Turkey Stroganoff

Good Morning Readers - today I will give you the link to the new website. Bear in mind that I'm still getting everything figured out so there may be a few tweaks but overall the posts should be there! For a while, I will continue to post the links here so it's easy to get to the new site. I will still share the posts on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest so hopefully you don't miss anything!

My new website is www.lphjkitchen.com

My first original post found there is a great meal to make for your family but lower in fat than the traditional version! Enjoy!

Turkey Stroganoff

New Year New You Breakfast

Happy New Year! Today, some of you may not wake up in time for breakfast and might not feel like eating if you had a little too much fun! For those of you like me, who barely stayed up to “ring in the new year” and then awoke to very busy kids early, you might need a quick pick me up! If you saw my post yesterday about our New Year’s goals, you will see that one of mine is embracing my health issues and having a more positive outlook on them.  A couple weeks ago, I found out I was showing intolerances to almost every food. My major problems being gluten, dairy and eggs – which I was forced to give up immediately. The dairy and eggs have proven to be quite a struggle to give up. I was eating two eggs a day for breakfast. When I first started going through my diet change last summer I found a cute little blog, Peas and Thank You, and a cookbook by the same name. The author is very fun in her writing. They follow a vegan diet that includes gluten so I do have to make some modifications to her recipes but they are still great! In her cookbook I found a recipe for tofu eggs. I immediately thought, “no way am I eating tofu”. My sister is vegan. She eats tofu; I’ve tried it and hated it. However, I decided to give it another shot. I modified the recipe I found to add in my favorite veggies and I’m very surprised (and happy) to say that it works! This is a baked dish that tastes similar to a quiche or frittata. Tofu, when baked like eggs, has a very similar taste and texture to eggs. I challenge you to try the tofu as it does have many health benefits. However, I understand if you just can’t quite make that leap into the tofu world (it was hard for me!). If you can’t, I’ve added an egg substitution for you. Either way, this dish is healthy, tasty, filling and keeps well. Sometimes life brings us challenges that we aren’t prepared for but today is a new day, the start of a new year and I’m embracing a new “me” and I hope this little dish helps! This serves 4-6.

1 package of tofu (any firmness will work) or 8 eggs

¼ cup peppers, chopped

½ cup kale, chopped

¼ cup mushrooms, chopped

¼ cup potato, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

¼ cup shredded cheese (I used Daiya dairy free cheddar)

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp sea salt

• In a large skillet, sauté kale, peppers, mushrooms and potato in olive oil until crisp tender (about 10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, prepare tofu. 
• If you are using a firm or extra firm tofu, you will need to puree it until smooth. To do this, just use a blender and a little bit of water until it is smooth. 
• If you are using a soft tofu, you won’t need to puree it, but you will need to drain the excess water out.
•  If you use the soft tofu, you can leave it a little chunkier and it gives the dish a scrambled egg like texture. If you use the firm pureed tofu, its smoother. Either way it tastes great! 
• In a large mixing bowl, combine tofu, cheese, spices and vegetables; stir until well combined. 
• Pour mixture into a greased 9” glass pie plate or other baking dish. Bake at 375°F for about 20-25 minutes or until mixture starts to brown and is firm in the center. 
• You can also fill muffin cups with the mixture and make individual servings, just adjust your cooking time. 
• Serve this with some fresh fruit for a complete meal!

Healthy Nachos

Going low carb can be a real challenge. I find it especially hard to eat healthy during football or parties. We just love party snacks but you know as well as I do that they can be awful for you! I’m still adjusting but for now these nachos will work great in a pinch! Believe it or not, the bell peppers make a great substitute for a chip. Let’s be honest though – it’s still not a chip. I really liked the light and crisp taste though. Plus I could eat a lot more without feeling guilty about it! I did made my husband some with tortilla chips though – not everyone is excited about finding a low carb, clean, appetizer like I am : ). Makes enough for about 4-6 servings depending on if you are serving as an appetizer or a meal.

