Apple Glazed Turkey Meatballs and Roasted Buttercup Squash

I think I have a new obsession. I want to buy every variation of squash, bake it, and taste the difference in them all. Yesterday I was looking for a side vegetable to go with tonight's Apple Glazed Turkey Meatballs (original recipe found at OAMM) and I spotted the squash in my grocery store. I already had picked up some butternut squash for a lunch recipe, so I thought I would go with acorn squash since we have tried it and liked it. While I was looking at them I saw a different squash, the buttercup squash. It's similar in size to the acorn squash but is a slightly different shape. I picked up two because that's plenty for us for one meal.

I washed the outside of the squash down, preheated my oven to 350 and got a pan out. I sliced the squash in half and removed the seeds and flesh. I placed them cut-side down on the pan and let them roast for 40 minutes. Which was the perfect amount of time for me to prepare the rest of dinner.

The apple glazed turkey meatballs were extremely easy to prepare. 20 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook the meatballs. In a bowl I mixed ground turkey, diced apple, 2 cloves of minced garlic, applesauce, sliced green onions, almond flour/meal, sea salt and cinnamon. I used Himalayan sea salt because I'm still in love with the flavor of it.

Now, when I say mix it up, you can't just stick a big spoon in there. No, no, no. Time to get your hands dirty. Ground turkey sticks to everything like there is no tomorrow. It's seriously icky to work with. But if you don't get your hands in there and really work the ingredients in, you'll end up with cinnamon and salt patches that didn't incorporate into the turkey well. You don't want to bite into that.

Time for my PC love. Break out you medium Pampered Chef scoop and form that mess of turkey into meatballs. With the medium scoop I made 20 meatballs out of this recipe. Pop that in a preheated 400 oven and it's time to start the glaze.

Yes, I did say 400. I happen to have a double oven, so I can cook the meatballs at 400 and have the squash at 350. You could split the difference and go for 375 and up the cooking time on both.

In a large skillet (I used my BIG cast iron, but it was a little too big) combine apple juice, ginger (which I forgot but this still tasted great), more applesauce, arrowroot powder, more sea salt and cinnamon, and coconut aminos -- or in my case soy sauce. Yes, I know I ruined the Paleo dinner for us tonight because soy sauce is a no-no on Paleo, but hey, it's either soy sauce or coconut aminos. Little cheat or die of anaphylaxis. hmm... I think I'll cheat.

This is really liquidy when you pour it into the pan, and it's supposed to be a glaze. I whisked it up to break up the arrowroot powder and walked away for a moment to put away the soy sauce and applesauce, came back and it was thick and boiling. That quick it had thickened up. Turn the heat down and let it slowly boil. When the meatballs are finished pop them in the skillet and coat them with the glaze. Serve immediately.

Verdict: The meatballs and glaze were delicious. There were no leftovers. This was an easy meal to throw together and bake. Will definitely make them again. As for the buttercup squash, it was ok. It was more on the savory side rather than the sweeter butternut squash or acorn squash. I think if we had used them as a bowl putting the meatballs with the glaze in them, the squash would have soaked up some of the glaze and made it sweeter. I found a couple of recipes for buttercup squash and they all said to roast like I did, but then cook for 10 minutes more with butter and brown sugar in them. Well, that's not exactly Paleo, so I just wanted to try the full flavor of the squash. I'll do some more research on buttercup squash recipes and maybe I can find something to really utilize the flavor. If you've got one, please share it!

APPLE GLAZED TURKEY MEATBALLS

Makes 20 Meatballs

INGREDIENTS FOR MEATBALLS

1 pound ground turkey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP applesauce

1/3 cup green onions, sliced

1/3 cup almond flour/meal

1/3 cup apple, peeled and minced (1/2 a medium apple)

1 tsp sea salt (you’re choice of type, I used Himalayan)

2 tsp cinnamon

INGREDIENTS FOR GLAZE

1 cup apple juice

½ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (I omitted this and it was fine)

1 TBSP applesauce

1 ½ TBSP arrowroot powder

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400. In large bowl combine all meatball ingredients and mix well.

