Tasty Tuesday: Jalapeno Cheese Turkey Burgers

August 21, 2012 by · 3 Comments

Surely, you all remember how Beth read This Is Why You’re Fat and if you recall Jackie Warner includes a section of recipes in her book.  She really sets you up for success with breakfast, lunch, dinner and side recipes all courtesy of Sunfare.  Well, when Beth got to the recipe section sticky tabs were pulled out and put on recipes that especially caught her eye – one being Jalapeno Cheese Turkey Burgers.  Definitely a sucker for any recipe that includes jalapenos!

This recipe is pretty easy to make and shouldn’t take much time at all to prepare!

Ingredients:

5 ounces ground turkey

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Garlic to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 ounce jack cheese, shredded

You might have noticed from the ingredients that you are only using 5 ounces of ground turkey meat and if you are like me and buy the Jenni-O turkey then that’s 20 ounces of turkey meat.  Well, if you’re also like me you’ll just make the whole package of turkey meat instead of simply making one serving.  So plan accordingly to quadruple the rest of the ingredients.

First you will want to combine the ground turkey, chopped parsley and garlic in a mixing bowl.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Then mix your jalapenos and jack cheese together and set aside.

The first time I made this I didn’t fully read the jalapeno and jack cheese part where you set it aside so I mixed it in with the turkey meat.  If you want to do this it’ll turn out great that way too! I think I actually prefer it that way, but from here I’ll carry on with the regular instructions.

See I’d already put in the jalapenos w hen I wasn’t suppose too. Oops?

Portion out two patties (remember this is originally from only 5 ounces of turkey meat so if you are using 20 ounces then you should be portioning out 8 patties total).  In the middle of each patty make an indentation and stuff the cheese/jalapeno mixture in there.  Then grill your turkey burgers!

This was me actually following the instructions 🙂

Maybe you are reading this recipe and it sounds good you definitely want to make it, BUT you don’t have a grill – yah, neither do I!  So what did I do?  Well, just like my mom use to do when she made us meat patties in the oven.  Turned the oven on to 350 degrees and stuck the patties in there.  Sorry, I am not sure how long I left them in there, but I do know I checked on them at least 5 times. 🙂  But the key to a good oven meat patty is for the last 3-5 minutes turn the broiler on, move your oven rack up to the very top and let those patties cook up there.

A fabulous meal and they reheat well too should you make the whole package of turkey meat for meals later in the week!  Also, I might add if you buy a whole thing of parsley to chop up then maybe also plan on making the Mini Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups since it calls for parsley as well! 🙂

What’s your favorite way to make turkey burgers?  Do you have a special ingredient that you always use?

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Tasty Tuesday: Mini Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups

August 14, 2012 by · 4 Comments

Thank you pinterest for this recipe find which also lead to a new blog — Iowa Girl Eats!  Not sure how we haven’t stumbled upon Kristin’s blog or her on twitter yet, but glad we finally did!  Not only is she giving her readers tasty recipes to try but she’s also a runner – like us!

Recently I was on the search for some sort of mini quiche, mini frittata, or something of that nature for a baby shower and I stumbled upon the mini ham & cheese quinoa cups. I gave them a test run the week of the shower,  thought they were fabulous and was ready to count them as a part of my contribution to the shower food!

This recipe makes 28 mini cups and calls for –

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup uncooked)

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced ham

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese

2 green onions, sliced

salt & pepper to taste

To get started preheat that oven to 350 degrees and get going on cooking and chopping up the ingredients!  Follow the instructions on the box of your quinoa to cook it correctly.

My favorite vegetable chopping/slicing contraption!!

Combine ALL of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix it all up!

Grab your mini muffin pans and spray them with a non-stick spray and don’t just lightly spray make sure you really cover the pans with the non-stick spray.  Begin spooning out the mixture into each muffin pan.

I used normal size muffin pans on my first go ’round

The recipe calls for cooking them about 15-20 minutes, but I either have always had the slowest cooking oven in the world or….well, I don’t know what.  I definitely left them in the oven for more like 25-30 minutes, so just make sure to watch the sides and when they start to turn a golden brown you are safe to take them out of the oven.  Give them about 5 minutes to cool then remove the quinoa cups from the muffin pan.

There you go! Cute little delicious Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups.  Next I’ll have to get brave and experiment with different ingredients!

