by slicing vertically through the casing. Peel it off and discard. In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients except the sauce. Ok, here's the fun part... start mixing with your hands. Come on you know you want to. If you cheat and use a spoon you are missing the true experience of making meatballs. Give it a squish... Give it a twist... and a pat... heck, take out your frustrations! Not too much though, over mixing can make a tough meatball.

And more fun: Pinch off pieces of the meat mixture and start rolling it between your hands just like you did with Playdoh at preschool. Make them about the size of a golf ball. Once you have all the meat rolled up you are ready to put them in the crockpot. Wipe the inside bowl of your crockpot with a little olive oil first so you don't have to spend the rest of the night scrubbing it. Put the meatballs in and cover with one jar of sauce.

Turn it on high for 3 hours or low for 6 and walk away. Remember, crockpot temps vary so check about half way through.

Serve with extra sauce, a side salad and some broccoli. YUM