Ground Turkey, Corn, and Bean Filled Poblano Peppers

Another one of my easy to prepare, delicious, fairly healthy Tex-Mex inspired meal ideas...I don't remember specifics for this recipe since I made it so long ago, but I can describe the gist of it to at least get the idea across.  

(Also, no step-by-step pics.  Only end results)  

One of the main purposes of my blog is just to keep track of and give families as many meal ideas as possible!

Will need...

Poblano peppers (I used 2)

Olive oil

Ground turkey (1lb. or so?)

DIY taco seasoning

(1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp oregano)

Garlic salt (to taste)

Can of dark red kidney beans

Can of black beans

Can of corn

Can of diced tomatoes

Jalapeños

Shredded cheese

Side ideas...

Sliced avocado
Quinoa

Prepping the peppers

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (guessing because I usually do it around that temp.)
2.  Wash and cut poblano peppers lengthwise.  Cut out stem and take out/rinse out seeds.
3.  Place peppers on cookie sheet with the inside facing up and drizzle with olive oil.
4.  Bake in oven 5-10 mins. (this amount of time is another estimate).
5.  Remove from oven and turn pepper so the outside of the pepper is now face up and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake an additional 5-10 mins.  When they are ready you should see just a bit of bubbling or whitening on the outside skin of the pepper and they should start to feel soft to touch.

Cooking the stuffing

1.  Brown the ground turkey in a skillet.
2.  When browned add about 1 cup of water to the meat and stir in the DIY taco seasoning.  Heat through.  
3.  TASTE the taco meat!  Here I usually add some garlic salt to taste...
4.  Drain cans of beans, corn, and tomatoes and add to skillet.
5.  Mix well and heat until mixture is heated throughout, mixing frequently.

Bringing it together

1.  Spoon turkey, corn, and bean mixture into the poblano peppers and top with jalapeños.

2.  Bake for 10 mins.

3.  Remove from oven and top with shredded cheese.  Bake until cheese is melted, usually about 5 mins.

                              

Serve with your choice of sides and toppings!

     

<3MEXMEALSARETHEBESTMEALS.LML.

Oven-baked Black Bean and Corn Chicken Tenderloins

So this recipe was created when I went and did my weekly shopping WITHOUT my normal preparations...creating my menu for the week and list beforehand.  I went to Aldi straight from watching the Steeler game at the bar this past Sunday, so I had to shop randomly and think of meals on a whim...but I actually ended up doing rather well, even after having a few beers and being quite tipsy!

Will need...

-Package of chicken tenderloins 

(I bought a pack with enough to line my 9x11 glass baking dish)

-Jar of black bean and corn salsa 

(I used Specially Selected brand from Aldi)

-Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning

-Garlic Garlic Seasoning 

(I use Tastefully Simple, but any minced garlic seasoning mix will work)

-Cracked black pepper

-Shredded Mexican cheese

-Crushed tortilla chips

-Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

-Any other Mex toppings you love- raw onion, jalapeno, etc.

_________________________________________________________________

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread a small amount of salsa over bottom of baking dish.

Line baking dish with chicken tenderloins.

                           

Season tenderloins generously with the Adobo seasoning, Garlic Garlic (minced garlic), and cracked black pepper.

                                     

Dump the rest of the salsa evenly over the tenderloins and bake for 20 minutes.

Take out of the oven and cut one of the tenderloins from the middle to make sure they are cooked.

Now that the salsa is heated, spread it more evenly over the tenderloins and bake for an additional 5 mins...longer if the chicken was not fully cooked yet.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over the salsa and bake 5 more mins. or until cheese is melted.

                    Remove from oven and top with crushed up tortilla chips and baking a final 5 more mins. or until salsa is bubbling through the cheese.
                                                        

Serve with a side of tortilla chips and sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.

Add any other toppings you love...I topped with raw onion and jalapeños ❤

                                             
                                             

                                    Kid approved!!

<3LML.

