Running Mama Cooks

It's a miracle, a cooking related post!! I actually have been making variations of these burgers for awhile, but finally got around to blogging about them. Tonight I really love how they came out, so moist and flavorful, plus full of veggies.

These are a staple for us for a few reasons. They are tasty, healthy and convenient. I usually make them in the afternoon and cook two burgers for Cecily and Finn around 5pm. Then when I get home from my classes at night, I pop the rest in for Zach and me. Works out great for nights that I teach so I only have to prepare one meal even though the kids eat first.

Veggie Turkey Burgers
A Running Mama Cooks Original

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 med carrots, grated
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 large zucchini, grated
1/2 large summer squash, grated
1/4 cup grated Italian blend cheese
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients and form into 6 burgers. Place burgers on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with cheese and serve on whole wheat english muffins.

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Week 2 of the recipe swap! The theme this week was lunch, but we ended up having these for dinner. I shared the recipe for tortellini spinach salad. I wish I had a better picture of these turkey burgers because they were delicious! I made some small changes to the original recipe (added panko bread crumbs, cooked them in the oven instead of the grill, and skipped the maple dijon sauce) to accommodate our tastes. Oh, and cheese! I have to have cheese on my burgers so I included some reduced fat cheddar. Super juicy and tasty burgers. They will definitely be going into our rotation.

Maple Turkey Burgers
Adapted from Sandra Lee

Ingredients:

For Maple-Dijon Sauce: (I skipped this, but wanted to include it for those interested)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

For Burgers:

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1/2 cup chunky applesauce
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
4 slices reduced fat cheddar cheese
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Hamburger condiments

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

For Maple-Dijon Sauce: In a small bowl, stir to combine mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup; set aside.

For Turkey Burgers: In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients for burgers. Wet hands to prevent sticking and shape into 4 patties. Cook on a baking sheet for 20 minutes. Add a slice of cheese to each burger and cook until melted. Serve on toasted bun with traditional burger condiments and a dollop of maple-Dijon sauce, if desired.
ZACH'S RATING - **** 1/2

**UPDATE - Since then, I have made these several times. I like that they are easy to make whenever it is convenient for me during the afternoon and I can just put the uncooked burgers in the fridge until I am ready to cook them. Works out well when Zach and I are going to eat later than the kids! This is a healthy, easy go-to weeknight dinner.

I really liked how the crockpot cooked the peppers in this dish, but next time I will add some more elements to the filling to make it a little more flavorful. Definitely look for this recipe to be revisited!

Slow-Cooker Stuffed Bell Peppers
adapted from: A Year of Slow Cooking by way of Cook Pray Love

Ingredients:

5-6 bell peppers in a color of your choosing, tops cut off and reserved, seeds and membranes removed
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 14.5 oz can of Italian-flavored or fire-roasted tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1/3 cup water

Preparation:

Brown ground turkey
In a bowl, mix the ground meat with the rice, tomatoes, Worcestershire, ketchup, black pepper, and garlic salt.
Stuff each pepper with the mixture.
Nestle the peppers in your slow-cooker and top with the reserved pepper tops.
Pour the 1/3 cup of water into the bottom of the slow-cooker to prevent the peppers from burning.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

After seeing this recipe in several blogs lately, I put it on my to do list. It looked easy, not terribly bad for you, and really delicious. I was definitely wondering if it would live up to all the hype. After seeing rave reviews on one of my favorite blogs, I finally picked up all the ingredients.

It was definitely a good meal. And I can tell its one of those "even better when reheated" dishes!

Creamy Taco Mac
Adapted from Delish by way of Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 lbs ground turkey breast
1/2 onion, chopped
8 oz dry pasta + 1 cup reserved pasta water (I used medium shells)
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
4 Tbsp mild taco seasoning
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend cheese
salt & pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta per directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Over medium heat, brown ground turkey until no longer pink. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add taco seasoning and diced tomatoes. Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, reserved water, cream cheese, sour cream and corn. Give it a good stir until cheeses are melty and incorporated. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, as desired. Top off with mexican cheese for extra cheesy goodness.

ZACH'S RATING - **** 1/2

I love stuffed peppers! Here is my recipe. I made them this afternoon and had them all set in the fridge so Zach could pop them in the oven while I was teaching tonight. Dinner was ready when I got home!

Experimenting with Asian food has been a lot of fun for me lately. Why order out when I can make it at home? I've had this meatball recipe bookmarked for quite some time, and I'm glad I finally got around to making it. They were really flavorful and I loved the dipping sauce.

I was equally happy with the fried rice. Actually, that was probably the star of the dinner for me. I LOVE fried rice. This version was not a let down at all. So good and easy!

Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce
Recipe from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes

Ingredients:

Meatballs-

1/4 cup panko crumbs
1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping Sauce-

4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 chopped fresh scallion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce.

Serve meatballs with remaining sauce. Makes 12 meatballs.

