Comfort Food Meets Health Food: Turkey & Veggie Meatloaf

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I wasn't planning on posting a health conscious recipe so soon, but here one is!  In fact, I anticipated the recipe turning out poorly and needing several rounds of testing, but my palate was quite pleased with the results.

You might not like meatloaf and that's okay.  Not everyone does.  Some stomachs even turn at the name.  Not mine.  In fact, I think I'm one of the few people who even enjoy those frozen microwavable Salisbury steak entrees because I like meatloaf so much.  Perhaps my mom had the niche on making disgusting looking food taste good (wait until I post the recipe for "Barf Sandwiches"), and that's why I can handle some foods others can't, but until my dying day, meatloaf will be one of my absolute favorite meals.

I've been a little under the weather lately and have found myself in bed for the last 4 days with nothing but Harry Potter movies to keep me company.  My energy has been low and I've been craving carbs, but rather than give in, I've tried to keep my strength up with iron and protein.  When I spotted some ground turkey in my freezer last night, I knew I'd have to make something with it today.  Thus began my experimentation, and here is the recipe:

Turkey & Veggie Meatloaf

In a large bowl, combine:
16 ounces ground turkey
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
pinch of freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 t. D'Lite Seasoning (blend of salt, pepper, yellow mustard, ginger, nutmace, chili powder, paprika, clove, oregano, allspice, bay laurel, and celery salt)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
4 tablespoons steel cut oats (if you don't have steel cut oats, shame on you!)

If you have a microplane, you'll need that, next.  If not, a box grater or grating attachment for a food processor will work just fine.  Finely grate:
1 medium sized carrot (don't peel it, just give it a good washing)
1/2 of an onion (any type will do)
1-2 cloves of garlic

I'm a broken record when it comes to preaching about my microplane, but I absolutely love it!  Nobody likes biting down on a big chunk of garlic, besides my mom and I, so the microplane comes in handy.

I prefer to mix my meatloaf by hand, as to not mush everything together and create a meatbrick.  If you don't want to get it all on your hands, use a rubber scraper and try to keep the mixture lightly mixed.

Place in an 8" loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  After 45 minutes, lightly spread 2 tablespoons of ketchup over the top and allow to bake for another 15-20 minutes.  If you don't like ketchup on your meatloaf, feel free to omit it, but I love the extra bit of flavor it adds.

Don't expect this meatloaf to taste like a regular ground beef meatloaf.  Turkey has a much lower fat content and this recipe omits other normal meatloaf additives that give it its stereotypical flavors.  But that's not to say that this lacks flavor.  The onion and carrots give it a sweetness, the parsley a bite of freshness, and all in all, I love it.

This recipe is flavorful, filling, and a great excuse to use up any vegetables you might have lying around.  Use zucchini or squash, celery, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, etc.  The combinations are endless.

Here's the healthy break-down for this exact recipe:
The entire meatloaf is only 897 calories.  Portion it out into 1" servings and each serving is only 112 calories. 

Should you make this with ground beef, the ground beef alone is 864 calories.  Each 1" serving would roughly be 185 calories. 

By choosing ground turkey, you saved 73 calories.  Choose a reduced calorie salad dressing, cut back on a heavy dessert and opt for fresh fruit, and your calorie deficit will increase.  That's good news!

Switch out your mashed potatoes for a baked sweet potato.  Serve with a fresh salad or steamed veggies, and you'll have a low calorie, low fat, healthy carb, protein laden meal.

Bake, eat, enjoy!

The Tail Of Failed Cookies & A Post About Coleslaw

I've had little to no desire to blog on here for so many reasons, but mostly because I have no good recipes to post.  Well, I have plenty of recipes that I myself like, but nothing that would really interest YOU.  You see, back in February, I decided to use my tax refund not for a fun trip, new clothing, or now gadget, but for self-improvement.  I hired a personal trainer, Taylor.  Together we have transformed my life, body, eating habits, and future.  Gone are the days of 10 lb butter laden croissants.  Hello to the days of double fiber whole wheat English muffins (seriously SO tasty and 32% of your daily fiber!) with egg whites, spinach, and tomato.  Gone are the days of cakes, brownies, bars, and pies.  Hello to the days of grilled chicken breast smothered with buffalo sauce (both fat and calorie free!!) lettuce wraps and protein shakes.  You see, when Taylor first did a body fat assessment on me, I felt like I finally had the facts to tell people that although I appeared "skinny" I was in fact not healthy.  My body fat was unhealthy.  I was unhealthy.  I was what a friend of mine likes to call "skinny fat".  I've lost nearly 8% body fat, can run for longer than 3 minutes without feeling like dying, can actually do a push-up, and recently had a moment where a man told me that I could lift more than he could. So why is there a picture of a cookie up there, you ask? 