2. Using medium Pampered Chef scoop, form into 20 meatballs. Place on pan and bake for 20 minutes.

3. In large skillet, combine all glaze ingredients. Cook over medium heat.

4. Whisk well until the glaze suddenly thickens up and turn down very low. Let slowly boil and keep warm until meatballs are done cooking.

5. Drop meatballs in glaze and roll to coat. Serve immediately.

Bacon Wrapped Meatballs with Roasted Butternut Squash

I am supposed to be taking down my Christmas decorations right now. I'm blogging instead. I had a great day at work and just spent a fun time making this dinner with #3. She is a great helper in the kitchen, up until it comes time to put food in the oven. She tends to forget that the oven gets preheated and she reaches in and grabs the oven racks every time we cook. I don't know why she does that. She's now sitting on the couch watching cartoons with an ice cube on her hand. Poor thing.

Tonight's dinner was a yummy find over at PaleOMG. It really was super easy to make, especially since my hubby bought me new knives for Christmas and I was able to cut the butternut squash like it was butter. So happy!

So that squash up there looks a little funny. It's prepped but not cooked yet. Cube a whole medium butternut squash into bite sized pieces and put onto a baking sheet that has a piece of parchment paper on it. Coat with 3 TBSP of melted bacon fat and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt. I used a very large butternut squash and doubled all the rest of the ingredients. I eyeballed the bacon fat so I don't think I used 6 TBSP and I probably could have still just used 3. I also used pink Himalayan sea salt because I have found I love the flavor. It's got a slightly sweeter taste than regular sea salt. At least both my husband and I think so.

Put the pan of prepped squash aside and start on the meatballs. In a large bowl combine 1 pound ground pork, 1/2 onion that has been diced, 2 cloves garlic that is minced, and a little salt and pepper to taste. I used my medium Pampered Chef scoop to make the perfect sized meatballs and this made about 20. The original recipe says it makes only 10, so if you want BIG meatballs and only want to make 10, use the big PC scoop.

So, depending on how many meatballs you have, take that many pieces of bacon and cut them in half. (20 meatballs = 20 pieces of bacon.) Place the 2 halfs of the bacon on top of each other overlapping to make an X, then place the meatball in the center. Wrap the bacon around the meatball then place the meatball bacon seam side down on a pan lined with parchment paper. In the pic of #3 above you can see her making the meatballs and placing them on the parchment paper.

Both the meatballs and the squash take 20-30 minutes to cook, so put both pans in the oven and cook at the same time. Mine took closer to the 30 minutes and came out perfectly.

Verdict: This meal is a keeper! If anything, the squash was just delicious. We all loved it. I can't wait to make it again.

BACON WRAPPED PORK MEATBALLS

Makes 20 Meatballs

INGREDIENTS:

1lb ground pork

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

20 pieces of bacon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In large bowl, combine pork, diced onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well.

3. Using medium Pampered Chef Scoop, form 20 meatballs.

4. Slice bacon in half.

5. Take 2 pieces of bacon (1 full piece that’s been cut in half) and form an X. In the center place the meatball. Wrap the bacon around the meatball and place seam side down on the parchment paper.

6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bacon is done.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium butternut squash

3 TBSP bacon fat

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp Himalayan sea salt (or salt of choice)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Peel and dice butternut squash into bite sized pieces. Spread out on the parchment paper.

3. Melt bacon fat and drizzle over squash.

4. Sprinkle salt and seasonings over squash.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until squash is tender.

A Paleo Thanksgiving

There are so many things I am thankful for.  I'm thankful my husband is home again, thankful for healthy kids, thankful for friends and family who love us.  There are so many things that I can't even begin to list them all.  One thing that I am thankful for is eating Paleo.  I've been cooking Paleo since early September and I've learned a few things.

1. I'm gluten intolerant.  I had my suspicions before, but despite the blood tests coming up negative, eliminating it from my diet and bringing it back in is a big no-no.  My body cannot tolerate it.  Without cutting gluten I would not have known.

