I hope all of you wonderful people had a great weekend. I had a three day weekend, but it wasn’t a do-something-fun-with-the-day-off kind of weekend. On Friday, I had to get my wisdom tooth pulled. And yes, tooth as in singular. One tooth. Luckily, that is all I will ever have. Don’t ask me why, but only one tooth decided to grow in. My dentist said it’s because I am higher up on the evolution scale (since wisdom teeth are pointless in today’s modern world). I’ve also had others tell me it’s because I’m not as wise. Jerks. Either way, it’s gone!

I was absolutely dreading the appointment with all of the horror stories I have heard, but I have to say, it was relatively painless. I choose to go with I.V. sedation, since I absolutely HATE the dentist. I was out before I knew it, awake 30 minutes later, and had no idea what had happened. I was in a little discomfort on Friday after the surgery, but since then, I have had no major issues (knock on wood!). There is still the chance that I could get a dry socket, which I have heard is absolutely awful, but I really only needed pain meds on Friday. Yesterday, I even managed to get out of the house and go exploring with a friend. We went to some hot springs in Sierraville, about an hour from here, and just spent the day relaxing and soaking. I’m convinced that the hot springs will help with my healing process. Why not?

The only thing that I am not very happy about is that I am not supposed to run for about a week. According to the dentist, any jarring motion like running can dislodge the blood clot and create a dry socket. Since I definitely do not want that, I will be listening to doctor’s orders, although I am starting to feel antsy. I’ll probably get out for an easy run on Wednesday (5 days is close enough to 7, right?) and see how that goes. I got races to train for, people! In the meantime, I’ll be hitting the stationary bike at the gym and light weights. I have been wanting to get back to lifting weights regularly anyways, so I figure this is a good time to get them back in my schedule.

I’m back to eating pretty normal, with the exception of hard, crunchy food, and have a delicious little recipe for you! And when I say little, I mean seriously little in the ingredients department, but not little in flavor. These little BBQ Bacon Balls are absolutely delicious and pack some serious flavor. I made these entree size, but you could also make them a tad bit smaller, stick them with a toothpick, and they would be a winning appetizer. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

BBQ Bacon Balls

Makes 4 entree-sized servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (I like 7% fat)
• 12 oz. applewood smoked bacon
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2/3 cup Organicville Original BBQ sauce (divided), plus more for dipping
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix the turkey, dijon, 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, shallot, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Get out your bacon and cut each piece into two.
4. Grab about a golf ball sized amount of the turkey mixture and form into a ball.
5. Wrap a piece of bacon around the ball and place on a wire rack, on top of a foil-lined baking sheet (this will seriously help with clean-up).
6. Continue making your balls and wrapping with bacon until you have used all of your turkey mixture.
7. Top each ball with about 1 teaspoon of BBQ sauce.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the bacon has crisped and meatballs are cooked through.
9. Dip in extra BBQ sauce and enjoy!

You could also make this with ground beef, pork, or bison, which I am sure would be equally as delicious!