One-Pan Roasted Red Pepper and Kale Ziti with Hot Sausage in a Creamy Parmesan Cabernet Sauce!

(Wow- That's a mouthful!)

Ok- I made this recipe up completely on my own literally while I was doing my weekly Sunday grocery shopping last week.  My dad was in town and I always feel bad because I make these amazing meals when he is not here, but when he is here I rarely cook (because we are always going out).  

So this time, while he was here, I whipped up two gourmet meals, this pasta dish and stuffed poblano peppers, both of which I created myself.  I was particularly impressed with how this pasta dish turned out and since I was going without a recipe, I hope that I can recreate it close enough to what I did so that it turns out like I made it!  

Don't forget the red wine!!

You will need:

Olive oil

Half an onion, chopped

2 tbsp garlic, minced (fresh or jarred, I used jarred)

Freshly crushed black pepper

1 pack hot Italian sausage 

1 jar Roasted red peppers

2 handfuls kale (fresh or frozen, I used frozen)

1 can beef broth (14.5 oz)

1 box of ziti (will use 3/4 of the box)

1/2 cup of Cabernet Sauvignon

1/2 cup of water

1 pint heavy whipping cream

Small can tomato sauce

Grated Parmesan cheese

Red pepper flakes 

Parsley

___________________________________________________________________________________

Heat pan over medium heat and add chopped onion and minced garlic.  Top with crushed black pepper.

Mix continuously and start cooking sausage in another pan while onion/garlic cooks.  Fill the pan with water so that the sausages are halfway covered by water and bring to a boil.  Turn the sausages to the other side every once in a while so both sides are exposed to the boiling water.

While onion/garlic and sausage cooks, slice the red peppers in long strips and then cut long strips in half to make shorter strips.

Cook onion and garlic until they both start to brown.  Add the red pepper strips to the pan stirring constantly until mixture is heated through.

I like to slice the sausages length wise and cook them inside down so that I make sure they are cooked well.  I take the sausage halves out of the pan and slice them into smaller pieces, cooking them even more.

After onion, garlic, and red peppers are heated through and soft, add the two handfuls of kale and mix in.  Continue mixing for about 2 minutes, until heated through.

Add the whole can of beef broth to the mixture, stir, and bring to a boil

Add 3/4 of the box of ziti to the pan when the broth starts to boil and cover, simmering.  Stir occasionally and when the beef broth has been reduced to about half of the amount that it was before, add the 1/2 cup of wine.

           

Again, bring the mixture to a boil, cover and simmer, but keep stirring every once in a while.

My noodles became infused with the beef broth and Cabernet!  This adds so much flavor to the dish.  

Your noodles will still be a bit hard, so when the liquid has been reduced this time, add 1/2 cup of water and cover, stirring once in a while.  

**Try your noodles to see if they are done to your liking.  You may need to add more or less water and/or simmer for a shorter/longer period of time, depending on how you like your noodles cooked.  

I only added the 1/2 cup water and simmered, covered, until mine were al dente, because they will simmer and cook a bit more with the heavy cream.

When pasta is cooked to your liking, add the pint of heavy cream and stir.

Add the can of tomato sauce and stir.

Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the entire mixture in the pan and stir.

Add hot sausage and fold into the pasta mixture.  Top one more time with Parmesan and stir the mixture one final time, making sure that it is hot throughout.

Serve hot and top with red pepper flakes and parsley!

PLEASE leave comments if you try a recipe!  I never know if I write them well enough for other people to reproduce!  Thanks!

~RastaPasta~ <3LML

Small changes for healthier lunches!

As we always seem to be on the quest to eat "healthier", I think we often change the more obvious foods in our diet, while sometimes overlooking the little changes we can make that will cause a difference.  I just wanted to take some time to share a few new food products that I have been using lately that I am just in love with for their taste AND because they are much healthier alternatives to what I usually would use.  Most of the summer, I try to make healthy, light lunches at home for us as I am also looking for quick and healthy ideas that I can make during the work/school year.  I found a few products and used them for some lunches this summer that will be perfect to take to work this school year...

