Quick Tomato-Meat Sauce with Cappello's Grain-Free Pasta

First of all, my apologies for my lack of blog posts over the last two months. No excuses, as blogging is something I can do from just about anywhere, as long as I have a laptop and access to wi-fi.

Second, I have been doing a Whole30 for the month of October. I am almost finished! There are only three more days left. This is the second time I have done a Whole30. The first time was back in January (2013). I lost a little bit of inches and weight, but nothing significant. I can tell you that my sweet tooth did not change much. It came back with a vengeance (over time), hence the reason for the current Whole30. I'm not completely sold on my results. I've lost about the same amount of weight as in my first. My clothes do fit a bit better. I feel fine. I have a separate health issue I am dealing with at the moment, so I haven't been working out as much as I would have hoped/liked. The reason I'm not completely sold is that there are foods I want to eat post-Whole30 that aren't Whole30-approved. For instance, I purchased a sampler pack of Nikki's Coconut Butter and I cannot wait to give each flavor a taste. I also want to do some holiday baking around Thanksgiving and Christmas (check out my Pinterest board). I realize it will all still be "Paleo" but it's definitely sweet dishes. My sweet tooth didn't magically disappear. I still think about the 31st of October and making some Paleo pancakes or a Breakfast Cake. I enjoy treats in a different way than I did in my Pre-Paleo days, but I still love them. I do have a tough time with moderation when it comes to sweets. If I bake, I will have to freeze some and/or give some away to friends, family or coworkers.

And finally, the recipe. I created this dish on a whim. I knew I had a bell pepper, ground beef and tomatoes in the fridge. I thought I could put it all together and serve it over Cappello's Fettuccine.

Quick Tomato-Meat Sauce with Cappello’s Grain-Free Pasta

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 2 T. fat of choice
• ¼ onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 pound grass-fed ground beef
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• A handful of spinach
• 2-3 T. chicken broth
• 2 t. dried basil
• 1 ½ t. garlic powder
• 1 t. dried oregano
• Sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
• 1 package of Cappello’s Grain-Free Fettuccine

Directions:

1. Heat your fat of choice in a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and green bell pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until veggies are tender.  
3. Add the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks, cooking until it’s no longer pink.
4. Season the mixture with all of your spices and herbs (including salt and pepper, to taste).
5. Toss in the tomatoes, spinach and chicken broth, stirring occasionally. Allow the mixture to cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down and the spinach is wilted.
6. While waiting for the sauce to finish up and cook down, make your pasta per the instructions on the package.
7. Put a little nest of pasta on your plate and top with some of the tomato-meat sauce. Enjoy! 

We were able to get three servings out of this, but you could probably stretch it to four, especially if you add a side salad and/or veggies. 

Paleo Mushroom, Onion & Spinach Frittata (with optional sweet potatoes)

I'm a big fan of breakfast foods. Yesterday afternoon, my husband and I stopped by Whole Foods to buy a few things for dinner. While shopping browsing, he suggested we get some fancy sausage for Sunday breakfast. That prompted us to buy bacon. Then my brain thought frittata, so I grabbed some veggies for that. One thing led to another and we walked out of there with quite the haul.

As soon as I awoke, I got started on breakfast. It was a pretty easy dish to put together though.

Paleo Spinach, Onion and Mushroom Frittata

Serves: 4

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 T. fat of choice
• ½ onion, diced (I used yellow)
• 8 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms (could use button/white mushrooms)
• 3 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 cup of roasted sweet potatoes, diced (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 eggs, whisked
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. Heat fat in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan) over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Add onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in mushrooms and allow to cook down for 5-7 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
5. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Toss in the spinach until it is wilted.
7. Add sweet potatoes, if using. I happened to have some leftover from a previous meal.  
8. Add garlic and stir to distribute. Spread the veggies out evenly in the skillet.
9. Pour the whisked eggs evenly over the veggies and let the frittata cook for about 7 minutes, or until bottom is set. Push away the edges a couple times and tilt the pan so the uncooked egg will cook properly.
10. Put frittata (in pan) on the middle rack of the oven. The broiler will cook the top of the egg. Broil for approximately 5-7 minutes or until the top is slightly browned.
11. Remove from oven and cut into 4 pieces. Remember, the pan is extremely hot, so use your oven mitts!  
12. Serve with sausage, bacon and fruit. 

Blueberry-maple sausage and applewood-smoked bacon from Whole Foods

This is a great basic recipe for a frittata. You could easily swap out some of the veggies for other veggies. I considered buying asparagus instead of the spinach. You could also add a little meat directly to the frittata.

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did! I will definitely be making more frittatas in the future. It was so easy to make and different from the usual omelette or fried eggs. 

Question of the day: What meats and/or veggies would you put into your ideal frittata? I would love a sausage, mushroom and onion frittata drizzled with pizza sauce. Pizza frittata! That may be next on the docket.

Please like and share this recipe with your friends and family. Feel free to use the Pin It button located below this post. If you don't see the Pin It button, please click on the title of this blog post and that will pull up the individual post. You should then see the Pin It button at the bottom of the post. If you like this dish, please comment so others will know. Thank you!