2. I like food.  I like good food.  I'm finding there are a lot of good recipes that are just plain delicious and are Paleo friendly.

3. Paleo cooking isn't hard.  Most of the meals I have made have been extremely easy.  The difficult part is saying no to the junk, finding substitutes for sugar, and my own personal problem -- alternates to all the coconut.  

Some research has had to happen on my part, especially when creating a meal like today.  Thanksgiving dinner for us was completely Paleo, except for some of the desserts.

In the picture above, starting at the top and going clockwise, turducken, ham, corn bread, maple bacon pecan butternut squash, green bean casserole, whipped sweet potatoes.

Everything on that plate is Paleo friendly.  The only thing that you can't see is the cranberry sauce that I made. Yes, I made it, in fact, I made everything from scratch.  Well, I didn't make the turducken, I just bought that from the farmer's market and cooked it, I did buy the ham as well, but everything else I made.  I'm not going to go into details on how I cooked everything so here are the recipe links to everything I made today:  **note any place coconut oil is used I used bacon fat.

Paleo Corn Bread

Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

The whipped sweet potatoes were easy.  I just boiled the sweet potatoes for a good long while and when they were cool enough to handle I peeled them and threw them in my crock pot.  I mashed them with a potato masher, poured a little almond milk in, and put a nice coating of cinnamon over the top.  Mix it all up and let it cook on low in the crock so it stayed warm for dinner.  Easy dish to prepare in advance and let sit in the crock.

Look at those!  Apple pie tartlets.  Completely Paleo friendly and super yummy!  My oven cooked a little hotter than the recipe needed, so I probably should have pulled them out a bit earlier.  But, it didn't hurt and we all still loved them.  You can find the recipe over at PaleoOMG.

Sooo good!  I did make a pumpkin pie using a walnut pie crust but it wasn't Paleo friendly.  It was gluten free, but with the molasses and brown sugar, we broke from the diet.  But I say I'm ok eating it because it's my Grandpop's recipe for pumpkin pie and I just can't eat pumpkin pie unless it is his.  It was different eating it with a walnut pie crust, but it was still really good. 

Overall, I have to say this is the first year that my stomach isn't hurting after eating all this food!  I don't feel sick or bloated, I feel good.  I actually feel ready for round 2!  

Paleo Chicken Pot Pie and *Almost* Paleo Pot Stickers

You win some, you lose some.  Overall, this was a delicious meal, even if it looks like crap.  This is one of those "I adapted" meals and I'm not sure I like how it turned out.  

You see, this recipe for chicken pot pies that I got from Fed and Fit called for coconut oil in the crust recipe.  Well, I used almond oil instead and I don't think that was a good call.  The crust did not hold well together at all.  I was barely able to get it flattened into circles, off of the cutting board, and on to the ramekins.  

What was hanging over and "attached" to the side of the ramekins fell off while cooking.  What was inside at first turned into a mushy mess with the oils from the chicken pot pie, but as it cooled and "dried", it actually tasted quite good.  You can see in the last picture how the crust dried, but it still wasn't a crust.

I also made pot stickers today.  (It was a pot day... pot pie, pot stickers, crock pot applesauce.)  These took some time.  I had to prep the vegetables, then cook them in stages adding the meat, then cool it all for an hour.  The pot sticker wrappers were fairly simple to make.  6 eggs, separated, 2 cups of arrowroot flour, and a cup of water (mixed in stages).  These were cooked like little crepes, 1 tablespoon of batter crepes.  Here's where it wasn't exactly fun. You can only cook one at a time and it takes about 30 seconds for each side to cook.  Then you take it off the heat and immediately fill with 1 tablespoon of the meat and veggie mixture, then use a fork to seal them shut.  This takes quite a while.  After about 30 minutes in, I realized I had made about 10 pot stickers out of 31 that the recipe made. Thankfully, this was the time that my hubby came home and I put him to work filling and sealing the pot stickers while I just made the wrappers.

