Easy Southwest Turkey Salad

Kid tested, everyone approved!

I love using frozen fruits and vegetables. Besides the fact that they're always nice for a quick, easy dinner, here's an article with a little more explanation why: 

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/fresh_vs_frozen_vegetables_are_we_giving_up_nutrition_fo
On that note, tonight's dinner was centered around this little gem:

Easy Southwest Turkey Salad (it's not really a salad, but we likened it to a “taco salad”)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 T oil (I used olive)

1 tsp minced garlic

14 oz package Birds Eye “Ultimate Southwest Blend” (corn, black beans, poblano peppers, onions and red peppers)

1 lb ground turkey

1 T clean taco seasoning

¼ C water

1 avocado, diced

3/4 C salsa (there are usually great deli salsas in most local grocery stores, which are fresh and clean)

Fresh cilantro (optional)

Corn chips or brown rice

Directions:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add vegetable blend and cook until heated through, making sure to stir often to keep from sticking.

In a separate skillet, cook ground turkey until thoroughly cooked. Add taco seasoning and water and cook an additional 2 minutes.

In a blender (I used my trusty magic bullet), combine avocado and salsa and blend until most of the avocado is blended.

Spoon avocado over turkey/veggie mixture and sprinkle fresh cilantro over top.

Serve with corn chips or over brown rice.

Eating clean on a budget!

I hear a lot of people complain that they simply can't afford to eat healthy, or clean.

Today I was looking for ways to debunk this myth, and found this great post on Eatcleandiet.com
The poster has some GREAT tips for ways to shop and plan your meals. I'm going to put some of these, ones I wasn't using before, to use this month and see how I do, I definitely think it can be done!

Here are a couple other sites with helpful tips or recipes for budget clean eating:

http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Budget-Recipes.aspx

http://muffin-topless.com/2012/06/22/how-to-eat-clean-on-a-budget/ (how great is this website name?! haha!)

Let me know any tips or tricks you have for eating clean on a budget, I'm always on the lookout for more!

Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

I got the original recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie (I think the sucanat turns it a darker color than Katie's using brown sugar, just a disclaimer), and tweaked it a little to make it "clean". The only major thing I'd change about this recipe is to get rid of the oats somehow (I have oat allergies, and I think it would be yummier without the oat flavor, but that's just me). If I figure out a way (maybe just wheat flour?), I'll post it for sure! :)

Reviews: My kids all LOVED it, Nate didn't (although he only ate one bite), but he doesn't love chocolate chip cookies either. Let me know what you think if you try it!!

Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

Here is my altered recipe:

Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

• 2 cans white beans or garbanzos, drained and rinsed (don't tell anyone, I promise they won't know!)
• 1 cup oats
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3 tbsp oil of choice
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 ½ C sucanat (I think I would only use 1 cup if I made it again, it was too sweet for me)
• 1 C Chocolate chips*

Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a good food processor (results in a much smoother texture than a blender). Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a regular deep dish pie pan). Cook at 350F for around 35-40 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan. (I ended up cooking mine only 30 minutes, but it was a little gooey, but oh so good still!)

*Here are two sites with recipes to make your own clean chocolate chips

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/

http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/desserts/homemade-chocolate-or-carob-chips/

Indian Dahl with Spinach

I got my recipe for the Indian Dahl on Allrecipes.com, making just one or two changes to make it more clean and healthy (omitted the butter, and used canned lentils for the sake of time) but it was pretty healthy to begin with! Quick and easy, start to finish (minus cooking the brown rice, which I did in the rice cooker) was probably 15 minutes!

Indian Dahl with Spinach

Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)

This dish gets its kick from jalapenos and cayenne pepper, which can both be adjusted to suite your 'spiciness level'. Super easy and quick!

Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)

Serves approx. 8 (depending on how much filling you use)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground turkey
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 1 tsp minced garlic
1-2 T dried, diced jalapeños (you could definitely use fresh, just used what we had on hand)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 bag frozen peppers (again, you could use fresh, just what we had on hand)
1 tsp dried cilantro

Instructions:

Heat a large saucepan to medium heat and cook peppers just until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. (You could easily do this part in the microwave as well, 6 minutes covered.)
Adjust heat to medium-high and add the turkey, salt, paprika, cayenne and jalapeños. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add peppers and cilantro and cook for another 3-4 minutes. 
Serve in warm, whole wheat pitas, with a little Greek yogurt inside, if you typically like sour cream.
The rest of my family used sour cream and cheese. The filling is even yummy just by itself!

Clean Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

I needed to make something easy tonight as I was running out the door, so I decided to throw these little guys together. They're ideal for a lower-fat meatloaf (and taste even better in my opinion!). I got the idea from Jamie Eason's recipe, but made a few changes to fit our tastes better. I think I've found a new favorite!!

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

YIELD: 12 SERVINGS

 

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

 

COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES

 

TOTAL TIME: 50 MINUTES

Turkey meatloaf muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground turkey
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup oats (I'm allergic to oats so I subbed with 1/2 C wheat bread crumbs)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 diced onion or 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 diced celery stalks (optional, I don't like chunks of stuff in my meatloaf so I omitted)
• 2 T ketchup (all natural, HFCS-free) or tomato sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 and spray muffin pay with some cooking spray (or coat with a little olive oil) .

Mix all the ingredients in one large bowl until well combined.  Roll the mixture into balls and place each one in the muffin pan. (She says each one should be about the size of a racquetball). If desired, add more ketchup or tomato sauce on top of muffins before baking.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until cooked through.

Makes 12 muffins.

Tikka Saag Recipe

We love Indian food at our house. This is one of our favs, so I adjusted a few things to make it "clean". If you want to add meat you can add cooked, diced chicken when you stir in the spinach. Let me know how you like it, if you try it!

Clean Tikka Saag

1 lb frozen chopped spinach 1/4 cup water 2 T oil (coconut or olive) 2 large onions, minced 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup milk of choice (coconut would be great, I just used skim, if you're not eating clean, cream would be great) 1 teaspoon garam masala Place the spinach into a large pot with 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, cover the pan, and remove from heat. Allow the spinach to steam for about 10 minutes, then place into a blender, and blend until very finely chopped. Set the spinach aside. Place the onions, garlic, and ginger, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, garam masala and turmeric into the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and salt and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Pour in the milk, stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and add the spinach. Stir the spinach in and cook until the spinach starts to stick to the pan, about 5-10 minutes. Serve over hot brown rice.