Low Carb Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash with Chocolate Stout Meatballs

Chocolate Stout Meatballs with Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash.jpg

Now there are some things that you give up when you go low carb. You say pish posh to bread and its lack of nutrients. You even scold it for taking away from the flavor in burgers. Meat is the true mouth king there.

You do cry at giving up fruit, but your taste buds bow to you within weeks. They appreciate the subtleties in berries and your body loves still being in control.

I never cared for pasta.

The thing I still love in moderation is beer, specifically Icelandic beer. I have a deep infatuation for Iceland. The music makes me dance, the water makes my soul sing and drip out magic and the images of the place get permasoaked into my mind.

This is my favorite 8 tracks playlist of Icelandic tunes.

If you are gluten free as well then they have some gluten free beer already on the market. If you aren’t low carb you could even use cider. I let in a couple of vices in order to make this diet a lifestyle. Beer and the occasional sip of root beer are these vices. Oh and Trader Joe’s green tea mochi. Oh my soft mouthgasm happiness. Mochi ice cream.

Mochi is the main reason I love Japan. A tiny life goal of mine is to make the keto version. Sadly the main flour ingredient is rice.

I still keep it under twenty carbs a day for the sake of keto, and because that’s right where my body loses control and asks for cupcakes.

I mean….we can still have cupcakes. Just keto cupcakes. There’s this stain of strawberry cupcakes in my head though. Wal-Mart ones. I super cheated the first week of keto and ate like twenty cupcakes….*cough* They were so good. Now that I no longer like the taste of sugar those get to remain a memory. When you have old favorites after curbing that sugar addiction your memories get soiled and you have to spit out the taste. Those cupcakes get to remain a delicious mind memory.

Eventually you stop even craving fluff though, your body just asks for meat and veggies and its all it wants. Takes years but it is incredible feeling.

Now on this chocolate stout slow cooker spaghetti squash and meatballs. This memory will always be delicious and it will even deeply take your mouth for years to come. The chocolate and beer both give you earthy flavors that get to soak into the spaghetti squash. I added some fresh thyme for some flavor lifting, but if you just want that chocolate and stout manly vibe then don’t even bother.

This recipe is deeply inspired by I Breathe I’m Hungry’s low carb bison balls in red onion and chocolate stout gravy.

For the Meatballs

1 Pound Ground Beef or Primal Blend

1 Happy Egg

2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour or 1/3 Cup Almond Flour

1 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Tsp Cocoa Powder

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon or Allspice

1 Tbs Avocado or Coconut Oil

1 Cup Chopped Broccoli (Optional)

1 Tsp Salt (Salt once in ball form to keep it on the outside)

For the Gravy:

2 Tbs Butter (Preferably Kerrygold for ultimate mouth seduction)

1/2 Cup Red Onions

1 Cup Dark Beer (Or wine, or beef broth)

2 Tbs Butter (Added at the End)

For the Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash

1.5 Cups water or

1 Tbs Avocado or Coconut Oil (if using oven)

Directions:

Prick the squash with a fork 10-15 times. Pop the whole spaghetti squash into the slow cooker with 1.5 cups water and cook on low four to six hours or high for three to four hours. Alternatively bake in the oven by cutting it in half and cooking it in a baking dish with oil for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.
Thirty minutes before the squash is finished cooking start the meatballs. It will need 15-30 minutes to cool and the meatballs take about 45 minutes.
Combine all the meatball ingredients, except the salt and the oil. Form them into 15 balls and then sprinkle salt on each ball.
Heat your oil in a cast iron and cook the meatballs for 2-3 minutes on each side or until browned on each side. Remove the meatballs and add the butter to your pan. Toss in your onions and let them soften. Add the broccoli and let it sear a minute. Season with salt and add beer. Stir the meatballs and everything together.
Cover, I used tin foil to cover it, and let it simmer. I let it simmer about ten minutes and it was already reduced perfectly, but mine seemed to go fast. Watch carefully. Remove the cover and let it simmer until reduced, stir in the butter and reduce to your texture desires. Stir in the butter.
Remove the guts of the spaghetti squash and either pour the meatballs and broccoli directly in, and use the spaghetti squash as a bowl, or pull out the pasta and top with meatballs and chocolate stout beer gravy.

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