Party Foods! Featuring Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins, Bacon Burger Meatballs with Paleo "Big Mac Sauce" and Homemade Garlic Mayo

I just had a doTerra party today and of course wanted to have an adequate supply of snacks and treats to serve my friends and family!  I made some tried and true favorites but also tested out some new ideas and recipes I found around the web.  I figured since a lot of people might be having SUPERBOWL parties next weekend, posting some party food recipes would be very timely!  
On the menu today was:

Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins (see below)
Bacon Burger Meatballs with Paleo "Big Mac Sauce" (see below)
Veggies with Homemade Garlic Mayo (see below)
Homemade Guacamole with Trader Joe's plantain chips
Sweet Potato Almond Butter Fries
Knock-off Rolos *I doubled the recipe and altered it slightly, adding a little more peanut butter
Baklava Balls

I hope this list is helpful, especially for those of you who came to the party and wanted the recipes. :)

Without further ado....

Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins

Adapted from Balanced Bites
Makes 48 mini muffins or 24 regular size muffins

My mom got me this awesome 48 cup mini muffin pan that I am using a lot lately to make egg muffins!  This version is a great breakfast or appetizer recipe!

2.5 lb chicken breasts (or thighs), baked with salt, papper and garlic powder
1/4 c Frank's Red Hot
2 T grassfed butter
4-5 green onions, chopped
12 eggs
garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
pepper
1/4 c Frank's Red Hot

Immediately after chicken is done baking (I cooked frozen breasts on a foil lined baking sheet at 375 degrees for 35 minutes), immediately shred with forks or your hands.  I also used some kitchen scissors to further chop the chicken up so it would fit well into mini muffin cups.  Mix together 1/4 c Frank's Red Hot and 2 T grassfed butter.  Pour over the chicken and refrigerate overnight to "marinate."  
The next day, prepare your mini muffin tins by greasing them with some olive oil or coconut oil.  If you're using standard size muffin tins, you could use liners for easier clean up!  Divide chicken mixture evenly among muffin cups.  Then sprinkle each cup with green onion.  Next, whisk our eggs with garlic, pepper, and Frank's.  Ladle the egg mixture into each cup, filling each almost to the top.  
Bake at 375 degrees 20 min. (For standard size muffins you might need to bake them for 10 min. longer).  Serve hot or refrigerate and serve cold later!  They are great both ways.  

Bacon Burger Meatballs

I don't know exactly how many meatballs this makes, but hopefully this picture is helpful! The amount pictured is roughly the number of meatballs it makes, depending on the size. I form mine about the size of a ping pong ball.  

3-4 lb. grassfed beef
12 oz. bacon (use the kind without all the preservatives- Kroger Simple Truth is good, or Applegate Farms)
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
3 large pickle spears, diced
1/4 c tomato paste (about 1/2 a 5 oz. far)
garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper to taste
3 eggs
3/4 c almond meal

First, you will need to thinly slice the bacon and cook it over medium heat until you have brown and crispy pieces.  Next, mix ALL meatball ingredients together- it works best if you mix it with your hands until everything is fully incorporated.  You can prepare this mixture in advance and just refrigerate it for up to a day until you're ready to make the meatballs!  When you're ready to cook them, form the meat mixture into balls and place on either a foil lined baking sheet OR a broiler pan with grates.  (I like to use this because it helps drain some of the fat from the meatballs and helps the outside of the meatballs brown a little better).  Bake at 375 degrees about 30 min. 

Paleo "Big Mac Sauce" 

Honestly I have never had big mac sauce, but this is based on copycat recipes for big mac sauce, with substitutions to make it paleo.  All I know is, this is GOOD.  

1 recipe homemade mayonnaise (see below)
4 T tomato paste
1 T honey
1 pickle spear, diced
onion powder (1/4 tsp)
garlic powder (1/4 tsp)
pepper
salt to taste

Make homemade mayonnaise then add remaining ingredients and mix with immersion blender until tomato paste is incorporated throughout.  Refrigerate, then serve cold.  

