Seeking Recipes

I'm in the same boat and have decided to start cooking more and change meals up. I'm not so sure how much of this you could give your son but I'm sure just some of the chicken would be ok. I have started using my crock pot and have a new affection for it! It makes life so much eaier! Anyway, we love to make chicken carnitas. It's a Mexican meal that's healthy, delicious, and makes enough for leftovers.

In your crock pot:
-cube up about 3 or 4 chicken breasts (depending on mow many eaters)
-sliced whole white onion
-3 chopped cloves of garlic
-1/2 cup water

Blend together a whole can of diced tomatoes with 1/2tsp of cumin and 1/4tsp chili powder, and a little salt and pepper in a blender.

Put all of that in the crock pot and let it cook away stiring it once in awhile! I put it on low and let it cook all day or you can put it on high and it takes about 3 hrs that way. It's one of those things that gets better the longer it cooks. I serve it on tortillas or on mexican rice and it's always a hit here. SO EASY! :) (With the left overs, I drain off the liquid, add bbq sauce, and let it simmer a bit to get the flavor throughout.)

Good luck! I'd love to hear what you think of it if you make it!

These obviously come from allrecipes...but they are two of our favorites. We aren't big on beef either.

Lentil tacos - don't let the name fool you...I've shared this recipe with several people they are always a big hit. High in fiber and no cholesterol! I add a tablespoon on cumin and two teaspoons of basil, but follow the recipe exactly otherwise.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tasty-Lentil-Tacos/Detail.aspx

Brown rice casserole - this is another yummy dish. When my son was younger we omitted the green chile peppers, because he didn't like them. Now that he is three, he loves it. It looks like there isn't enough rice, but trust me, it's plenty. We usually have this as a main dish, but on occasion I have omitted the chicken and created a side dish out of it.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brown-Rice-and-Black-Bean-Ca...

One of the other mothers once recommended hamburger hash to me once. I made a few changes to the recipe. I substituted the ground beef for turkey ground and used red potatoes with the skin on which made it a little more healthy. Oh and I added onion and bell pepper. My husband loves it.

1 package of turkey ground (I think its a little more than a lb)
poultry seasoning (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 onion
1/2 bell pepper
4-6 small red potatoes (skin on)
Olive oil
Butter (optional)
parsley (garnish)

Chop onion and bell pepper. Coat skillet with olive oil. Saute onion and bell pepper. Add turkey ground to pan. Brown turkey ground. Add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. While its cooking wash and cube your red potatoes. Boil the potatoes with a little salt until fork tender. Add a little more olive oil or the butter to your turkey ground. Drain potatoes. Add potatoes to pan. Cook mixture until potatoes are a little brown. Garnish with parsley.

This doesn't seem that healthy when you look at it, but it's actually a weight watchers recipe that is 5 or 6 points per serving.

1 lb ground turkey
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
2 cans healthy request cream of mushroom
1 1/2 cups skim mozzarella
tater tots

Do not brown the turkey, just crumble it in the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Put the veggies on top of the turkey. Spread the soup on top of the veggies. Top with the cheese and then the tater tots. I usually use between 1/2 to 3/4 of the tater tot bag. Pop in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes.

My daughter, 21 months, absolutely loves this one and it gets her something from just about every food group.

Turkey Store Sweet Italian Sausage
jar of favorite store bought spaghetti sauce
can of beef broth
favorite whole wheat pasta
fresh or frozen veggies on hand
clove or 2 of garlic (to taste)

Remove casing on sausage and brown like you would ground meat. Add minced or graded clove of garlic. Add 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I use O Organics from Tom Thumb). Add 1 can beef broth ( I use low sodium or organic). Add handful of favorite dry pasta (I use organic whole wheat mini Penne pasta). Chop up whatever veggies your family likes and you have on hand and add. Simmer till pasta and veggies are tender. Serve with toasted garlic bread. Makes a hardy healthy meal that’s even better for lunch the next day.

This is like a thick soup or stew. Your 1 year old may be able to eat on his own or use slotted spoon to make his plate so he won’t have to contend with the broth. My 3 year old loves this!

Veggies I like in this are: squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green or red peppers (sometimes I use frozen mix of red, green and yellow pepper strips), and believe it or not asparagus is great in this. Like I said, anything you have on hand (frozen or fresh) that your family likes is usually good in this.

Hi L.!
These are my two favorite easy/healthy recipes, chicken tortilla soup and cilantro turkey burgers. Everyone always freaks out over them, even folks who don't like cilantro or turkey burgers! I agree w/ everyone else, allrecipes.com rocks. Epicurious.com is also a great site. I love kitchenparade & aveggieventure (two food blogs by the same author and I've never not liked a recipe she recommends!). And chocolateandzucchini.com is another fave of mine; interesting blog for food musings and recipes. Right now she has a post about the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I will sooo be trying out that one soon! lol

Anyway, back to the recipes, hope you like them. :)
Blessings!

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

1) In large soup pot, boil 6 chicken breasts in at least 4 cups of water until cooked. Remove chicken from pot (keep broth-water in pot). Using two forks, shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Return 3/4 of chicken to soup pot.