3-4 bell peppers, seeded and cut into 2” chunks

1 can beans, drained and rinsed (our favorites are black beans or cannellini beans)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

½ cup corn

½ cup jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

1 avocado, chopped

¼ cup green onions chopped

½ cup shredded cheese (we used dairy free)

Salsa, sour cream, etc for additional toppings

Heat oven to 400°F. On a large baking sheet sprayed with olive oil, line bell peppers in a single layer. Spread evenly over peppers the beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers. Top with cheese and bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with avocadoes, green onions and additional toppings if desired. Serve immediately. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This recipe may trick you. It looks like a cheesy, fattening, heavy casserole. However, it is a slimmed down, lean, tasty casserole that you can feel good about eating. This low fat, low carb dish is still comforting and delicious. Chicken Cordon Bleu can typically be very heavy and most casseroles have a rich and creamy but fatty sauce. I swapped out the heavy cream for a lighter but still savory sauce. I kept the swiss cheese but it could easily be substituted for a diary free cheese and still taste great. I also swapped out the carb filled pasta for some carb free spaghetti squash. I even added a few extra veggies to get more nutrients. Any way you make it (traditional or modified), this dish is savory and wonderful. Perfect for a fall or winter day.

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 Tbsp Olive oil

¼ cup onion or bleu cheese dressing (homemade or bought – I used a sweet Vidalia onion dressing)

½ spaghetti squash, cut lengthwise

¼ cup water

¼ cup onion or bleu cheese dressing

2 cups swiss chard, cut into thin, short strips

4 slices of swiss cheese

3 oz of sliced deli ham, diced

2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic, minced

• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook chicken breast chunks in olive oil and ¼ cup of the onion or bleu cheese dressing. Cook chicken for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked through completely. 
• In a greased 2 quart baking dish, pour water and place one half of the spaghetti squash, cut side down. Pierce squash shell with a knife or fork. Cook in microwave for about 10 minutes. Once spaghetti squash is cooked, drain any extra water from the baking dish. Turn over squash and scrape edges and bottom of shell with a fork to make spaghetti “noodles”. Place scraped squash into a separate bowl. 
• While squash is cooking, quick-blanch the swiss chard. Bring two cups of water to boil in a sauce pan. Put swiss chard in boiling water and cook for about a minute. Drain water quickly from chard. 
• In the same baking dish, spread cooked chicken on bottom. Sprinkle spaghetti squash over chicken. Pour the remaining ¼ cup of dressing over squash and chicken. Place swiss chard over squash and then sprinkle on diced ham. Next, layer on slices of swiss cheese until mixture is covered. Layer on sliced tomatoes until dish is covered. Finally, sprinkle on salt pepper and minced garlic.
•  Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and mixture starts to bubble around edges. 

Zucchini Pasta with Secret Ingredient Alfredo

Any recipe with the title “secret ingredient” may raise some eyebrows but I’m hoping your curiosity will give the desire to give this recipe a try. Zucchini pasta is a nice, low carb, low fat, naturally gluten free substitute for pasta. I used my veggie spiral cutter to create “pasta” out of the zucchini and squash. Now, for the secret ingredient…. CAULIFLOWER! Yes, believe it or not, cauliflower has the ability to taste so different depending on what you do with it. Cauliflower in pizza crust is awesome; cauliflower steamed plain.. not so much. Cauliflower smells awful cooked but aside from that, it takes on a variety of flavors in recipes. In this recipe, the cauliflower takes on a wonderful garlic flavor that in a strange way resembles alfredo sauce. The best part is there is no heavy cream, fatty milk, etc in the sauce so you can feel good about eating it. The next best part is that this recipe is completely natural/vegan/paleo/etc. I served some grilled chicken on top of ours but shrimp would work well too. Also, it tastes just great without meat or cheese for those eating a vegan diets. This makes 4 servings.

