Sandy's Kitchen: mturkey

Showing posts with label mturkey. Show all posts

Craving Mexican food? This will be sure to satisfy your craving! It definitely screams pure comfort food! This Taco Bake has a pre baked crust made with cream cheese and Mexican style cheese. Then the crust is topped with seasoned taco meat and a sprinkle of more cheese! Because this makes 8 servings, portion them out in individual containers and freeze them for later! When you are ready to eat chow down, leave it in the fridge overnight and heat it up the next day! Enjoy!

Taco Bake

Ingredients:

Crust

1/2 cup reduced fat cream cheese, softened (8 Condiments)

1/4 cup eggbeaters (1/8 Leans)
5 tbsp Fat free half and half (5 Condiments)

1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning (1 Condiment)

2 cups reduced fat Mexican cheese blend, shredded (2 Leans)

Topping

35 oz 93% lean ground beef, uncooked ~ 24 oz cooked (4 and 7/8 Leans)

5 teaspoons taco seasoning (10 Condiments)

1 cup tomato puree (4 Greens)

4 ounces chopped green chilies (1 Green)

1 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 Lean)

Directions:

For the crust, beat the cream cheese and egg beaters until smooth. Add the half and half and taco seasoning. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish; spread the shredded Mexican cheese over the bottom. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the shredded cheese as evenly as possible. Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before adding the topping.

For the topping, brown the ground beef; drain fat. Stir in taco seasoning, tomato sauce and chilies. Spread over the crust. Top with 1 cup Mexican cheese. Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly.

Serve with your favorite veggies!

Makes 8 servings
Each serving provides
1 Lean, 3 Condiments, and 1/3 of a Green per serving

Serve with 2 and 2/3 of your favorite Greens such as 1 and 2/3 cup lettuce and 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes.

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Sandy's Kitchen

Yay! I am finally back to the weight I was before leaving out of town for one week! I gained 8 lbs during that trip and it took a little over a week to lose all 8 of them! Ugh! But, I am happy now so I wanted to share my news with you guys! Now it is time to lose even more weight. Only 17 lbs away from goal!

I love this Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage from Jennie-O, but you should only eat this in moderation because of the sodium content. You should have less than 2300 mg of sodium a day and the two sausages itself provide 1300 mg of sodium. It is still within the plan guidelines though, but make sure you drink lots of water! You are allowed 6 oz of these sausages as a serving size. Yum! I sometimes eat this with spaghetti squash with a little bit of marinara sauce, but this time I made steamed cabbage. The recipe is below. These would be great with the pizza bread. Kind of like a hot dog! I can't wait to try that!

This is the sausage sliced up with steamed cabbage. Yummy!

Delicious sausage! They are bursting with Italian flavor!

You can cook these babies on the stove top, grill or broil them. I chose to broil them in the oven for 14 to 16 minutes. Turned out nice and juicy. Make sure your meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.

I served these sausages with this yummy cabbage recipe!

Steamed Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (1 1/2 Condiments)

1 medium head cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped ~ about 4 1/2 cups (9 Greens)

1/4 tsp Salt (1 Condiment)

1/4 tsp Pepper (1/2 Condiment)
1/2 tsp onion powder (1 Condiment)

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder (1 Condiment)

Directions:

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat to low and add the cabbage. Cover and cook over low heat to steam the cabbage for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently, or until cabbage is tender and sweet. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

3 Servings with 3 Greens and 1.6 Condiments per Serving

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Sandy's Kitchen

I hope everyone is having a great OP weekend so far! As promised, here is the last turkey burger of the week! Here is another one of those turkey burgers that calls for a leaner meat because of a healthy fat I wanted to use, the light laughing cow cheese wedge. Normally, I love my burgers to be in the 85%-94% fat free range because it is more juicier but because I want that nice cheesy filling in the center of my burger, I needed to use a turkey meat that is either 95%-97% fat free or 99% fat free. If you use the 99% fat free turkey just remember to increase the meat to 8.5oz which will yield about 7 oz cooked. The 99% fat free turkey meat only shrinks about 20%. Also, you would have to add 1 more healthy fat with the 99% fat free ground turkey.

I love the taste of A1 steak sauce and BBQ sauce so I would have to say this is my favorite turkey burger. This rounds up the end of Turkey Burger Week at Sandy's Kitchen! I hope you found a turkey burger you enjoyed!

