Gluten-Free Meatballs with Hemp Hearts and Parmesan Cheese

Recently, I have been making a lot of ground beef/turkey veggie sautés. I sauté equal parts of veggies (onions, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, etc.) and ground beef/turkey and then season the mixture with salt, pepper, curry, cardamon, or whatever else I feel like at the moment. I have been eating this mixture over lettuce or roasted veggies. While I like eating similar foods for weeks on end, I decided it was time to change things up a bit and therefore made some meatballs. To make the meatballs gluten free, I used hemp seeds and Parmesan cheese in place of breadcrumbs.

The boys ate the meatballs on top of some gluten-free pasta with a salad on the side, and I enjoyed them with some roasted green beans. We all liked them a lot.

Gluten-Free Meatballs with Hemp Hearts and Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning mix 
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Beat egg and season it with salt, lemon pepper, oregano, and seasoning mix. 
2. Mix the seasoned egg with the ground beef. 
3. Add the hemp seeds and the Parmesan cheese. 
4. Form the meat mixture into small balls (I made mine slightly smaller than golf balls). 
5. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the meatballs on all sides, turning every few minutes, until they are cooked through, about 15 - 20 minutes, depending on size.

I have also been experimenting with some gluten-free, grain-free peanut butter (almond butter) jam cookie sandwiches. They are basically just nut butter, an egg, honey, and low sugar jam. I am trying to reduce the sugar/honey more. Andy thought my last attempt was perfect, but I think I can make it healthier… :) I’ll hopefully share an improved version soon.

 

Life has been very busy lately, but I have made sure to make time for what I enjoy most in life: yoga, hiking, and, most importantly, spending time with my boys. I also make sure to read for pleasure every day (some days it’s very short, but something is better than nothing) as I think it is very important to do things you enjoy every single day.

Questions: What do you enjoy most in life? Do you do those things every day/week/month? What is one thing that you could do every day that would make every day more enjoyable? I have found that it is often little things that don’t take a lot of time that can make a big difference in how satisfied we are. If I spend just 20 minutes on a short yoga routine, go for a 30 minute walk and read for 10 minutes, I am generally happy at the end of the day even though it was overall a very busy day. If I don’t do those things, I feel easily overwhelmed and not satisfied… Spending just a little time on self care every single day really pays off in the end I think.

Be well,
Andrea