Homemade Mayonnaise (*use this for the Paleo "Big Mac Sauce" and Homemade Garlic Mayo)

This is the easiest mayo recipe ever, it just requires that you have an immersion blender.  I asked for an immersion blender for Christmas a few years ago for the sole purpose of making homemade mayo (true story).  I use it all the time to make mayo all the time.  I often use mayo as a dressing, a veggie dip, or a dressing for chicken salad or cole slaw.  It's easy and infinitely healthier than store-bought Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise.  

1 egg
1/2 T apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 tsp dry mustard (optional)
1 c avocado oil or light olive oil

Crack egg into cylindrical container that is wide enough to fit an immersion blender into.  (I use the measuring cup that came with my immersion blender).  Add apple cider vinegar/lemon juice and dry mustard.  Pour in 1 c of oil (all of it at once).  Then stick your blender over top of the egg and let it run, without moving it, for 30 sec.  Then, gradually and gently, swirl the blade head around and bring it to the top of the mixture.  It should be nice, thick, and creamy!

Homemade Garlic Mayo (Best Veggie Dip!)

1 recipe homemade mayonnaise
handful fresh chives, chopped
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 garlic clove, minced (then sprinkle some salt on it and mash it up)
1/8 tsp paprika
pepper

Make homemade mayonnaise then add remaining ingredients and blend again until everything is mixed together.  

Beef and Sauerkraut

Although sauerkraut is mostly known for it's role in the classic New Year's Day "Pork and Sauerkraut," it's too delicious not to include in other dishes at other times of the year. This easy meal is perfect for a weeknight when you don't have a lot of time to cook, or on the weekend when you want to cook up a BIG batch of food for the week.  In the latter case, just double the recipe and you'll be good to go!

Beef and Sauerkraut

2 lb. grass fed ground beef
1 onion, diced
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lb. sauerkraut (from a jar, with cabbage and salt as the only ingredients)

Brown beef and onion in skillet until beef is cooked through.  Add sauerkraut and cook on medium high for about 10 minutes more, or until sauerkraut is hot.  Enjoy!  Yes, it's that easy!

Paleo Stuffed Mushrooms

So far this summer we've had several potlucks and get-togethers with friends, and this dish (along with raw veggies) is one we have been taking to those events!  For the first potluck I decided stuffed mushrooms would be a great app to share with friends and then set about creating this recipe for stuffed mushrooms.  We had a bunch of fresh oregano from our CSA, and I knew I wanted to use ground beef as the basis for the filling.  Mushroom and garlic make everything better, and I thought the roasted red peppers would add a nice pop of color and flavor.  Because I don't eat gluten, I thought almond meal would be a good alternative to the traditional breadcrumbs used to thicken a meat mixture like the one I used to stuff these mushrooms.  With these ideas in mind I created this yummy filling for the mushroom caps.  I was extremely happy with the way these mushrooms turned out and have made them several times since creating the recipe!  The first time I made them, I used 2 lbs. of ground beef and had a ton of leftover "filling" mixture, so I used it to make meatballs!  The meatballs were fantastic!  I just formed the meat mixture into golf ball sized balls, placed them on a broiler pan, and baked at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  

Paleo Stuffed Mushrooms

3 pints of baby bella mushrooms
coconut oil to grease pan
1 small white or red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb. grassfed ground beef
2 roasted red/yellow peppers (I use a few pieces of the jarred kind), minced
1 egg
1/3 almond meal

1. Grease 13x9 glass baking dish with coconut oil.  Also put some coconut oil in a medium saute pan.
2. Wash mushrooms and carefully remove stems.  Mince stems.  Place mushrooms caps in glass dish.
3. Mince onion, garlic, and oregano.
4.  Heat saute pan over medium heat.  Add mushrooms stems, onion, garlic, oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper (in the recipe I said "1/4 tsp" of each, but I really don't measure it, I just sprinkle "some" of each spice on top of the veggies).  Saute until mushrooms and onions are soft.
5. Meanwhile, chop roasted red peppers and add to large mixing bowl.  Also add: ground beef, egg, almond meal, and a light sprinkling of: more oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, crushed red pepper, and pepper.
6.  After onion and mushroom mixture is done cooking, add to the ground beef mixture and mix well with hands.
7.  Form meat mixture into small balls (about half the size of a golf ball) and place into mushroom caps.
8.  Bake mushrooms, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.
9.  Once mushrooms are done, remove from glass dish with tongs and place on serving tray or in another dish (so that they are not soaking in the fat).
10.  Serve hot!

