Ground Sausage  and Spinach Bake

I had some smoked salsa to use up so put this casserole together. This takes a little extra time to prep but it makes 6 generous adult portions and keeps for up to 3 days. Turn this into something of your own, vary the ingredients and have fun! You can’t mess it up!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef and pork mix (plain beef would work too)
  • 2 large onions
  • Large bunch spinach, washed well
  • 1 jar smoky salsa or tin of cooked tomato onion mix, add 1 tsp each smoked paprika and taco seasoning if you are using plain canned tomato mix
  • 6 large eggs
  • ½ cup cream or half and half
  • Fresh cilantro, green onions, 3 large garlic cloves, diced
  • 2 cups grated sharp cheddar
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Fry diced onion until translucent
  2. Turn on oven to 350⁰F (180⁰C)
  3. Add ground beef mix to fried onion crumbling the mince well, and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through
  4. Grease a large flat casserole dish well and pour the meat and onion mix into the casserole dish and spread out out evenly
  5. Chop up washed spinach, drain well and re-use the pot you cooked the ground beef/onion mix
  6. When wilted, spread the spinach over the meat and onion in the casserole dish
  7. Sprinkle over a little onion powder
  8. Beat 6 eggs with a pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste
  9. Beat a ½ cup of cream into the eggs
  10. Pour the egg custard over the meat and spinach mix
  11. Spoon over the salsa or canned tomato mix evenly
  12. Bake at 350⁰F or 180⁰ C for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling
  13. Top with the grated cheese, cilantro, chopped green onions, diced garlic and any other herbs or cheese you enjoy.
  14. Grill until cheese is melted and bubbling.
  15. Serve hot or room temperature and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.

The cheese didn’t bubble and melt as expected. It was a delicious smoked organic WI cheddar but it refused to grill and had such a low fat content did not melt. It was actually deliciously crispy, cheesy and smoky. This was a first time non-melty experience for me. Weird. 

I do hope you are well. It feels as if my efforts are focused on self care these days. Writing a blog post takes such discipline and effort. I think with all the events happening in our world drains the hours in the day and what I used to accomplish.

Be kind to yourself, nurture the light in your heart and the people that light up your life. This is the flicker and then the flame that builds the bonfire of love and endurance that unites us.

With love and stay well until next time.

💜

We have our dining nook back! My partners office is gone and we’re loving this sunny spot to spend time in and invite friends to share a meal again.

Lastly … Quick carrot and radish pickles.

Dressing: mirin, rice vinegar, light soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes.

Keto Mexican Cheese Corn Bread

You guys, this is really delicious. I’ve never been a fan of corn on the cob, or served up piled on my plate. But I do love corn bread. My Mother makes a steamed corn bread with minced corn that is utterly sublime. It is steamed in a pressure cooker in a deep pudding bowl with a tented aluminum foil lid tied down with cooking string. Utterly delicious. I wish I had a photo of it from back in the day!

Here is my recipe which is a fond throwback to my very old and most thumbed, loved and favourite recipe book, Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. More on this marvelous and beloved vegetarian book after my recipe adaptation to a keto-friendly recipe with some changes. No sweetcorn in here but a super moist corn bread with good flavours. I did purchase an entirely natural corn essence but you don’t need it!

Let’s bake!

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Keto Chile Rellenos

This was quite an adventure to make. My partner was kindly given some peppers at the community garden by a fellow gardener. My sister gave me a fab Mexican cookbook some time ago that I love and I watched a video of an amazing woman cooking chile rellenos on a wood stove in Mexico. Both inspired me. I hope you’re inspired too!

Recipe at the bottom!

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Keto Empanadas

Worth the time and these are delicious. I think a Keto version is such a win, as it’s meat wrapped in a cheese dough. I mean, how can that not be good?!

If you have leftover savoury ground beef these would be the perfect leftover plan. Also, I would suggest making the ground beef filling ahead and let it cool off completely as it’s easier to work with in the dough. Hot filling in a cheese dough is not fun to work with – I found that out as this was one of those spur of the moment “I need empanadas – after 3 years of none – in my life” now! Also let your dough chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes. It’s possible to make these in one go but you’ll see how hard it was to work with fresh warm dough and filling in my pics below.

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