Low Calorie & Kid Friendly Recipe: Tasty Turkey Burgers

Burgers are a family favorite but they do carry with them their fair share of calories and fat. When I want to give my family a healthier alternative to the trusty burger, I turn to turkey as a beef substitute. Turkey works beautifully in burgers, just like it does in meatloaf, with the help of some bread crumbs to hold the patties together. I like to serve my turkey burgers on whole wheat buns with oven fries on the side and everyone’s favorite fresh fixin’s.

Recipe: Tasty Turkey Burgers

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
  

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp. seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp. finely diced onion
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• Cooking spray

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients except for the cooking spray to a large bowl. Use clean hands to gently combine them.
2. Form the mixture into 4 equally sized patties.
3. Heat a medium skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray.
4. Cook the patties over medium heat, turning once, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees, about 5 minutes per side.
5. Remove the burgers from the pan and let rest for 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve on hamburger buns with all of your favorite toppings.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

• For a beefier flavor, add a few drops of hickory seasoning liquid smoke, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, and a teaspoon of soy sauce to the turkey mix.
• Instead of dicing the onion, finely shred it on a box grater. You’ll get all of the onion flavor without the onion texture, in case your kids (or you) don’t like the crunch of an onion inside the patty.
• Make 12 small patties instead of four from the mixture and serve these up as sliders.

Simple Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Recipe: Chicken with Avocado Salsa

New Year’s resolutions. We all make them and losing weight or eating healthier is often near the top of everyone’s list. We all make them with the noblest of intentions, but by February most of us are staring at a juicy burger or a chocolate dessert. The hustle and bustle of everyday life, missed favorite foods, and a whole host of other factors make it hard to stick with our resolution. But, when you have a collection of easy and healthy recipes in your dinner arsenal, it’s easier to stick with your resolutions and turn them into reality. This recipe is one of my favorite light and healthy main dishes. It cooks quickly is a tasty twist on the typical healthy chicken breast.

Recipe: Marinated Cilantro Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
• 2 ½ Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 6 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray

For the salsa

• 1 c. chopped plum tomatoes (about 2)
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
• 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 medium avocado, peeled and diced

Instructions

1. Combine the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and chicken in a large bowl.
2. Toss and let stand for 3-5 minutes while you prepare the ingredients for the salsa.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade.
4. Sprinkle chicken evenly on both sides with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
5. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray.
6. Add the chicken to pan and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until a thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast registers 160 degrees.
7. Remove the chicken from the pan, tent with foil, and let sit for 5 minutes while you finish the salsa.
8. To prepare salsa, combine all of the ingredients except the avocado in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
9. Add the avocado and stir gently to combine.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

• While 3-5 minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, the acid in the lime juice is strong enough to quickly penetrate the chicken and infuse it with flavor.
• You can serve the salsa as a topping on the chicken or on the side.
• Sprinkle the cut avocado with lime juice the moment you cut it up to prevent it from turning brown.
• Be careful when you stir the avocado into the salsa or it could get mushy.
• This salsa also goes well with other light proteins like pork and fish.
• If you’d like a little heat in your salsa, stir in a tablespoon or so of diced fresh jalapeno.
• For a fruitier salsa, stir in a small can of drained pineapple tidbits.

Easy Chicken Fingers Recipe: Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders

The benefit of cutting back on fried foods and bad fats is something we can all understand, but knowing and doing are two very different things. Let’s face it, fried food can be a hard habit to break, especially when you have kids who want chicken nuggets and they want them for every meal. To help my family continue to transition from bad food without facing rebellion, I use this incredibly simple recipe when we have that drive thru craving. These chicken tenders are baked instead of fried. Even so, the crunch of the toasted pecans is extremely satisfying, and the strips remain juicy.

Recipe: Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 1/3 c. flour
• Srinkling of salt and pepper
• 2 lb. chicken tenders
• ¼ c. honey
• ¼ c. spicy brown mustard
• 1 c. finely chopped pecans

For a dipping sauce:

• ¼ c. honey
• ¼ c. spicy brown mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Fill a shallow plate with the flour and a second one with the pecans. Mix the salt and pepper into the flour.
3. Put the honey and mustard in a bowl and stir to combine.
4. Roll the chicken tenders in the seasoned flour until they have a thin, dry coating.
5. Dip the floured chicken tenders in the honey and mustard combination, shaking off any excess.
6. Roll the chicken in the pecans, making sure to get an even coating.
7. Place the strips an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. While the chicken cooks, mix the second batch of the honey and mustard for dipping.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise into thirds can substitute for the tenders.
• Line your cookie sheet with foil to make cleanup easier.
• Let the chicken strips rest for just a minute or two after pulling them out of the oven so the pecans can become wonderfully crunchy. If you dive in right away, they might seem slightly chewy because the nuts’ natural oils haven’t had a chance to recede back into them yet. Plus, the strips will still be really hot and you’ll burn your tongue.
• Make sure that you don’t use the same honey mustard mixture that you dipped the raw chicken into as a dipping sauce!

