Quick Turkey Meat Sauce

On Monday I was EXHAUSTED to say the least. By 4pm I literally thought my eyes were going to burn out of my skull. I came home around 4:30pm and just vegged out on the couch for about an hour and a half. Around 6 I decided I needed to get off the couch and cook something for dinner. I wanted to make something quick but filling and I came up with this recipe.

I absolutely love pasta and meat sauce. Its super filling and I was in the mood for some nice comfort food! Therefore, I took some onion and diced them up and threw them into a sauce pot with a little olive oil.

Next I threw a Jenny-O all natural white meat turkey burger. They don't need to be thawed so I can take it from the freezer and throw it right into a pan.

While the turkey burger was browning on its side I diced up some vegetable to add volume to my sauce. I diced up some orange and yellow bell peppers, garlic, and some fresh spinach.

One the turkey burger was half way cooked I took a wooden spoon and broke it up into chunks.

Next I added the vegetables and let them cook for about 5 minutes with the turkey meat. I love having my vegetables still to have a little crunch to them. If you don't let them cook for about 10 minutes so everything wilts down.

Next I threw in some canned spaghetti sauce. I added some extra Italian Seasoning and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.

Put the lid on the pot if you can. It will allow the sauce to simmer a bit faster!

While the sauce is simmering I cooked up some whole wheat pasta.

Once the sauce is finished, take the lid off and put the heat on low until the pasta is finished cooking.

Soooo delicious!

Now all you need to do is add your sauce on top of the pasta and sprinkle on a little bit of Parmesan cheese!

Delicious and super healthy.

You want some don't you?

I took the left over sauce and threw it in some tupperware. On Tuesday I wanted a really quick dinner again because I had to go swimming at 5pm until class at 6:30. I didn't want to have a lot of carbs so my friend Stephanie gave me the idea to use zucchini instead of pasta! WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Just take some zucchini and use a vegetable peeler to make really thin slices.

Add some salt and pepper to the zucchini.

Then throw the sauce right on top and sprinkle with the Parmesan Cheese.

I threw it in tupperware, put the lid on and was out the door in five minutes.

It was absolutely delicious!!!!! I didn't have a chance to heat it up before class so ate the food at room temperature and it was amazing and there was soooo much food! I was so full afterwards! A great spin on a traditional dish, thanks Steph :)

Back in Virginia/Sushi with Stephanie!

Well last night I made it back to Good Old Virginia. Not that there is anything wrong with VA, but I must admit this past weeks vacation with my sister, brother-in-law, and my nieces sure had me missing New York.

One of the problems I have with traveling is that I tend to go out to restaurants more and cook a lot less. My train left Penn Station at 6:20pm and I didn't have a chance to grab a bite to eat at my sisters so I stopped at my favorite sandwich shop in Penn Station.

Every time I take the train out of Penn Station I stop at Zaros and pick up a Turkey Sandwich. This is not any normal turkey sandwich, this is the mother of all turkey sandwiches.

This turkey sandwich consisted of baked turkey, arugula, brie, thin slices of granny smith apples, and a honey mustard dressing. Needless to say it is absolutely delicious. Brie is one of my favorite cheese and I love how it tastes with crisp granny smith apples!

Always need something crunchy with a sandwich!

I got into Virginia at 9:45 and got back to my apartment around 10. I did some unpacking and headed to bed. After work I met my friend Stephanie for some sushi and cocktails at a restaurant in Old Town called Red Curry. The funny thing is I used to HATE fish and the thought of sushi made me want to vomit. However, a few weeks ago I finally got the courage to actually try it and LOVED it.

We started off the evening with some Vietnamese Vegetable Rolls. These rolls were fantastic! They had carrots, tofu, lemon grass, etc. They are really low in calories and super packed with nutrients from all of the different vegetables. They were paired with a hoisin dipping sauce that was to die for.

Stephanie and I decided to be a little adventurous and order three different kinds of sushi. I have only tried Spicy Tuna before and Stephanie had only tried Eel. Therefore, we got one roll of Eel with Asparagus, Crunchy Spicy Tuna, and Salmon with Avocado roll.

All of the food was delicious! I never thought I would try eel and it was actually my favorite of the three, kind of tasted like chicken! Sushi is very healthy for you as long as you stay away from tempura style food. Sushi is usually made with leaner types of fish and has vegetables (lots of vitamin) and rice (complex carbohydrate.) If the idea of raw fish creeps you out then there are some new sushi restaurants that are offering cooked sushi. I went to Whole Food a few week ago and they offered either raw or cooked sushi rolls and even the option of brown or white rice. How great is that????

Well it has been an exciting day. I can't believe I start taking my prerequisite courses on Monday! AHHH! So nervous! Off to bed I go!