All American BBQ Stuffed Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

8 oz raw 95-96% fat free ground turkey - should yield 6 oz cooked (1 lean)

1 tbsp G Hughes Sugar Free BBQ Sauce (1 condiment)

1 tsp A1 Steak Sauce (1 condiment)

1/4 tsp garlic salt (1 condiment)

2 Light Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges, any flavor (1 healthy fat)

Directions:

Combine turkey meat, A1, BBQ sauce and garlic salt. Form meat mixture into two balls. Make an indention in each ball and place the laughing cow cheese in the indention. Wrap the ground turkey mixture around the cheese wedge so that it is in the center. Flatten the patties. Once all are formed, cook however you like to cook burgers. Grill (indoor or out), cook in hot skillet, or broil under broiler. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until an internal thermometer has reached 165 degrees.

1 Lean, 3 Condiments and 1 Healthy Fat

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Sandy's Kitchen

The weekend is finally here at last! TGIF! Not too much going on this weekend but visiting family and catching up. I have always loved the weekends even when I don't have anything planned but today will be a busy one. With that being said, these burgers are perfect to make because they don't require a lot of time to prepare.You just throw a few ingredients together and grill! So simple! Sometimes what I like to do is buy a 3 lb package of ground turkey or beef and divide my raw portions into 6 patties and make 3 different turkey burger recipes with two patties for each recipe. Then I would wrap the patties individually in saran wrap and place them in a freezer Ziploc bag. Of course, don't forget to label the patties! Then when I want a particular patty, I just take it out directly from the freezer and grill! Dinner in minutes!

I know this particular recipe is nothing fancy, but it's really easy and quite delicious. This recipe uses taco seasoned meat with the addition of green and red peppers. Tomorrow is the last day of my turkey burger week. I will be sharing the BBQ Stuffed Turkey Burger recipe which is my personal favorite. I hope you will stop on by!

Mexican Fiesta Taco Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

16 oz raw 95% to 97% fat free ground turkey * (2 Leaner)

1/2 cup chopped green peppers (1 Green)

1/2 cup chopped red peppers (1 Green)

1 tbsp taco seasoning mix (6 Condiments)

Dash of tabasco sauce

Topping:

3 oz sliced avocado (2 Healthy Fats)

4 tbsp guacamole (2 Healthy Fats)

Directions:

Place ground turkey, green peppers, red peppers, taco seasoning mix, and tabasco sauce into a mixing bowl. Mix until just combined. Form into 2 large patties or 4 smaller patties. Once formed, grill your burgers. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until an internal thermometer has reached 165 degrees. Top with avocado or guacamole.

2 Servings

Each Serving provides:

1 Lean, 1 Green, 3 Condiments and 1 Healthy Fat
Serve each serving with 2 more Greens

* You could also use 95 % to 97% lean ground beef or ground chicken if you prefer.

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Sandy's Kitchen

First of all, I wanted to share my good news! I finally fit the 140's yesterday! I am now 149 lbs. I have not been that weight in like 8 years! It feels so wonderful to be at a weight that you have not even seen in sooooo long! I am so looking forward to reaching my goal by this summer! I am over halfway there! I definitely could not do this without Medifast and the support I receive from you guys! I am so appreciative of all your kind words egging me on as well as the kind words I receive about my husband serving in the Army. You are guys are the best! Thanks for the love and support!

Now for the recipe, I had to go against all I said earlier about using ground turkey meat that is 85%-94% fat free to make the turkey burger juicier. This is because I needed to add an additional 1/2 healthy fat, sesame oil, to the turkey burger. I decided to use 95%-97% fat free to accommodate the sesame oil. I really didn't want to go with a leaner meat at least not with my burgers, but the sesame oil is very important in this dish. It really gives it a distinct Thai flavor and should not be left out. With that being said, the oil helped with not drying out the turkey burger so much so I still enjoyed it. My mom even enjoyed this burger and she is from Thailand. That says a lot coming from a person who prefers to eat her own Thai food at home rather than go out to dinner at a nice restaurant. If you are craving something ethnic and in the Asian category then this will be a great choice to make. Bon appetit! Tomorrow, we will be going to Mexico for the Mexican Fiesta Taco Burger! So easy to make and so good! See you tomorrow!

Thai Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

8 oz raw 95%-97% fat free ground turkey - yields 6 oz cooked (1 Lean)

1 tbsp scallions, minced (part of your green)

1 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced (1/16 condiment)

1 tablespoon lite sodium soy sauce or fish sauce (1 condiment)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (1/2 condiment)

1/4 tsp garlic salt (1 condiment)

1 teaspoon sesame oil (1 healthy fat)

Directions:

Combine ingredients, shape into burgers and grill!