Once they were all made, I had to fully cook them.  This was interesting.  I took a non-stick skillet (same one I made the crepes in actually) and used a basting brush to brush on some bacon grease.   I put 5 pot stickers in the pan and didn't touch them for 2-3 minutes and just let them cook.  I flipped them and added 1/8 cup of chicken stock and let them steam for another minute or two.  I repeated the process for all 31 pot stickers.  There was a sauce that I could have made but I didn't take the time to make it.  I'll put it in the instructions below.  I say this recipe is *almost* paleo (which means it wasn't) because I used soy sauce in it.  The original recipe from Paleo Cupboard called for coconut aminos but I haven't found a non-coconut substitute for those yet, just soy sauce which isn't paleo friendly.  If anyone has any non-coconut suggestions for coconut aminos that are paleo friendly, please tell me!

Verdict: For as ugly as this chicken pot pie is, it tasted good. We all agreed on that.  The pot stickers were delicious as well!  I don't think I would ever cook these 2 recipes on the same day again, just too much work involved.  Throw in making applesauce at the same time and I was just plain crazy.  But good tasting food, and knowing I have a supply of Paleo applesauce, makes all the work in the kitchen worth it.  Look for tomorrow's post. I made applesauce because I got a half bushel of apples for $10 so I'm making lots of fun items with apples right now. Who knows what I'll make tomorrow?  Well, I do, but you don't!

PALEO CHICKEN POT PIE

Makes 8 Pot Pies

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

3 cups almond meal

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup almond oil (I suggest using less to see if the crust holds together better than mine)

1 TBSP cool water

1 egg (for egg wash after placed on pies before cooking)

Pie:

2 chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into ½” cubes

1 yellow onion, chopped

5 green onions, chopped

2 cups frozen green peas

2 cups carrots, chopped

¼ cup almond milk

¾ cup almond meal

4 cups chicken stock

3 TBSP EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook, cool, and cut chicken breasts into ½” cubes.

2. Start to prepare your crust by mixing the dry ingredients in a food processor.

3. Add the almond oil and slowly pulse until it’s evenly mixed.  It should have the consistency of peas.

4. Slowly add the water and pulse until it forms a dough-like texture.

5. Remove from food processor, roll into a ball, and wrap in cling wrap.

6. Put the dough into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

7. Start your pie filling by heating the EVOO in the bottom of a large pot.

8. Add the onions and cook on medium – medium high until they are browned.

9. Slowly add the almond meal and reduce the heat to medium.

10. Slowly add the chicken stock and stir.

11. Add the almond milk, salt, peas, carrots, and chicken.

12. Cook for another minute or two.

13. Evenly distribute between your 8 ramekins (or other oven-friendly bowls.)

14. Dust a cutting board with almond meal.

15. Place the ball of dough on the dry almond meal and cut into 8 even sections.

16. Using your hands first (and then a rolling pin for even thickness), press and roll each of the 8 pieces into a circle.

17. Keep dusting the top and bottom of dough with dry almond meal so that it doesn’t stick.

18. Use the ramekin or dish you are baking in to cut the right sized circles in the dough.

19. Place the crust on top of the filling and paint with the scrambled egg for egg wash, cutting a couple of slits in the top.

20. Bake for an hour at 375.

*ALMOST* PALEO POT STICKERS

Makes 30+ Pot Stickers

INGREDIENTS:

Filling:

2 TBSP bacon fat

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, finely chopped

½ lb ground pork

3 green onions, finely chopped

2 cups cabbage, finely chopped

3 TBSP soy sauce or coconut aminos (coconut aminos are paleo, soy sauce isn’t)

2 tsp sesame oil

Wrapper:

6 large eggs, separated

2 cups arrowroot powder

1 cup water

For Cooking Pot Stickers:

2 TBSP bacon fat

¾ cup chicken broth

Dipping Sauce:

2 TBSP soy sauce or coconut aminos (coconut aminos are paleo, soy sauce isn’t)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Chili sauce or hot sauce to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prep all of your vegetables.  Seriously, prep them all first. They cook too quick to start prepping and cooking at the same time.

