As an experienced blogger (I’ve been blogging here for four years!), I think more about the timing of topics when posting now. I didn’t used to. When I first started, I wrote about what I wanted to, no matter when it was. After all, I can’t be the only one who still makes some Christmas treats a few days after Christmas. Right? But honestly, although writing after-the-fact recipe posts about seasonal items might help some people, it really helps more people if I post earlier so that it can benefit the maximum number of people.

It was with that thought that I wondered if I should save this post for closer to Christmas or even next Thanksgiving. But these enchiladas were really good. I love enchiladas but absolutely hate the canned enchiladas sauce. If you’ve never had enchiladas with homemade sauce (which is super easy to make!), then you are totally missing out. I swear. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind this leftovers recipe, even though Thanksgiving was a full week ago.

Speaking of which, surprisingly, I ended up without an excess of leftovers this Thanksgiving. At least of the turkey variety. Of what was left, I gave some to my guests, made a Shepherd’s Pie and used the remainder to make this dish: smoky, rich turkey enchiladas with a zing at the end. These aren’t spicy per se, but they do have some heat at the end.

Are they kid friendly? That depends. I think Will would happily eat these with some avocado, but I think Paige would scoff at the heat. Does your child appreciate a touch of heat when it’s tempered with a cooling bite? If so, then they will probably enjoy this. Otherwise, keep it for the adults.

Hey, it’s okay to have an adult-friendly meal sometimes too, right?

If you are out of turkey, don’t worry, you can make these with leftover chicken too.

Do your kids like a little heat? Share in the comments!
Read the rest of this entry…

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Sometimes, I just don’t know where to start when I write about a recipe. Do I tell you how Paige ate so many of these meatballs that I wondered if she was hiding them in her shirt for later? Or do I tell you how Will was reluctant to eat them, but ended up cleaning his plate once he got a taste of these? Do I mention how these actually taste like the party meatballs I bought at Costco, which have a much higher fat and calorie content?

Or maybe I should just start with the reason I made these . . . A few weeks ago I did a survey on Sarah’s Cucina Bella. I was happy to hear the responses and suggestions and I listened. But it really hit home that I need to have more healthy food and, sadly, less bacon. So, I am working with fish and looking at ways to go vegetarian for dinner without resorting to pasta. All of that is coming.

What I won’t promise is to eliminate all the sweets and bad-for-you stuff. Life is about balance. You take the healthy with the not-so-healthy and you achieve a good balance of food. After all, the body needs both fat and nutrients to run like a well oiled machine.

With Christmas around the corner, there will, of course, be cookie recipes galore over the next few weeks. But they will be sandwiched between healthier content.

Regarding these meatballs: They are perfect for dinners, served with a delicious vegetable or two. Or they can be sandwiched in a roll for a meatball sub. Or, serve them as cocktail meatballs at your next party.

You won’t be disappointed.

More Turkey Meatball Recipes:

• Pesto Turkey Meatballs
• Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs
• Italian Turkey Meatballs

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I’ve been cooking almost daily. I love cooking so that’s a chore I totally don’t mind doing. And there are several great benefits to cooking at home, instead of getting take out or going out. For one, a meal made at home is cheaper than one in a restaurant. That’s always a good thing. For another, it’s far easier to control what you eat and how many calories you take in when you are eating at home.

Speaking of calories, there are significantly fewer calories in ground turkey than in ground beef — about 100 fewer, in fact. So, while Shawn and I love a juicy beef burger, I try to substitute turkey for beef when possible. With recipes like my Italian Turkey Meatballs and these Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs, the extra juicy sauce makes up for the dryness factor of the turkey. What dryness factor? Simply put, ground turkey doesn’t cook up as juicy as ground beef. Read the rest of this entry…

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I don’t have a million photos of our meal from Thanksgiving this year, but will be posting a few periodically throughout the week. To tell the truth, there wasn’t a perfectly planned table to fawn over and the menu wasn’t as intricate as it has been in previous years. But I found that modifying our celebration to be a little simpler really worked in our favor. After all, good food and good company is all you need.