And here is how the nutrition stacks up on the quinoa cups –

Should also add that these mini cups reheat well. If you were to make them for say a baby shower or something similar like I did the mix does well if you make it the night before, refrigerate and cook them the next day.  Or you could simply make about half the recipe, save the rest of the mix and make it the next day.

Are you a big quinoa fan? What’s your favorite recipe involving quinoa?

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Book Report: This Is Why You’re Fat

August 6, 2012 by · 15 Comments

…many “experts” have made dieting so complicated and unrealistic that people tend to give up.  In fact, diets have a 98 percent failure rate!

When I picked up a copy of Jackie Warner’s This Is Why You’re Fat I couldn’t wait to get started reading it, and once I did start reading it I didn’t want to put it down!

And I completely appreciate the excerpt above from this book.  There are far too many books out there that make trying to eat right such a complicated process.  Right now, there are plenty of books out there and people out there saying most of what Jackie is saying, however, she says it in a no nonsense sort of way.  It’s easy to understand and a light bulb really did go off as I read it!

Essentially eat clean.  Eat natural.  Limit or pretty much rid your diet of processed food.  Do not fear – you can bring some of it back on your designated cheat meals!

Did any of you watch Jackie Warner’s show on  Bravo called Work Out? I did and I totally loved her attitude and what she was about. I remember constantly her saying SUGAR IS BAD. SUGAR IS EVIL! GET RID OF SUGAR IN YOUR DIET!  Well, she’s saying that again in her book.

I can honestly say her saying that on Work Out has been hanging out in my head, but reading her book shed a whole new light on it for me.  I use to looooove to drink Starbucks VIA Caramel coffee then a light bulb turned on and I actually looked at the back of the box.  Oh hey, Beth, this isn’t normal coffee – whatever they did to it adds 13 grams of sugar. THIRTEEN!! Yep, I am done with that stuff.  Still have some in the pantry at home and it is the last thing that I want.  I look at it right now and just shake my head! It’s essentially black coffee with caramel flavoring and 13-freakin-grams of sugar!

Really, I don’t want to give too much away.  Maybe I already did?!  But this book so turned on a light for me I wish I could buy it and give it away to other people!  (maybe that’s a sign we should do a giveaway??)  I’d loan you my copy but I highlighted and wrote all over it plus I feel it’s something where I should look back on frequently. Refresh my mind!  Not only that, but Jackie completely sets you up for success!  She gives you the good & bad of food in our bodies, explains her way of eating, gives you a plan, gives you workouts and gives you recipes!

Like I said before this book just hit home with me even though I think there are some other similar books saying the same things so it just might be my preferred method of hearing what I needed to hear!

Have you read This Is Why You’re Fat?  Has another healthy eat & living book really hit home with you like this one did for me?

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Tasty Tuesday: HG Style Chicken Cordon Bleu

July 24, 2012 by · 6 Comments

How many of you have already heard of Hungry Girl?  Well, we have too and have both been HG followers for six-ish years now!

We both own multiple HG cookbooks and sometimes when you find one of their recipes that’s de-lish you HAVE to spread the word.  The Hungry Girl created their own version of Chicken Cordon Bleu back in April of 2009 and I’ve made it a number of times it had just been awhile since the last time. 🙂   HG makes a lot of their recipes as a single serving in case you are the the solo healthy eater in your house or just cooking for one regularly, but they are normally quite easy to double, triple, etc.

The ingredients are pretty simple:

1. one 5oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast (I just grabbed a whole package of chicken breasts since I was not eating alone this night)

2. one wedge of The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese and let it get to room temperature (loooove this stuff!)

3. one oz. (about 3 slices) of 97-98% fat-free ham slices (in this case since I was making it for more than just me so I bought a slightly fancier ham instead of just your traditional sandwich meat varieties)

4. salt and pepper to taste

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Once you’ve trimmed your chicken of any fat you’ll need to place it in a large sealable plastic bag and get as much of the air out as possible because next you gotta pound that meat to get it flat!  Pound it! Good way to get out some aggression if necessary! 🙂

Try and get the chicken to be about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Pretty positive I am a little too impatient for that, so at least give it some flatness! Then take the chicken out of the bag and beginning seasoning it to taste with your salt and pepper!  Grab your cheese wedge and spread that Laughing Cow Cheese over one side of your chicken like so…

This looks so appetizing right now, doesn’t it??