2. Add the bacon fat to a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add the garlic, small onion, and carrots.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the pork and cook for another 5 minutes or till cooked through, breaking up the pork into small pieces.

3. Add the green onion, cabbage, and remaining filling seasonings to the pan and stir to combine all ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

4. Take the pork mixture off the heat and place in a mixing bowl.  Allow to cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.  You can leave this overnight if you want to prepare a day ahead.

5. 30 minutes in to the cooling, start making your wrappers.  Separate the egg yolks from the whites and set the yolks aside.  Beat the egg whites until very frothy.  Gently add back the yolks until combined.

6. Mix the water and arrowroot powder together in a separate bowl and slowly stir into the egg mixture until combined.  The mixture will be very wet and runny.  Set the mixture aside for at least 20 minutes.  Stir the mixture well before using and stir a few times throughout the process of cooking the wrappers as the arrowroot powder will separate.

7. Get your pork filling mixture and keep it nearby, with a spoon, fork, and a plate to hold the pot stickers.

8. Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Pour about 1 TBSP of the wrapper mixture into the skillet and use the back of a kitchen spoon to quickly flatten it out, using a circular motion.  It takes a little practice to get this right.  You want the circle to be about 6 inches in diameter.  It will look like a thin crepe.

9. Cook the mixture for about 30 seconds on each side, then remove from the pan.  You don’t need the wrappers to be cooked through all the way because you will be cooking them again later.  Immediately take the wrapper and place about 1 TBSP of pork filling in the center of the wrapper.  Fold in half, place on a plate and press the edges together with a fork so they seal.  You can also use a dumpling press or a traditional folding technique, but I just used a fork.

10. Continue this process until all filling is gone and you have a bunch of pot stickers.  It goes a lot quicker if one person makes the wrappers and the other fills and seals them.

11. When finished making the pot stickers, you need to cook them.  Keep the pan heated over medium heat.  Lightly brush with bacon fat.  Add about 5 pot stickers (make sure they are not touching) and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.  Do not touch them!  After 2-3 minutes flip then add about 1/8 cup chicken broth to the pan, cover, and allow to steam for 1-2 minutes.  *I thought they tasted better when I didn’t put the lid on and they still kind of steamed, but they weren’t as soggy and a little more crispy.

12. Transfer the pot stickers to a plate and continue this process until all pot stickers are cooked.  Serve with dipping sauce.

13. Dipping sauce can be made by combining the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Crock Pot Applesauce

Are you scared of making your own applesauce?  I sure was.  Emphasis on the "was" part.  I found a recipe that was super easy and tastes good, too.  Because, you know I'm all about the easy recipes.

Ready for this... this recipe needs apples, water, and canning jars.  Woo hoo!  I peeled and cut enough apples to fill my 6 quart crock pot and added 1 cup of water.  I turned it on high and let it cook for a few hours until the apples were nice and soft.  I then threw the apples into my food processor and pulsed them until they were the consistency I wanted.  Actually, they could have been just mashed with a potato masher if I wanted them a little chunky.

I poured them immediately into 6 sterilized mason jars and sealed them.  You can see in my picture up there that I left a lot of room.  I probably could have put more applesauce in each one and I would have only gotten 5 pints of applesauce out of the 6 quart crock pot.  I immediately turned the jars upside down and let the heat from the hot applesauce seal the jars.  It only took a few minutes and the jars did seal themselves without a hot water bath.

Verdict: This applesauce is totally sugar free, preservatives and additives free, and completely paleo friendly.  I can't wait to serve this with dinner tomorrow night.  I tasted a little that I didn't jar and it was delicious, even sugar free.

**UPDATE: Once this cooled all 6 jars had sealed themselves just fine.  We opened the 1/2 pint jar to eat first and it is super tasty!  Everyone liked it, even without sugar added.

EASY CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

Makes 5 pints

INGREDIENTS:

Enough peeled and cut apples to fill a 6 quart crock pot

1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all apple slices in crock pot.

