Turkey Chili

One of my favorite meals that I have made since weight loss surgery is turkey chili.  I say "I" but really "we" made the chili.  My husband and I both worked on this pot.  I mixed a recipe I found on Baritastic, the weight loss app for people who have had bariatric surgery, and my husband's recipe.  I am going to give you the recipe I used and a note at the end about which things could be switched out if you have different preferences or needs.  Some of my measurements are not exact and can be changed to taste.  I use base measurements and then add as I see fit to work for us.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. ground turkey
3- 5 oz. cans V8
1/2-1 poblano pepper*
1/2-1 onion
4-6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. cumin
1 heaping Tbsp. chili powder
1 box chopped tomatoes*
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the ground turkey in a skillet.  Mince the onions, garlic, and peppers and add them to the turkey as it is cooking.  Then stir in the cumin and chili powder as well as salt and pepper.  In a pot, pour in the chopped tomatoes.  When the turkey is cooked, pour it into the pot with tomatoes. Then add the V8.  Bring to a simmer for at least 15-30 minutes.  Honestly, the taste was better the next day so let it simmer and sit for as long as possible.  You can even cook an extra batch to freeze for easy lunches.  You can, of course, garnish the chili as you like.  I like a little dollop of sour cream and/or and bit of shredded cheese in mine.  My husband likes crackers and cheese in his.  This chili is the first chili I can eat without any garnish.  That is how good this is.

*Notes: We use poblano peppers because we prefer the taste and spice level.  The original recipes called for bell peppers, but my husband cannot eat them.  You can use the peppers that work for your needs.  We use the boxed "Pomi" brand of tomatoes.  We cannot use canned unless they are canned by me because of my daughter's corn intolerance.  Pomi is corn free.

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

I have been busy with my new temporary job and I have been trying to make meals that can be made quickly and easily.  They also have to be good warmed up for lunches at work.  We prefer to eat homemade foods rather than eating out or buying pre-made boxed foods.  The easiest way for easy, quick, healthy, homemade meals is to use marinades.  I have started making up bags with marinades and putting meat in them and freezing them.  Then I can take it out of the freezer the night before, and it's ready the next night for cooking. This is one of the marinades we have been using for pork chops.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp. oil (I usually use grapeseed or olive)

3 Tbsp. coconut aminos (This is what we use to replace soy sauce.)

6 garlic cloves, minced

4 pork chops (I use boneless.  I hate eating around bones.)

Directions:

In a ziploc bag, add all ingredients and close and mix around.  Let marinade for at least 2 hours.  Once marinated, grill or bake.  We grilled and loved them.  But if you can't grill, bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

I got this recipe from Pinterest and just replaced the soy sauce.  To see the original post, look here. 

Smoothies

I have been missing from the blogger world for awhile now.  We've had some major issues with my daughter.  She has been very ill off and on.  As I've stated before, we believed she had a food allergy, mainly to corn.  Well, in recent months, she has started reacting to almost every food she eats.  We have had so much trouble getting any pediatricians to help us so we are now trying a naturopath.  Basically, we have started over completely.  She was at the point she wasn't eating or drinking anything.  It was getting very scary.  After two and a half months with this naturopath, she now eats a few things and always drinks water and tea.  And she is finally gaining a little weight.  But her diet is very strict.  We started out only offering the following foods:  sweet potatoes, avocado, chicken, salmon, peas, spinach, apple, pear, banana, white beans and a nitrate free bacon.  On these, we put salt, olive oil and coconut oil.  At first, she wouldn't eat any and even stopped drinking for two whole days.  She lost a few pounds.  Since that wasn't working we had to take a different approach.  We still used that list as our base but I went ahead and let her eat a few of her fruit squeezers.  You know the ones you can buy and they can suck out through the top while squeezing.  I finally found one she would eat.  Then she started drinking water and tea.  Then she started eating the bacon.  And now she eats baked or grilled chicken and sometimes a regular potato.  She has finally slept through the night for several nights in a row.  She has never slept through the night before and she is two and a half years old.

With all of that, I just haven't had the time, energy or heart to work on blogging, cooking, crafting or job searching.  I hope we are on our way to a healthy child so we can all get back to life.  I still have blogs started from Christmas time that I haven't finished and posted.  But I do have a few smoothie recipes for you today.