First, when my mom was visiting she bought this Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Dressing.  The name sounded right up my alley, so I tried it and was sooo impressed!  The taste is great.  It's super creamy and you can taste both the avocado and the cool cilantro flavor:  it's clean and fresh tasting.  Not only is it tasty though, it is healthier in comparison to your average ranch dressing that most people use.  

So, a 2 Tbsp serving of Hidden Valley Ranch has 140 calories, while the Bolthouse Farms dressing has only 40 calories.  Fat??? 14 grams in the Hidden Valley Ranch as opposed to 3.5 grams in the Bolthouse Farms!!!!  Hidden Valley Ranch also has double the carbs and cholesterol than the Bolthouse Farms dressing has. 

  VS  

The next new thing we tried, was a new brand/type of tortilla/flatbread.  We eat tortillas A LOT! Very often for lunch I will make sandwich wraps, substituting the bread of a normal sandwich for a tortilla in an attempt to eat "healthier."  My favorite brand is La Banderita from Mexico...yum!  But it wasn't until recently when we decided to cut some carbs that I realized that there were much healthier options out there!

I bought a flatbread called Flatout and the flavor is light Italian herb- incredibly tasty.  The brand claims half the calories and half the carbs of other brands as well as high fiber and protein.  The flatbread uses whole wheat flour while the tortillas do not.  When comparing the two...

The amount of _____ in 1 tortilla/flatbread:

                            Flour tortillas                    Flatout flatbread- light

Calories                       220                                    90      

Carbs                           34 g                                   14 g

Fat                                7 g                                   1.5 g                              

Protein                          9 g                                     5 g

VS 

Basically I can make two small changes in a normal meal and make it MUCH healthier, and in my opinion, tastier!

Two lunch ideas that came from my new favorite dressing:

Cilantro Avocado Chicken Salad

Shredded chicken

Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Dressing

Mayo

Salt and pepper

Season shredded chicken with salt and pepper.

Mix undetermined amounts of the dressing and the mayo, to your liking, into the shredded chicken.

Taste to see if you need to add more.

(LOL sorry for the vague instructions but that is literally what I did...and remember these are super QUICK ideas that require minimal ingredients!)

You could take some saltine crackers to eat with the chicken salad or make a wrap, which was where I went with it.  I used my new healthier flatbread and topped it with cheese, the chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions.

Voila!- something new and different!

Salted Cucumber Slices with dips

Seasoned salt

Sliced cucumbers (or other veggies)

Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Dressing

Hummus

Another lunch idea I incorporated the dressing into was to use it as a dip for some cucumber slices topped with seasoned salt.  While many people would probably choose a ranch dressing to dip their veggies in, this dressing is a great alternative...Delicious, refreshing, simple, AND healthy!

You could obviously try a variety of veggies...  I also dipped my cucumbers in some Tastefully Simple Red Bell Pepper Hummus that I had made.  Yum!

 

smallchangesbigdifferences.<3LML

Chicken Veggie Alfredo (with homemade sauce)

One "throw together" meal I can always rely on is any combination of chicken, veggies, and pasta!  I even think I may have a few recipes similar to this one already posted, but in this one I made my own Alfredo sauce!  

This can be a quick recipe if you can multi-task in the kitchen...

Chicken Veggie Alfredo

Whole wheat penne pasta

Chicken tenderloins

Olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Garlic Garlic (dried minced garlic)

Seasoned salt 

Cherry tomatoes

Zucchini 

Squash

Asparagus 

Garlic salt

Alfredo Sauce

1 Pint heavy cream

2 tbsp Butter 

2 tbsp Minced garlic (fresh or jar) 

Parmesan 

Salt and pepper

Parsley

Start by boiling water to cook your pasta...

Heat a pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Add chicken tenderloins to pan.  Salt and pepper both sides and add Garlic Garlic and Seasoned Salt.  When chicken is almost cooked through, remove from pan and cut into chunks.  Return to pan to finish cooking. 