1 small to medium zucchini, ends removed, spiral cut

1 small to medium yellow squash, ends removed, spiral cut
1 tsp sea salt
Alfredo Sauce
1 small head of cauliflower, steamed
1 cup vegetable broth
1 ½ tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chives
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ cup almond milk
¼ cup shredded cheese, if desired
Parsley, if desired

• In a medium saucepan, combine zucchini and squash spirals, cover with water and bring to boiling. Add in sea salt and continue boiling for about 7-8 minutes or until spirals are soft.
• Meanwhile, puree steamed cauliflower and vegetable broth in a high powered blender until smooth.
• Pour puree into a medium saucepan and add in garlic, chives, salt, pepper and milk. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in shredded cheese if desired and let set so cheese can melt.
• Place vegetable spirals onto a plate, top with sauce and sprinkle with parsley. 

Zucchini Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Remember how crazy my cauliflower pizza crust sounded?? Adding zucchini probably won’t make you less skeptical. However, it is awesome! I don’t exactly understand how forming cauliflower into a pizza crust makes it taste less like cauliflower but I’m glad it does! If you can get past the smell of cooking it, this pizza crust is a great alternative to dough crusts. Making pizza crust this way gives you tons of extra nutrients and added vegetable servings. It is also very low carb, low fat, gluten free, dairy free, and can be made Paleo. Makes 2 small circular crusts or 1 large square crust.

1 large zucchini, shredded (about 1 cup)

½ head of cauliflower, riced (about ½ cup)
1 egg (or equivalent egg substitute)
¼ cup GF bread crumbs (or GF flour will work also)
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
Toppings
2 cups spinach
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup raspberry balsamic vinaigrette
½ cup pasta sauce
½ cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella style almond cheese)

• In a food processor, shred zucchini and cauliflower.
• In a large bowl, combine zucchini, cauliflower, egg, bread crumbs or flour, garlic, sea salt, basil, oregano. Mix until ingredients are well combined.
• Refrigerate crust mixture for about 30 minutes.
• Using foil or parchment paper, line a baking sheet. Spread crust mixture evenly into a thin layer on the baking sheet.
•  Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add toppings and cheese if desired. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Turkey Pizza Quesadillas

Quesadillas are one of my kid’s favorite meals. It’s also one of my favorites because they are so easy to make. We love regular chicken or cheese quesadillas but I wanted to change things up a bit. I decided to make an Italian version instead and it worked! The pasta sauce helps hold the ingredients together inside the tortilla and the seasonings in the turkey really make this taste similar to pizza. It’s just a simple and tasty version of one of our favorite meals!

8 6” corn tortilla shells

1/3 lb of ground turkey
1 tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp garlic, minced
1/3 cup pasta sauce
¼ cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup bell pepper, chopped
1 cup spinach
½ cup shredded cheese

• In a large skillet, brown turkey and add in basil, oregano and garlic.
• On a preheated griddle, place tortilla shells. Spread pasta sauce over 4 of the shells.
• Layer cooked turkey, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and cheese onto the pasta sauce covered shells.
• Top with the remaining plain shells and cook on each side until slightly brown.

Turkey Veggie Chili

So today I was going to post a recipe for something grilled. However, it is rainy and cold here and we’ve been a bit under the weather. We opted for chili instead! This chili recipe is very mild. You can easily increase the spices to better fit your taste buds! I know exactly what is going into this chili which makes me feel even better about eating it. This is perfect for a cool day and goes great with this homemade cornbread (surprise – two posts in one day!).

