Category Archives: Turkey

Thai Turkey Lettuce Cups

Spring is officially here and that means spring veggies will be here soon! I love all the newness that comes along with spring – green grass, local fruits and vegetables, and the warmth of the sun. This past year, has been so gray, rainy and not the best weather. I think it really didn’t help the funk I’ve been in.

Now that spring is here, it’s time to shed all away and start getting back into eating better, working out and clearing my head. I’ve been intermittent fasting off and on the past couple of months, and while I’m not seeing huge progress, I feel so much better when I’m doing it. I need to get really serious about it – my 39th birthday is coming up next week and I want to focus on my health and well-being. I’ve been walking daily with my pup and now it’s time to focus on my eating. I need to cut back on how many carbs I’m eating – it’s the one thing I turn to when I want to snack. I decided I’m going to be better at cutting back on carbs at dinner.

I gave this recipe for lettuce cups a try and it was really good. There is a little bit of sugar in the dressing, but it helps to counter-balance the vinegar that is used. I enjoyed how fresh this meal was. Using ground turkey made it feel lighter, but kept me full all night as I was running my kids all over the place. I’m looking forward to making it again!

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Turkey Black Bean Enchiladas

No one can resist saucy, cheese enchiladas that are packed full of ground turkey and black beans … except my son. Ha! He’s getting more vocal about what he wants to eat and the other night when I made these easy enchiladas, he wanted nothing to do with them. I decided it was a night I was going to pick my battles and not argue with them. The rest of us loved them and they made enough for us to have for dinner later in the week. I’m sure my son won’t want to eat them again.

As I mentioned, they were easy to make and I like that you use low-carb tortillas especially since I’m back to watching what I’m eating. We drizzled roasted shishito pepper sauce over them to add a little heat and they were so good!

Turkey Black Bean Enchiladas | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
2 tsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb extra lean ground turkey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
juice from a lime
12 6-inch low carb flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce
toppings: thinly sliced green onions, sour cream, lime wedges

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Pour 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce into the dish.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for 2 minutes until they start to soften. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey and spices. Brown the turkey until it is cooked through. Mix in the tomato paste until combined. Stir in the beans and lime juice. If needed, add 1/2 cup chicken stock. I didn’t need it as my mixture was wet enough. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes more and then remove from heat.

To make your enchiladas, place a tortilla down on a flat surface. Place 3 tablespoons of the turkey mixture on the one side of the tortilla. Tightly roll the tortilla and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue until all tortillas are used. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with both cheese. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the sauce is hot and the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for a couple of minutes before serving. Top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of green onions.

Source: Diethood

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe sandwiches are one of the meals that remind me of being a kid. We used to eat them pretty regularly, but with the sauce that comes from a can. I’ve made them several times for my kids and found that if I put anything between a bun, my son will eat it. That’s a win in my book especially since he seems to be getting more picky by the day!

I loved this recipe and the fact that I had just about everything in my pantry and fridge to make it. I used ground turkey in place of ground beef to make it a bit more healthy. I’ll use onion rolls next time, but my kiddos loved it with fried onions on top for a little crunch.

Turkey Sloppy Joes | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
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Mexican Lasagna

I’ve been craving Mexican food lately and thought this would be great way to enjoy some delicious food and eat from our pantry. I only needed to pick up corn tortillas, but I had everything else in the house.

The recipe came together really quickly and gave us enough for leftovers and a couple lunches for me. I love the mix of corn and black beans and my kids didn’t even know I used ground turkey instead of beef. I love swaps like that!

Mexican Lasagna | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
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Zucchini Lasagna

If you’re anything like me, you find yourself with way more zucchini than you know what do with. This recipe will take care of that problem for you! I loved the combination of zucchini and spinach, plus it’s a twist without the pasta. I swapped ground turkey in place of ground beef to make it even more healthy. I might add some mushrooms next time and I’ll definitely use a mandolin to slice the zucchini thinner.

Zucchini Lasagna | Join Us, Pull up a Chair

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Baked Turkey Meatballs

I’ve been in a bit of a food rut lately and haven’t been making many new recipes. I’m hoping I can get out of this funk soon and get back to blogging regularly. Part of the problem is that I’ve been working to clean out of our freezer and pantry, so there’s not been too many exciting meals that I wanted to shared. My kids are also going through a picky stage and sometimes it’s not worth the battle to make something where one or more of us ends in tears.

One meal that we usually can agree on is meatballs. I had a pack of ground turkey in the freezer and there’s always pasta and sauce in the pantry. This was a great recipe to use up some of the items I had in the refrigerator too – spinach and basil! These meatballs were really easy to make, plus I loved that they were baked and not pan fried. Everyone agreed and gobbled dinner up!

Baked Turkey Meatballs | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
1 large handful of spinach leaves
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
8 large basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp marinara sauce
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the bowl of a food processor, combined the spinach, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey and egg. Fold in the spinach herb mixture, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Form golf sized meatballs and place on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce and olive oil. Baste the meatballs with this sauce. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and golden brown.

Toss with warmed marinara sauce and serve with your favorite type of pasta.