Spinach and Fruit Smoothie:
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 apple, cored (you can peel too if you prefer but I like the peel)
1 banana
1 cup almond milk (I use almond but you could just as easily use any kind of milk)
5 whole strawberries
1/2 orange
2 scoops protein powder (optional, I use whey protein powder)

Blend all together.  This can be frozen for use through the week.  This actually made 2-3 servings.

Breakfast Smoothie:
1 cup peaches
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup almond milk
1 scoop protein powder

Blend all together.  This one is also good to freeze if needed.  This one is enough for 2 small smoothies or 1 large.  I doubled the recipe and made 3 smoothies.

Turkey or Beef and Asparagus Meatballs

Update Note:  We still love this recipe but I have had to make a few changes.  We have constantly kept learning about the corn issues and our daughter has still had tummy troubles off and on that we have had to work with and figure out.  We no longer do dairy since we did this recipe so those ingredients are now excluded for us.  Also, the brand of ground turkey we can get here includes "natural flavors" in the ingredients.  This often means some type of corn source.  So we no longer use that either and I have not found a source of clean turkey yet.  We have found a source for good, local, grass-fed beef though.  So we now use that instead.  It is VERY good.  I can't believe now, that we ever ate that beef from the grocery store.  This stuff tastes and cooks so much better!

These are very easy to make and very easy to sneak in some extra veggies.  The original recipe only had asparagus in the meatballs and garlic in the sauce.  Well I added spinach to the meatballs and sauce and onions to the sauce.  I will include my additions in this recipe.  You modify to your family's tastes.  This was a hit with the whole family.

Ingredients for meatballs:
1 lb. ground white turkey or beef
3 asparagus spears sliced thin
1 handful frozen, cooked spinach, chopped
1 egg
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry oregano
½ cup Italian bread crumbs (Try my recipe HERE)/(crumbled cereal or crackers can be used as well)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (optional if dairy free is needed)
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


Directions for meatballs:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Combine ground turkey, asparagus, spinach, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, bread crumbs, and parmesan in a bowl.  I used my hands to mix.  If it is too crumbly you can add one more egg.  Form into preferred sized meatballs.  I also made a few small flat patties similar to little sausage patties. This made it easier for the toddler to eat.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add each meatball/patty to the hot pan and cook until just getting browned on each side.  Put meatballs in a baking dish or on a baking pan and bake for twenty minutes.  I cut a meatball in half to make sure it was finished before taking them out of the oven.



Ingredients for sauce:
1 Tbsp. onion powder/dried minced onion or 1 medium onion, minced
1 handful frozen, cooked spinach, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 cups crushed tomatoes (No cans for corn-free. The original recipe called for 16 oz. but we liked it better with a little more.)
2 oz. softened cream cheese (optional for dairy free; or maybe try coconut milk or coconut yogurt? I haven't tried yet)
salt and pepper to taste


First, start boiling preferred pasta noodles.  Saute onion and garlic in the same pan the meatballs were started.  Add in the spinach.  When the spinach is soft and warm, add in the crushed tomatoes, cream cheese and salt and pepper.  Stir until the cream cheese is melted and incorporated into the tomato sauce.  Now serve meatballs and sauce over pasta.


If you don't want noodles, you could easily just serve the meatballs alone with some more veggies or a gluten free option such as rice or quinoa.

Note:  This recipe was modified from another recipe which you can find HERE.

Freezer Meals 1

I have started trying to cook once every two to four weeks and freeze meals.  We have a food saver to vacuum seal for freezing.  The vacuum saver has already paid for itself in food saved from freezer burn. The meals are ready to go in the slow cooker or oven. We eat off of these meals for ALL meals ALL week.I cook one meal on Saturday and one meal on Sunday and we usually eat out for one meal per week.  We also make breakfast and tacos once a week.  This fills in the holes when we don't want to eat leftovers.  Plus, breakfast and tacos are always quick and easy to make.  Below is a week of recipes I used in my experiment.  I will continue to blog about my cooking and freezing ventures.  To see the recipe, click on the name of the dish underneath the picture.  They link to the blog posts with the the recipes.

NOTE:  I typically buy frozen chicken.  I can get a ten pound bag from Sam's for a great price and we eat mostly chicken for our lean protein source.  This means, if the recipe calls for chopped chicken, the chopping doesn't happen until it thaws or cooks.  (NEVER refreeze and meat after it thaws!)

