“Paleo” Sausage Balls and Sunday Funday

At work on Friday, we had an office lunch and a “Best Tailgate Food” contest. I took a dip that didn’t win.

Dip: 

But! That’s okay. Because there were TONS of awesome treats that were showcased and it made for a very good cheat meal. How can a dip with vegetables in it really compete with stuffed jalepenos, sausage balls, and weenies wrapped in candied bacon? Seriously, anytime you can eat food in small bite form with your hands is a good time.

However, the winner of the contest were “Sausage Balls with a Twist”. Everyone knows the good ol’ 3 ingredient Sausage Ball recipe involving breakfast sausage, bisquick, and cheddar cheese. They’re delicious and pretty much a Southern staple at any party. But added the the winning recipe was a large quantity of cream cheese. It somehow made them even BETTER. Imagine that.

So it gave me an idea and on Saturday I put that idea into motion. I wanted to recreate the recipe but make it “paleo” friendly. So I started with some breakfast sausage that was farmed and sold locally here at a place called Goose Pond Farm. All of their animals are grass fed and allowed wonderful lives before they’re…ermm…well. Before they get to the freezer. And I tell you what, the sausage from this place is unbelievably wonderful. Better than anything I’ve ever bought in a store.

Then, I used almond flour, and for the “cream cheese” I used some local goat cheese that was Pimento Cheese themed. Is goat cheese paleo? Not really. So this isn’t a strict paleo recipe. Don’t bust my sausage balls about it!

Bell Chevre is a goat cheese creamery originating in Elkmont Alabama which is about 40 minutes or so from our house. They sell it in a cheese shop downtown but also in Costco now. Hooray! We’re big fans. My favorite is the Honey, but I figured for Sausage Balls, the pimento goat cheese made sense. So I took a whole container and added it to the sausage and almond flour. Then I baked them at 375 for about 20 minutes or so.

 

They turned out great!! We ate all but 4 for dinner and then had those 4 for breakfast with some eggs. They were fun to snack on while watching the AU game and not feel like I was eating something naughty.

I think the quantity was about 14oz of sausage, 1/3 cup of goat cheese and about 1/3 cup of almond flour. Try it out!!

Today (sunday) Rob and I did an at home WOD because I was just moping around the house since Sneak has been in the cat hospital for 4 days 😦 More on that later. The WOD was:

Partner Relay with a continuously running clock:

Map reps double unders while the other partner runs 400m

Switch

Max reps sit ups while the other partner runs 400m

Switch

Max Reps Single Unders while the other partner runs 400m

Switch

Rob ran first which made me the last runner and we finished in 16 minutes exactly. I am slower on the runs so he had more time to accumulate reps but he ran first which gave me an advantage I think on the movements.

Score: I can barely read Rob’s writing, but he won by a lot. Great job babe! Afterward, for a cool down, we continued practicing double unders (or I did, Rob just got mad and started stomping around) and I worked on strict push ups and some butterfly sit ups. Felt good to sweat even if we weren’t at CFHSV today for Double Grace!

If you’re reading this, please send some good vibes and prayers our way for our sweet Sneak who has been battling a urinary disease flare up since Wednesday. I still don’t know when he will get to come home and I really love and miss him even though he is literally trying to bankrupt us at this point.