Oven Baked Turkey and Portabella Sliders

Oven Baked Turkey and Portabella Sliders

Makes 8 Sliders

I am always searching for delicious and satisfying meals that are easy to make and healthy. One ingredient that I like to try new ways to enjoy is ground turkey meat. It is easy to find in almost any grocery store and is offered in a variety of choices from lean to fatty, plain or seasoned and more. I usually have at least one pound in the refrigerator waiting to be made into a savory dinner. This week I made some super fun and low-prep, mini burgers.  These little ground turkey and portabella mushroom patties were a perfect match with a dinner roll recipe I found on one of my favorite sites, www.breadworld.com . I started with the buns first, since they do take a little while, but a couple of rolls of biscuits or a package of mini buns would have been great, too…if I hadn’t had time to start baking bread from scratch. 

Either way, the oven needed to heated to 375 degrees (F).

As for the sliders, all I used were 5 ingredients!

I started with my one pound container of plain, lean ground turkey and in a medium mixing bowl I added a half of a cup of each…finely diced, baby portabella mushrooms and plain bread crumbs. Then for some flavor I also used some flavored croutons, mine were Italian style, but any will work. I ground the croutons using a rolling pin then added them to the bowl along with 2 tablespoons of ranch dip seasoning mix; and went to work mixing everything together, well. Dividing the mixture into eight equal portions, I shaped them in to miniature patties and placed them in a glass dish. Then they baked for about 45 minutes and smelled wonderful in the process. Towards the end of the baking, I put the rolls in the oven and re-heated some baked potatoes that I had prepared the night before, while everything baked up hot and ready I quickly made some microwaved steamed broccoli and a little side salad since I am am trying hard to increase our veggie intake at dinner.  We loved this meal and had leftover patties to munch on the next day for lunch, they were tasty over some brown rice. I hope you love these, too. Happy Baking!

So you will need:

1lb. Ground Turkey

1/2 cup Baby Portabella Mushrooms - finely diced

1/2 cup Plain Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup Seasoned Croutons - Crushed

2 tbsp. Ranch Dip Seasoning Mix

In Summary:

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees (F). Mix Ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Divide in to 8 equal sized portions and shape in to patties. Bake for 45 minutes or until temperature reaches at least 165 Degrees (F) internally as is reccomended on www.foodsafety.gov . Serve with or without buns and sides.

You can also try to shape this into a loaf and make a turkey meatloaf, larger turkey burgers, or maybe even some fun shapes for the kids would be possible. I bet they will be great on the grill in the summer, or even sooner...I will let you know what I try, I hope you will let me know what you try, too. Please remember to wash your hands often and to thouroughly wipe down all of the surfaces that are exposed to raw meat so you can make sure and keep everyone healthy and happy. Enjoy.

 

Apple Pecan French Toast - A Simple Brunch for Two

Apple Pecan French Toast - A Simple Brunch for Two

Yesterday was a beautiful and rainy Autumn Sunday here in lovely North Carolina. It was also one of those rare occasions when my wonderful husband had the full two day weekend off from work. Early in the afternoon before he started one of the many projects on his agenda…he opened the door of the refrigerator and asked if I was hungry at all. I looked around and declared “Yes…and this is the perfect time for brunch” which, I am always craving. It is most certainly one of my favorite meals. I sometimes love to go out for brunch…but yesterday’s weather was nicer from the window and there was no reason not to make this meal from the food that was already in the house…after all neither of us wants to go trudge out into the storm, especially after I dragged him to the grocery store yesterday. Hmm…what did I want to eat?

I thought French toast would be nice…it is indeed one of my favorite foods. As a small child, French toast was one of the first foods that my father taught me to cook one early Sunday afternoon while my mother was at work. I wondered if my father knew then that preparing food would become my favorite craft.  I also thought about the best French toast that I had ever eaten…a hidden treasure found during a family vacation as a child when we went to Jamaica.  The food was amazing; our resort had buffets day and night. The sweetest corn on the cob and sugar coated French toast. That was it-I had to have French toast! Mmmm…I remembered the delicious batter soaked thick-sliced challah French toasts that the Greek Diners served at any time of day when I was growing up in New York City. There was nothing stopping me! I grabbed the over sized loaf of double fiber wheat bread and took a container of egg whites and no milk out of the refrigerator.  It made me laugh, times have certainly changed, back in the eighties the French toast I made with my now diabetic, hypertension ridden dad was usually made with white-flour filled bread, whole eggs and whole milk…and that’s only if we were out of his favorite, heavy cream, which he always loved to add to his morning breakfast cereals like corn flakes along with a few scoops of sugar. We would also use what seemed like gallons of pure Vermont maple syrup to sweeten our already sugar filled French toast. I do Loooovvvveeee Maple syrup!

Whoa-Wait! I had to put a halt on everything, did we have maple syrup? No!!!!!! Oh No, I thought, what am I going to do, now? Be Creative-Maybe? I can rediscover French toast by enjoying it in a new way. I started looking around the kitchen, trying to decide what would be a perfectly sweet finishing touch. Then I spotted a bowl of apples sitting on the table. I knew they would be an excellent match with the season and the meal.