There's a picture of a cookie up there because I miss strapping on my apron, pulling out my cute Anthro measuring cups, and whipping up something that used to go straight to my meaty thighs.  I haven't sworn off sugar or flour, but in an effort to be as successful as possible, I've definitely cut back but have also tried to find modified recipes so I can still enjoy baked goods.  Greek yogurt and applesauce have ALWAYS been my go-to baking swaps when it comes to oil (seriously, compare the fat/calories in 1/2 cup of oil used in a boxed cake mix to those of no sugar added applesauce or fat free yogurt....barf, it makes me sick thinking of it), so I thought I'd try it in these cookies posted above (can also be substituted for sour cream, which the recipe calls for but I'm not posting because they're so horrible).

The original recipes promised melt in your mouth cookies, and they truly do.  But not because of the flavor.  There is no flavor, besides flour.  The baking soda and baking powder help make these cookies ethereally cake-like.  They bake up so light and fluffy and I was so excited to bite into these "Warm Brown Sugar Cookies" and just as quickly spat it out.  I figured all the cookie needed was the frosting to make it better, and how could it go wrong with a browned butter frosting?!?  Oh, it can.  The recipe developer calls for minimal browned butter and optimum amounts of powdered sugar.  So you ultimately wind up tasting powdered sugar on top of flour.  Yeah, that's exactly what I feel like using my calories on. 

Blogging for a cooking blog is hard when you're eating whole wheat pasta, lean meat, fruits and veggies, protein shakes, and water.  I was excited to bake these cookies for you.  I was thinking of creative ways to describe them so you could smell them through the screen.  I thought to myself, if they turned out as great as the recipe sounded, that I might have found a way to put the smell of the warm vanilla sugar Bath & Body Works line into edible form.  Sorry, everyone (everyone=my mom, since she's pretty much the only one who reads my blogs), until/unless I can draft up some healthy recipes that don't consist of protein powder, water, and a shaker cup, this blog will continue to be unposted on.

That being said, I need to find a way to make my favorite coleslaw recipe "healthy".  Any recipe help/commentary would be appreciated:

Coleslaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise (any suggestions on alternatives for mayo?)

2 Tbsp sugar (obviously I'll use stevia instead)

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp honey (agave will swap out nicely)

16 oz bag of coleslaw mix

In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the coleslaw mix. (This can be done in advance, simply cover and refrigerate until ready to use).Place the coleslaw mix in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the coleslaw mix. Stir to combine and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 8-10.

Anyway, it's a darn good coleslaw recipe, and if you're fine with the ingredients as they are, try it out.  We're breaching that time of year where BBQ grills are uncovered and families gather around picnic tables.  This is a GREAT coleslaw to bring to that table.  Make it the night before and give the dressing some time to break down and saturate the cabbage.  It's even better if you throw it on a crisply grilled hot dog turkey dog.

Sea Salt Caramels

There never seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that I both need and want to accomplish.  Especially during the holidays.  It's December 23rd and I've just finally done my Christmas shopping.  All I want for Christmas are a few more hours in the day.  Then again, with this recipe, I might have to revisit Santa's knee to change my list.  You won't need to fret over all of the holiday baking that you want to do for your neighbors, friends, co-workers, whoever, because these caramels take all of 6 minutes to make!  Don't worry about needing a candy thermometer, double boiler (doubt you'd ever need one for caramels anyway), or any crazy kitchen equipment, this is seriously EASY. 

Don't expect a hard caramel candy here.  These are soft, and with a light dusting of a coarsely cracked sea salt, well, they're naughty.  Naughty and nice.  Perfect for anyone at Christmas.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, room temperature (use salted or unsalted)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 T coarse sea salt (approximate)

In a microwave safe bowl, preferably glass, combine all ingredients except salt.

Microwave on high for 6 minutes.  Stopping every 2 minutes, stir the mixture, making sure no sugar has settled on the bottom, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and the sugars are melted.

If it looks like your mixture is too grainy and the sugars have not melted, microwave at 1 minute intervals, stirring after each minute, until the mixture is creamy and lump free.