Plantain Breakfast Hash

Birthday Breakfast!  Plantain Breakfast Hash served with steamed green beans and salsa. 

Lunch the next day.  Complete with beautiful flowers!

Last week, Rem made me THE BEST breakfast on my birthday: ripe plantain sauteed with ground beef and mushrooms!  We had some browned ground beef in the fridge and ripe plantains on the counter that Rem had been using to make this AWESOME hash for himself for breakfast.  I hadn't tried it yet, but every time he made it I wondered to myself why I didn't just make some too.  The night before my birthday, I mentioned that it sounded really good to make for breakfast the next day, and when I came downstairs that morning, Rem had already made it for me!  He is the best husband.  

This dish was so good that I made it again the next day for lunch.  The flowers in the background are ones that Rem sent to school for me on my birthday!  Again, he's the best!

Rem also made this today with ground pork instead of beef, and it was possibly even better.  The plantain gets nice and sweet, which contrasts nicely with the earthiness of the beef (or pork) and mushrooms.  Just make sure your plantains are nice and ripe.  Below is a picture of what they should look like when they're ripe.  You can cook with them when they're not as ripe (they'll be greener in color) but they don't taste sweet at all (more like a potato).  Do yourself a favor and wait until the plantains are ripe, because the sweetness they lend to this dish is part of what makes it so tasty.  

Plantain Breakfast Hash (Serves 1)

extra-virgin coconut oil (about 1 T)
1 ripe plantain, peeled and cubed
1/2 c fresh, sliced mushrooms
4 oz. browned ground beef
salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add plantains and mushrooms.  Don't stir them too often, letting them get some color and letting the plantains get a little caramelized.  You want the plantains to become golden on all sides.  Once the plantains and mushrooms are cooked to your desired doneness, add the ground beef, salt, and pepper.  Since it's already cooked, you're just adding the ground beef to the skillet to get it warm.  Once the ground beef is hot, your meal is ready!

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

As I thought about what to make this weekend and browsed around the internet for recipe inspiration, I saw several Shepherd's Pies that looked really tasty.  Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with a layer of ground lamb covered with a gravy, a layer of potatoes, and sometimes cheese.  I took the inspiration and thought about how I could make it with ingredients we love.  I decided to create a version with ground beef (the substitution which actually makes this a Cottage Pie rather than the Shepherd's Pie), a tomato sauce with rosemary and thyme, and a sweet potato layer on the top.  

I shot from the hip with this one and used Rem's cooking method: use ingredients you know you love and season liberally.  Well, it worked!  This turned out incredibly delicious!!!  You've got to try it.  

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Meat mixture:
3 lb. grass fed ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 celery ribs, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful baby carrots, diced
16 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
1 T dried thyme
1 T dried rosemary
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper

Sweet Potato mixture:
3 enormous (that's what I used) or 6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 T grass fed butter
1 egg

Directions:
1. Peel and cube sweet potatoes.  Place in a large pot of water.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.  
2. Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef.  As it browns, chop the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery.
3. After the meat has browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon.  Also remove most of the fat in the pot, leaving about 1 T behind to cook the veggies in.  It's also time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Add onion and celery to the pot, cooking about 5 minutes or until it gets some color.  Then add garlic, rosemary, thyme, and some salt and pepper.  Stir untiil fragrant, about 1 minute.  
5. Add tomato sauce to deglaze the pan a bit.  Then add tomato paste, mushrooms, and carrots.  Add the ground beef back in as well.  Cook over medium heat 5-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, as you finish cooking and mashing the potatoes. Just make sure the ground beef mixture doesn't stick to the pot.  If it does, add a little water.  
6. Once the potatoes are soft, drain them, then put them back in the pot and add garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, butter, and egg.  Beat with an electric mixer until mostly smooth.
7. Spread the meat mixture so it is flat on top. Then spread the sweet potato mixture on top of the meat mixture and smooth it out.  
8.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
9. Enjoy!

