Turkey Sloppy Joe's

I'm always trying to think of new ways to "trick" my kids into eating vegetables and this recipe worked like a charm! I served it on a whole grain bun with a slice of reduced-fat colby-jack cheese, with a side of sliced carrots and celery and it was so yummy.Turkey Sloppy Joe's
Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1/2 cup kethcup
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 hamburger buns, split

Method:

• In a large saucepan coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook the turkey, onion, celery, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain if necessary.
• Stir in the soup, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and pepper.
• Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 hours.
• Serve on buns.
  

Multi-grain Linguine With Creamy Tomato Ialian Sausage Sauce

My husband's side of the family introduced me to the combination of pasta and sausage and I really enjoy it. I found this recipe on simplyrecipes.com and adapted it to so it would have fewer calories, fewer carbs, and leaner protein. My husband thought it tasted great and had no idea it was "healthy."

Multi-grain Linguine with Creamy Tomato Italian Sausage Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 pound sweet Italian Sausage, casings removed (I used Jenni-O)
1/2 pound spicy Italian Sausage, casings removed (Jenni-O)
1 cup whipping cream (I tried to substitue it with low-fat milk, but the whpping cream makes the sauce so much better and thicker. Use it if you have calories to spare :)
2 (14.5) oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice
1 tbsp. dried sage
3/4 pound multi-grain linguine
1/2 cup grated (reduced fat) parmesan cheese
Method:
1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add sausages and satue until no longer pink, breaking them up a bit, about 5 minutes. Add cream; simmer 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice. Add sage. Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
2/ Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
3. Return pasta to same pot; add sauce. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if mixture is dry. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with cheese and serve.
Serves 6

Turkey Stuffed Green Peppers

My friend that I run with is a very healthy eater. She uses Daily Plate at www.Livestrong.com for a lot of recipes and told me to try this one because it was one of her favorites. Glad I did, because it was so good and my family loved it. My 3 year old was so excited to get her very own pepper with dinner inside of it. I made some adjustments to the recipe by using instant brown rice (instead of white rice that you add in uncooked, then have to wait an hour for the entire dish to cook), and I did forgo the cheese on mine, but other than that it is a pretty lo-cal meal (a little less than 300 calories per serving) and very simple. It's nice to finally use that spice rack I received as a gift at my wedding 6 years ago.

• 6 servings Green Bell Pepper
• 1.25 servings Ground Turkey - Raw
• 7.25 servings Tomato sauce
• .5 cups Onions
• 1 servings Garlic Clove
• 1 teaspoons Oregano, Dried
• 1/2 teaspoons Thyme, Dried
• 1/2 teaspoons Rosemary, Dried
• 1/2 teaspoons Basil, Dried
• 1/2 teaspoons Rubbed Sage
• 1/8 teaspoons Pepper, Black
• 2 cups cooked instant Brown Rice

Instructions:

Slice tops off peppers and hollow. Set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the turkey. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, combine 1/4c. water and 1/4c. of the tomato sauce with onion, garlic and herbs. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Stir in rest of tomatoe sauce, turkey and cooked rice. Stuff into peppers and place in a baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1/2 hour. Remove, top each pepper with about 1 tablespoon cheese. Return to oven for 3 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Crispy Southwestern Lasagna

If you like mexican food and lasagna, but don't like all the calories associated with those foods, then this dish is a great alternative. It's a great combination of mexican and italian flavors and you'll have more than enough left-overs for lunch the next day.


Crispy Southwestern Lasagna

1 pound ground sirloin (I substituted Jenni-O ground turkey)
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with juices
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
2 tsp. chili powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 egg whites
2 cups reduced fat or fat-free cottage cheese
14 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters
1 (15 and 1/4 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (8 oz.) package shredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large nonstick skillet, cook meat over medium heat until done. Add tomatoes and juice, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper; set aside.
3. In small bowl, blend egg whites and cottage cheese well; set aside.
4. Coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. COver bottom of baking dish with six quartered tortillas.
5. Layer all the corn, half meat mixture, half cheese, four quartered tortillas, then all the cottage cheese mixture, remaining half of meat mixture, and remaining four quartered tortillas, and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Serve (makes 8-10 servings)

Nutritional information per serving:
Calories: 239, Fat (g)7, Calories from fat (%)26, Saturated fat (g)3, Cholesterol (mg)40