#easygrabandgo

[fitfoodiefeast]

Figures. Brown rice flour at the Fresh Co. all this time! Also contemplating these popsicle molds for easy grab and eat "recovery" pops. #brownriceflour #popsiclemolds #contemplating #easygrabandgo https://www.instagram.com/p/BcLDaSwhwxB/?igshid=1srqocma6vh4i

[ashleyridley]

MEATLOAF! WITH BEANS! IN IT! AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW! *now with a slow cooker option!

      Depending if you've read the drivel I included with the posts, you either do or do not know that I've started a new diet of sorts, a whole new lifestyle perhaps. Those of you paying very close attention (you'll know you're one because you'll have figured out that I don't give my writing more than a quick one-over before posting) will know that it's Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Body diet called the Slow Carb Diet. In a nutshell - 6 out of 7 days, no white foods (except white vegetables), no carbs, no dairy, no sugars including no fruit. Sounds like a lot but he's proven that this is using the Effective Minimum Dose to burn fat and gain muscle very quickly. The best part is day 7 which is cheat day, no holds bar, we partake in the things we are missing the most. We're in Week 3 and I feel really really fabulous. Each meal consists of meat/legume/vegetables, a mix of the three. I feel full and satisfied and I am dropping the LBS! It's working wonders for me.

      However! I'm working a lot lately, sometimes from first thing in the morning until late at night with very little break and absolutely no time to prepare a meal. So I've been brainstorming meals that are easy to make up for the week. I've revamped my little quiches to pack them full of protein to get my morning started, this is a meatloaf that is packed full of legumes, meat and veg so I can just grab and go. Easy. 

     So before you get too excited, I'll let you know that I've never had meatloaf before and certainly I've never made it. It seems the country is so split on whether it's a delicious comfort food that brings them straight back to their childhood or a method of culinary torture that brings them straight back to their childhood. Either way, I sit on neither side. Somehow meatloaf wasn't part of the dinner rotation, probably because my parents were still dealing with issues surrounding the latter scenario. In any case, I decided that I love meatBALLS, so why wouldn't meatLOAF be the best thing ever?

(Getting nervous, wondering if I'm really all that qualified to make meatloaf? Don’t be, I had my very special man, who has many years of meatloaf eating experience, taste testing to make sure I was still allowed to call my creation meatloaf.) 

      Ok, enough rambling. Here's why my meatloaf is special and how it came out: It's made with a mix of ground beef and ground turkey to keep it healthy.

It has lots and lots of cannelini beans which add the legumes I am trying to get in my diet. They also make the texture softer and keep the loaf nice and moist. 

There's a bunch of spinach tossed in there. 

It's totally grain free. 

And here it is: (This recipe made A LOT, 3 loaves to be precise)

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

1 lb ground turkey

4 eggs

1 large onion, grated

2 carrots, grated

2 cups spinach, frozen

4 cups cannellini beans

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1/2-3/4 cup almond flour

optional: bacon

Also optional: Sugar free tomato sauce for the top. I made mine by mixing a little balsamic vinegar and tomato paste, then put it on top of the loaves before it went in the oven. I left one loaf without it, just to see, it was also good that way. 

Directions:

     Preheat that oven to 375 degrees. Throw everything into a big mixing bowl and stir. I used my KitchenAid because it makes life better but mixing it by hand will help you to gain arm muscle, it's all up to you. I then used some cooking spray to grease up the baking pans, 9x5 loaf pans. Next I just split up the mixture into the three pans. If you're going for it, now's the time to layer some bacon across the top or slather that tomato sauce on. It's lovely just as is should you decide to do it that way. Mine baked for an hour and 10 minutes until the thermometer read 160 for the poultry in there.  Let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes and then go crazy. 

Slow cooker option!: Freeze 1/2 of the recipe for later and put 1/2 in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours on low or high for 4 hours ( you’re looking for an internal temp of 160). 

Getting all tucked in for the baking process:

I roasted up a little cauliflower in macadamia nut oil with some salt and pepper and then sauteed green beans in ghee with salt. The flavors of the dishes together were awesome. I loved the softness that the beans added to the meatloaf, giving it a really nice texture. My taste tester said that it was the best meatloaf he'd had (he's hated all others so I don't know exactly how that makes mine stack up). 

     In closing, I'd like to add that I don't measure while I cook because it takes too long and requires too much extra washing, I can never find the measuring unit I need and I have unit estimation hubris. This means that I encourage you to adjust spices as you might like them. I go for what I know I will like. Make it, love it, let me know!