1 Lean, 2.5 Condiments, and 1 Healthy Fat

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Sandy's Kitchen

The next stop in our turkey burger tour is Italy! I kinda played around with this one because I saw how well the feta cheese worked in the Greek turkey burger so why not ricotta? It worked out well for this burger. Again, the cheese must have added more moisture to the burger to make it more juicy and enhanced the burger to give it an Italian flair. With the addition of Italian spices: basil, oregano and fennel plus the garlic, the burger reached a yummy flavor. I did sneak a few sprinkles of Parmesan cheese on top. That is totally optional because it does go over the three condiments for the day but not by much. Now, I have also tried this burger without the ricotta cheese and used mozzarella cheese for the top. That one reminds me of a pizza burger with the marinara sauce. I love it that way too, if not more so! I am a big fan of mozzarella cheese! Actually, I am just a fan of cheese period LOL. Not to mention I am a big fan of pizza as well! Try it both ways and decide which one you like better. I just love how you change just a few ingredients and you get a totally different flavor. I am loving these turkey burgers! Now, that's amore! Tomorrow, I will be sharing the Thai Turkey Burger so come back and check it out!

Italiano Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

6 oz raw, ground turkey, 85% -94% lean ~ should yield 3.75 oz (3/4 Lean)
1/4 cup part skim ricotta or 1/4 cup 2% Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese (1/4 Lean)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (1/2 Condiment)
1/4 tsp fennel (1/2 Condiment)
1 tsp basil leaves (1/2 Condiment)
2 tbsp Rao's Marinara Sauce (1 Condiment)
1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese (1/3 Condiment)

Directions:
Place turkey, ricotta, garlic, fennel and basil into a mixing bowl. Mix until just combined. Form patties. Once all are formed, cook however you like to cook burgers. Grill (indoor or out), cook in hot skillet, or broil under broiler. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until an internal thermometer has reached 165 degrees. Top with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese.

Servings: 1 Lean and 3 Condiments

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Sandy's Kitchen

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day and stayed away from that chocolate floating around. That stuff is dangerous! I used to eat a ton of chocolate every Valentines Day, but not this time! To help my craving for chocolate, I decided to have all my fuelings as chocolate! I had the fudge balls (2 meals), brownie, chocolate peanut butter cup and chocolate crunch bar. I made my own little box of Valentines chocolate. Ha ha! The best part of making your own is that there is no guilt and no extra poundage! We just work too hard to get this far to sabotage what we have accomplished. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to my hubby yesterday nor the night before nor this morning again. I think his Internet must not be working properly in Afghanistan. He did email me from work to let me know he was fine and he was going to try and get his Internet fixed today. Hopefully, I will get to talk to him soon! When you are used to talking to someone twice a day, bad things go through your mind when you don't hear from them especially when they are in a war zone. It was a total let down that we could not talk yesterday, but thank goodness he is okay!

I originally was going to start Turkey Burger Week yesterday, but I didn't want to start it on Valentines Day so I am starting it today. Turkey Burger Week is where I make five different recipes for turkey burgers which consists of Greek, Italian, Thai, Mexican and American. Yeah, I got the International theme going on! The first one? Greek style turkey burger made with lean ground turkey, feta, red pepper, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. Just add 2 more Greens and 1 Healthy Fat to complete your Lean and Green meal. Here are some suggestions. Try 1 cup of sliced cucumbers with 2 tbsp of Hidden Valley light cucumber ranch dressing. Or how about thick sliced tomatoes mixed with 2 tbsp light Greek vinaigrette and then broiled for about 4 min. Carefully flip and turn them over and broil another 2 min. Or maybe try a combo of chopped cucumbers, diced tomatoes, and baby spinach drizzled with 2 tbsp of light Greek vinaigrette. Yum! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

My Big {Skinny} Greek Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

8 oz raw 95 to 97% lean ground turkey (1 Leaner)

2 tbsp reduced fat feta cheese (1 Condiment)

2 tbsp red pepper, chopped (1/4 Green)

1/4 cup Baby spinach leaves, chopped (1/4 Green)
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes (not in oil), chopped (1/2 Green)

1/2 tsp oregano (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp garlic powder (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp salt (1 Condiment)

Directions:

Place turkey, feta, red pepper, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and seasonings into a mixing bowl. Mix until just combined.

Form pattie(s) and cook with your preferred method. Make 1 huge patty or 2 smaller ones. You can grill (indoor or out), cook in a skillet on the stove, broil or use an air fryer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until an internal thermometer has reached 165 degrees.