Chicken Alfredo with Vegetables

If there is anything in this world I love with all my heart is Italian food. However, Italian food isn't the lightest or healthiest. One of my favorite dishes and probably the WORST for you is Chicken Alfredo! I found a great recipe in cooking light for a fettuccine alfredo that was only 399 calories for 1 cup!!! One of my favorite things to do is take a recipe I found in a cookbook, magazine, internet and jazz it up a bit or try and make it as healthy as possible.

The Cooking Light recipe is just pasta, sauce, and bacon. I love vegetables so I decided to add lots of vegetables, take out the bacon, and add chicken instead. First, I started off by boiling a pot of water for the pasta. While the water boiled I preheated a pan with about 2 tbsp of olive oil in it. While it was heating, I chopped spinach, bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Once the olive oil was ready (you can tell because it has a rippling effect, or you can test it out by sprinkling a little water into the pan if the olive oil crackles its ready) I threw all the vegetables in the pan and let them wilt down (about 10 minutes)

Once they were wilted take them out of the pan and set them aside.

Add a little bit more olive oil to the pan and sauté the garlic. Make sure not to burn the garlic or it will become very bitter and not tasty whatsoever. Once the garlic is sautéed add 1 tbsp flour and stir. Basically what you are doing is creating a rue to help thicken the sauce. You want to cook the flour so that it will act as a thickening agent and you won't taste it.

Once the flour is cooked (about 4 minutes) gradually add 1 cup of fat free milk. Make sure to whisk the garlic and flour as you add the sauce so that it will declump.

Let the sauce sit for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. While the sauce is heating through add some whole wheat pasta to the boiling water.

Gradually add 2/3 cup of Parmesan cheese to the sauce mixture. Make sure the sauce in on low heat and whisk the cheese and sauce together.

Next, combine all of the ingredients into the sauce pan. My chicken was precooked so I just tossed it in at the end to get warmed through!

Let them pasta and sauce sit for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has thickened and coated the food it is time to serve! Add any salt, pepper, seasonings, you would like!

A little more Parmesan for a garnish along with some fresh basil!

TAHHH DAHH!

This recipe is definitely a healthy twist on an old favorite!

PIZZA PIZZA!

It's pizza time!!!!! First we start off with a store bought crust.

Some store bought sauce.

Added some left over chicken, spinach, goat cheese, provolone, and a little Parmesan cheese. Added some dried oregano to the top!

Cook on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the cheese start bubbling.

Garnish with some fresh basil!

The next pizza is a margarita pizza. I got the receipe from Cooking Light. First I used a store bough whole wheat crust. Next, I made a basic tomato sauce which consists of:

1 28 oz can of Whole Tomatoes

5 Cloves Garlic

1/2 tbsp Oregano

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook until it begins to boil. Then turn the heat down and let simmer for 30 minutes so that all the flavors combine!!!

After the sauce is complete place it on the pizza. Next take some fresh mozzarella and slice about five thin pieces. Stick the pizza in the oven at 400 degrees for 20- minutes.

Garnish with whole basil leaves!!!

DELICIOUS!

Make sure not to over kill the pizza with cheese. With a margarita pizza it is more about the sauce flavor not the cheese!

ENJOY!

Spicy Pasta

I got this recipe from my sister and absolutely love it! First you start off by boiling some water and preheating a pan for some turkey sausage.

Then you need to chop up some broccoli rabe. If you've never used broccoli rabe before I would definitely try it. It is a bit more bitter than regular broccoli but provides a great flavor!

Some sundried tomatoes. The recipe calls for sundried tomatoes packed in oil, but I found these great ones without oil at Whole Foods.

You will need 3 cloves of garlic, minced finely

The last two things you will need are crushed red pepper and some Parmesan cheese.

Once the water bowls drop in some pasta. Try and use whole wheat, but I had none on hand so I used regular.

Once the sausage is browned and almost completely cooked take it out of the pan and cut it into smaller pieces. Then toss it back into the pan and add Olive Oil, Sundried Tomatoes, Crushed Red Pepper, and Garlic

Let the flavors simmer together for about 5 minutes or until the sausage is cooked completely through

When the pasta is almost done (about 5 minutes left to cook) throw the broccoli rabe right into the water with the pasta

Before

After

Once the pasta is cooked drain and toss it along with the broccoli rabe into the pan with the sausage.

Mix together and let cook about five minutes

All done!

Then add a little Parmesan cheese on top of the pasta for some added flavor!

Then ENJOY!


This dish is super fast and super healthy!!! Don't be afraid to experiment with different vegetables such as broccoli rabe. You'd be surprised by how much people won't try foods just because they have never cooked with them before. Experimenting with food is a great way to find new flavors and favorites.