While the great America is pulling on their stretchy pants, here in Canada we are long past that stage. It is Christmas craziness which I can’t seem to get a hang of just yet. All I keep hearing is Cabo’s waves and dreaming of long walks on the never ending beach.
Smashing avocados, chopping cilantro and squeezing lime for the Mexican turkey meatballs dinner last night did not help the situation. I just can’t seem to get excited about making letters to Santa look untouched, spending hundreds of $s on Amazon and then not getting any freaking credit for it.
Go ahead, call me non-romantic.
So, I went for a run. It was raining but when it doesn’t in PNW in winter?! So, I just went. Hey, could be worse – I could live in Calgary and never run till May again. So, “West Coooooooast”. That is what my kids showed me.
Man, why does life fly by so fast?! I’m already “behind”. So, run, baby, run.
When I got home I got to work. Beds had to be tidied up, grocery shopping done and dinner made. Well, depends who you are. If you are Alex, you eat Mexican meatballs for dinner. If you are Olena, you eat them for lunch AND dinner.
With fresh pico de gallo, garlicky avocado and brown rice. I couldn’t complain.
The Mexican turkey meatballs came from Lexi’s new cookbook Lexi’s Clean Kitchen. Lexi is a clean eating paleo food blogger I have met a few years ago online. Now she published a book and I wanted to let you know what it is about.
First of all, I was surprised how big the book is. You get 150 recipes and over 380 pages which justify the price really well. Secondly, I do not follow a paleo diet but if you do or are just starting out to eat clean/real food (a concept that seems to get lost in translation which I’m planning to address soon) Lexi’s book would be great for you. All recipes are gluten free as well. Again, I eat gluten but in case you shouldn’t then here you go.
It has some advice, basic kitchen info and a lot of simple recipes.
You know how paleo recipes can call for a bazillion of weird ingredients? With Lexi’s book all you need is 10 lbs of tapioca flour and 20 lbs of almond flour. Just kidding but those are the most commonly used ingredients when it comes to baking. Everything else is pretty much straightforward.
I liked how each recipe has a photo and even a recipe index with thumbnails. So, good stuff. Great job, Lexi! A great gift for the Holidays. Trust me, there are a lot of people out there who need a healthy meal as a gift. I’m not judging. Stop it. If you are a cheapskate like me enter to win one of the 3 copies I’m giving away.
My eye particularly fell on Mexican turkey meatballs because there is always dinner that has to be made. Ugh. Dinner falls into the same category as children – no return policy. Again, no romance in me left whatsoever. I can live with that.
The meatballs recipe is super simple – ground turkey, cheese, green onions, garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt. Do not skip the cheese. Cheese or an egg makes meatballs moist.
I doubled the recipe because newlywed Lexi’s food consumption doesn’t come even close to Olena’s bursting at seams with testosterone house.
For a side, I made brown rice. Chopped tomatoes, red onion and cilantro to make a lazy pico de gallo. And smashed some avocado with garlic and cilantro to make even lazier guacamole. If you are Mexican, judge me all you want re: garlic but this is how I like my Ukrainian guacamole.
What is great about this recipe is that it can be served as an appetizer. Yaaaay. Those are always tricky to make clean. These meatballs were so easy to make within 20 minutes and came out delicious and full of flavour!
By 3PM my kitchen was a disaster. BUT I cooked beans, tested a slow cooker dinner and made a soup. That is how we roll here. And trust me I’m yet to throw out any food. Everything gets eaten here. Prepare to be amazed, Olena.
Now, onto the giveaway. I, along with Lexi and Victoria Belt publishing, am giving away 3 Lexi’s Clean Kitchen Cookbooks.
Happy Thanksgiving to the great America!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey or chicken
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Cooking spray (I use Misto)
- Avocado, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper.
- Tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.*
- In a large mixing bowl, add turkey, cheese, green onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and mix well using your hands. Form into 30 golf ball size meatballs (I use small ice cream scoop).
- Bake meatballs in 2 batches for 15 minutes or until browned. Serve hot with brown rice/quinoa, guacamole and pico de gallo. Or serve as an appy.
Notes
Recipe from Lexi's Clean Kitchen Cookbook. *I used dark baking sheet. Light colour like aluminum will increase baking time.
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving = 5 meatballs:
Calories: 252.2
Total Fat: 13.8 g
Cholesterol: 116.6 mg
Sodium: 559.4 mg
Total Carbs: 0.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
Protein: 31.7 g
WW Points+: 6
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