Michael’s Green Chili Meat Loaf

Wonderful flavors of New Mexico in this delicious loaf!

Hatch Chilis make the BEST enchilada sauce!

The nutrition facts are at Calorie Count!

Michael’s Green Chili Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced

1 medium green bell pepper, finely diced (about 1 cup)

1 bay leaf

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 1 Tbsp. dried parsley)

2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme  (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)

1 lb. ground beef, lean

1 lb. ground turkey, lean

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup Ritz crackers, crushed

1/3 cup old fashioned oat meal

1 cup mild or medium green enchilada sauce (I recommend Hatch)

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Spray a 6 X 10 inch baking dish with Pam cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions, garlic, and bay leaf until the onions are tender, about 3 minutes.  Add the bell pepper and cook until the pepper is tender. Stir in the parsley and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and let the onion mixture cool. Discard the bay leaf.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey and beef, eggs, crackers, oats, 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, the Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and the cooled vegetables. Use your hands to mix everything together.

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and form into a loaf on the baking sheet. Coat the meat loaf with the remaining 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.

Bake for 1 - 1-1/2 hours, until the meat loaf is firm. Let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing. I suppose you could also try this with red bell pepper and red sauce.

Janice's Sloppy Jose

It's easy to swap out turkey for ground beef in many recipes. The great thing is to ramp up the seasoning because turkey is a much milder flavor.

The chili powder gives this recipe a nice Tex-Mex flair!

The nutrition facts for this delicious twist on sloppy joes can be found at Calorie Count!

Sloppy Jose

Ingredients:

1 T  olive oil

½ c  carrots, grated

1 small  onion, chopped

4 t  garlic, chopped

¼ t  pepper

1/8 t  salt

3 T  tomato paste

1 pound  ground turkey (93% lean)

1 1/3 T  chili powder

15 oz  tomatoes, crushed

2 ½ T  brown sugar

1 T  cider vinegar

2 t  Worcestershire sauce

10  100% whole grain wheat buns

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large pot, saute carrots and onions for about 5 minutes, add garlic and saute 3 more minutes.

Add salt, pepper, and tomato paste and stir for about 1 minute.

Add ground turkey and chili powders. Stir til the turkey is cooked through.

Add 1 can crushed tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer about 15 minutes.

Serve on the buns (calories are included in the nutrition facts).

Options:

Add cheese, but you will have to add the calories.

If not spicy enough, add some Tabasco. Once my kids were able to handle the heat, I just started adding Tabasco to the simmer stage. Yum!

Instead of buns, serve on tortillas and adjust the calories.

Susan's Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

• Susan makes this deliciously easy dish a lot! She lists the brands she prefers in her directions. 

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

•  
• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• 1 jar Prego extra chunky spaghetti sauce
• 1 pound of Jenni-O ground turkey (pre-seasoned Italian) or 1 pound any ground turkey mixed w/ Italian seasoning
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• part-skim ricotta (about 3/4 of a cup)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
•  
• Directions

1. Poke squash with sharp knife several times and microwave for 25-30 minutes. Remove from microwave and let it cool a bit.  Slice lengthwise (will slice very easily) while still fairly warm. Remove seeds and less desirable material right around seeds. Fork out the "spaghetti strands" into a bowl and mix with the shredded Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add 2 table spoons olive oil to non stick pan and over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Using the same pan, brown the ground turkey. Drain excess liquid and then return to the heat and add the jar of Prego (or sauce of your choice). Add the onion and garlic mixture. Mix well and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes for a richness of taste to develop. 
4. In an oven proof dish (lasagna pan, loaf pan etc.) layer with a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until pan is full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven  for 40 minutes (covered) in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes for cheese to get bubbly.

Notes: 

1) Freezes well, prior to cooking and refrigerates well once cooked. Seems to just get better with age! 2) I also sometimes add spinach to the layers and often add chopped or shredded zucchini to the onion/garlic saute. You could add a wide variety of vegetables to this successfully.

Crazypotato98's Leftover Turkey and Ravioli Soup

Try this simple, quick, and awesome (per Crazypotato98's husband) soup the day after Thanksgiving!

The nutrition facts are at Calorie Count.

Leftover Turkey and Ravioli Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken or turkey broth/stock - homemade or from a box
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 t Italian seasoning
8 oz turkey, cooked, chopped
9 oz cheese ravioli
2 cups spinach, shredded

Directions:

Place broth, pepper, onion, and Italian seasoning in a large soup pot. Heat to boiling, reduce to simmer. Simmer covered for about five minutes. Add the turkey and ravioli, return to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for about six minutes or until ravioli is tender. Stir in the spinach and simmer one more minute. Delicious with fresh grated Parmesan cheese!

Susan's Turkey in a Crockpot

This is one of those very basic "recipes" that each cook needs to take as a starting position only. Vary each ingredient to your individual tastes. Like all white meat? Don't use the thighs. Prefer different veggies? Go for it! Season as you prefer as well. If you are a calorie counter, make sure you take a weighed portion and count up those calories using these nutrition facts for white meat turkey or the nutrition facts for dark meat turkey from Calorie Count! The meat will have absorbed sodium, but to be honest I have no idea as to how one would count those numbers.

