I’m just over one month eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet, and I’m loving it! I have lost six lbs already and I feel great. I’ve put aside counting calories and containers, and I’m just focused on eating unprocessed whole foods. After a year and a half of primarily eating a Paleo diet, I never thought I’d be able to cut meat out of my diet. Truthfully, I’m not missing it at all! On Jan 8th, my next fitness challenge begins and I’m pumped. I took it easy with exercise while I transitioned to this way of eating in December, just mostly doing Yoga and Pilates. But now, I’m ready to hit it hard with Autumn Calabrese’s new program 80 Day Obsession. Hit me up on Facebook if you want to join me!

On of the day I’m writing this blog entry, it is New Year’s Day 2018. I attended a New Year’s Eve party last night. Instead of worrying about what I was going to eat and setting myself up for failure, I decided to whip up a delicious three bean chili in my pressure cooker. I also made a huge container of brown rice and brought whole grain tortilla chips and salsa. I was happily noshing all evening, and everyone enjoyed what I brought as well. I found most people were amazed that it was “Vegan.” Many people automatically assumed “vegan” or “whole food plant based” means tasteless, and nothing could be further from the truth.

This Instant Pot recipe is adapted from one I found on Clean Food Dirty Girl. Check out the inspiration recipe here, but be beware that the blogger uses colorful language. If that bothers you, then just quickly scroll to the bottom of her post for the recipe. I hope you enjoy my version of this meatless chili. Feel free to add your own tweaks and spice it up with cayenne pepper or hot sauce! It’s sure to please all your meat-lovin’ friends!

This post contains affiliate links that help to directly support the life of this blog. When you use my links to purchase, you are supporting Modern Day Fox! All opinions are my own.

We ate dinner tonight by candle light! Thankfully for me, I zipped through dinner prep in less than 15 minutes using my Power XL Air Fryer and had everything done just as the power went out for the next 30 minutes. My kids thought it was pretty cool to have dinner in the dark. I was just thankful that my meatballs were not interrupted halfway through cooking. It would have been a real shame if those bad boys would have been ruined.

Since my husband went grain-free, I have found making meatballs without a binding ingredient such as bread crumbs or oats is pretty tricky. Too many times my meatballs ended up dissolving into mush and it was very frustrating. While surfing the web, I stumbled upon an idea for an unusual grain-free ingredient in meatballs and knew I had to give a shot. The magic ingredient? Potato chips! That’s right. Finely crushed potato chips is the perfect substitute for bread crumbs. It created a perfect texture and held the meatballs together extremely well. Now, I admit, I used Lay’s Potato Chips. Maybe not the healthiest choice. You can get organic potato chips, and I’ve seen recipes that use Sweet Potato chips or even beet chips.

The other key to making perfect meatballs is using a “meatballer!” A what?? I know, I know. I’d never heard of such a thing either, but a friend told me about hers and I had to buy one. Take a look at the one I got here. I was able to portion out my meatballs evenly because of this neat little tool.

I can already think of three questions that are going to come up, so I’ll just address them now.

#1 I don’t have an air fryer. Can I bake these? Well, hello! Of course you can. I would try baking them at 375 degrees for 20-25 min until they reach 165 internal temperature.

#2 Can I leave out the parmesan cheese? Sure! It won’t be exactly the same texture and taste, but it will still work.

#3 Can I use flavored chips? I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would totally work. I want to try using barbecue chips and simmering them in BBQ sauce. My only thought about using flavored chips is to make sure the other seasonings will work with the flavor of your chips. The Italian season, for example, might need to be swapped for a seasoning that compliments your chips.

#4 Can I freeze these meatballs? You sure can. I have not tried cooking them from frozen in the air fryer, but I saw in some other meatball recipes that you would keep the cooking time the same as if they were fresh. Again, I haven’t tried it yet.

Happy meat-ballin’!

xo Jaime

This post contains affiliate links which help support the life of this blog. All opinions are my own and these are products I’ve actually purchase and recommend. When you use my links to purchase, you directly support Modern Day Fox!

Print Recipe

Modern Day Fox Grain-Free Air Fryer Meatballs

A surprising ingredient helps bind these meatballs perfectly, and creates a great texture! You won't even miss the grains usually used in meatball recipes. Try them served over zoodles!