2) Puree in food processor:
-the remaining 1/4 of cooked chicken
-1 green bell pepper
-1 onion
-5 garlic cloves
Add to soup pot w/ chicken.

3) Chop & add 1 cup fresh cilantro, along with 3 cans diced tomatoes, 4 cans chicken broth, 1 Tablespoon cumin, 1 Tablespoon salt, 1 Tablespoon garlic salt, 1 Tablespoon original Mrs. Dash, and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Let simmer over med-low heat for about 30-45 minutes. Before serving, add the juice of 1 fresh lime to pot and stir.

Serve with Mexi-blend shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips.

I dare you to TRY and eat only ONE BOWL! And it tastes even better the next day.

***2 notes: You might want to start with less salt and add more later to taste...this is the amount I like. Also, you might want to give it more kick...there's really nothing "spicy" about this version, although it is flavorful, I just make it mild in the spice factor for the kiddos. So you could try the canned diced tomatoes they sell now with green chilies & spices in them...or I guess you could add a small can of diced green chilies, too...we've never done it this way but I bet it would be good...

CILANTRO TURKEY BURGERS
(makes 8 burgers)

2 pounds ground white turkey breast
2/3 cup salsa (drain some of the juice so that it's not very runny; we love black bean & corn salsa w/ this, but have tried other kinds and they all work)
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (you could substitute any type of onion, too; shallots have a nice mild onion flavor we're fond of and they "hide" easily so the kids don't get grossed out!)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (more or less, depending on how you like the texture of your burger & how juicy your salsa is...you could even use oatmeal believe it or not and it totally works!...)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt (could use table salt, too)
lots of freshly ground black pepper

1) Mix together all ingredients (with your hands) in large bowl, just until blended, no more or the burgers will be tough. Shape into patties. (If they are falling apart, that means your salsa was too runny and you just need to add more breadcrumbs or oatmeal.)

2) Grill until cooked through, or if it's raining and you wanna cook them indoors, the on-the-stove-version is equally as delicious: Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add burgers; cook until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to low. Cook until burgers are cooked through, about 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. (We like our with lots of brown caramelization on ours. Brings out the flavors even more.)

3) Drain burgers on paper towel covered plate. Serve hot on toasted burger buns with Monterrey Jack or Mexi-blend cheese, sour cream or mayo, salsa, lettuce & tomato, guacamole, etc... Whatever floats your boat, anything that you'd dress a taco or a burger with...

let me suggest the wonderful world of Rachael Ray! She has the best, easiest and most creative menus ever! And on top of that they are always healthy! She is also a big fan of using ground turkey and other lean meats. Bon Appetit!

My husband and 4-yr-old love this recipe, and it's super-easy and quick to make. I like to use organic varieties of as many of the ingredients as possible. We like to serve it either with cornbread muffins or just plain Saltine crackers. It reheats well for leftovers, too...almost better the second time around!

Turkey Chili
1/2 large sweet onion, finely diced
1 lb. ground turkey
2 15 oz. cans Ranch-Style beans
2 15 oz. cans (or a large 28 oz. can, if it's cheaper) of diced tomatoes ~ if I do 2 cans, I like one to be "Italian-seasoned" with basil & oregano
1 small can of tomato paste (4 or 5 oz., maybe?)
2 heaping Tbsp. of chili powder

Saute onions in approx. 2 tsp. olive oil on med.-high heat for a couple of minutes...at least until the oil gets hot enough to just soften the onions (they'll continue to cook when you add the meat). Add the ground tky, brown until cooked through. Dump in the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and chili powder. Stir. Heat through, and it's ready to serve!

Go to www.allrecipes.com, a great website with tons of recipes! I love it and use it often!

I only use ground turkey too! Here is one of our staples:

Turkey Veggie Quesadillas:

brown 1 pkg ground turkey, use 1 pkg taco seasoning (per directions)

grate half a squash, half a zucchini, and 1 carrot and steam

heat a griddle or large skillet

use around 6-8 whole grain tortillas, cover tortillas with grated cheese, put veggies on one half and turkey on the other, then fold the tortilla in half

put some olive oil on the griddle and brown each side of the tortilla, they are kind of hard to flip. I usually cook them until the cheese is melted.

I serve these with sour cream and black beans. The great thing about them is that my kids don't realize they are eating squash :)

I have to say that Allrecipes.com has been a lifesaver! My family doesn't eat ground beef either and I make quite a few vegetarian meals, myself. I keep things very healthy and lowfat.

Look under the low cal/low fat and healthy categories and just start browsing. I tweak almost all of the recipes to suit our tastes and budget.

Just some tips:
-sub ground turkey or soy crumbles for just about any ground beef recipes.
-almost always add black beans to any savory dish (like chili or pasta) to increase fiber.
-add spinach to lots of different recipes: quiches and pastas (esp. lasagna)
-sub applesauce for oil and butter in baking recipes
-always use low or non fat dairy options (I find that it doesn't really alter the taste or consistency)
-sub whole wheat flour for all purpose
*I am able to feed my family of six, 3 meals a day on 125.00 week and it's almost all low fat and high fiber.

I hope this helps!