My Favorite Paleo Recipes: Bacon Acorn Squash Patties

I'm a frugal Grokette . . . I don't like the idea of having to buy "special" foods (that are also usually expensive) in order to be healthy and lose weight.  I love that SO many of my favorite foods are already paleo friendly.  I am so thankful for nitrate-free bacon.  But every once in a while a recipe crosses my path that forces me down the unfamiliar aisles of my local whole foods store.  So yesterday I bought both coconut flour and Kale chips yesterday.

Not to get too sidetracked (because this recipe is AMAZING) but those kale chips were the best thing that happened to me yesterday.  They are SO nacho cheesey without using ANY dairy!  Oh, call me a happy happy paleo girl.  

Now back to the recipe.  I love the recipes that are posted by Juli from paleOMG.  I also love her blog's name, which is the name every paleo blogger wishes they got to first.  She writes in a very conversational tone, and you get the sense that she's going through the experience WITH us, and not trying to LEAD us.  It's very comforting.  She also looks amazing because does Cross Fit.  I wish I could WANT to do crossfit.  The only torture I'm interested in is 13.1 miles.  

So this is one of her latest recipes and after I read it, I forwarded it to my paleo friends and one of them immediately made it for dinner that night.  This was their response: "OK, so we had these for dinner and they are probably the best things I've eaten on this diet. I ate four".  So, I had to try it myself and was also equally impressed and had to force myself to save some for lunch leftovers.  (sorry about the lack of an "after" pic . . . they were too good and kept getting eaten before I could take a picture)

BACON ACORN SQUASH PATTIES from paleOMG

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins each patty

Ingredients

Patties cooking in bacon grease

• 1 large acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed
• 4-6 strips bacon, diced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut your squash in half and place your squash open side, face down on a baking sheet.
3. Roast your squash for 25-30 minutes.
4. Once your squash is soft when you poke its skin, remove it from the oven to cool.
5. Then cook your bacon in a medium pan until cooked through, and place on a paper towel to soak up the excess fat.
6. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in your pan after your bacon in done cooking.
7. Scoop out your acorn squash into a bowl and add your bacon, eggs, coconut flour, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until eggs are broken up completely.
8. Use a spoon to scoop out a large spoonful of mixture and add to your hot bacon fat pan.
9. Cook each patty for 3-5 minutes then use a spatula to flip it over and press down and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
10. You just want to create a crust on each side of the patty.
11. Repeat.
12. Serve with your favorite protein. (I served mine with an herbed pork tenderloin)
13. Makes 4-8 patties.

Nutritional info*: Calories 107  Fat 4.2g  Sat Fat 1.6g  Chol 50.3g  Sod 339.6g  Carb 15.2g  Fiber 4.6g  Pro 4.2g

*All nutritional info was not provided in the original recipe.  I use the Recipe Calculator at Sparkpeople.com to calculate nutritional value.