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!

Turkey Enchiladas
serves 4

1 1/4 lb leftover turkey meat, shredded
1 tbsp canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp minced canned chipotle in adobo
2 cups fresh turkey stock or chicken broth
1/4 cup water
8 corn tortilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 8-inch square glass baking dish with cooking oil spray. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, shaking occasionally. Whisk in the flour, chili powder and chipotle pepper. Cook, continuing to whisk, for one minute. Then, add the stock or broth and water a little at a time, whisking to incorporate. Cook until slightly thickened.

In a large bowl, toss together the turkey and 1 cup of the sauce. Add two tablespoons of cheddar and mix well. Set aside.

Wrap the stack of corn tortillas in a damp papertowel and microwave for one minute to warm.

Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of the prepared pan and swirl to evenly distribute. Divide the turkey mixture evenly among the tortillas and wrap into a roll shape. Place in the baking dish, side by side. Pour remaining sauce over and took with the remaining cheddar.

Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes (uncovered) until heated through and the cheese is melted. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serve with avocado slices and/or sour cream.

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.

This recipe has a lot of ingredients — I know, who wants to use that many? But to achieve the right flavor here, you have to. And the result is worthwhile. Plus, this healthy recipe amounts to just under 400 calories for each portion. How much is a portion? Eight one-inch meatballs and one-quarter of the sauce. Serve it with 1/2 cup of rice and you have a healthy meal with a lean protein and about 2 servings of fruits and veggies for about 500 calories. Not bad at all.

Just try it!

Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs
serves 4

Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 small onion, finely minced or processed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp packed brown sugar

Sauce:
2 cups pineapple tidbits with juice, separated
1 cup water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Mix together the ground turkey, onion, garlic, ginger, egg, panko, salt, pepper, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Knead with your hands to combine well.

With your hands, grab meat and roll into 1 inch meatballs. Place on the baking sheet. Don’t let them touch, but they can be close together.

Place the meatballs in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the pineapple juice, water, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce until sugar is fully dissolved. Whisk in the cornstarch and raise the heat to medium high. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously.

Stir in the pineapple bits and the peppers. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Add meatballs and recover. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

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

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.

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.