1 lb of ground turkey (lean, organic is best – switch out for ground beef if you must)

2 cans of beans (I used organic, white cannellini beans)
2 medium bell peppers, diced (about 1 cup diced)
½ cup mushrooms, diced
½ cup eggplant, diced
½ cup onion, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 3-4 cans, just omit water)
1 cup water
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
Shredded cheese (for topping if desired)

• In a large skillet, brown turkey. Season turkey with sea salt and pepper. Add in garlic, onions and 1 tablespoon olive oil while turkey is cooking.
• In a large stockpot, heat one tablespoon of olive oil. Saute bell peppers, mushrooms and eggplant in stockpot. Add in tomatoes to veggie mixture. Add in water to stockpot with tomatoes and veggies.
• Once the turkey is cooked through, add that mixture into stockpot. Next, add in your spices and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Pour into bowls and top with shredded cheese if desired.
• NOTE: Add more or less water, depending on your desired thickness of chili.
•  If you add in some tomato paste (1 tbsp at a time), you can thicken up your chili.

Made Over Loaded Mashed Potatoes

I am not a huge fan of mashed potatoes, but there’s something about them that is just comforting. Unfortunately, throwing a stick of butter and whole milk just takes something comforting and makes it heavy and loaded with fat. Tonight I decided I wanted a home-style side without all of the junk in it. Granted these still aren’t that “good” for you, but should make you feel a little less guilty about having seconds!

5-6 small red or russet potatoes, quartered (skins on or removed)

½ cup almond milk
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 slices of turkey bacon, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
¼ cup onion, diced
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp parsley
½ cup shredded cheese

• Cover potatoes with water and boil for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• While potatoes are cooking, sauté the onions, garlic and bacon together until bacon is crisp.
• Drain water from potatoes and return to pan. Add in almond milk, oil, pepper, salt, parsley and cheese and mash until well blended. (I’ve also used an immersion blender to get the potatoes very soft.)
• Sprinkle with additional cheese or parsley before serving if desired.

Biscuits with Browned Turkey Gravy

When I was little – well up until my new diet – my favorite breakfast food was biscuits and gravy. My mom could make the best too. She would cook up some Pillsbury buttermilk, flaky biscuits. Then she’d make homemade sausage gravy (from scratch) and pour over the warm biscuits. Oh my goodness- it was fantastic. Looking back now – I can’t believe my favorite breakfast was full of so much junk. This version is (obviously) gluten-free, lean, and made with more natural ingredients. The best part – it tastes so good, we don’t miss the old stuff!

8 biscuits (I used Bob’s Red Mill packaged mix according to their directions for a quick version)

¼ lb of turkey sausage (Here’s my homemade version)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp potato starch (or flour)
½ tsp garlic salt
½ - ¾ cup milk (I did use unsweetened almond milk)

• In a skillet over medium heat, brown turkey sausage in olive oil and crumble into small pieces.
• Once cooked, add in potato starch and garlic salt until combined with the sausage.
• Slowly add in ½ milk and cook on low heat until boiling. Continue cooking while stirring constantly until you get the desired consistency of your gravy.
• You may want to add in a little extra milk if your gravy gets too thick. Pour gravy mixture over warm biscuits and serve with some fresh fruit!
• The key here is to make your gravy in the same skillet you cooked your sausage in. This will give it the brown color and add SO much flavor.

Turkey Breakfast Sausage

Before my restricted diet came along, we had an egg and bacon or sausage for breakfast every day.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I had sausage before today. I originally got this idea from a paleo magazine but I tweaked it quite a bit to fit our needs. The spices in this are the key ingredients. The sage and rosemary compliment each other so well and give the sausage an awesome flavor. Instead of turkey, you could easily substitute ground pork. I used very lean turkey, but you would get a little more flavor out of a little fattier meat.

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 Tbsp fresh sage finely minced
1 tsp fresh thyme finely minced
1tsp fresh rosemary finely minced
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp honey (or sugar)
1 Tbsp olive oil

• Mix together turkey, seasonings and honey until well combined. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
• Form & flatten turkey into small (2 inch) patties.  Cook on first side for about 10 minutes and then cook on other side for about 5 more minutes or until both sides are browned. (I like mine really browned so we cooked ours a little longer. Just make sure your patties are cooked all the way through)

Chicken Enchiladas - sort of

Okay – one of my biggest complaints about going gluten-free is tortilla shells. I’m not a huge fan of corn shells-I’ve even made my own and was still not that impressed. I really just like flour ones, especially the spinach wrap shells, tomato wraps, etc. My first GF tortilla shell was a package of large 10” teff flour wrap shells. They are really dry and do not “wrap” at all – more like a solid crumble. Anyway, I had them for a while and thought – let’s try enchiladas. They still did not hold together well so it ended up being like an “open-faced” burrito but tasted great. Give it a try (and if you have any suggestions for better GF tortilla shells, send them my way!)

