I had the most amazing weekend away with a bunch of incredible humans who are part of the Primal Potential Master’s Club. We rented a huge house, which allowed us to spend a ton of time connecting with each other, and also required us to cook and eat as a group.
Big group situations can be challenging but we mastered the food part! We kept the meals simple, easy, delicious, affordable AND fat loss friendly!
I have to give a huge shout-out and heartfelt thanks to Thrive Market who partnered with us to make that possible. We wanted to eat really well but we also didn’t want to spend a ton of time or money.
Keep these ideas in mind next time you’re cooking for a big group (or just for yourself!)
Salmon Cakes
Though a bold move, we made salmon cakes for the group! There were a lot of people who had never had them and were skeptical. I get it, because I never imagined really loving and enjoying a fish cake! It’s not my style at all but they are SO GOOD and not fishy at all.
My very favorite salmon cake recipe comes from Diane Sanfilippo of the 21 Day Sugar Detox. You can’t go wrong with that recipe!
I didn’t pull up the recipe for this weekend, though. I’ve made them enough that I just kind of winged it. The key to great, delicious, not-fishy salmon cakes is using a high quality canned salmon. Yes, “quality” and “canned” can go together! While I love fresh salmon filets, I don’t think they’re the best choice for salmon cakes.
Salmon cakes are cheaper and tastier with a wild caught canned salmon. Quality matters here because a lot of canned salmon is farm-raised and has added dyes. Not cool at all. I’m a huge fan of Thrive Market’s Wild Planet salmon. It’s very affordable and really tasty.
We drained 6 cans, added a few eggs, salt, pepper, coconut flour and Primal Kitchen’s new dijon mustard.
I cooked them in a skillet on the stovetop and they were a hit! If you’re making them at home, you can freeze them before cooking them and you’ll have an easy heat & eat meal during the week!
Grilled Chicken & Cauliflower Rice
It doesn’t get much easier and large-group friendly than grilling up a bunch of chicken! We got the value-size organic chicken box from Thrive Market and threw the breasts & thighs on the grill, plain.
Meanwhile, some of the ladies inside cooked up a large batch of cauliflower rice and set out bowls of guacamole, salsa, jalapenos and a large salad.
Everyone got to help themselves to salad with grilled chicken or a burrito-bowl style lunch.
Palmini with Meat Sauce
Have you tried Palmini? I’m totally loving it and everyone who tried it during our Masters Club weekend really loved it, too! It looks like pasta, but it’s 100% hearts of palm! It’s kind of like zoodles, but better!
This was one of the easiest & quickest meals we ate all weekend! We made a meat sauce with tomato sauce and ground beef from Thrive Market and tossed the Palmini in it.
We saved the extra ground beef for frittatas the following day!
Don’t want to pay for Palmini? Zoodles work, too and you can pick those up from almost any grocery store in the produce section.
Have lots of leftovers? Make a frittata!
On our last night, I looked into the fridge to see how we could use up all our leftovers. We had bacon, eggs, ground beef, arugula, tomatoes and onions. Perfect for a frittata!
In two large sheet pans I added whisked eggs, all the veggies and the leftover ground beef. They baked in the oven while we cooked up the bacon and everyone loved it! Doesn’t get much easier than that!
Snacks & Stuff
I wanted to make sure no one went hungry so we brought Artisana coconut butter packets, cashews and almonds for easy snacking.
Wine!
I won’t lie – we went through a fair amount of wine! Everyone was excited to try Thrive Market’s new line of “clean wines” – organic, sustainability farmed and free from added sugars and chemicals! Without exception, the wine was a huge hit! I’ll absolutely be buying more for the holidays and to give as gifts!
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.