Friday, October 18, 2013

Ground Turkey, Brussel Sprouts and Zucchini

Last weekend I bought a pack of lean ground turkey from SaveMart, on sale. It's my first time using ground turkey in anything so I was a little hesitant. 

Cooking it was very similar to cooking regular hamburger. I kept waiting for the typical 'hamburger' smell but it never came. The smell was... different. Not bad, just different. 

I added
dribble of EVOO
1 lb.  ground turkey
2 garlic cloves 
couple tablespoons of green onion *I'm not a huge fan of onion*
dash of salt 
dash of pepper

Handfull of brussels 
*I used frozen, so I microwaved them a bit, I much prefer fresh brussels*
1/2 of a zucchini cut into 1/4's. 

While it's cooking, cut up the zucchini and cut brussels in 1/2. Let that cook until the ground turkey is just about fully cooked. I added a small amount of water if it got too dry. 

Toss in brussels and zucchini. Cook until veggies are tender, or less if you prefer crunchy. 

And there you go!! My first dish made with ground turkey.



Saturday, October 12, 2013

Apple Banana Bread



Apples:
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes (I used 1 1/2 apples and ate the other half, it seemed like a lot of apple) ;)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter (8 TBS)
1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 ripe mashed bananas (2-3) *I used 3*

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 1 1/2 - quart loaf pan.

Apples:

Heat medium skillet over medium-heat. Add the butter and brown sugar. Heat until bubbly. Add the apples and cinnamon and sauté until tender - about 4 minutes. Add vanilla. Remove from heat to cool.

Bread:



In a medium bowl - whisk flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Set aside




In standing mixer cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.

In a bowl, combine orange juice and vanilla. Set aside.




Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually, alternating between the orange juice mixture and flour. Mixing well between each addition.

Add in mashed bananas and mix

Add in set aside apples and mix - there was quite a bit of liquid in with the apples, I sifted out the apples and left most of the liquid.





Pour the batter into the loaf pan. *I did not put all of the batter into the 1 1/2 quart pan, there seemed to be a lot, and I was afraid it would spill over, so I made a smaller loaf*

I added chopped walnuts!! Nuts make everything better :)

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.




Move to a wire wrack to cool for about 20 minutes before removing bread to cool on wire wrack.

Once cooled, eat!! *I love having mine still warm from the oven*

Yum!!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Just a Couple of Things I've Whipped Up

BLT - Fresh sourdough, tomatoes and crisp summer greens all from Farms Market, bacon and pepper jack cheese. YUM!! 

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies (didn't do the frosting, they were perfect as is). Recipe Here

Delicious salad!! Romane lettuce, fuji apples, croutons, rasins, grilled salmon and raspberry vinaigrette 

Semi-Taco Salad. Romane lettuce, colbyjack cheese, cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken with garlic seasoning, black beans and corn with a mayo and green taco sauce dressing. So good and simple!!