Before preparing the French toast, I thought I should get started on the topping first, so the apples would have a chance to soften and cook. I used a small saucepan and added 1 cup of water. After I peeled and sliced up one apple, it really seemed like more than enough, so that is all I used and combined it with a couple of tablespoons of crushed fresh North Carolina pecans www.ncpecans.org. While I worked, I snagged a sliver of the apple and it was so naturally tasty that I just needed a little bit of natural sweetener…some raw honey (1 teaspoon) and brown sugar (1/2 teaspoon); oh and of course, a pinch of cinnamon. With everything in the tightly covered pot, simmering on a low heat while I prepared the toast…the apples pretty much did the work themselves. I checked and stirred them occasionally.

                As for the rest of the meal, I took out a glass pie dish since it seemed like it was a great depth for beating the egg-whites and soaking the bread. One cup of liquid egg-whites seemed like the perfect amount for (4) slices of French toast. Raw honey, brown sugar and cinnamon definitely needed to be included and since I wanted to make sure the French toast maintained it's traditional sweetness and was flavorful in its own right, I also added a tiny bit of raw coconut nectar (which has no coconut flavor) and pure vanilla extract.  Using only a fork to break up the raw honey and whip the egg-whites, I beat the mixture for about thirty seconds until it was foamy.  Then I dipped each slice of bread in to the batter, soaking both sides. A large frying pan sprayed generously with non-stick cooking spray and heated to a medium-high temperature was ideal for transforming my bread into toast.  I always struggle with trying to be patient enough to allow the French toast to brown on one side before flipping it, but I tried to contain myself.

After the French toast had browned well on both sides, I removed the slices from the pan, cut them diagonally and arranged them on plates, covering each serving with a spoonful of the apple topping and allowing some of the liquid to absorb into the toast. These great combinations caused a  yummy aroma filled the air with scents of autumn. The results were a divinely mouthwatering meal that filled us with warmth sparing us from further feeling the chill that filled the damp air; a very happy and gracious husband (which he always is); and a pretty easy clean-up.  

If you would like to try and make this, here are the exact ingredients and instructions:

Apple Topping:

1 Apple (peeled and sliced thin)

1 cup Water

2 tbsp. Chopped Pecans

1 tsp. Raw Honey

½ tsp. Brown Sugar

1/8 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Place all of the ingredients in to a small or medium saucepan and cover tightly. Simmer with the lid in place, on low heat for 20-30 minutes until the apples have softened and the liquid has reduced slightly. Stir the mixture occasionally, replacing cover afterward.

French Toast

4 Large Slices of Bread (I prefer something with Whole Grains)

1 cup Liquid Egg Whites

1 tsp. Raw Honey

1 tsp. Raw Coconut Nectar

½ tsp. Brown Sugar

½ tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

¼ tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Non-Stick Cooking Spray

                Set bread aside and prepare a large frying pan (or griddle) by spraying generously with your favorite non-stick cooking spray and heating the pan to a med-high temperature.  Place all of the other ingredients (not the bread) into a shallow bowl or glass pie dish and beat the mixture with a fork until it is foamy. Next, using your hands take each slice of bread and dip both sides into the mixture for just a couple of seconds each. Place into pan, trying to leave space for the rest of the slices. Cook until almost completely golden on one side, and then flip each slice using a spatula, browning reverse side. Remove from the pan and serve. You can cover the Toast with the apple topping or you can even just serve the toast with the apple topping on the side if you prefer. The apples and the toast are both quite delectable by themselves as well as together and they can both be prepared alone and paired with other items that might be lying around the house, too.  I hope you have enjoyed this post and meal!  Oh, and please follow me for more ideas to come. Happy Brunching!

 

It's Easy Being Green Brownies

It's Easy Being Green Brownies I

One of my goals for ReThinkReDefineReDiscover is to find a way to Re-Invent the items we are so familiar with in our lives and try to look at things with new perspectives. For this post, I am Re-Discovering the beloved BROWNIE. First, I must tell you that I LOVE BROWNIES! That being said, it is also important to me that I eat healthfully and serve healthy, delicious foods to my family and friends.  So I asked myself, how can I achieve a happy medium? Could I make yummy, desirable and satisfying brownies that actually have some nutritious ingredients? Most importantly, could I accomplish this solely using ingredients I have sitting in the cupboard and refrigerator already? Turns out…the answer is YES.  I know that some of the ingredients that I use may not already be in your cabinet, but I strongly recommend purchasing the items at your local natural food store, I purchased many of my ingredients from The Vitamin Shoppe www.vitaminshoppe.com. These items make great additions to many meals…and I plan to use them in many future recipes.