There are two meals without a picture.  I'll add more later.

Instant Oatmeal Packets

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Mac and Beef


Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Here are pictures of all of the frozen meals, ready for the freezer or fridge.  These pictures show 10 meals going in the freezer or fridge.  One went right into the fridge to cook the next day.  The rest went into the freezer and were laid out to thaw the night before or just dumped frozen into the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

This is another meal that can be split or doubled for freezer meals.  The recipe below split into two batches for our family.  One batch went in the slow cooker and one batch went in the freezer.  One batch for us makes enough for one dinner for me, a dinner and a lunch for L and a lunch for J.  Sometimes there is even some leftover from that.  This can be served over and/or with anything.  Side of steamed veggies and a baked potato...  Over noodles...  Over rice...  A little hint if you want to serve over noodles:  you will need to add sauce whether that be your favorite spaghetti sauce or just a couple of cans of tomato sauce.  I've done all of these things and all have worked well.  I've messed it up too because I'm still not the best cook.  But I'm getting better.

Ingredients:
1 onion, minced (you can chop this or slice this however you like but I don't like onion chunks so I mince)
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2½ cups tomato paste (no cans for corn-free)
4 oz. fresh chopped mushrooms (again, you can slice but I don't like chunks so I chop in small pieces)
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
½ tsp. basil
1 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Mix together tomato paste, mushrooms, salt, pepper, garlic, herbs and chicken stock in a slow cooker.  Add in chicken and make sure it is covered by tomato mixture.  Cook on low 7-9 hours or on high 4 hours.

Italian Chicken and Tomatoes

This is another very healthy, easy slow cooker meal.  It is one of my favorites right now.  I served it over rice but you could also serve it over noodles or by itself with some veggies.  I split this recipe into two and put them in the freezer for future use.  This is another easy meal that is easy to dump in the slow cooker before work.

Ingredients:
8 chicken breasts
8 small/medium diced/crushed tomatoes
oregano
garlic
onion
basil
salt and pepper

NOTE:  We have also used an Italian herb mix instead of the separate herbs.


Directions:
Once you get used to the amounts, you will be able to just dump everything together in the slow cooker.  Or if you have the sauce already made, even better.  I like to make the crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic, onion, basil, salt and pepper into an sauce.  You could can it, make it the night before, or make it on the weekend and freeze it ahead for one a week/month cooking.  I also will be blogging the instructions for making the sauce in another blog post just for the sauce.  It is a versatile mix.  There are Italian diced tomatoes you can buy canned in the store as well if you still use canned products.  It has citric acid in it so we cannot use it.
To make the sauce, dice the tomatoes.  I usually score and blanch the tomatoes to peel them.  Then I cut them into large chunks and put them under my hand chopper.  It makes quick work of dicing them up.  Toss them into a sauce pan or skillet.  Then add in oregano, garlic, onion, basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Plenty of onion, garlic and salt go into mine.  Watch the oregano because it is strong.  Start with a pinch and go from there.  I have gotten pretty used to using this and making this so I can usually just toss it all in.  You can use fresh garlic and onion, dried or powdered.  I've used it all and it all tastes great.
Mix everything together in the slow cooker or in bags for the freezer.  In the slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

I serve this over rice and with a vegetable of some kind.  We like green beans a lot.  But broccoli, asparagus, peas are all good.  This is great reheated for lunches.  Even the picky husband eats it reheated.

Here are a couple of pictures.  The first is a picture with a salad.  The other is a picture with rice, packed up to take to work for lunch the next day.

NOTE:  The cooking times are what was used when cooking from a frozen state.

Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken

This is a very healthy but very easy meal.  This recipe was enough to make two batches.  These were put in the freezer for easy, throw in the slow cooker before work meals.

Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
6-8 small/medium tomatoes, peeled
salt and pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. celery seed
2 cups chicken stock (if you are freezing, leave this out until you put this in the slow cooker)

Directions:
First, mince the onion and garlic.  If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel them now too.  Now I split everything except the chicken stock into two bags to put in the freezer.  That's it.  The only other thing there is to do is dump it in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Note:  I don't have a picture of this yet.  It is hard to remember what pictures I still need.  I will add one next time we have this meal.

