Kid-friendly sloppy joes

Making a few changes to the original recipe, I’ve found these to be quite yummy.  For starters, I use 93% or 99% fat-free ground turkey.  Once the meat is browned, I stir in ½ cup of butternut squash and ½ cup of diced apple.  Both melt right into the mixture, and the apples give it a great crunchy texture.  Instead of green peppers, I’ve found red to be more fitting, and if I don’t have them on hand, I skip them all together.  Finally, I omit the hot sauce, although my husband sprinkles it on his once they’re served.  Piled onto a whole-grain bun with a side of steamed veggies and fresh fruit, dinner is good to go.  Finally, one favorite trick with this recipe: Make extra!  I always make it with three lbs. of ground turkey, and triple the other ingredients.  Before we eat, I divide it into three batches, freeze two batches in quart-sized freezer bags, and use one for that night.  On a busy night in the future, it’ll be a welcomed home-cooked meal to save you the time of cooking.

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For each serving. 489 calories 39 g. protein, 47 carbohydrates, 3 g. fiber,
18 g. fat (6 g. saturated fat) 86 mg. cholesterol, 1583 mg. sodium

1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, combine turkey,
potatoes, green onions, cheese, and black pepper. Mix well.

Shape into four patties (1/2-inch thick).
Place patties on broiler pan.

Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until no
longer pink in center and thoroughly cooked, turning once.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (one 4-ounce patty):
Glycemic Index: 78 (hash browns), Glycemic Load: 3,
Calories: 134, Protein: 21 g, Carbohydrate: 4 g,
Dietary Fiber: 0 g, Fat: 4 g, Cholesterol: 133 mg, Sodium: 137 mg
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 Lean Meat

Source: “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Terrific Diabetic Meals”

Was there something in the water this week? Did the meatloaf lobby inject our aquifers with some sort of serum that induced mindless meatloaf cravings nationwide? Perhaps. But probably it was the weather: when it gets cold, you seek comfort food.

I was walking to the grocery store on Monday, thinking: “Ground turkey. Cheap. Hmmmm.” Then, it struck me that I should make meatloaf — something I had never made in my life. So I turned, of course, to Mark Bittman, author of How To Cook Everything, which is kind of like the Joy of Cooking, but for cool people. I usually use Bittman’s recipes as a guide for cooking times, but make adjustments as necessary. In this case, I followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few important adjustments, which are noted below.

I think my best addition was the celery. If you’re making meatloaf, I would definitely encourage you to include the minced carrots and celery in addition to the onion. The extra vegetables add depth of flavor and keep the meat moist. Also, I would definitely recommend roasting the meatloaf freestyle in a large pan, surrounded by vegetables (potatoes, an onion cut into eighths, garlic cloves, brussel sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes). That way your meatloaf gets crispy all-around, instead of just on top, and the veggies will absorb the juices.

There’s one other reason you should use my recipe instead of going straight to How to Cook Everything: I’m going to give you guidance on salt, while Bittman just says “salt and pepper.” If you salt it perfectly, this meatloaf will be as good as candy. For real.

First, the ingredients:

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 lbs ground meat (Bittman suggests beef, lamb, veal, and/or pork, and reluctantly adds that you can use turkey or chicken instead. But I used half turkey, half beef, and had no complaints.)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Veggies and herbs: 2-3 minced garlic cloves, 1 small or medium onion, 1 small or medium carrot, 1 stalk celery, parsley (Bittman says 1/4 cup, I probably used 1/2 cup), and some other fresh herb. Bittman suggests Sage, which I’m sure is delicious, but I used rosemary because I had some in the freezer.
Salt (I use one teaspoon per pound of meat, but the key is to test your batter before making the loaf)
Pepper

Heat the oven to 35o or 375 degrees. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk for five minutes. Mince the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. I used a mini-prep food processor — you could do it by hand but just make sure you get them really small, so they blend in with the meat. You don’t want to be munching on chunks of carrots. Then combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Now, here’s the key: once the batter is thoroughly mixed, make a small meatball in a saucepan and taste it. If it’s not flavorful enough, add a bit more salt and pepper. I started with about one teaspoon of salt and then added another teaspoon after my meatball test. Then I tested the batter again. This may seem like an annoying step but it’s totally worth it.

