Dinner - Turkey Meatballs With Marinara

I've got to get a Bob Harper recipe up here! I have used a lot of his recipes over the years. This one can be modified for a dinner meal. Check out his books for other good meal ideas!

Turkey Meatballs With Marinara

From The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper

1 pound extra-lean ground turkey

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup cooked zucchini 

Olive oil spray

Jar of marinara or “awesome sauce”

Combine all the ingredients except the olive oil in a large mixing bowl and shape into about 30 meatballs 1 inch across. 

Spray a large nonstick skillet generously with olive oil.  Cook the meatballs for 5 to 6 minutes, working in batches if your pan is not large enough to fit them all, occasionally moving them around to brown all sides. Add a jar of marinara and heat through.

Dinner (or Lunch) - Ground Venison & Vegetables Soup

I'm a deer hunter and the last few years I have been grinding much of my trimmings to put in the freezer as ground venison. I use a lot for meatza pizzas, but here's a new favorite recipe for using ground venison!

Ground Venison & Vegetable Soup

Wild Game Cook Book II 

1 lb. ground venison

1 onion, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

4 stalks celery, sliced

28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes

28 oz. can water

Vegetarian bouillon

1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Dried or fresh parsley to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté ground venison and onions. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 45 minutes - one hour.

Could leave out the meat and instead add 1/2 cup barley for a Food Combining lunch.

Dinner - Firecracker Burgers

Another good dinner idea is these burgers! The onion and added spices give them a nice kick and takes them far away from average! And they are something easy to prep ahead and easily pull out of the freezer and toss right in the frying pan for a quick meal. 

Firecracker Burgers

Adapted from The South Beach Diet Parties & Holidays Cookbook

PREP TIME: 25 minutes       

COOK TIME: 10 minutes

Makes 5 servings

¼ cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 large egg yolks

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 

2½ pounds lean ground turkey, beef or venison

Whisk together mustard, onion, garlic, egg yolks, and cayenne in a large bowl. Add meat and stir until combined.  Form mixture into 10 patties, about ¾ inch thick.

Grill in a frying pan until cooked through.

Or freeze individual servings for a meal easy to grab from the freezer.

Dinner - Chicken Tenders

Chicken tenders with roasted zucchini

Here's another great dinner recipe! I just added it in as a regular rotation item for Saturday nights, that how good it is to me! I love the nutty flavor that the almond meal adds and the coconut brings in a sweetness reminiscent of fast food chicken nuggets, but without any of the guilt! If you don't have access to almond meal you can make your own by putting almonds in a food processing and processing until the nuts are a fine powder. In food combing there's a rule where you're not supposed to combine proteins. I try hard not to, but in the case of adding an egg (and also in this recipe the almond meal) to help bind a recipe together I find it is ok to make the exception. Kids of all ages are going to love these tenders! I even added a little ranch dressing and didn't feel at all guilty! Enjoy!

Chicken Tenders

Recipes For Repair: a Lyme Disease Cookbook

About 3 servings

1 egg

2 tablespoons coconut creamer or coconut milk

½ cup almond meal

½ cup unsweetened coconut

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon paprika

12 ounces skinless, white meat chicken cut into strips

2 tablespoons coconut oil

Combine the egg and coconut creamer or milk in a shallow dish.

Combine the remaining ingredients, except the chicken and the oil on a flat plate.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, or until hot. 

Dip the chicken into the egg mixture. Then dredge the egged chicken into the almond meal mixture. 

Add half the tenders to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan, and cook for 3-5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Add the remaining oil if needed and cook the rest of the tenders.

Lunch - Split Pea Soup

I don't think I had ever tried Split Pea Soup until I made this recipe. Well, if I had tried it, it was forgettable  I merged two recipes to create this, one being from my friends Lois and Dewey Zondervan and one from a healthy eating book. But the recipe from the healthy eating book called for "one" carrot, "one" stalk of celery, "one" potato! What I'm learning about how to approach healthy eating is the trick is always to add more vegetables. So you'll see that that's what I did here! And the Zondervan's recipe had additional seasoning compared to that healthy recipe which made it more flavorful. But perhaps the most flavor comes from the vegetable bouillon that I used: Bou Vegetable Bouillon. Use whatever you choose here--chicken broth or bouillon would work too--but I'm finding that this vegetable bouillon takes a recipe to "out of this world" good!

This recipe is a lunch item as it contains potatoes for the starch requirement. I usually add a romaine salad with my favorite Newman's Own Oil & Vinegar Dressing to max out my veggie intake for this meal. Give it a try, I'm confident you'll love it too!

Split Pea Soup

1 tablespoon oil—coconut or EV olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

1½ teaspoons sea salt

¾ teaspoon black pepper

10 cups water

Vegetable bouillon, per directions

3 cups split peas (one 20 ounce package)

2 cups carrots, diced

2 cups celery, diced

2 cups potatoes, diced

Heat the oil in a 4- to 6- quart stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 minute. Add the garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 minute.

If your peas come with a seasoning packet, discard. Stir in the water, bouillon and split peas. Bring to a boil, them simmer until peas are tender, 40-45 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the soup is desired thickness. 

Makes about 6 servings