Turkey in a Crockpot

Ingredients and Directions all Mixed Up:

Put a whole bunch of "new" (small) yukon gold potatoes in the bottom of the crock. Rub the turkey parts of your choice* liberally with poultry seasoning and place them on top of the potatoes. Pour in some chicken or turkey stock - enough to make it about an inch deep. Cover and let it cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. 

When you are done you have potatoes cooked to perfection in drippings so they are super flavorful for mashing or eating as they are. The meat is tender. Tons of "drippings" for turning into gravy too.

A Brine for All Time...and Turkey

From this allrecipes post with a few modifications suggested by the commenters that tried it. If you are a calorie counter, make sure you take a weighed portion and count up those calories using these nutrition facts for white meat turkey or the nutrition facts for dark meat turkey from Calorie Count! The meat will have absorbed sodium, but to be honest I have no idea as to how one would count those numbers.

Brine for Turkey

Ingredients to make enough brine for a 12-18 pound turkey:

1/2 gallons veggie stock
1/2 gallon apple juice
1 large onion sliced
2 stalks celery rough chopped include leaves
1 cup sea salt
1 T rosemary
1 T sage
1 T thyme
1 handful peppercorns
1 T savory
1 gallon ice water

Directions:

Combine all except the ice water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Pour into a large food safe container such as a large pot with lid or plastic container with lid large enough to hold all the liquid and the turkey. It will need to hold about five gallons to be large enough and you may need to purchase a special container just for this project. Food safe is critical. Do not use a large garbage bag or a regular bucket designed for use while mopping I don't care how new it is.

Add the ice water to the brine starter and stir.

Remove the goodie bags from the turkey, rinse and dry it by wiping it with paper towels.

Then add the turkey and make sure it is pushed into the liquid so that it runs throughout the cavities.

Cover and place in the fridge overnight. The next morning, remove the turkey and drain off the excess brine and pat dry with paper towels.

Cook as usual except for one thing - you won't need to baste! Because you won't be opening the oven door all the time letting out the heat, you will find that the turkey cooks a bit faster - by about 30 minutes.

Brian's Smoked or Grilled Turkey

Smoking or grilling turkey is a wonderful way to make a flavorful bird that is so much easier than messing about in and heating up a kitchen! If you are a calorie counter, make sure you take a weighed portion and count up those calories using these nutrition facts for white meat turkey or the nutrition facts for dark meat turkey from Calorie Count!

Smoked or Grilled Turkey

1 fresh 14 pound turkey
salt
pepper
3-4 cloves crushed garlic
butter

Turkey Preparation:

spread crushed garlic inside turkey
salt and pepper inside of turkey
Place medallions of butter under turkey skin on top half of turkey
Salt and pepper outside of turkey

Smoking Instructions:

Smoke in a charcoal smoker using your smokers directions at 230 for 8 hours or until an internal temp of 165 is achieved using hickory chips for smoke flavor

Grilling Instructions:

Start 50 coals in a charcoal chimney, divide coals so that half are on each side of the kettle grill. Place a drip pan between the 2 piles. Place giblets in drip pan with 3 cups water. Add 6 coals to each pile every hour and grill until an internal temp of 165 is achieved (2-3 hours) Baste every hour with apple juice.

Additional Yumminess:

Tent turkey with tin foil and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
Remove drip pan from grill
in frying pan,melt 2 Tbs butter
Add 2 Tbs flour to melted butter and form a roux
Add contents of drip pan after skimming off fat
Stir until a nice gravy consistency is met

Janice's Razzo Italiano Turkey Burgers

The nutrition facts for this delicious lower calorie burger can be found at Calorie Count!

Razzo Italiano Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey, extra lean
1 t olive oil
2 T onion, chopped
2 T red pepper, chopped
3 oz prosciutto
1-2 t oregano
1-2 t basil
1 T garlic, minced (two if you are using pre-minced garlic from a jar as the flavor is not as strong as fresh)
2 T steak sauce
1/3 C barbecue sauce
1/2 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions:

Saute the chopped onion and red pepper in olive oil til the veges start to brown, remove from heat to cool.

Slice and saute the prosciutto in the same pan, adding oil if needed, until it begins to crisp a bit - not so much that it crumbles. Set aside to cool.

Combine well (w/hands) the lean ground turkey with oregano, basil, garlic, steak sauce, and the cooled veges. Inhale the aroma - use your nose and eyes to help you determine if more spicing is required. Start with the smaller measurements of seasonings and add more to suit you.

Form into four large patties. Grill, basting with the barbecue sauce, melt provolone on top if you like but add in the calories as they are not included in the count.

Great on a ciabatta bun (calories for buns and zillions of other food items can be found at Calorie Count!) topped with the prosciutto, raw onion, and tomato. Add any other condiment you like.