Shape the meat into a free-form loaf, so it gets crispy on three sides instead of just one, and put it in a large pan. Surround it with bite-size potatoes, an onion cut into eighths, brussel sprouts, or any other vegetables you like to roast. Coat them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. I cooked the loaf for 50 minutes at 375 degrees and it was delicious.

The Shopping List

• 3 green bell peppers
• 2.5 lbs ground turkey
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 white onion
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup of milk
• Colby cheese
• Grated parmesean
• 6 eggs
• 1 container of Italian bread crumbs
• 2 round wheat rolls (for burgers)
• Couscous (you may have this leftover from the last weekly round of recipes)
• Choice of veggie sides (entirely up to you, but here’s some easy suggestions: frozen, fresh or canned mixed vegetables; sweet potatoes; garden salad ingredients)
• 1 can baked beans
• 1 bag mustard and onion pretzels (or use bread crumbs and regular mustard – this is for the turkey burger recipe below)

See the bottom of this post for some coupon links!

Seasonings, Spices, and Tools

You may already have some of these. If not, consider them a good investment. If you prefer to use fresh herbs, go right ahead! Most spice jars have dried/fresh conversions on their labels.

• Jar of minced garlic, or 5 cloves of fresh garlic
• Salt & pepper
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Garlic powder
• Ketchup
• Butter (I like light olive oil spread like Olivio or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s Light Mediterranean Blend)

The Recipes

Monday: You’ll actually need to start this one on Sunday night (it just needs to marinate in the fridge). Garlic Egg Chicken is easy, and since you’re doing half of the prep in advance, it’s nice to come home to a meal you can just throw in the oven after a blah workday. Recommendation: mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesean cheese, parsley, garlic powder, and salt & pepper the night before and store in a covered container. This way, all you have to do Monday night is combine the dry bread crumb mixture with the melted butter and coat the chicken.

Tuesday: Zesty Turkey Burgers go great with baked beans (I really like Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Southern Pit Barbecue flavor) and a side salad.

Zesty Turkey Burgers - Image from AllRecipes

Throw them in the broiler if you have one for a more grilled taste (just  keep an eye on them, they’ll take less time to cook than the baking method).

Wednesday: Here’s a stuffed pepper recipe that works with all of your ingredients:

2 green bell peppers

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 of a green bell pepper, chopped (save the rest)

6 oz chunky pasta sauce (about 1/3 of a regular jar)

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped onion

1-2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup couscous (uncooked)

2-3 oz shredded Colby cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Cut the tops off of your peppers and scoop out any seeds and guts on the inside. If you’ve never done this before, it’s kind of like cutting open a mini jack-o-lantern.  Set them on a baking dish and put aside.

3. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the turkey until no longer pink. Add 1/2 cup chopped onion, chopped green bell pepper, and garlic. Reduce heat to low, add tomato sauce, and let simmer while you prep the couscous.

4. Prepare the couscous following the package directions – BUT – add 2 1/2 tbsp onion to the boiling water before adding the couscous. When the couscous is done, stir it into the skillet mixture. Fill up both peppers with the stuffing and top with shredded Colby.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes. It’s done when the cheese starts to bubble and get slightly brown.

Thursday: Herbed Chicken Nuggets with a nice big garden salad are a grown-up version of the Happy Meal. You can skip the wheat germ and substitute with 1/4 cup bread crumbs (making the total bread crumbs required for this recipe 1/2 cup).

Friday: Time for some comfort food: Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf. Add some garlic and onion to the mix (about 1 clove and 1/4 of an onion). The key is to follow the instructions and cut the cheese into big chunks. It pays off in delicious cheese explosions for your taste buds.

The Coupons

Here are some coupon links to help you save some money on some of the ingredients you need this week.

Classico Pasta Sauce

75 cents off Butterball Ground Turkey

$2.00 off Rice Select Couscous

For some of these, you need to sign up and download a coupon printer. I haven’t been able to get this to work with Google Chrome yet; but if you’re using Firefox or IE you’ll be fine. Another tip: set up a separate e-mail (try a Gmail account) for your coupon registrations; that way you won’t get tons of spam in your normal inbox.

I’m getting a lot of traffic from Reddit today. Hi Redditors! Thanks for visiting!

