My Family's New Fave Meatballs

You know you have a dinner winner when your thirteen year old is physically dissappointed when he finds out there are no more Paleo meatballs in the fridge! I have followed Clean eating as well as the Paleo lifestyle for awhile, but really got serious when my sweet hubby, Chris got sick. Ankylosising Spondolytis made me really change the way I cook for my family. I began really researching the realtionship between food and inflammation/health. Taking cues from both Clean and Paleo eating, I started adding more and more "super foods" (kale, spinach, papaya, flax, etc) and removing those inflammatory foods (gluten, dairy, red meat, processed foods, sugar etc). Don't get me wrong...we still love and eat juicy rib eyes, buttermilk chicken tenders and cupcakes! I have just tipped the scales towards more clean/paleo dinners. I found the original recipe for these AMAZING meatballs on Pinterest. I "cleaned them up a tad"..swapped out the ground beef and pork sausage & used olive oil instead of bacon grease. Here is the end result. The whole family is in love with these gems...and that makes for one happy mom!

Clean Paleo Meatballs

1 1/4 lb package ground turkey breast
1 package sweet turkey Italian sausages, casings removed ( 6 links)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp ground flax seed*
1/2 cup Almond meal*
1 tbs Italian seasoning
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

In a medium skillet heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions until soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, sausage, eggs, flax meal, almond meal, Italian seasoning,onions & garlic, a generous pinch of salt and 1 tsp pepper. Gently combine mixture with hands until well mixed. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Using a tablespoon, shape meat mixture into 2" meatballs, place in pan and saute until well browned and cooked through,turning meatballs frequently about 15-20 minutes. Transfer meatballs to a plate and continue cooking remaining meatballs. Enjoy!

*You can find both flax and almond meal in the baking aisle at HEB. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.