2. Add 1 cup of water.

3. Cook on high until apples are tender and mushy.

4. Mash with potato masher or pulse in food processor until applesauce is desired consistency.

5. Pour into sanitized pint sized mason jars.

6. Immediately seal and turn upside down while hot.

7. Keep upside down until jars have completely cooled.  Jars will seal themselves by the heat of the applesauce.  If any jars don’t seal, use those first.  All of mine sealed just fine.

Chicken and White Wine Sausages with Bacon Brussel Sprouts

My hubby has spent quite a few days over the last two weeks bow hunting for deer.  It's now bow and black powder season and almost rifle season, so today we went up to Bass Pro Shops to buy some new hunting clothes for me. The clothes I wore 2 years ago don't fit anymore - in a good way, they're way too big.  

We were a bit disappointed in the lack of options for ladies.  In fact, while I was able to get a ladies shirt, I ended up with a youth sized bib style pair of pants because all the ladies pants options (that were available in my size) were too light-weight or well over $150 a pair.  Thankfully, we found the youth pants that fit and there was one shirt that fit me that was the right thickness to wear in the cold weather.  So I'm all set to hunt.  I looked pretty good, too!

After we were done shopping for me, we went over to the guns and checked out all the black powder accessories. My husband has his father's black powder gun and he's never shot it.  He thinks it's been about 20 years since it's been fired so it is in need of a good cleaning before it can even be shot.  It took a while to figure out what to buy for cleaning the gun and firing it.  Then of course since we were near the guns, we decided to check out the rifles since we have a new hunter in the house.  Our son has a .22 that was gifted to him from my step-dad, but he and my hubby need to refinish the wood on it.  A .22 isn't great for hunting deer so we are considering options for a birthday present.  But that depends on a lot of other things down the road.  Definitely won't happen before hunting season this year.  

Why am I telling you all of this?  Because by the time we got back from all our shopping (we even had a stop at JoAnn Fabrics to price fabric to reupholster our wing-backed chairs) it was way too late to cook the dinner I had planned.  So, I whipped up something new based on what I had on hand.

This week at the farmer's market I picked up a new flavor of sausages, Chicken and White Wine.  I also got some brussel sprouts and yams.  I've also been using my cast iron skillets more and more because I'm finding I just like my meals cooked in them better.  I don't know why, but I just do.  I broke out 2 large skillets because I could see that 1 wasn't going to be enough and started cooking 2 pieces of bacon in each to get the fat going.  I cut each brussel sprout in half and sliced my sausage links.

Once the fat started rendering, I took the bacon out then I added the sausages in one pan and the brussel sprouts in the other.  I cut the bacon into pieces and threw it all into the pan with the brussel sprouts.  I probably could have cut it down before I started cooking, but oh well.  At the same time, I had 2 sweet potatoes (cut in half lengthwise and turned face down in a glass pan) cooking for 10 minutes in my microwave.  Once it was done cooking, I moved the pan to my broiler on high and cooked for 5 minutes face down and another 3 face up.

Verdict:  This was easy and tasty.  The brussel sprouts had a great flavor from the bacon and the sausages tasted wonderful.  The yams came out nice and tender which is what we all love.  The meal took a total of 20-25 minutes with prep time so it was nice and simple for us tonight.

CHICKEN AND WHITE WINE SAUSAGES WITH BACON BRUSSEL SPROUTS

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken and white wine sausage links, sliced in pieces

2 pints brussel sprouts, each sprout cut in half

4 pieces bacon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat 2 cast iron skillets to just over medium.

2. Add 2 pieces of bacon to each skillet.

3. When the fat begins to render, remove the bacon to cutting board and in one pan add the brussel sprouts and in the other add the sausage pieces.  Turn sprouts in pan to coat in bacon fat.

4. Cut the bacon into pieces then add all the bacon back to the brussel sprout pan.

5. Cook until the bacon and sausage is cooked through, turning sprouts frequently so they do not burn