If you think you can’t be healthy eating Spaghetti and Meatballs, you’re wrong. This version uses ground turkey, whole wheat spaghetti and egg whites. I like to bake the meatballs on a rack in the oven first, then put them in the sauce. I made this recipe for some kid’s cooking classes I taught 2 summers ago, and it was an instant hit. They had no idea I had slipped in turkey for the beef, and for many of them, it was the first time they tried whole wheat noodles. They really liked them! This is a super easy recipe and a family favorite at my house, so I hope you will enjoy it in your home too. Also, please comment by clicking on the button below, and tell me what type of recipes you would like to see. Alison

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

Prep time: 20 minutes

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

11/2 pounds ground turkey 

1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

2 egg whites

1/4 cup minced onion

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 (3-pound) jar marinara pasta sauce 

1 (16-ounce) package whole-wheat spaghetti 

Fresh basil, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place the turkey, egg, bread crumbs, ranch dressing mix, and 1 tablespoon of the Worcestershire sauce into a mixing bowl along with 3 tablespoons of the minced onion, and 3 tablespoons of the minced bell pepper. Set the remaining onion and bell pepper aside. Form the turkey mixture into 2 inch meatballs, and place into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. While the meatballs are baking, stir the remaining onion and bell pepper in a bowl along with the Dr. Pepper®, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Once the meatballs have cooked for 15 minutes, remove them from the oven and pour the sauce overtop. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and return to the oven.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and allow to stand 15 minutes before serving.

Lasagna can seem like a pain to make, but really it’s so easy and really worth it. This recipe is special because it gets its great flavors from an array of vegetables, fresh parsley and sausage. It’s not too high in calories and fat as I used very few noodles, part-skim ricotta cheese and just a small amount of shredded cheese for such a large dish. If you don’t prefer sausage, use lean ground beef or ground turkey. You can make this recipe ahead. It’s perfect for company or for weeknight with leftovers for the next day.

Sausage-Vegetable Lasagna

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 35 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound mild or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

11/2 cups marinara sauce

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onions

1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

6 lasagna noodles, cooked

11/2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Preparation

1. Saute first 5 ingredients in a large saute pan or Dutch oven in hot oil  over medium heat 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender; add mushrooms and continue to cook until sausage is browned. Add sauce and tomatoes; simmer 10 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese and parsley, stirring well.

3. Layer lasagna noodles, sausage mixture and ricotta mixture in a 13- x 9-inch lightly greased baking dish; repeat with remaining layers ending with sauce. Top with shredded cheese. 

4. Bake at 375F, covered 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Whether you are a huge fan of meatloaf or not, I wanted to introduce you to one of my favorite meatloaf recipes that I developed using ground turkey. Ground beef or pork may be substituted for the turkey, but the ground turkey works well with the fresh combination of basil, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Anyone can put this recipe together with ease, and yes, it can be made up ahead of time and baked later in the day or even prepared up to one day in advance and warmed up just in time for dinner. Serve with a big salad and your favorite vegetable or potato side dish for a delicious comforting meal.

Turkey Meatloaf with Sun-Dried Tomatoes 

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (use can use plain breacrumbs if you like)

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2/3 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)

2 egg whites

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup ketchup

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-x 5-inch pan with aluminum foil. Combine ground turkey and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well. Shape into a loafpan. Bake 50 minutes. Spread 1/3 ketchup evenly over the top and bake 10 minutes more.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In separate sauce pans cook noodles and broccoli as labels direct just until tender. In saucepan over low heat, melt butter; stir in flour, salt, mustard, pepper and milk. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Drain noodles and broccoli. Dice broccoli stems; leave flowerets whole. Arrange noodles, broccoli stems, turkey in shallow casserole or 8 inch square baking dish; pour cheese sauce over all. Arrange broccoli flowerets on top, pressing them lightly into sauce; sprinkle with almonds. Bake uncovered 15 minutes or until bubbling hot.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In 8 inch skillet, heat 1 tsp. Margarine over medium heat until bubbly and hot. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté until pepper is tender, about 3 minutes. Add meat, chilies, tomato paste, chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes to blend flavors. Transfer mixture to 9 inch pie plate and sprinkle with cheese. In blender, combine remaining 3 teaspoons margarine with the flour, buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and dash of salt. Process until smooth. Pour batter over meat mixture and bake until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.