Curry Meatballs

I attempted making meatballs a few weeks ago and they turned out absolutely terrible.  I think they were too wet and didn’t have enough binding to hold them together.  Plus I tried to make them in the crockpot without browning them first… big mistake.  Since then I have made this curry meatball recipe (originally from Paleomg) twice, once with ground turkey and once with ground beef.  The turkey ones were just ok.  The turkey didn’t hold together very well and resulted in meatballs that fell apart quite a bit.  The beef version was perfect!  I couldn’t believe how well they held together.  I think one thing that helped was making sure the beef was very cold.

If you don’t have a 14” skillet, you will want to halve this recipe.  Two pounds of meat fits about perfectly into a 14” skillet, so if you’re going to use a small skillet, just make 1 lb of meat.  You could still make the same amount of sauce though, because it is delicious!  More sauce would definitely not be a bad thing.  If you enjoy curry, you will definitely love these meatballs!

Curry Meatballs

Originally from Paleomg (ratios adjusted)

Meatballs:

2 lb. grass fed beef

1 onion, diced

2/3 c almond meal

2 eggs

4 tsp curry powder

4 tsp garam masala (or use the recipe below)

1 tsp ginger

Salt and pepper

Coconut oil (1-2 T) or extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 c beef stock (I used giant eagle market district brand)

1 onion, diced

8 tsp curry powder

4 tsp garam masala (or use the recipe below)

2 tsp ground ginger

1. Mix ground beef with all other meatball ingredients.

2. In a small bowl, stir together coconut milk, beef stock, diced onion, curry powder, garam masala and ginger (sauce ingredients) so it’s ready when you need to add it to the meatballs.

3. Shape meatballs into golf ball sized balls.  They should stick together well.

4.  In a 14" skillet (one that can fit all of the meatballs; if you don’t have a skillet this large, brown the meatballs in 2 batches or halve the recipe), add coconut oil then diced onion.  Brown onion for about 1 minute then add meatballs.  Let meatballs brown for a few minutes on the bottom side, then turn them with tongs to let the other side get browned.  This took about 15 minutes for me.  The meatballs don’t need to be cooked all the way through because they will continue to cook once you add the sauce.

5. Pour sauce into the skillet and move meatballs around so they are coated in the sauce.

6. Cover the skillet and let meatballs and sauce thicken until they meatballs are cooked all the way through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

7. This is delicious served with roasted spaghetti squash! Makes about 8 servings. 

Homemade Garam Masala (makes ¼ c- I just split it between the meatballs and the sauce in this recipe)

Mix together:

1 T ground cumin

1 ½ tsp ground coriander

1 ½ tsp ground cardamom

1 ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp nutmeg

Rem's Chili, Two Ways

Today I bring you two chili recipes that are very easy and make a lot of food.  Version 1 is a more traditional meat and bean chili.  Version 2 is a paleo meat, sweet potato, and mushroom chili.  Both are delicious and use the same set of spices. 

Rem created the meat and bean version when he was living alone in his apartment.  He would make one pot to last him the whole week!  Now it doesn’t last us quite as long, but still makes a whole lot of chili.  It’s great for serving a crowd, too.  

We created the meat, sweet potato and mushroom version a few weeks ago because I was craving a bean-less chili.  I like beans but try not to eat them very often because they don't agree with me.  I LOVED this bean-less version and have been craving it ever since.  I like to serve it on top of spinach, so the hot soup wilts the spinach a bit.  Yum!

Both chilis are pretty spicy, so if you don’t like heat, leave out the serranos, the jalapenos, the cayenne pepper, or some combination of those hot ingredients.  If you love heat, definitely add all three!  An important tip when working with hot peppers like serranos: use rubber gloves or some type of covering over your hands before you work with them!!!!  The oils from the hot pepper can cause an extremely uncomfortable burning sensation on any part of your body they come in contact with. (Also, keep the gloves on as you wash the knife and cutting board that you used to chop the serranos.  Or you could just leave the serranos out if you don't want to deal with the hassle).  The first time I chopped serranos, I did not know this tip and my hands literally burned for 24 hours afterward.  I looked online and tried several remedies for relieving the burning sensation, but nothing worked.  I could hardly fall asleep that night my hands burned so bad!  So, don't make the same mistake I did.  Seriously.  It hurts.  Wear gloves. 

