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This Week In Food...Do Something Good With Ground Turkey

Hello food friends! I'm pretty late to the food game this week, but my entire week was thrown off kilter by being sick Friday thru Tuesday. You know how it is...you get a couple of days behind on your to-do's and then you just frantically play catch-up all week. So here I am on Friday, just getting to This Week In Food! Tragic. I hope you haven't all starved without me...or worse, just eaten the same old chicken breast every day. Ick.

Anyway, let's start with a quick recap of last week. If you recall in last week's post I mentioned that I was starting a diet. Well, I worked really hard and did really well following said diet for one week. Then I got sick and now can't stand the thought of eating any of the diet food anymore because I now associate it with feeling sick. So much for that. And I had even lost a couple of lbs on it. Oh well. I guess it's back to my normal "eat healthy most of the time, exercise regularly, and hope for the best" approach. As my three year old says...whatever.

Speaking of eating healthy, how about doing something good with ground turkey this week? I've got two good, healthy ground turkey recipes for you that are on the menu this week at my house. "Sloppy Jan" sandwiches and "WW Shepard's Pie." Both are easy, tasty, and good for you. And both recipes have passed the husband and 3 year old taste tests, so they get the gold star. So here you go:















Sloppy Jans
(my version of Sloppy Joes, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe and named after my mom, who has a tendency to drop food on herself from time to time)

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 c. chopped bell pepper (red, yellow and/or orange)
1/2 c. frozen corn
1 14.5 oz. can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained (chopped or pureed-- I puree b/c Rolland doesn't like tomato chunks)
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp ketchup
Apple cider vinegar, to taste
Whole wheat hamburger buns

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey and bell pepper and saute until meat is browned, stirring to crumble. Add corn, tomatoes and ketchup and stir. Add vinegar one tbsp at a time until desired flavor is achieved. (I usually add about 2 tbsp, I think--I really don't measure; I just dump some in.) Cook 5-10 mins. or to desired consistency. Serve on hamburger buns.

I usually serve this with a Tangy Broccoli Slaw. It's easy. Mix in a large bowl 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp canola oil, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp yellow mustard, 1/4 tsp salt. Then add one bag of broccoli slaw and about 1/2 to 1 c. chopped bell pepper (just chop extra when you're chopping it for the sandwiches). Mix it up really well so all the slaw is coated with the dressing, and there you go. Totally easy. Totally yummy.

Weight Watcher’s Shepherd’s Pie
 2  large  potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces 
1/4 cup  nonfat sour cream 
1  tablespoon  reduced-calorie margarine 
1/8 teaspoon  table salt 
2  teaspoons  olive oil 
1  cup  onion        (chopped) 
2  medium  carrots        (diced) 
2  medium  celery ribs, diced 
1  lb  uncooked     ground turkey breast (or morningstar farms recipe crumbles)
3  tablespoons  all-purpose flour 
1  tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped or 1  teaspoon  dried rosemary 
1  teaspoon  dried thyme 
1/2 teaspoon  table salt 
1/4 teaspoon  black pepper 
2  cups canned chicken broth or 2  cups  beef broth (or vegetable for vegan)
 Preheat oven to 400ºF.    
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and pour in   enough water  to cover potatoes. Set pan over high heat and bring to a   boil; reduce  heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes, until potatoes are   fork-tender. 
Drain potatoes, transfer to a large bowl and add sour cream   and  margarine; mash until smooth, season to taste with salt and set   aside. 
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over  medium-high heat. 
 Add  onion, carrots and celery; cook until soft, about 3  minutes. 
Add   turkey and cook until browned, breaking up the meat as it  cooks, about 5   minutes. 
Add flour, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper;  stir to coat. 
Add broth and bring to a simmer; simmer until mixture  thickens, about 3   minutes. 
Transfer turkey mixture to a 9-inch, deep-dish  pie plate.  Spread  mashed potatoes over top and using the back of a  spoon, make   decorative swirls over the top. 
Bake until potatoes are  golden, about   30 minutes. 
Slice into 6 pieces and serve. 

Six servings, 275 Calories each

WW Shepard's Pie
(adapted from a Weight Watcher's recipe)

1 container refrigerated mashed potatoes (you can make your own, but, on a weeknight, I just can't swing it and Bob Evans makes yummy mashed potatoes)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 c. onion, diced
2-3 medium carrots, diced
2-3 medium celery ribs, diced
1 lb lean ground turkey
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 c. chicken or vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until soften, about 3-5 mins. Add turkey and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Add flour, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Add broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 mins. Meanwhile, microwave mashed potatoes according to package directions. Transfer turkey mixture to a 9 inch square baking dish or deep dish pie plate. Spread mashed potatoes over the top using spoon to make nice little swirls. Bake until potatoes are golden, about 30 mins. Serve.

Now you've done something good with ground turkey. Hurray for you! This summer, once we really get going on the grill, I'll share an awesome recipe for turkey burgers--so good you may never make them any other way again!

I also made a yummy Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice this week. But with my being sick (read: take-out) and Rolland traveling for work (read: leftover take-out), that's about all that was on the menu this week. But who knows what's in store for us next week. Hmmmm...

Until then, happy cooking!

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