2 chicken breasts, thawed, trimmed

2 tsp of taco seasoning (homemade or store bought)
1 cup of water
1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup onions, diced
¼ cup green pepper, diced
2 cups brown rice, cooked
½ cup low fat sour cream or plain yogurt
4 10” teff flour tortilla shells
Shredded cheese or cheese slices (we used leftover thick mozzarella slices)

•  First step is to cook chicken. I cooked mine in my pressure cooker, which is why you need the water. I threw my chicken breasts into the cook pot with the taco seasoning and water and pressure cooked for 12 minutes. If you want to grill your chicken, bake, pan fry, whatever – you just won’t need the 1 cup of water.
• Once chicken is cooked, shred it and put into a skillet with olive oil.
• Add onions, peppers and brown rice and cook until heated through.
• Slowly stir in sour cream (you may want to add a little extra water with the sour cream if you want the mixture a little creamier)
• Place ¼ of the chicken mixture into the middle of a tortilla shell and roll up like a burrito (or at least try, like I said the shells fall apart).
• Place enchilada into a 9x9 baking dish. Repeat with the next three shells.
• Sprinkle or place the cheese slices on top of the enchiladas and bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes or until the shell edges start to crisp and the cheese is melted.
• NOTE: This may be messy trying to get this out of the baking dish onto the plates without it falling apart. If it does, no worries – just scoop up mixture with fork and eat
• NOTE: Serve this with fresh corn, salsa verde and extra sour cream. We always like to make our own “pico” with tomatoes, cilantro, onions and avocados.

Breakfast Quesadillas

Here I’m going to give you two versions of this tasty meal : sweet & savory. My son loves quesadillas – I love hearing him trying to pronounce it (ha)! If you haven’t noticed, I like my recipes easy and customizable. This is both. Feel free to substitute whatever you’d like – I’m just giving you a base to use your own ideas. The possibilities are endless!

Sweet Breakfast Quesadillas
8 corn (or flour) tortilla shells (6”)
3 oz of cream cheese (or cream cheese spread), softened
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup fresh berries, chopped (or fruit mix – we like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc)

• Mix together cheese, honey and cinnamon in a small bowl.
• On a griddle place 4 tortilla shells, spread with cream cheese mixture onto each shell.
• Divide fruit equally among the 4 shells and put on top of the cheese mixture.
• Top this with the remaining tortilla shells. Cook on the griddle on about 400°F until edges of shells are brown (flipping to cook both sides).
• NOTE: We’ve also tried the following mixtures: Peanut Butter & Banana, just plain cinnamon, cream cheese & pinapple.

Savory Breakfast Quesadillas

8 corn (or flour) tortilla shells (6”)
3 eggs
2 Tbsp almond milk (or regular)
¼ cup diced tomatoes
¼ cup diced green onions
Shredded cheese (whatever flavor you prefer)

• Scramble the eggs and almond milk in a hot skillet until cooked through.
• On a griddle, place 4 tortilla shells and add the scrambled egg mixture on to each shell.
• Sprinkle the diced tomatoes, onions and cheese over the egg mixture on each shell.
• Top with the remaining tortilla shells and cook on the griddle on about 400°F until edges of shells are brown (flipping to cook both sides).
• NOTE: We’ve also tried the following mixtures: Egg, Spinach & Mushroom, Egg & Asparagus, Egg & turkey sausage/bacon.