Olive & feta turkey burgers

This week my meals have consisted of leftover chicken, turkey burgers and subway- turkey with avocado and spinach (due to no electric).

Last night we had a power outage at our condo complex. It wasn't pretty folks, what did people do without electric? And worse by themselves.
I tried reading by candle light, Fail. The candle flame kept flickering (as candle flames do) and I was getting a headache reading not to mention they aren't to bright. Then I tried to watch a dvd on the computer but then the battery died. Because leaving the apt after I was already in pj's was not an option I did what any normal person would do and stared out the window in a creepy dark apt and spied on the neighbors and walker byers.

Now that that I made myself sound creepy, on to turkey burgers! As promised I decided to make a second round of turkey burgers but this time using olives instead of the zucchini.
I mixed together :

• 1lb of organic ground turkey
• 1 glove of garlic (minced)
• 1/3c fresh cilantro
• 1/3c feta
• 1/2t cumin
• 1/2t coriander
• 1/4t of red cayenne pepper
• 1/3c chopped olives
• a dash of olive oil

Made into 4 patties

 

Cooked on a grill pan and then finished in the oven.

Ate with a side of sweet potato fries of course. :)

Turkey burgers all week long

This week John is away for a business trip and I still have 2 more weeks to go of the intro crossfit class which means late dinners again this week. I however was proactive this week and made turkey burgers and sweet potato fries to eat for dinner on those days.

John hates turkey burgers and I have been craving them for a while now so I thought this would be the perfect week to make them, and I have them all to myself!

I used this simple recipe:

• 1lb of organic ground turkey
• 1 medium zucchini shredded
• 1/2 t basil
• 1/2 t oregano
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then form into 4 patties and grill on a grill pan 2 mins a side. Then finish them off in an oven at 350 until cooked through. Or you could just do them on the grill but we don't have that option. :( 

These turned out amazing! The zucchini kept them really moist inside and they had great flavor, sort of an Italiany taste to them. 

So far this week I have had them for 2 dinners and 2 lunches!

Without the buns, shame I know I am trying to cut back on my cheese and carbohydrate (this is really hard, but I am trying to make a conscious effort) intake and increase my protein since I am doing a lot more weight lifting.

John is away next week and I am thinking about making a different version of these using olives instead of zucchini! Mmmm

Turkey Santa Fe Baked Potato

I still have a crap load of potatoes to use up from my CSA basket so I am trying to find recipes that do not included anything mashed, scalloped, fried and baked.

After a lot of searching I came across this recipe for turkey stuffed potatoes I like turkey and I'll eat the potato especially when I am scooping out all the insides.
People often ask/or can't believe I hate potatoes, after all who hates potatoes? My answer, I just don't know. I hated them as far back as I can remember, when I was younger I would gag just scraping old mash potatoes in the trash the smell, texture, yuck! I am not that bad anymore but I still hate them. 


Here's the recipe (from skinnytaste)
Ingredients:

• 7 medium (32 oz) russet potatoes, washed and dried

For the filling:

• 1/2 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 hot pickled serrano pepper, chopped (or jalepeño)
• 1 large diced tomato
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp chopped onion
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish 
• 1 tsp cumin
• kosher salt to taste

For the topping:

• 14 tbsp reduced fat shredded cheese (I used Sargento Mexican)
• nonstick spray (Smart Balance)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• reduced fat sour cream or fat free Greek yogurt (optional, extra pts)

Directions:

1. Pierce potato with a fork a few times all around. Place in microwave and cook on high about 5 minutes per potato. When finished, allow to cool enough to handle. Cut potatoes in half horizontally. Scoop out potatoes  leaving about 1/4 inch thick wall, skins will weigh about 1 oz each.
2. In a large skillet brown the turkey and season with salt. When the turkey is browned, add onion, garlic, black beans, cilantro, serrano pepper, diced tomatoes, and cumin. Mix well and simmer on low, covered for 20 minutes.    
3. Remove lid, add corn and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes or until all the liquid reduces.  
4. Heat oven to 450°. Lightly spray potato skins on both sides with oil and place a foil lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and bake skins for 10 minutes.  
5. Remove from the oven, add 1/4 cup meat filling into each potato skin, top with 1 tbsp shredded cheese and bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
6. Top with sour cream and scallions.  
   