A closer look at the rice:
Fried Brown Rice
Recipe Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice
2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
soy sauce to taste
hoisin sauce to taste
sesame oil, to taste (optional)

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add carrots and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain.

Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce and hoisin sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again.

ZACH'S RATING -
Meatballs *** 1/2
Rice ****

Or Taco Meat"love" as Cecily was calling it tonight!

This recipe was inspired by my father in law, Gary. Some of my favorite dinner ideas come from him, he is a great cook and is very creative.

This was tasty and a fun twist on regular meatloaf! I used ground turkey breast and it was very moist, and pretty low in fat (if you skip the queso! lol!)

Taco Meatloaf
A Running Mama original recipe

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 egg
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning
1 10oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies (I used RoTel), drained
1 cup whole grain tortilla chips, crushed
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 tbs taco sauce
1/4 cup salsa con queso

Preheat oven to 400

Heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions until tender.

Place tortilla chips in a ziplock bag and crush until pieces are very small. I used a rolling pin.

Mix all ingredients except for the taco and queso sauce until well combined. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and add meatloaf mixture.

Brush top of meatloaf with taco sauce

Bake for 35 minutes. In the meantime, place salsa con queso in a microwave bowl and heat until hot. Once meatloaf is sliced, drizzle hot queso over meatloaf.

serve with sour cream, chips, salsa and any other condiments you like with tacos!

Zach's Rating - ****

Or should it be turkeyed up biscuits? This is one of my favorite comfort food meals, but I like to lighten it up a bit by using ground turkey breast and reduced fat biscuits.

Since we got about a foot and a half of snow today, it was the perfect time for this meal, which I've been making for years. I got it from the NJ Nest, 5+ years ago. I believe it was Tina who originally posted it, any NJ Nesties who want to chime in a confirm?

Beefed Up Biscuits

1 lb ground beef (I use ground turkey breast)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I use a little more, about 1/2 a green pepper, chopped)
1 cup (8 oz can) tomato sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic salt (I use garlic powder as well as 1/2 tsp cumin)
1 can (8 oz) hungry jack biscuits or Flaky Grands (I use reduced fat)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large pan brown beef, pepper, and onions. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce, chili powder and garlic salt. Simmer while preparing dough

Separate each biscuit into two pieces, lay half on the bottom of a 9x9 pan and save the other half for the top. Put 1/2 cup of the cheese into the meat mixture and spoon mixture on top of biscuits. Arrange remaining biscuits and sprinkle cheese on top

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Biscuits should be a deep golden brown.

Turkey Mixture:

Ready for the oven:

Flavor, flavor, flavor!!!! These Lettuce wraps were SO good, I am really happy I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try making these. The recipe was relatively simple (the prep work was a little time consuming, but not too bad) and the end result was a super tasty (with just enough spice) and attractive meal.

Lettuce Wraps
Inspired by Big City Cooking
Adapted from Allrecipes
Serves 4, 6 WW points plus per serving

Boston Bibb lettuce (I used Iceberg)
1 lbs ground turkey
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
8oz water chestnuts, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
2 tsp sesame oil

Cook turkey in oil till just cooked, but not yet brown. Add onion, red pepper, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, and vinegar. Cook till onions are translucent, then add water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil. Cook another 2 minutes and remove from heat.

Lay out lettuce and top with meat mixture and dip in peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce
Backpacker Magazine and The Way the Cookie Crumbles
serves 4, 3 WW points plus per serving

1 tsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. chunky peanut butter
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Heat oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add water and heat till boiling. Removed from heat and add peanut butter, stir until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and return to heat. Stir for 2-4 minutes until thickened. (I added another heaping tbs of PB because it wasn't getting as thick as I wanted, then it was perfect)

Another look at these yummy wraps!




UPDATE - I have since made this with Boston Bibb lettace and that is definitely the way to go. Its softer, tastier and easier to work with. Love this one!!

I've blogged about this dish once before, when I made it with all the fresh veggies our friends Fabiana and Anthony gave us. I've since made it a dozen times and have perfected it with store bought ingredients. This is definitely up there on my favorite dinner list. Its good comfort food, yet it's not too heavy and full of healthy veggies.

I start by mincing 6-8 garlic cloves and slicing a turkey kielbasa on an angle into chunks. Heat oil on medium low and add the garlic. Cook a minute or two until slightly browned and then add the kielbasa. Saute for 3 mins or so until it crisps up a bit (I usually crank up the stove to medium at this point).

Then add one sliced onion, one sliced green pepper (or red, but the green is nice for color) and one package of sliced cremini mushrooms. Cook on medium for 5 mins or so, until veggies are tender.

Add a splash of white wine and a can of Italian diced tomatoes (undrained). Add a generous shake of dried basil. Bring to a boil, reduce to low and simmer.

Serve over 3/4 lbs pasta (Ive found that a half pound is too little and a pound is way too much) and a handful of shredded asiago cheese.