Please note you’ll want to spray your pan with a nonstick cooking spray or line it with foil before placing the chicken in the dish. 🙂

Next you’ll place your slices of ham on top of the side of the chicken you smeared with cheese, like so…

Roll up the chicken breast as tight as you can with the ham and cheese side on the inside of the roll.  It is probably easiest to then keep your chicken rolled up by securing it with a toothpick or two.

Cover your dish with foil and bake the chicken for 20 minutes.  With a hot pad or something else that will keep you from burning yourself remove the foil and let the chicken cook for another 15 minutes.  Then voila!  We decided to have whole grain couscous and broccoli with our chicken cordon bleu this time around!

Tasty looking, right?

Based upon the ingredients typed out above Hungry Girl has given the following nutritional data for their Chicken Cordon Bleu:

Sorry to our meat-less readers as this recipe is not really for you! :-/

Have you tried any Hungry Girl recipes before? What’s your go to HG recipe?

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Tasty Tuesday: Mason Jar Salads

June 12, 2012 by · 11 Comments

I am sure you guys have seen these if you are on Pinterest at all, but I really hadn’t paid much attention to them until I got to start actually eating lunch with adults at school again! My friend from work came in with her salad in a mason jar and I wanted to try it! Here it is in steps! I am super excited about this, I used to bring my salads in a plastic bag but this seams way easier with the dressing and everything!

I bought 12 mason jars for less than 10 bucks- I am just using the extra as cups!  Then follow these steps:

  1. Place your favorite dressing at the very bottom: I used Newman’s Own Organic Balsamic
  2. Place something that can be used as a barrier and you wouldn’t mind being soaked in the dressing- I used bell pepper
  3. Layer on what you want! These salads have mushrooms, red onions, cherry tomatoes, craisins, and ½ cup of cooked quinoa
  4. After you have placed in everything you want pile in as much lettuce as you can fit! I used an organic spring mix!
  5. Store and eat. Everything I have found says that they will keep for a week!

Nutrition info in case you were curious brought to you by myfitnesspal

292 calories

58 carbs- if this is too high for you take out the craisins: they have 25 grams

6 grams of fat

7 grams of protein

**Advocare Note: If you make this recipe during your 10 day cleanse you’ll need to count quinoa as your one carb for the day AND for salad dressing you’ll need to use either oil & vinegar or lime juice**

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Tasty Tuesday: Skinny + Enchilada = Healthy Goodness

May 22, 2012 by · 7 Comments

For a couple of months Beth has had some food goals – one being prepare your meals and the most recent one was try two new recipes for weekly meal prep!  Well she took her search to google and decided to try and find a skinny enchilada recipe which quickly led her to recipe created by She-Fit!  Ruth has some other great recipes listed on her blog that I hope I find time to make as well!

But back to the skinny enchiladas – look through the ingredients and everything sounded very do-able!

To get started you need to pre-heat your oven to 350.  Then lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish.  After you chop up your onion and bell pepper you are going to saute them in a pan.  Once the onions are a lightly brown mix your veggies with the Greek yogurt, chicken and cheese (if you are like me and boiled your chicken in chicken broth to cook it obviously that is going to be your real first item on the list to accomplish).

You’ll want to evenly spread out your mixture into 9 tortillas, roll them up and place them seam down in your baking dish.  Ruth’s recipe calls for wheat tortillas, but where would the fun be if I didn’t try something different??  I used corn tortillas instead! I have actually made this recipe twice now and the first go round I used Tia Rosa brand tortillas which pretty much broke immediately after being set down in the baking dish.  One the second go round I used Mission corn tortillas which had very little if any breakage of the tortilla!

Next you want to evenly coat your tortillas with the salsa and Greek yogurt mix then sprinkle with cheese! Voila! Your enchiladas are ready to bake!  The recipe calls for placing foil over the dish which I didn’t do, but maybe I should one of these days and see if it makes a difference.  Nonetheless, bake those bad boys for 15-20minutes.  Maybe in an effort to give some love to Ruth and her blog you should click here to find out about the nutrition facts!

One other little fun thing about this recipe is you can totally change up the taste of it simply by using a different type of salsa!  My first time making this recipe I decided to use a salsa verde, but the second time after perusing all the salsa choices at my local grocery store I chose to buy a local brand salsa – Hazelwood’s Smoked Chipotle.  The flavor was completely different and just as delicious from that one change up!

Have you tried this version of skinny enchiladas?  What’s your favorite skinny recipe to make?

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