The spice mixture is adapted from several different recipes Rem found online.  It is cheaper, easier, and has no questionable ingredients like some chili seasoning packets you can buy at the store.  I know spices can be very expensive, so here are some secrets to finding inexpensive ones:

-At Giant Eagle, there is a section in the "Mexican" aisle with BADIA brand spices.  You can find garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and several other spices from this brand.  They are always at least half as expensive as the McCormick and other name brand spices.  

-Kroger has Kroger brand $1.00 spices, including garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, and several others.

-Sam's Club sells HUGE containers of spices like chili powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, and several others.  We have started buying those 3 spices at Sam's because we use them all the time and are sure to go through that whole container before it goes bad. 

Let me know if you try either version of these chilis, or share your own chili recipe in the comments section!  I would love to know what you like to put in your chili! 

Rem’s Chili (Meat and Bean Version)

1 lb. grass fed ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2-15 oz. cans organic pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2-15 oz. cans organic black beans, drained and rinsed

2-15 oz. cans organic dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1-64 oz. bottle tomato juice (they make a version in a plastic bottle at Kroger and Giant Eagle; make sure it's just plain tomato juice, no added ingredients)

Handful of jarred jalapenos, chopped

1-32 oz. can organic diced tomatoes, with the juice

6-8 serrano chiles, diced with the seeds in (for less heat, discard the membrane and the seeds and just use the outer part of the chiles)

Spice mix:

3 T chili powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt (we use coarse ground salt)

2 tsp pepper

In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef with the onion.  Dump in all other ingredients.  Bring to a simmer, then turn to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally during this time. You can certainly cook it longer!  The long it cooks, the more flavor will develop, but it is delicious even after just 30 minutes.  Alternatively, you could brown the meat and onion, then dump everything (including the meat and onion) into a crockpot and cook on low for however long you want.  At that point you’re just heating everything until it’s nice and hot.  Makes... a lot! (at least 10 servings)

Rem’s Chili (Paleo Version, with sweet potatoes and mushrooms)

1 lb. grass fed ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 lb. sliced mushrooms

2-3 lb. sweet potatoes, skin on, cubed

1-64 oz. bottle tomato juice (they make a version in a plastic bottle at Kroger and Giant Eagle; make sure it’s just plain tomato juice, no added ingredients)

Handful of jarred jalapenos, chopped

1-32 oz. can organic diced tomatoes, with the juice

6-8 serrano chiles, diced with the seeds in (for less heat, discard the membrane and the seeds and just use the outer part of the chiles)

Spice mix:

3 T chili powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt (we use coarse ground salt)

2 tsp pepper

In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef and onion.  Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have some color.  Dump in all of the other ingredients.  Bring to a simmer then turn to low and simmer until sweet potatoes are soft and cooked to your desired doneness (just test them occasionally during the cooking process).  To speed up the cooking process, you can microwave the sweet potato pieces before putting them in the chili so they’re already a bit soft.  Makes... a lot! (at least 10 servings) 

Pot Roast

We actually made this pot roast earlier in the summer.  Yes, it was probably around 90 degrees the day we made it, but that didn’t stop our taste buds from wanting to eat pot roast.   However, now seemed like a more appropriate time to post the recipe since it is getting a little cooler out.  I am excited that it is starting to feel like Fall!  Fall is definitely my favorite season.  I love being able to walk my dog without worrying about him overheating, wearing sweaters, making soups, stews, and roasts, going apple picking, smelling the fall air…  I’m happy just thinking about all of the things fall brings! 

Before making this roast I had never cooked with parsnips, but I’m glad I finally did!  Parsnips are root vegetables that are related to carrots.  They look like carrots but are a bit more waxy, like potatoes.  They become very tender when cooked in a crock pot and have an earthier, sweeter taste than carrots. 

There are so many variations on the traditional pot roast, but this is our favorite.  It will fill you up and keep you warm this fall and winter.  We hope you like it as much as we do!

Pot Roast

2-3 lb beef chuck shoulder

salt

pepper

1 c red wine

1 c beef broth or stock (I use Trader Joe’s beef broth)

1 diced onion

1 T dried thyme

1 T minced garlic

1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks

Rub the roast with salt and pepper.  Place in a crockpot along with the red wine, beef broth, onion, thyme, garlic, and a little more salt and pepper.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  *2-3 hours before you plan to eat, add the carrots and parsnips.