Even with the insides scooped out they were too much for me I was only able to eat 1 with the skin so I ate the rest with just the filling. But at least now all my potatoes are gone! I officially added them to my no list going forward.

Meatballs

Sadly I don't mean this:

or this

but just these

I was struggling with the dinner menu this week, since I didn't have a CSA basket this week to help with planning I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to make. So I stuck with something easy that I could throw in a crock pot and forget about.

Over my my blogging career I tried a couple of recipes for meatballs all of them good but nothing that knocked my socks off, ya know?

• Homemade sauce and meatballs

• Scallion meatballs

One of the blogs I read skinnytaste had a recipe that I thought I would give a try.

Ingredients:

• 20 oz (1.3 lb) ground turkey breast 93% lean
• 1/4 cup whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Reggiano Parmigiano cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp kosher salt + fresh pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (I like Tuttorosso)
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil or parsley

1. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, garlic and cheese. Using clean hands, mix all the ingredients and form small meatballs, about 1/8th cup each.
2. In a small saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn. 
3. Pour crushed tomatoes into the crock pot with bay leaf. Add garlic and oil.
4. Drop meatballs into the sauce, cover and set crock pot to low, 4 to 6 hours. When meatballs are ready, adjust salt and pepper to taste and add fresh chopped basil or parsley.
5.  Serve with ricotta, over pasta or enjoy with French bread.

They were quick and easy to prepare and all I had to do was throw them in the crock pot and wait. And check one to make sure they were cooked. ;)

I did try and serve them with part skim ricotta cheese since I had some in the fridge, but it was awful. Maybe I just don't like ricotta? (wow a cheese I don't like?!?!)

So I stuck with just the plain meatballs. John however asked "just plain meatballs?" so he had his on a whole wheat sandwich roll (a more manly meal).

My review of this recipe-they were really moist inside but the flavor was lacking. The sauce was really good however, it thickened up as it cooked and the flavor was garlicky ( I added a little more than the recipe called for) which I liked. 

And of course no meatball meal would be complete with out the side salad, and since I didn't eat the ricotta cheese I had a bit more feta on the salad. :)

Ground turkey, pasta, something or other

Remember when I stated that I was going to make stuffed zucchini here? My original plan was to use make the stuffing and use it to stuff 1 zucchini and 1 red pepper, this way John and I would each half half to eat. Well I took the zucchini out of the fridge and looked at it. It was tiny, to to small to be a stuffing zucchini.

Not much bigger then a can!
And I had a hard decision last night to sacrifice half the pepper to make the salsa so that would only leave 1 half of the pepper and 2 mini zucchini halves.
 
On to plan B throw a bunch of things together in a pan. I had ground turkey that was suppose to be used in the stuffed zucchini so I wanted to use it up before it went bad.
I sauteed the ground turkey in a pan until almost cooked then I added

• yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• red pepper, diced
• can of diced tomatoes
• dried oregeno
• red pepper flakes, for some heat 

I simmered for a few minutes and added 2 cups of chicken broth, then add some ditalini pasta and let it simmer until the pasta was almost cooked through.
Then I added fresh spinach and some shredded Parmesan and Romano cheese and let it cook until the spinach was wilted and pasta cooked.

look at those cute little pastas!

Loaded fries and chili

Today is an exciting day Sarah my bestie is coming to visit! She is on spring break from med school this week so she decided she wanted to do a food tour of Vermont so of course who better to go along me! Cheese, ice cream and beer count me in!  Before we picked Sarah up we had an appointment to look at Willowdale in Topsfield. When we arrived it was amazing!

The food was amazing (especially the mini tarts with feta) and the venue gorgeous! Unfortunately it also comes with a crazy price tag. :(

After the tour we headed to the grocery store to stock up on things for dinner then home to cook. I had a ton of potatoes to use up from the CSA basket and I don't really have a love for them, so I was trying to find a recipe to use them in a way I would enjoy. I think I found success.