Pour mixture into a well greased 8x8 glass pan.  Please, do not forget to grease your pan.  You'll go insane trying to get the caramels out of the pan before you get a chance to enjoy them, and I really want you to enjoy them!  Once the caramel mixture has been smoothed out and leveled in the pan, sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the top of the caramels.

Allow the caramel mixture to cool and set in the refrigerator for no more than an hour.  Check the caramels, periodically, to make sure they haven't solidified too much, or you'll have a hard time getting the caramels out of the pan.

Once cooled, cut the caramels into bite-sized portions, and wrap individually in wax paper or even cling wrap.

Store, refrigerated, in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks.

Make, eat, and love!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Muffins

Late in the summer, I decided I'd dye my hair back to my roots. My dark roots. My old lady mature hair looking roots....or so I've been told. It's been a few months of this "older" look, and I think I'd rather shave a few years off if damaging my hair is what it takes. Back to the blonde. Life's more fun when you're not acting your age, but at the age of 30, cold cereal seems a little too immature. But if there's one breakfast cereal that I go weak in the knees for, it's Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Forget the milk, just give me a box and some old jeans to wipe my hands on...I love that stuff. If you'd rather act your age, however, I have just the recipe for you.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Muffins

Preheat over to 350 degrees and coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift:

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/8 t. cinnamon

To the dry ingredients, add:

1/3 c. butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c. milk

Please, pretty please, do not overmix this batter. Stir just until combined. The batter should be a little bit lumpy, do don't worry if you see little clumps. Scoop batter into muffin tins. Fill each muffin tin about three-quarters of the way full with batter, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden. This recipe should make about 8 muffins. (I tripled mine for the gang at work in the morning.)

Once the muffins have cooked and cooled for a few minutes, carefully remove them from the muffin tin and allow to cool just until you are comfortable enough handling them. Trust me, you want the muffins to be warm for the final step.

For the topping, melt 1/2 c. butter in a bowl large enough to submerge the muffin in the liquid gold. After bathing the muffin in butter, transfer it to another bowl full of 1/2 c. sugar and 1 T cinnamon, mixed well. Coat the muffin in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and allow muffins to cool....or eat, immediately.

If you want to limit your sugary intake, or be REALLY mature, submerge only the top of the muffin in butter and then the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake, eat, love!

Josh Turner - Would You Go With Me

Well, we're heading into that time of year again. The time where I just can't get enough sun, summer, and country music. I don't know what it is about summer that makes me seek out opportunities to wear my straw cowboy hat, my Tony Lama boots, and stand out in the grass of an amphitheater, singing along with some southern boy and his guitar, but I sure do love it.

I love Josh Turner, too. A lot. I mean, a lot. Distinctive singing voices always grab my ear, and Josh definitely fits the category. Easy on the eyes and ears, I hope you'll give Josh Turner a go!

Watch, listen, and love!

French Coconut Pie

Okay, so a three day coconut cake was a little too much for some people to consider making. You want easy? I'll give you easy!!!!



Combine all ingredients, except for the pie crust of course, in a large bowl. Mix well.

Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.



Bake, eat, and love!

Ray LaMontagne-You Are The Best Thing

I can't remember the name of the wonderful man who first introduced me to Ray, but I do remember that he picked me up from a dealership when I'd taken my car to get worked on, I had a terribly high fever, was delirious, and thought that I could walk the extremely far too long trip home. He was a friend of an old roommate, was about as darling as they can be, and he gave me a priceless gift: Ray LaMontagne's album, "Trouble".

I was head over heels for another artist at the time, Amos Lee (still love you, Amos), so I didn't pay too much attention to Ray, but eventually he grew on me. Maybe it's the shaggy beard. Maybe it's that raspy voice. Maybe it's the fact that nobody sounds like him and they never will. I can't put my finger on the one thing that drew me in. I just absolutely LOVE his music.

I feel like I've done something wrong by not sharing Ray with you. Please forgive me. Pretty please. This Grammy nominated artist's unique sound might not woo you, it might not draw you in, but at least give him a listen. You might love him. If you DO wind up loving him, and you live in Salt Lake City (or the surrounding area), get your tickets for a special concert at Library Square on June 18th, 2011, here. Ray puts on a great show...just ask my sister...we went to one years ago, and were blown away.

Ben! I think his name is Ben!!!!

Watch, listen, & love!