My Whole 30 Journey - Sinfully Good Bacon Meatballs

I am usually not a fan of meatballs. Its kind of like meatloaf, too much bread and egg to be good. It ends up being a weird texture and doesn't really taste like meat. I think that anything that claims to be meat should taste like meat.

These meatballs are unlike any meatball I have ever eaten. Ever. They not only taste like meat, but are full of bacon and ground beef flavor, resulting in essentially a bacon burger ball. You can't get much better than that! If you are not on the Whole 30 add some cheese and you are rockin the burger ball!

The great thing about the bacon in these meatball is it add some wonderful fat and juiciness to the meatballs. It also adds that much loved smoky bacon flavor.

I served these over spaghetti squash with some sauteed tomatoes and zucchini. They would be wonderful with regular spaghetti noodles, on a meatball sub, or on toothpicks at a party!

Sinfully Good Bacon Meatballs
(adapted from Evil Shenanigans)

• 1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
• 5 strips bacon (make sure there is not added sugar)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (depending on how spices you like your meatballs)
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Chopped the bacon into small pieces. Mix the bacon and beef and crushed red pepper flakes together  in a bowl, this works best of you use your hands. Form into small balls.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small drizzle of olive oil just enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Don't use too much oil because the meat with produce fats of its own. once the pan is hot, add the meatballs. Space them a little apart so they have room to cook. Brown each ball so that it's nice and crispy all around.

Transfer the meatballs to a cookie sheet and bake until cooked thoroughly.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

• 1 spaghetti squash

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut the squash in half, they are really hard to cut, but just get a big knife and hack your way through it. Scoop out the seeds. Place in a glass baking dish with about an inch of water. Place the dish in the oven on the center rack. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the flesh is tender. You can cover the squash with tin foil to avoid excess browning. Use a fork to scrape out the strands.

Garden Veggie Pasta Sauce

• 1 zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 small tomatoes, quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• about 6-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a skillet, add chopped garlic and saute for about a minute. Do not over cook the garlic or it will be bitter. Add the zucchini, tomatoes, herbs and spices (except the basil), saute for a few minutes until the zucchini is tender. Remove from heat and top with fresh basil.