While chicken is cooking, chop all veggies. 

Don't forget to start cooking your pasta!

When chicken is finished cooking, add chopped cherry tomatoes, zucchini, squash, and asparagus to the chicken.  Season with garlic salt to taste.

 Cover and cook until veggies are done to your desired tenderness.  Usually when the veggies turn a little brighter in color, they are done perfectly for me!

Is there anything more beautiful?!

So I looked up some random recipe for Alfredo sauce that called for a pint of heavy cream, but I think I ended up using about 3/4 of the pint...add the heavy cream to the chicken/veg mix.  

Add the 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp garlic, and then the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste!  

Mix over medium heat...

As you mix, the liquid will begin to reduce and thicken.

Continue cooking over medium heat and mixing until the liquid becomes thick enough to be a "sauce."

Add some black pepper and parsley and give one last stir...

Add your cooked pasta to the pan and fold the pasta into the mixture.

Serve and top with parsley and black pepper.

                                             

HomemadeAlfredoRules.<3LMl

Steak and Cheese Hoagies

I have been making steak and cheese for years, but I think I've finally nailed it... I started with Steak-Ums (Lol), then changed to a frozen prepared steak for cheesesteaks from Walmart, and tried all different cuts of real beef.  They were all fairly good, but most of them were too tough/dry to fully enjoy.  This week I found some EXTRA thin cut beef and it totally made the difference!

Steak and Cheese Hoagies

Steak- Extra Thin Cut Beef Top Round (for Milanesa)

Olive oil 

Garlic Garlic

Onion Onion

Seasoned Salt

Garlic Salt

Fresh black pepper

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 

1/2 cup beef broth

Onion

Green Pepper

Hoagie/sub rolls

Mayonnaise

Provolone cheese slices

So this is the meat that I used.  It was so thin that I didn't even have to cut it...I literally just tore it apart with my hands!

Drizzle olive oil in pan and heat on medium.  Cut/tear meat into thin strips and add to pan.

Season meat generously with Garlic Garlic, Onion Onion, and Seasoned Salt.  I live by these seasonings!  I use them on everything I cook.  They are made by Tastefully Simple and I have them linked above if you are interested in ordering... if not, just go ahead and season with dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, and any seasoned salt.  Add some cracked black pepper.

            

As the meat starts to brown, add 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and mix into the meat.  Keep turning meat with tongs as it browns.  You are looking for the liquid from the Worcestershire sauce to cook out eventually.

                            

Meanwhile, you can go ahead and slice your peppers and onions.  Usually I just do green peppers and onions, but this time I had gone out to the garden and grabbed some fresh hot banana peppers and poblano peppers as well, so I went ahead and threw them in for my sandwich.

Drizzle another pan with oil, heat on medium, and saute your peppers and onions.  I also like to season my peppers/onions with seasoned salt and pepper.

While sauteing your veggies, don't forget to keep an eye on the meat!  Once you have noticed that the liquid from the Worcestershire sauce has boiled out, add the half cup of beef broth.  Do the same...turn the meat with tongs and cook until the broth liquid has reduced and cooked out.
Now is a good time to taste and add more seasonings if needed...

Depending on how "done" you like your veggies, they are probably finished after 10-15 mins. or when your onions are fairly translucent.

The buns that I use are from the bakery at Walmart, super soft and delish!  I highly recommend them, or just use any other sub roll...

Once the liquid from the beef broth has cooked out, turn heat to low and separate your meat in the pan into servings for each sandwich you will make.  Put provolone slices on top of each serving.  We love our cheese here, so I put two slices per sandwich.  

Cover and heat until cheese starts to melt!

Add a sprinkle of garlic salt on top of the melted cheese.

Mmmm.  Cheeeese.....

Add mayo to your bun, scoop that goodness out the pan and throw it on the bun...top with those yummy sauteed peppers and onions, squish it down and chow time!

With hot peppers...

Daaaaaaaaaamn.  That's good...

<3LML