Course

Main Dish

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

12 min

Servings

meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• 1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips
• 1/2 cup Parmesan shredded
• 1 Egg
• 2 TBSP Parsley finely chopped
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Course Main Dish Prep Time 5 min Cook Time 12 min Servings meatballs Ingredients 1 lb Ground Turkey 1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips 1/2 cup Parmesan shredded 1 Egg 2 TBSP Parsley finely chopped 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1 tsp Onion Powder 1 tsp Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

   
2. Lightly grease air fryer basket with oil to help prevent sticking.
3. Use 1.25 inch meatballer or scoop to form 12 equally portioned meatballs.

   
4. Place meatballs into air fryer basket.

   
5. Push in basket and set fryer to 390 degrees for 12 min. Use spatula to gently lift and roll meatballs halfway through cooking. (Cooking times may vary depending on your air fryer. I’m using a Power XL Air Fryer and 12 minutes cooked my meatballs thoroughly.)

   
6. Remove from basket and serve!

   

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Meal prep can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! Instant Pot to the rescue!

I’ve been experimenting with cooking spaghetti squash in the Instant Pot. It is admittedly a bit of a different texture than when baked in the oven as it is cooked with moisture in the Instant Pot rather than dry heat. But, it gets done SO much faster and I like that. I love how spaghetti squash is so porous and takes on flavors so easily. I recently had a meal from my favorite meal service, Paleo Works, that combined spaghetti squash, chicken and tomato bruschetta. I decided to try to do a quick copycat recipe using my Instant Pot. While mine is admittedly a hack in comparison to that chef’s creation, I think I threw together a tasty meal. You can certainly make your own homemade bruschetta, but I use a jarred grocery store kind in this recipe in order to save time.

I also have been exploring warm potato salads. Have you ever had a Hot German Potato Salad where the potatoes are slightly over cooked and starting to fall apart? The potatoes begin to fall apart as you stir in the dressing and it creates a thick sauce. It is so good! It occurred to me that I could create an Italian version of Hot Potato Salad using jarred basil pesto and red potatoes. I also threw in some green beans for a veggie kick, and chicken for added protein. Best of all, I could cook it all in the Instant Pot at once!

I made four of each of these meals for a total of EIGHT meals all at the same time in roughly 45 minutes. While the squash was cooking, I prepped the chicken, green beans, and potatoes. When the squash finished, I removed it and washed my pot. I then added the chicken, potatoes and green beans to the pot to cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. I scraped out the spaghetti squash and mixed in some tomato bruschetta. I portioned it out in four containers. When the pot timer went off, I released the steam and removed half of the chicken and evenly distributed over each of the servings of squash. I added a heaping spoonful of bruschetta on top of the chicken, and BAM! Four meals were done.  Next I scooped out the potato mixture and put it in a bowl. I thinned out some jarred basil pesto with olive oil and then gently tossed the potato mixture with the pesto until it was coated evenly. I divided it into four servings, and BAM! Four more meals done!

A couple notes: I tried the hot potato salad using frozen chicken. I cooked it for 13 minutes. It was good, but the potatoes were extremely soft. I think if you are using frozen chicken, then you should cook the potatoes and green beans separately for 8 minutes. Cook the frozen chicken for 13 minutes. Then, combine. Also, if you don’t like basil pesto, just use melted butter instead. I also made this with cilantro pesto and it was delicious!

This prep is easy, quick, AND healthy. Get yourself an Instant Pot and give it a try!

Interested in the mesh steamer basket shown in my instruction video! Grab it here! Or, try this one that was just released on Amazon!

xo Jaime

The links found in this post are affiliate links that help support the life of this blog. All opinions are my own, and I am not sponsored by any companies at this time. When you use my links to purchase, you help keep Modern Day Fox going!

I was inspired to try the ever popular Zuppa Toscana soup in my Instant Pot, but trying to find sausage without added sugar and additives proved to be a tough feat. Just take a look at the sausage in the meat department of your local grocery store and you will find all kinds of unsettling things in the ingredients list. For this reason, I decided to change up the traditional recipe using sausage and instead use reduced fat ground pork and seasonings. The result was absolutely delicious, completely sugar-free, and got six thumbs up from my crew!

Although I don’t follow a whole 30 or Paleo diet exclusively, my husband does in an effort to help with his Ulcerative Colitis struggles. It’s hard trying to keep things interesting but this recipe hits the spot!

This is a tough one to calculate on 21 Day Fix, but here’s what I came up with: 1/2 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue (for coconut cream) and 1 green IF you make sure to get a lot of kale in your serving. If you think the container counts should be different, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did!

xo Jaime

This post contains affiliate links which directly help support this blog. I only post links for products I’ve purchased and recommend, and my opinions are my own.