Turkey Pasta Soup

Sorry about not posting yesterday for Wisdom Wednesday. It was a crazy day. :]

This spring has been so cold and rainy where I live. When the weather is like that outside I like to have warm food inside. This is a wonderful soup. It has lots of flavor and is very filling. Everyone who has tried it has loved it, even my children. :] Another good thing about this recipe is that it is quick. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and you have a wonderful healthy meal!

Turkey Pasta Soup

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked small brown rice or whole wheat pasta shells

1 pound 99% lean ground turkey

2 medium onions, chopped

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

5 cups water

5 teaspoons better than bullion

2 cans white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, cook turkey with onion over medium heat, continually breaking up ground turkey until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. In a separate bowl combine water and better than bullion until dissolved, then add to stock pot along with beans, tomatoes and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add to the soup. Cook 5 minutes longer or until heated through and enjoy!!

Original recipe found on tasteofhome.com

Turkey Casserole

Here is another wonderful recipe you can use with your leftover turkey from the holidays. I froze a ton and as you may have noticed I've been pulling in out of the freezer to use lately. :] This recipe is delicious! I love slightly toasted bread on top. It goes perfect with the sauce. Another reason I like this dish is because it uses chopped celery. For some reason my kids do not like celery, but they didn't even notice it in this casserole! This recipe calls for a lot of cheese. If you want to cut down on the fat and calories only use 1/2 cup in the sauce. It will still taste wonderful! Happy eating.

Turkey Casserole

Ingredients

3 cups cubed cooked turkey breast

1 package (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed

1 cup chopped celery, about 2 stocks

1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

2 tablespoon chopped green pepper, about 1/4 of a medium sized pepper

1 tablespoon chopped onion, about one slice from the middle of an onion

1 10 oz can reduced fat condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/4 cup rice milk

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 slices whole wheat bread, or spelt bread, cubed

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Spray a 2-qt baking dish with non stick cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine the soup, milk, 1 cup of the cheese, chicken broth, lemon juice and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth and heated through. Pour over turkey mixture; toss to coat. Transfer to the 2-qt. baking dish. Top with bread cubes. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Then sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve warm and enjoy!

Crock Pot Turkey and Rice Casserole

Here is our first recipe made with the homemade poultry seasoning. To be honest I was a little worried because I don't like the flavor of rosemary that much. The flavor of this dish is very nice. You can taste the turkey and veggies and the seasoning was just perfect, not too much, just enough. I usually don't cook rice in the crock pot/slow cooker. I liked how this turned out. The rice was sticky kind of like Oriental sticky rice, just not as sweet as sticky rice. It's nice to have everything cooked and ready for dinner, just add a salad!

Crock pot Turkey and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

3 cups rice

2 to 3 cups cubed cooked turkey

1 teaspoon homemade poultry seasoning

3 cups water

3 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 3/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons 'better than bullion'

Directions

Combine soup and 3 cups water in crock pot/slow cooker. Add rice, turkey, seasoning, onion, and vegetables. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Add better than bullion to 1 3/4 cups water, then add to rice in crock pot/slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook for another 2 to 3 hours or until rice is tender. This serves a ton of people! We had so many leftovers I started giving it away. :] Serve warm and enjoy!

original recipe found here.

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

These sloppy joes are unique as far as sloppy joes go. The flavor is a little different than normal sloppy joes, much much better if you ask me. They are a little more sweet and slightly tangy. They are very addicting! I could just eat the mixture one it's own by the spoonful!! Because they are a little different I found that they go great on baked potatoes, and make delicious meatier nachos! This recipe makes a lot so you can use it for leftovers, once on bread, once on baked potatoes, and then nachos!

Crock pot Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

3 pounds uncooked ground turkey or uncooked ground chicken

4 8oz cans tomato sauce

2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves

6 teaspoons dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 teaspoon evaporated cane juice

2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic and onions

2 cups (yellow, green, red) sweet peppers chopped small

Directions

In a skillet over medium-high heat; cook ground turkey or chicken until no longer pink, stirring to break apart. In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker add tomato sauce, basil, parsley, onion, oregano, garlic, salt, evaporated cane juice and stir. Then add diced tomatoes, and peppers. Add cooked chicken or turkey and stir well. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-9 hours. Serve on whole wheat bread or buns with mozzarella, provolone, or Cheddar cheese.

original recipe found here.