Mac & Beef

Here is a nice easy comfort meal which can be made in double so half can be frozen.  This is so good and I ate the leftovers for a few days.  If you want to make smaller batches for just one meal without leftovers, you could quarter this recipe and make 4 batches.  This was my first batch but I am going to play with it next time... add veggies, different noodles, different meats and cheeses...  The possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano, any herbs and seasonings you would like
1 bag of macaroni noodles
3 jars favorite pasta sauce or homemade pasta sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Note:  Cheese is not corn-free.  I'm working an edit to this recipe.  Make sure to season the beef mixture a little strong or it will be bland once the noodles are added.

Directions:
Cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil until clear in color.  Add the ground beef and brown.  Meanwhile, boil the noodles in salted water.  Cook the noodles until they are almost done but not quite as they will cook more in the oven.  Mix, beef, noodles and two jars of pasta sauce together.  Split into 2 batches.  Prepare one for freezing and pour the other into a 9x13 baking dish.  Top each with half of the last jar of pasta sauce.  Bake at 400° until noodles are done.  Top the one for baking with half of both shredded cheeses and put back in the oven until all of the cheese is melted.  Label the freezer batch with directions to add the other half of cheese when it is cooked.  Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Stew

Note:  This recipe makes enough to freeze half for our little family.  Adjust amounts for what works for your family.

This meal was a hit with the toddler.  She went back for seconds.  That means it's a keeper since it is difficult to get that child to eat anything.  This stew is incredible flavorful.  I was impressed.

Ingredients:
6 chicken breast portions
2 cups chopped carrots
4 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium onion, chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped or sliced
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions for freezer half:
Put half of all ingredients EXCEPT potatoes, lemon juice and chicken stock in freezer bag.  Write the name of the meal, the date and instructions to add 2 cups chopped potatoes, 2 cups chicken stock and 1/2 tsp. lemon juice.  Vacuum seal or squeeze out as much air possible and toss in the freezer.

Directions for eat now half:
Dump all leftover ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  If you cook on low, turn it up for 20-30 minutes at some point during cooking to cook the potatoes through.  I find that potatoes don't always cook through in the slow cooker without higher heat.  You could also partially cook them before putting them in the slow cooker at the beginning.

Freezing Food to Save Money

I have started learning to freeze food, namely produce, in order to cut down on waste and save money.  It is a learning process when all of this fresh food cooking is still pretty new to us.  But we have a good start and I have some freezer MEALS in the works for the next few weeks.  I'll let you all know how it goes.  We also have a nifty FoodSaver which has paid for itself in saved food.  It vacuum seals all of our food before it is frozen.

I used this link as a guide to what you can and can't freeze.  It also links to a chart of how to freeze certain vegetables.  Some vegetables freeze best after they are blanched for a specific amount of time.

Here is another link to a blog with tips and timelines on how long stuff should be kept after it is frozen.  Don't forget to date everything you freeze!

And here are some pictures of the things I have frozen so far using those two websites and friends as guides.

Fresh carrots, sliced, blanched, sealed

Fresh celery, chunked, blanched, sealed

Buttermilk, frozen in ice cube trays

Gluten Free, Corn Free Homemade Italian Bread Crumbs divided and sealed into ½ cup servings

I know it doesn't look like much but it saves more money than you think when you add it all together.  It also makes it easier to add to the slow cooker or a quick recipe after busy days.  And this is just the beginning.

Tomato Basil Soup

Since our daughter cannot have corn, that means no canned soup in this house.  So, we have to make our own.  So far, she loves soups and stews and they are easy to do in a slow cooker so I try new ones now and then.  This one was not made in a slow cooker but was easy and quick.  The original recipe is HERE.  I didn't really deviate from this ingredient list other than the coconut milk.  It worked fine.

Ingredients:
4 cups crushed tomatoes (To be corn-free, this must be home canned or home crushed.  All cans in stores contain citric acid which is a corn product.  The only safe brand of canned tomatoes is Eden's.)
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 stick unsalted butter (for dairy free you can use oil instead but use less; or you can leave this out altogether and just add a little bit more milk)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Blend all ingredients together in a blender/food processor.  Pour in large saucepan and simmer for about thirty minutes.  Serve.  Our toddler actually ate two small bowls full of this.  And she is a VERY picky eater.  You could easily use this as a lunch on the go or serve it with a favorite bread or crackers.  This recipe filled 3 pint sized mason jars.  I put one in the freezer for later.