Source: Foodie Crush

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Whenever we go to P.F. Changs, we get chicken wraps as an appetizer. I’ve seen copycat recipes floating around for awhile and it was finally time for me to get in the action. OMG….why did I wait so long? These are so easy to make and I had almost all the ingredients on hand.

They were a big hit with my daughter and I know we’ll be making them again, very soon! I used ground turkey since that’s what I had in my freezer, but I’ll be swapping it out for ground chicken the next time I make these wraps.

Turkey Lettuce Wraps | Join Us, Pull Up a Chair

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp Sriracha, or more to taste
8 oz can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
lettuce leaves

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the ground meat and cook until browned, breaking into small pieces as it cooks. Drain any grease and then add in the onions, garlic, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and Sriracha. Cook until the onion become translucent, approximately 1-2 minutes. Stir in the water chestnuts and green onions and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Scoop several tablespoons of the mixture into a lettuce leaf and eat like a taco. Enjoy!

Source: Damn Delicious

Ground Turkey Stroganoff

Recently I’ve been buying more and more ground turkey instead of ground beef, so I’ve been looking for different recipes to use it in. I love stroganoff, but my husband is not a huge fan. I grew up eating the Hamburger Helper version and it was one of my favorite dinners. It was something quick and easy to make when my parents were running in all different directions taking me and my siblings to practice or a game.

This was a delicious twist on the traditional stroganoff. I added more mushrooms because I only had 1 pound of ground turkey and it worked out perfectly. My kids gobbled it up and it’s another recipe that I can make from scratch. Now…if I can find a quick and easy way to make homemade egg noodles.

Ground Turkey Stroganoff | Join Us, Pull up a Chair

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 cup reduced sodium beef broth
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 lb egg noodles
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup sour cream
Fresh parsley, chopped

Seasoning Mix:
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onions and mushrooms for 5 minutes or until they are soft. Add the ground turkey, and cook until browned. While the turkey is cooking, mix to the ingredients together for the seasoning mix until combined. Add to the cooked turkey and stir to coat.

Add in the beef broth, milk and mustard to the mixture. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for approximately 10 minutes until the mixture had thickened. In the meantime, cook the egg noodles according to the package. Drain the noodles and toss with the two tablespoons of butter. Toss to coat to help the noodles from sticking together.

Once the sauce has thickened, stir in the dour cream and mix until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the sauce over the noodles and garnish with the chopped parsley.

Source: Laura’s Sweet Spot

Tuscan Style Turkey Breast

I have never made a turkey before and thought it might be a good idea to try cooking a turkey breast first to see how I did. I know it’s not too different than a chicken…just a longer cooking time. I found a great recipe to make a turkey breast in the slow cooker. Score! Throw a few ingredients into the slow cooker, turn it on and let it go.

This was the most moist turkey I’ve had in a long time…no need for gravy! The flavors of lemon and rosemary were subtle, but added a nice flavor. We had half of it one night for dinner and then I made a delicious soup with the leftovers. I’ll be sharing the recipe later this week.

1 large turkey breast, bone-in
1 head of garlic, cut in half
1 medium onion, quartered
2 lemons, cut in half
3 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried thyme
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

In the bottom of a large slow cooker, add the garlic, 3 lemon halves and onions. Place the turkey breast on top and add the sprigs of rosemary instead the cavity of the turkey.

Sprinkle the salt, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika over the top of the turkey. Slowly spoon the olive oil and squeeze the remaining lemon over the spiced turkey. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours until completely cooked through.

Remove from the slow cooker and allow to cool before slicing. Serve with your favorite side dishes.

Source: Innocent Delight 

Sun Dried Tomato Meatball Sandwich

Whew, what a week! We’ve been running around like crazy and these are the times I have meals prepped and ready to make. I found this recipe while looking through some old pins on Pinterest and thought it would be a meal that everyone would enjoy…wrong. My little guy wanted no part of it, oh well…I’ll keep trying!

I’m not a huge fan of sun-dried tomato, but this pesto is amazing! It’s not too strong of flavor and adds depth to the meatballs. Turkey can sometimes be dry, but these meatballs were moist and were great for leftovers too! I know I’ll be making the mayo just to have on hand…it was so good! Of course you need to have an amazing roll with this sandwich. We always buy our rolls from a local Italian bakery – along with their amazing tomato pie!

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp sun dried tomato pesto (I used Merzetta)
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 hoagie rolls
8 slices Provolone cheese

Sun Dried Tomato Mayo
2 Tbsp sun dried tomato pesto
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, egg, pesto, crushed garlic, parsley, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Mix until just combined. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, make meatballs. My mixture made approximately 2 dozen meatballs. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with olive oil.

Bake for 15 minutes and then place under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned.

While the meatballs are cooking, mix together the remaining two tablespoons of sun dried tomato pesto and mayo in a small bowl. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the meatball sandwiches, place two slices of provolone cheese on each hoagie roll. Broil for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and the roll is toasted. Place 4 to 5 meatballs on each roll and then top with the sun dried tomato mayo. Cut in half and enjoy!

Source: Mom on Timeout