Turkey Balls in Honey Garlic Sauce

At this time of year there are a lot of parties to go to. It's nice to be able to take something yummy that doesn't pack on the bad, empty calories. I loved these turkey balls! They have a nice hardy flavor, like a meat ball should have, with just a hint of sweetness to them. I took them to a party where the only food there was appetizers. They don't take that long to make and are very delicious. Very good to eat on rice too.

Turkey Balls in Honey Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

Balls:

1 egg

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon bragg's liquid aminos

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup smashed crackers, I use gluten free multigrain

1/2 pound ground turkey

Sauce:

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 small onion, minced

1/2 cup honey

1 can dice tomatoes, pureed

1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons kamut flour, or gluten free flour mix

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Balls:

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl combine egg, garlic, bragg's, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, chili and mustard powders, and half of the crackers. Then add ground turkey and combine well. Slowly add the rest of the crackers a little bit at a time. You want these turkey balls to stick together but to be a little on the dry side. That way they will absorb more of the sauce. Form turkey into small bite size balls and place on the cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Makes about 30 small balls.

Sauce:

While the turkey balls are baking, in a medium sauce pan, saute garlic and onion in butter until onion is translucent. Then add pureed tomatoes, liquid smoke, honey, and white vinegar. Bring to a simmer. In a separate bowl combine kamut flour, onion salt, and garlic powder. Add flour mixture to sauce. When the turkey balls are cooked through add to sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens. Serve warm with toothpick, or serve on cooked rice and enjoy!

Stuffed Tomatoes

I had to give you two pictures with this recipe. With the cheese on top you just couldn't see all of the goodness from the stuffing. This was heavenly! My son who does not like tomatoes even ate it. The slight spice from the turkey sausage pared with the sweetness from the tomato is delightful and very filling. Most people would serve this as a side, but I would suggest that this could be the main attraction. It has plenty of heartiness with the sausage. Your family or guests will love it!

Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

6 large ripe tomatoes

1 cup crushed Gluten Free crackers (I use these)

2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 small onion, diced

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 teaspoons butter

1 4oz. can diced green chilies

1 recipe turkey sausage, see below

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*F. Cut the tops off of the tomatoes and use a knife to cut around the inside, separating the flesh from the skin. Scoop out the flesh and set aside to use for later. Place the tomatoes in a small baking dish. In a sauce pan, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add flesh from the tomatoes, crackers, sausage, and green chilies; mix well. In the bottom of each tomato put a little cheese. Then fill with sausage mixture. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and top with remaining cheese and return to oven to bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy!

Original recipe found here.

Turkey Sausage

Ingredients

1/2 pound ground turkey

1 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

3/4 teaspoon evaporated cane juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

In a bowl combine all ingredients well. In a sauce pan cook turkey sausage on medium high heat until cooked through; continually stirring to break up turkey so that it resembles cooked hamburger.

And the winner is....

Cumin Turkey Burgers!!

I entered this recipe into a contest and they won! I was so excited when I got the email last week. I've won anything that had to with food before. So today I am going to re post the recipe. Summer is coming to an official end this week, but that doesn't mean that you can't have one last BBQ this weekend. It is football season after all right?! Try these you will LOVE them!

Cumin Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

1 egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons bragg's liquid aminos

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon mustard power

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup smashed/crushed multigrain crackers, click here to see what I use

1 pound ground turkey

Directions

In a bowl combine egg, garlic, bragg's, worcestershire sauce, cumin, chili and mustard powders, and crackers. Then add ground Turkey and combine well. It will be sticky. Form turkey mixture into 8 patties, you may need to put a little water on our hands to keep the turkey from sticking to them. Place patties on a glass plate and put into fridge to cool until ready to cook (if you use a paper plate the patties will stick to it).