Check back all week for Thanksgiving and holiday related posts. After all, the lessons we learn from Thanksgiving can easily be applied to all the holidays.

First, our menu. As I said, this year I went simpler and actually allowed help in the kitchen (more on that later). As a result, I wasn’t cooking for days leading up to Thanksgiving — in fact, everything could be accomplished over the course of an hour each for cooking and prep work. That was a huge bonus. And for once, I really enjoyed Thanksgiving. I guess that is something to take as a lesson. Simplifying things really does reap rewards for a happier holiday. So, simplify, simplify, simplify.

So, here’s what we ate:

Appetizers -

• Cheese plate (cut up cheese with crackers — chipotle cheddar, vermont extra sharp cheddar, gouda, port wine and another variety of cheddar — do you sense a theme?)
• Bruschettas (three varieties – tomato, gorgonzola parmesan, and sweet onion)

Main -

• Shawn’s sweet and savory rotisserie turkey (and if I can ever pin him down on the recipe, I will share it. It’s glazed with a mixture of butter, honey, special seasoning salt, and a few other things).

Sides –

• green beans with brown butter
• carrots ala Shawn (again, if I can ever pin down the recipe …)
• roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and shallots
• roasted butternut squash (check back tomorrow for the recipe)
• mashed potatoes
• stuffing (ultra plain stuffing this year)
• cranberry sauce with apples (recipe to come later this week)

Dessert -

• French apple pie
• pumpkin pie
• fresh whipped cream

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Super Stop & Shop had a buy one, get one free sale on ground turkey this week so I used that as an excuse to do a bait and switch exercise with my husband and he didn’t know the difference.

These turkey meatballs are really yummy, and the lean turkey is a nice alternative to red meat.

1 1/4 lbs ground turkey

1 cup breadcrumbs (I like the Italian style ones)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp Italian seasonings

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups marinara sauce

• - Gather ingredients – You will also need a large mixing bowl and a baking sheet. I prefer to line mine with aluminum foil (Reynolds Wrap Release) for easy cleanup.

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees

- Combine all ingredients, except the marinara sauce, in the large mixing bowl, mixing by hand until well blended.

- Heat marinara sauce in large saucepan until steaming.

- Roll by hand into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheet. Leave 1-2 inches between balls.

- Bake on middle rack in a preheated oven for 35-45 minutes under center is no longer pink.

- Remove from oven and transfer meatballs to warm marinara sauce. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

TO SERVE:

Serve on bed of pasta, topped with marinara sauce and cheese, if you like.

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Well, my friend Carole requested a recipe for this weekend, so here it goes.

If you don’t like food to be too hot, then omit the cayenne pepper. My husband thought this was a bit spicy for his taste. Personally, I thought it was perfect — but I like food that packs a heat punch. The recipe calls for boneless turkey breasts, which you can find in most grocery stores. Turkey breasts are a great alternative to chicken breasts — a little variety.

Serve this over rice.

Baked Spicy Turkey Breasts with Mixed Vegetables
serves 4

1 14 ½ oz can diced tomatoes
¼ cup lemon juice
½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp dried minced onion
½ tsp cayenne pepper
dash salt
dash pepper
½ cup julienne cut carrots
6 strips of pepper (red, yellow or orange)
½ cup uncooked green beans
1 lb boneless turkey breasts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 12” x 9” baking pan, create a foil bowl, folding up all four sides (you want the sides to be pretty tall so that you can seal it to cook)

In medium mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin, dried minced onion, and cayenne pepper. Stir until well blended.

Place turkey breasts in tomato mixture and cover. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Line bottom of foil bowl with carrots, pepper slices, and green beans. Place turkey breasts on top and pour tomato mixture over.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on mixture.

Seal the sides of the foil bowl by pulling them together and rolling over.

Cook in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until meat is fully cooked.

Serve over rice.

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