Grass Fed Meat Loaf with Feta and Cranberries

This meat loaf will fill your kitchen with a wonderful nostalgic aroma, it is comfort food at its finest. Moms meatloaf, but with a few modern twists. The extra step of sautéing the veggies is well worthwhile-- if you are in a rush you could potentially skip this step, but I wouldn't! 

Adding the cranberry sauce to the typical ketchup topping (especially if you make them both yourself!) creates a dish worthy of company, and the feta adds a subtle creaminess that blends well with the rest of the flavours. 

Grass Fed Meat Loaf with Feta and Cranberries

1 tbsp coconut oil

3 onions (mine were smallish, you want a generous cup when chopped)

2 stalks celery

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp each dried rosemary and thyme

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

3 eggs

1/3 cup coconut flour

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

¾ cup crumbled feta cheese

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½ cup cranberry sauce (recipe here)

¼ cup organic ketchup (see below for recipe if you want to make your own!)

Preheat oven to 375F

Finely dice onions and celery, and sauté in a cast iron pan over medium heat with the coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme, and continue to sauté until everything is fragrant and just starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Combine the rest of your ingredients EXCEPT the cranberry sauce and ketchup in a large mixing bowl. Mix well to combine. Add the sautéed vegetables and mix till evenly distributed.

Grease a 9X13 glass baking dish, and shape the mixture into a nice even oval shape.

Mix together the cranberry sauce and the ketchup, and coat the meatloaf with the mixture, ensuring you cover the entire loaf.

Bake in preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches at least 165F, approx 45-50 minutes.

Serve hot.

Homemade Ketchup

A homemade option for that ever so popular brand that starts with H J

1 can organic tomato paste

¼  cup raw apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp coconut sugar

1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely chopped

1/8 tsp allspice

1 tsp salt

2 tsp molasses

1 cup water

Mix all ingredients in a small pot, bring to a boil and simmer for about 8 minutes.  Cool before using. Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze in small jars that you can thaw one at a time. 

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce

Approx 4 cups fresh or frozen organic cranberries,

½ -¾ cup coconut sugar (depending on how sweet you want it, I like mine more on the tart side)

1 cup water (or sub organic orange juice for your liquid)

Rinse cranberries and add them to a medium saucepan with the water and coconut sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes  until the cranberries start to burst. Remove from heat and cool before using or freezing.


Used most recently to top these muffins, and to top an awesome meatloaf with feta that will be posted soon :)

Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

I love cranberries. So much that when I make a batch for the holidays, I like to make extra and freeze it in small jam jars, to pull out whenever a craving strikes. They are just too darn tasty to be relegated to the holiday season! I pulled a jar out earlier in the week and used some to top a meatloaf recipe that will be posted soon ( I will link here when I get it posted) . I wanted to make a muffin with chocolate and Brazil nuts, but knew they would need some sort of brightness to balance the flavours. Cranberry sauce to the rescue!  It added just the right amount of tartness to the muffin without overwhelming. I think these would be an awesome Christmas morning brunch muffin too!

Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

4 eggs, preferably pastured

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 T Sunflower Seed Flour

2 Tbsp Chickpea Flour

2 Tbsp Arrowroot flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

Generous pinch of Himalayan sea salt

¼ cup coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice)

½ cup kefir or yogurt

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½ cup raw Brazil nuts, chopped

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Approx ½ cup premade cranberry sauce (see recipe here)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place all ingredients EXCEPT the Brazil nuts and cranberry sauce into a medium mixing bowl, and mix well with an immersion blender , scraping down the sides as necessary.  With a spatula, mix in the chopped Brazil nuts (I chopped mine in my handy little chopper, you want to see some larger chunks to add a nice texture to the muffin) and stir well until combined.

Divide evenly between 12 muffin cups, either greased or lined.

Top with approx. 2 tsp of cranberry sauce (be generous!), and swirl in with a butter knife or the end of your measuring spoon.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove to a wire rack and cool for as long as you can before gobbling them up!