Healthy Turkey Meatloaf

I like to use ground turkey as an easy substitute into sauces that usually call for ground beef, like our favorite spaghetti sauce. I can watch our fat intake without worrying about if my family will like (or even notice) the healthier substitute. However, for some ground beef or pork recipes, things can be a bit tricky when I try to substitute turkey for the very reason I’m making the change: turkey doesn’t have the same amount of fat. I sometimes have to add a binder like bread crumbs or eggs to the dish, or increase the amounts if they are already in the recipes. Turkey can also be a little bland because it’s missing the flavor-carrying power of fat, so I may amp up the seasonings in a recipe as well. What I’ve found across the board though is, with a little tinkering, just about any family favorite that calls for ground beef or pork can be made a little healthier with ground turkey. This particular turkey meatloaf really is as delicious as its beefy cousin, and if being better for you isn’t enough, it has the benefit of being ridiculously easy to make as well. You’ll have it on the table in no time flat.

Learn more about ground turkey

Recipe: Healthy Turkey Meatloaf

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time:40 minutes

Ingredients

For the meatloaf:

• ¼ c. bread crumbs, seasoned or plain
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ tsp. poultry seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. catsup

For the glaze:

• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ¼ c. catsup
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. dry mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl and stir until the breadcrumbs are moist.
3. Add the turkey, egg, onion, salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and catsup and mix well (use your hands; it’s the easiest way to do it).
4. Spray a small meatloaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and pat the turkey mixture into it.
5. Bake the meatloaf at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
6. While the meatloaf cooks, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
7. After the turkey has been in the oven for 40 minutes, spoon the glaze over the meatloaf and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

• You can use any kind of ground turkey you’d like: all while meat, white and thigh meat mix, or thigh meat. Let your preferences and what’s on sale be your guide.
• You can make this recipe in the microwave as well. Combine and mix the ingredients, then pat them into a round microwave safe dish. Cover the dish with wax paper or two layers of wet paper towel. Cook on High for 8 minutes, rotating dish ¼ turn every 4 minutes. While the meatloaf is cooking, combine glaze ingredients and after 8 minutes of cooking time, spoon over the meatloaf. Continue cooking, uncovered, for another 8 to 9 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Your Freezer: A Great Partner in Saving Money and Time

When I was growing up, my family had four freezers: small ones attached to our big and small refrigerators, a big one the size of a fridge, and a deep freeze in the garage. My mother and grandmother were freezer fanatics. When chickens were on sale and there was a limit on how many you could buy, the whole family would trek to the store with cash in hand to stand in different lines with our load of chickens so we could take maximum advantage of the sale. We froze the ends of bread that no one really wanted to eat to make bread crumbs and stuffing. We’d even freeze the bread itself if we could get a good deal on it.

For many years after I moved out and started my own home I only had the one freezer attached to my refrigerator, so I got away from using the freezer as a way to take advantage of great prices on freezable food and as tool for making nightly dinners easier to make. While I don’t think I’ll ever be as freezer-happy as my mother and grandmother were, there is something to be said for making better use of the freezer. Certainly when I find a great deal on a protein my family really enjoys, there’s no harm in buying an extra 1 or 2 pounds to use in the next month. And, next time I make meatballs or a lasagna, I can double the batch and put half in the freezer. Yep, there are definite possibilities.

I’m not alone in this – the blogosphere is full of freezer proponents who have all sorts of handy tips on how to help it help you. Here are a few of the posts that I found to be helpful – I hope you will as well.

• Use your freezer to help you stay within time and budget constraints. If you catch a really great sale or have a coupon that’s expiring but won’t use all of what you’re buying that week, you can take advantage of the savings and freeze the extra. You can also keep week-night cooking times to a minimum if you do some of the work for several meals ahead of time and freeze the beginnings of a meal. The Life as a Mom team has three really great articles that help you figure out how to make the most of your budget, your time, and your freezer:
  
  • Freezer Cooking on the Cheap – a quick overview of the principals of using your freezer to keep your grocery bills in check.
  • Freezer Cooking: What Can You Freeze – a guide to what does (and doesn’t) freeze well.
  • Four Helpful Freezer Cooking Cookbooks – a list of cookbooks that will get you started with recipes that are designed to take advantage of your freezer.
• Keep an inventory. A freezer can quickly turn from your partner in savings to a bottomless pit of food you never eat. Tricia at Once a Month Mom relates a really funny story about what happened when she let her freezer get ahead of her. She also has a fantastic freezer inventory template that makes it easy to keep track of what’s in your freezer so you can include your hoard in your weekly meal planning. I use this approach personally and find that it’s very helpful. Be sure to store the inventory somewhere easy to see, like right on the front of the fridge.
• Package and store carefully. It’s important to store food properly in the freezer so it will still be good (and safe) when you’re ready to use it. Keep a collection of freezer supplies on hand (bags, labels, ice cube trays for soup, etc.) so you’re ready to put food up. The Cents to Get Debt Free blog has a wonderful overview of how to store your food in the freezer, along with some more information on keeping an inventory.
• Put ice cube trays to work. You’d be surprised at what you can freeze in small batches in an ice cube tray. While soups and stocks come immediately to mind, fresh herbs and coffee are candidates as well. The Prudent Pantry has a nice overview of ways to make the most of ice cube trays for freezing food that I think will surprise you.
• Test the waters. If you aren’t sure how you feel about the idea of making meals ahead and freezing them, try it out a few times and see if it works well for your family and your routine. Moms in a Blog has some great freezer-friendly recipes to get you started.

How do you use the freezer, or do you at all? If so, what are some of your favorite tricks for making it work for you? If not, what’s holiday you back? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Browse freezer-friendly recipes