Skinny Texas Cheese Fries  (skinnytaste)
Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1/2 • Old Points: 6 pt • Points+: 7 pt
Calories: 259 • Fat: 12.3 g • Protein: 10.1 g • Carb: 29 g • Fiber: 2.9 g • Sugar: 1.4 g
Sodium: 590.5 mg (without salt)

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes (2/3 lb total), yukon gold or russet, washed and dried (skin on)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 slice center cut bacon, cooked & finely chopped
• 1/3 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp diced scallions
• 1 tbsp sliced pickled Jalapeno (jarred on canned)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Lightly coat with cooking spray.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch thin slices; then cut each slice into 1/4 inch fries.
In a large bowl, combine cut potatoes and oil; toss well. Add seasoning (paprika to salt and pepper). Toss to coat.

Place potatoes in a single layer on a lightly greased large baking sheet. Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes or until tender crisp, turning once half way through (depending on thickness this may require more or less time).  

Remove from oven, place fries into two small oven safe dishes (or one large dish for sharing), top with cheddar cheese, sliced jalapenos, scallions and bacon bits and return to oven for  about 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

Now these were potatoes that I could eat, I mean anything covered in cheese and bacon has to be good.  I also heated up some leftover all American chili I had in the freezer.

Loaded fries and chili perfect combo!

Now off to pick Sarah up!!

Taco kits

Tonight was a throw together easy kind of dinner. I always forget to add tacos into dinner rotations they are easy and fast to make. I bought one of those taco kits at the grocery store this week.

It included 6 hard and soft shells, the taco seasoning and taco sauce. Growing up we use to have these for dinner at least every other week and I loved the taco sauce that it came with. I am not sure why it isn't anything that great and I am sure it's not that good for you but I still really like it! John often cringes when I dump it by spoon fulls on my tacos.

For taco meat I used organic ground turkey and added the seasoning packet.

I cut up some tomatoes, lettuce and graded some cheese.

For sauces we used Newman's hot salsa and for me the taco sauce.

Along with the 2 types of shells

Then dinner was served!

After dinner since the weather was still nice out we walked to the auto zone so John could pick up some more oil for his car (about 2 miles). Then back home to watch another episode of Breaking Bad, I am really like this show some parts are actually funny despite the seriousness of the plot.

Scallion Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze

Another Asian themed dinner tonight. And as I am sitting here typing this I realized you are thinking another? I complete forgot about Sunday! I didn't post Sunday dinner. I guess you can figured out it was Asian themed. :)
I came across this recipe for meatballs on Smitten Kitchen a wonderful website with all things delicious.
I started by making the meatballs obviously, making the sauce unless you have something to drizzle it over. Unless you really like the sauce and prefer to eat it by itself like cookie dough or that whip topping you are suppose to put in the icing. (because I do that also)

then I steamed some veggie wontons I had leftover from Sunday's dinner here are a few photo's of them since I missed the post, opps.

 all the veggies chopped up real small

then enjoyed them both! With a side of brown rice to slop up the extra sauce.

Here's the recipe:
Meatballs

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 4 large or 6 small scallions, finely chopped
• Half bunch cilantro, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup) (the cilantro-averse can use flat-leaf parsley)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil, toasted if you can find it
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil

Make meatballs: Mix turkey, scallions, cilantro, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce and several grindings of black pepper in a bowl. I like mixing meatballs with a fork; it seems to work the ingredients into each other well. Roll tablespoon-sized knobs of the mixture into balls. The mixture is pretty soft; I find it easiest to roll — eh, more like toss the meatballs from palm to palm until they’re roundish — meatballs with damp hands.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, generously cover bottom of pan with vegetable oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, place meatballs in pan and cook, turning, until browned all over and cooked inside, about 8 minutes per batch. Arrange on a platter (a heated one will keep them warm longer), spoon a little sauce over each meatball, and serve with toothpicks. Alternatively, you can serve the glaze on the side, to dip the meatballs.

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  1/2 cup water
  1/2 cup soy sauce, preferably Japanese or reduced sodium
  1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine), or 1/2 cup sake with 1/4 cup sugar
  1/4 cup peeled, chopped ginger (I used half and it tasted like plenty to me; adjust to your preference)
  1 teaspoon ground coriander

Make sauce: Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar melts completely. Reduce heat to a medium-low and add soy sauce, mirin, ginger, coriander. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 30 minutes, though this took me a bit longer to reduce it until it was syrupy enough that I thought it would coat, and not just dribble off the meatballs. You can keep it on a back burner, stirring it frequently, while browning the meatballs in the next step.