Makes 1 Serving

Each serving provides
1 Lean, 1 Green and 3 Condiments
(add 2 Greens and 1 Healthy Fat)

These turkey burgers freeze well! To freeze:
Place uncooked patties on a cookie sheet. Freeze for about 2 hours. Then wrap patties in plastic wrap or place parchment paper in between patties and put in a Ziploc freezer bag. They last up until 3 months in the freezer. When you are ready to cook them, thaw them out in the fridge the night before and cook as you normally would. You can also cook straight from frozen, but they will need a little more time to cook.

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Sandy's Kitchen

This was my first time making spaghetti squash. I bought it, left it in the fridge, and kept postponing making it because I had never made it before. Unfortunately, it did go bad. Yes, this huge veggie intimidated me! I am not sure because of it's size or just because of the fact that I never tried it, nonetheless, prepared it before. So, I finally got the courage to make it and followed Lyn's tutorial from Escape from Obesity on how to make it in the microwave. Check out her inspirational blog! She has lost over 100 lbs! Definitely, a blog worth reading!

The spaghetti squash was so easy to make! A few pokes here and there, microwave, slice in half, scoop the seeds, scrape the insides and Voila! Spaghetti that is actually Medifast friendly! I love the taste of it and now I can kick myself in the butt for not having tried it sooner! I think I would eat this instead of spaghetti pasta noodles even if I wasn't on MF. Hubby hasn't tried it yet either (we are both clueless) and will be trying it when he gets back this summer. I can't wait!

As for the recipe, I was going to use Jennie-O Italian Turkey Sausage, but the sodium content is so high. Nutrition Support doesn't recommend any type of sausage because of the sodium content, but 2 sausages fits the lean criteria. This sausage does contain 1700 mg of sodium (Gasp!). We should have below 2,000 mg for all our meals and lean and green included. I still have this sausage occasionally just because I love sausage, but I will be sure to have something with a lot less sodium for the next few days.

I decided to try to make my own Italian Sausage and found this recipe from the new Medifast Lean and Green Meal Cook Book. It is actually called "Italian Sausage Patties" but I converted it to just ground Italian sausage. I meant to make them into meatballs, but it slipped my mind and before you know it, I was browning the meat. Feel free to shape them into meatballs for a yummy spaghetti and meatball dish! Serve with Walden Farms Marinara sauce. Sometimes I like to eat meatballs without the sauce and sprinkle a little bit of parmesan cheese, especially if you do not like Walden Farms products. Enjoy!

Italian Turkey Sausage with Spaghetti Squash

Slightly adapted from Medifast Lean and Green Meal Cook Book

Ingredients:

17 1/2 oz raw, ground turkey, 93% lean - should yield 10 oz cooked servings (2 Leans)

1/2 tsp oregano (1 condiment)

1 tsp basil (1 condiment)

1 tsp fennel seeds (2 condiments)

1/2 cup Walden Farms Marinara Sauce (2 condiments)

3 cups or 465 grams cooked spaghetti squash (6 greens)

Directions:

Combine ground turkey, spices, and garlic in a medium skillet. Brown meat mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break the meat mixture into crumbles. Once the meat mixture is browned, drain the fat and return the cook meat mixture back to skillet. Add the marinara sauce and stir until well blended over medium heat. Serve over spaghetti squash.

Servings: 2 Complete Lean and Green Meals with 3 Condiments No healthy fat required

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Spaghetti Squash

I followed Lyn's Spaghetti Squash tutorial on how to make spaghetti squash because I am a newbie and I had no clue how to cook it. Never even heard of the squash. Not to mention how intimidating it looked when I first laid eyes on it because it was so big! I overcooked mine the first time so it got a little mushy, but now I know better. Start off by poking 8 to 10 holes on each side (front and back) of the spaghetti squash. I did four holes toward the bottom half, two in the center, and four towards the top half. I turned the squash over and poked 8 to 10 more holes. The easiest way to do this is by using a metal skewer and just jabbing that thing in there. Poor squash! I felt like I was stabbing it to death. Just remember 8 to 10 holes, don't get carried away if you are frustrated that day LOL.

I used a metal skewer. It made it so much easier!

8 to 10 holes on each side is all you need.

Then place the squash on a plate inside the microwave. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Turn the squash over and microwave for another 4 minutes. If needed, turn the squash over and cook for 4 more minutes. Depending on the size of your squash, your cooking times will vary. A large squash will take about 12 to 14 min to cook while a small squash will take about 8 to 10 min. It is done when you can jab a fork into it. It should be tender and not mushy. Do I see a trend here with the jabbing?