Cook on grill until no longer pink in the center, about 4 minutes on both sides. An instant-read thermometer should read 165*F when put into center of patties. Serve on whole wheat buns or
two pieces of lettuce with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Turkey Sausage

More and more I've been seeing recipes that I want to make that have sausage in them. So when I came across a turkey sausage recipe, I was more than excited. The only problem was it wasn't very good. So I went to work experimenting to come up with one that not only I liked but also my husband. I figured that if he liked it, then I could share it with you. So for you today I share my recipe, this is the one that my husband liked. You can also make great sausage patties. I've used this recipe several times and it is delicious!

Turkey Sausage

Ingredients

3 teaspoons liquid smoke

2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoon evaporated cane juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 pound ground turkey (I always use the 97% fat free)

Directions

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients. Place turkey mixture in pan and cook on medium on stove top. Continue to break up turkey so that it resembles cooked hamburger.

For patties: after combining all ingredients form into patties and cook on grill until cooked through. Enjoy!

Cumin Turkey Burgers

I've realized that I'm not the best at taking pictures of the food that I make. I'm sorry about that, and I'll work on it. To me this turkey burger really doesn't look that good, but they are so extremely yummy!! It took me a couple of tries to get these just right. Now I've made them so many times this summer. I love that they are very quick to make, so if some friends what to get together for a BBQ I can say sure I'll come and not have to worry about not being able to eat any of the food. I wanted to make it look like a normal burger in the picture but really I use lettuce as a bun instead of the bread.

Cumin Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

1 egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons bragg's liquid aminos

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup smashed/crushed GF crackers, I always use these

1 pound ground turkey

Directions

In a bowl combine egg, garlic, bragg's, worcestershire sauce, cumin, mustard, chili powder, and crackers. Then add ground turkey and combine well. It will be sticky. Form turkey into patties, you may need to put a little water on your hands to keep the turkey from sticking to it. Put patties on a glass plate and put into fridge to cool until ready to cook (if you use a paper plate the patties will stick to it).

Cook on grill until no longer pink in the center, about 4 minutes on both sides. An instant-read thermometer should read 165*F when put into center of patties. Serve on whole wheat buns with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Wisdom Wednesday!!!

Ground Turkey

I've used ground turkey before but to be honest I didn't know that much about it. I know that's not the smartest thing to do so I did some research to see what I could find. To see if it really is that much better for you than ground beef. Now don't get me wrong I like ground beef and I feed it to my children. As long as it is hormone free. In fact every year we have an organic cow killed. Really it's the best way to go if you are going to eat meat in your home. You get to choose how much fat is in the ground beef and all of the cuts of meat that you want. And you get to save money too. Not to mention you never have to worry about 'mad cow disease'. For myself my body can not handle ground beef right now. Okay enough of that soap box.

So on to turkey. To start off with I want to make sure you know what kind of ground turkey to buy. It should say on the package the amount of fat that is in the turkey. But just in case, always buy ground turkey breast. Just like in chicken, the breast is the most lean part of the bird. If you buy just ground turkey the fat in it is the same amount as most ground beefs that you would buy. Three ounces of turkey has 65% of your daily value of protein. Turkey also is a good source of selenium, an important trace mineral that is essential to your body for thyroid hormone metabolism, immune function, and your antioxidant defense system. I was happy to find out that turkey is a great source of vitamin B6 and niacin (B3), both of which are important for helping your body produce energy. Red meat has a lot of the B vitamins in it. It also has iron which turkey does not. So if you are cutting red meat out of your diet, make sure you are getting the rest of the B vitamins and iron that your body needs.

I like the taste of ground turkey. Some say that if you replace ground meat with ground turkey in some recipes you can't tastes the difference. I haven't made a ton of different things with it, mostly I've made turkey burgers (recipe will post later). So if you're looking to mix it up a little or if you want to cut red meat out of your diet, turkey is a great alternative.

Sources: www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=125#nutritionalprofile

www.drgourmet.com/askdrcourmet/turkeyvbeef.shtml