I have a confession to make. Turns out writing a cookbook a year for 6 years reeeeeeally burns you out on cooking. I don’t want to cook. Like very badly. So I stopped. I bought rotisserie chicken and salad, and had my husband and kids make dinner (hey, they kinda owed me after over a decade, amIright?!). Some nights I struuuuugle, but manage to bring myself to cook. It’s been a huge challenge.
Then my friend, Michelle sent me her new cookbook, Ready or Not! First my kids couldn’t put it down, Ashley especially. She spent days looking, hiding it under the couch before bed (one of her favorite hiding places 🙂 ). Then Ginger got the impression that this book must be something extraordinary if Ashley was spending so much time with it. So Ginger took it and poured through it, to the point of irritating Ashley who wanted HER book back. 😂
Finally, MamaBear took the book for herself, and SHE (that would be me) couldn’t put it down either.
Now, I’ll be honest, I was still filled with dread at the thought of actually *cooking*, but I love eating soooo much, that I immediately started a grocery list. Back in the day, when I wasn’t super burnt out on cooking, I would follow recipes to a T. Nowadays, I’m afraid, I’m skipping steps and combining things that aren’t meant to be combined in cookbooks, just to get the job done faster. Fortunately, so far this hasn’t caused any major trouble. 😂 (You *can’t* do this with baking, just so ya know!)
So these were not supposed to be meatballs, nor turkey, nor sauce-free. 😂 (How many times can I paste the laughing emoji in one post? Am I annoying you? 🙂 ) I took the sauce ingredients (minus the liquids) and put them inside meatballs, and skipped the sauce altogether. But despite how much I changed Michelle’s recipe, they came out aaaaaamazing. Delish. Divine. And there were leftovers, which is the greatest gift cooking can give you.
Enjoy! And go buy Ready or Not!
Bacon Wrapped Spicy Meatballs
based on Bacon-Wrapped Chicken & Lemon Date Sauce, from Ready or Not!
5 soft pitted Medjool dates
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
3 pounds ground turkey
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons Herbamare (copycat in my book, Easy Paleo Meals)
2 tablespoons coconut aminos
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 packages bacon
- Set the oven to 375F.
- Add the dates, garlic, onion, and ginger to the food processor fitted with the S blade and puree.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl, then add the turkey, parsley, Herbamare, coconut aminos, and coconut flour. Combine well.
- Use a scoop with a lever to transfer each meatball to a baking sheet. Cut the bacon in half, then wrap each meatball in a strip of bacon. Secure each with a toothpick.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then carefully pour out the liquids so that the sheet doesn’t overflow. Turn each bacon-wrapped meatball over so that both sides get crispy.
- Bake for another 15 minutes, then remove the crispy ones. Continue turning them over and baking until they’re all crispy and delicious (about 5 minutes more).
- Enjoy!
♥, Kelly