 

To begin, I had to raid the cabinets and see which kinds of chocolate were waiting to be made in to dessert. I had some different cocoa powders, sweetened and unsweetened. After looking at the nutrition labels, I decided to go with Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa www.ghirardelli.com. On the back of the canister, there was a great base recipe for traditional brownies (Ghirardelli Award Winning Brownies) that I decided could be modified well for my experiment. Using the already sweetened cocoa powder also allowed me to use less sugar and sweetener in my new recipe. I also had  a big ol’ bag of milk chocolate chips…since I wanted to make sure the brownies were nice and chocolaty, I thought these chips would be a nice addition so I kept them out to add at the end along with some scrumptious white chocolate chips.

I know, this doesn’t sound very nutritious so far…but you cannot have a Brownie without chocolate…and a previous “healthy” brownie experiment using unsweetened natural cocoa nibs was less than successful…and less than chocolaty! Don’t worry the ingredients get better.

How about Nuts and Seeds and Whole Wheat Flour…those are healthy, right? I really don’t like to use all-purpose flour when I know whole wheat flour is so much better for us. Unfortunately, sometimes whole wheat flour can cause a certain density that can take away from the texture of some baked goods. I have found that combining the two usually can have a nice result. I have also taken to replacing some of the flour with ground flax seed and ground hemp seed.  For this recipe I combined 4 Tablespoons of All-Purpose Flour; 4 Tablespoons of Whole Wheat Flour; 1 Tablespoon of Ground Hemp Seed and 1 Tablespoon of Ground Flax Seed.

I Love nuts in my brownies and they can be a great way to integrate the hemp and flax flavors into the brownie. While I was up in the cabinet, I noticed that I had some of my favorites…pecans and pistachios, which are so good for us www.pistachiohealth.com. I decided to keep them out to add with the chocolate chips at the end.

Then it became time to try to creatively replace the most nutritionally stubborn ingredients…SUGAR and OIL. Clearly I needed some, but instead of tossing in a stick of butter and ¾ cup of white sugar I used just 4 Tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup of sugar. I replaced the rest of the butter with 4 Tablespoons of hemp oil. For the rest of the added sweetness, I used 1 Tablespoon of raw honey and 4 tablespoons of Raw Coconut Nectar. Coconut Nectar is an amazing sugar replacement since it is a low glycemic sweetener www.coconutsecret.com. It is made from the sap of coconut trees and has an abundance of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Don’t worry; it has absolutely no coconut flavor at all. I also used 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. Lastly, Instead of two eggs, I used one egg and replaced the other with 3 tablespoons of egg whites.

The results were delicious! I particularly liked the nuttiness, especially after the brownies cooled completely. My husband and his co-workers enjoyed most of the brownies…they did not last very long. The Brownies do have a strong hemp undertone, which really melds well with the pistachios and creates a certainly distinct and unforgettable flavor. They were also a wonderful texture, not too moist or dry…not too cakelike or dense…actually perfectly brownie-like.  Of Course, the brownies were not actually green in color, but the hemp oil and seeds along with the pistachios add an innate green-ness that calls for them to be considered when naming the brownies. Altogether, I think that these brownies were a success and I will definitely be baking them again. I know they are not nutritionally equivalent to eating a salad, but they are a little better for you and your family than traditional brownies…and will satisfy that yen for sweetness we can all get every now and then. Well, I hope you enjoy them also if you decide to make them. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

¾ cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa powder

4 tbsp. whole wheat flour

4 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. ground hemp seed

1 tbsp. ground flax seed

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 egg

3 tbsp. egg whites

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup raw coconut nectar

1 tbsp. raw honey

4 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled a little

4 tbsp. hemp oil

1/8 cup pistachio nuts shelled; skinned and chopped (I put them in a plastic zip bag and beat them w/ a rolling pin…but the food processor works well too).

1/8 cup chopped pecans

¾ cup milk chocolate chips

¼ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions:

1-Preheat oven to 350 Degrees (Fahrenheit).  

2-Prepare 8” or 9” square pan by lining with foil and spraying with non-stick cooking spray. I like to leave a little extra foil on the sides so that I can lift the brownies out of the pan more easily.

3- In a medium mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder, flours, hemp & flax seeds, baking powder and sea salt. Stir lightly with a wooden spoon.

4- After the butter has cooled a little from melting, combine the butter, hemp oil, sugar, raw coconut nectar, raw honey and egg products by mixing them together with a fork in a shallow glass bowl (almost like preparing French toast). Remember, if the butter is too hot and the egg is to cold, the butter may start to cook the egg…which can affect your results.

 5-Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir for about a minute or until the dry ingredients are no longer visible. Then add in the nuts and chocolate chips, stirring until they are well integrated into the batter, scraping the bowl occasionally as necessary.

6-Spread batter evenly in to the prepared pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes. The time will vary depending on the size and type of the pan you use. I usually use a toothpick to check for doneness when the brownies start to look ready. If the toothpick comes out dry and clean, I know they are ready. If the edges start to look dark, they are probably a little well done.

7-Cool on a wire rack for a minute and the remove from pan using foil handles. Lay on a flat heat resistant surface and pre-cut gently into servings. I like to use a pizza cutter to cut my brownies. It works wonderfully. Return the warm brownies and foil back to the wire rack so that they can complete the cooling process…since they are better after they have cooled.