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Monday, November 21, 2011

Paleo Thanksgiving Stuffing

Let's recap the weekend. It was really fun. Friday night I went to bed at 9 after I rolled out on lacrosse ball on my living room floor while watching Keeping up with the Kardashians. Thrilling, I tell you. But it was needed. I had to get up extra early on Saturday morning to get my butt to MBS CrossFit for their Turkey Challenge. Super fun competition in a super awesome gym. No seriously, it's in an airplane hanger. How freakin cool is that? Well, it was a really wonderful day. Colorado CrossFit athletes are pretty damn awesome. I got to see so many great athletes, some really good looking people, AND readers of my blog. So cool. Finding out people have actually tried some of MY recipes really means the world to me. Ok, now I'm just being emotional. I hate emotions.

But the real excitement of the day (other than eating a bag of dark chocolate almonds and a pint of coconut milk ice cream after the competition) were the half naked men. That's the best part of CrossFit, right? Extremely good looking people taking off their clothes while lifting heavy objects and throwin down. Right. Good looking people should just never wear shirts. Just kidding...kind of. You know what good looking people should definitely not wear though? Five fingers. Oh sh*t, I just offended the hell out of some people reading this. CrossFitters love five fingers. They think they become incredibly quick, more nimble, and one with the earth. In my opinion, your shoes make me uncomfortable. Seeing a good looking guy with a fit bod then seeing his wiggly little toes in those shoes really makes me nervous. Legit nervous. I wore toe socks on Christmas day when I was 6 and found them in my stocking. It was cute then, and funny. It's not cute now. I don't care if your feet issues went away when you got them, you still look like a creeper. Get some minimal shoes that don't put your toes on display like a porn star. That last sentence made sense in my brain.

Moving on. Holy sh*t, I'm full. I just ate a lot. Far too much. I guess that's what Thanksgiving is all about though, right? I know, that's wrong. Thanksgiving is all about pumpkin pie. But I had to come up with Thanksgiving recipes so I could fit in with all the other paleo bloggers out there. BUT, if you are looking for some fancy turkey recipes, don't think you're going to find them here. I honestly don't give a sh*t about turkey. Thanksgiving, to me, is all about the comfort food. The side dishes. And the dessert. So that's what you will be getting in the next 3 days. Two sides and one dessert.

What you need:
  • 1lb ground pork sausage
  • 5 pieces of bacon, diced
  • 5 stalks of celery, diced
  • 1 yellow sweet potato (is that a yam? or a sweet potato? whatever.)
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 container of mushrooms, diced
  • 2 apples, diced
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/3 cup chicken broth
What you do:
    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil, throw diced sweet potatoes/yams on it, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender, then set aside.
    2. While those cook, pull out a large skillet, place it under medium-high heat and place chopped bacon in it to begin to cook down. When some of the fat has seeped out and bacon has begun to cook, add your chopped apples, celery, and onions. 
    3. When onions begin to become translucent, add ground pork and mushrooms and your white wine vinegar. Let that cook down until pork is almost completely cooked through. You will be placing it in the oven so you want it pretty close to done. (If you're not sure how long that will be, use your eyes. Pink meat is not what we want here people.) Add salt and pepper, to taste.
    4. Once the sausage is all done, add mixture to a bowl to cool. Now beat your eggs, add to your sausage mixture, and add your chicken broth, along with your sweet potatoes, pecans, and dried cranberries. Mix well.
    5. You can now either use a 9x13 baking dish to place your stuffing in OR place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Either way will work.
    6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until everything is a bit browned. 
    7. Eat it up!!!! OMG OMG, its so good. Laura gave it a 9.
    The pictures don't do it justice. So good. Just ate it for breakfast.
    Picture taken in a coffee shop, in my tupperware, cold. Still stupid good.

    11 comments:

    1. This is printing out right now to get posted at my box. We're in the middle of a paleo/Zone challenge (I know, mean to do over the holidays) and people have been asking how to do Thanksgiving healthily. Thanks for giving me an answer I can give them! I'm not very smart but I know where the smart people blog :)

      Glad I had the chance to tell you in person that I appreciate your blog (while you waited your turn in line for the bathroom - I thought I heard sobbing from in there. Now I know it was you getting all emotional. Don't go getting all emotional again now. I hate that!)

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    2. LOVE the pornstar reference...so funny and totally how I feel! Five fingers weird me out...at first it took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about bc I try to avoid everythign and anything to do with that fad...those toe socks...I owned one pair and it was just weird separating all of your toes..eeeek! Glad you enjoyed the cross fit challenge! I looooovee airport hangers!

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    3. Nice! Right in time for the holiday! I was just looking for something to meet that craving and this will most likely, no, definitely be made soon!

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    4. Damn Juli this recipe sounds delish! I'm not a big fan of hot fruit, sorry grandma, but the rest of this is right up my alley, or down it, whatever your preference. Like the rest of your friendly blog followers, this is going in my stomach soon. Thanks.

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    5. Aaron, it was so nice getting to officially meet you even though I've seen you around the CF scene many times. Thank you so much for all your comments and support!

      Glad you understood the porn comment Ellexo!!

      Try it out Jason. Hot fruit and all. Just do it.

      So I just smile--try it out!!! And let me know what you think!

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    6. Rebecca--I cooked the broccoli on the side ;)

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    7. Juli, I dont even remember how I found your blog/this recipe but I'm really glad I did. This was my contribution to the family Tgiving dinner and was definitely the most popular. I however am not so popular right now because I finished off the leftovers for breakfast...screw them, it was worth it!

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    8. Jimmy!! Thanks so much for checking out my blog and HUGE thank you for actually trying a recipe!! Glad it was a hit :)

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    9. It was a Paleomg weekend for me. Made the Delicata Chicken testerday (I expressed my adoration for you about that one on that page :) ) and today I made this one. We have to come up with another name for this though. It's potentially a meal unto itself (I did eat it with leftovers from yesterday) and 'stuffing' implies a side dish. No body puts Baby in the corner!

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    10. Yay Aaron!! It totally is a meal in itself. I was so full after eating that haha!

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