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

Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup

Sometimes it is hard trying to figure out what to do with all those leftovers. If you are anything like my husband, you do not want to waste any food, ever! I can’t say that this is a bad thing. I used to be very wasteful but thanks to him I am not anymore. After our lovely turkey dinner, we had some leftover “crappy” sections. I call them crappy because I don’t like them. It was a leg and a thigh – all dark meat. Don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of flavor, I just don’t like that portion of the bird. Anyway – he was out hunting one evening and I knew he would need something hot to warm him up when he got home. I decided to make a turkey soup using those leftover pieces. It worked. I was able to use up all of the meat, flavor the soup and cut the meat into chunks large enough I could pick out what I didn’t want to eat. Everyone wins – plus we got rid of the leftovers! This makes about 6-8 servings.

1large cooked turkey leg (or other part of bird, bone in)

1 large cooked turkey thigh (or other part of bird, bone in)
4 cups of water or vegetable broth
½ cup chopped celery
1 ear of corn
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup chopped carrots
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp garlic salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp parsley
8 oz of GF pasta (I used rice penne pasta)

•  In a large stockpot, sauté celery, carrots and onion for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add in water or broth, turkey pieces, corn, salts, pepper, sage and parsley. B
• ring to boil and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove corn and turkey from pot. Cut corn from the cob and return to pot.
• Cut pieces of the turkey meat into small chunks and return to pot. Add in pasta and return to boiling.
• Cooking time will vary at this point, depending on your type of pasta. Just watch the soup closely until pasta is finished cooking. 

Turkey Pot Pie

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Here’s a quick and easy recipe for using up some leftover turkey and it is so much better for you than the frozen pot pies. I should call this the ultimate leftover pie. You can even simplify the crust if you’d like by using a premade crust (an extra from Thanksgiving Dinner maybe?). The best part though is the turkey is already made, the veggies are frozen or leftovers and the sauce is easy to make. This makes about 6 servings.

1 cup cooked turkey, cut into small chunks

½ cup cooked potatoes, mashed or cubed
12 oz or 1 ½ cups mixed veggies (frozen or leftovers – I used leftover green bean casserole, corn, carrots)
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced celery
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup water or chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 GF pie crust (alternate recipe below)

• In a large skillet, sauté onion and celery in olive oil. Add in mixed veggies, turkey, parsley, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until veggies are tender or about 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine broth and cornstarch until well blended. Pour into skillet mixture and bring to boiling, about 10 minutes.
• In a deep dish pie plate, pour skillet mixture. Top with pie crust, piercing with a knife to allow heat to release.
• Bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until crust starts to brown. Let cool about 10 minutes and serve.

 

GF Pot Pie Crust

This is different-just a forewarning. But it is still great and gives a flaky texture to this pot pie.

1 cup GF flour blend

½ avocado
¼ -1/2 cup water
¼ tsp salt

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, avocado, water and salt. Blend using a pastry knife until avocado is mashed and mixture is well blended, adding extra water if needed. Roll out on a floured surface into desired shape and use as you would any pie crust.

BBQ Turkey Meatballs

Looking for a game day appetizer or even a holiday appetizer?? Try these little meatballs. They are quick and easy to make plus contain less fat and sugar than typical BBQ meatballs. Using a homemade BBQ sauce is also a good switch if you are watching your nutrition. This makes about 24 meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/3 cup GF bread crumbs
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cumin
1 cup BBQ sauce

• In a large bowl, combine turkey, bread crumbs, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper and cumin. Using your hands, mix together until ingredients are well combined. U
• sing a cookie scoop, scoop meat mixture into balls and place into a greased muffin tin. This helps the meatballs keep their shape and also makes it pretty easy.
• Bake meatballs at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through. In a large saucepan, combine cooked meatballs and BBQ sauce and cook for about 10 minutes. You can also but the sauce and cooked meatballs in a crock pot to keep warm if serving for a large group. 

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 Meatballs and Spaghetti Squash

Try these turkey meatballs and I’ll bet you won’t miss the beef. These are moist and flavorful without a lot of fat. We serve these meatballs over spaghetti squash and top with homemade pasta sauce. These are a huge hit at our house! Plus they are quick and easy to make!

1 lb ground turkey, lean

1 egg
¼ cup gluten-free bread crumbs
1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
¼ cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Olive oil for greasing pan
1 spaghetti squash
2 cups pasta sauce (my homemade version is found here!)

• In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, pepper, garlic and seasonings.
• Form into 2” meatballs and put into a greased muffin pan. This makes the baking process really easy and helps the meatballs stay together.
• Bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until cooked completely through.
• While the meatballs are baking, cook the spaghetti squash. I find the easiest way is to cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place one half of the squash, cut side down in a glass baking dish. Add in ¼ cup water, cover and microwave for about 10 minutes. Cook the other half of squash the same way.
• Using a fork, scrape out the squash “pasta” and put onto serving plates.
• Once the meatballs are done, place two or three onto the squash pasta and top with pasta sauce. If desired, throw on some parmesan cheese and some parsley.  

Turkey Cranberry Sandwich

If you liked my cranberry spread, you will love it on this sandwich. I know making a sandwich is not hard to do and this one is very simple but sometimes you find the right combination and it is too good not to share. Turkey and cranberry just go together and with the holidays coming up I hope you remember this for any leftovers you may have. It’s also perfect to make ahead and take for a quick and easy lunch as it is just as good cold as it is hot! Makes 1 sandwich. Enjoy!

2 slices of gluten-free bread (I love Udi’s or homemade)

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp cranberry orange spread
2 slices of deli turkey meat (A local market has a great honey roasted turkey)
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 tsp dairy free butter

• Spread butter on both sides of bread slices.
• On a hot griddle, lay bread slices and cook for about 5 minutes or they start to brown.
• On the griddle, warm turkey slices.
• Flip over bread slices to cook the other side.
• On one slice of bread, spread Dijon mustard. On the other side, spread the cranberry orange spread.
• Layer the slice of cheese on a bread slice.
• Top with turkey slices and then the remaining bread slice. Serve immediately.
• You can obviously cook this on a Panini press but I don’t have one so the griddle worked fine!

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)