Ready For A Change!

We are getting ready to start a new style of eating around our household.

Here's some background context to our decison:  We have been through four miscarriage in the last few years.  They have not been fun and we feel like we've done everything we could to prevent it from happening again.  However, the one facet we've neglected are lifestyle changes that would help our bodies be in the optimal state to nurture new life.  My husband and I are both overweight and have often valued convenience, cost, and cravings over health.  So he has decided he's ready to make some changes.

The changes we make will not sacrifice flavor and ease of preparation, but they will place a higher value on nutritional content.

Go HERE to see a few healthy recipes I'll be making for the family.

I'll be very happy if we can even get back to the weight we both more when we got married. :) <3

Turken Burgers!

You are probably asking yourself, "What the heck is a turken burger?  Sounds like some kind of turkish parsnip!"  Or if you are familiar with the infamous turducken you have probably realized that today's dish is a turkey/chicken burger (turducken minus the duck).  ;-)  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Turkey

1 lb. Ground Chicken

2 t. Italian Seasoning

1 T. Garlic Powder

Pinch of Salt

2 Dashes of Pepper

Italian Dressing

Red Wine

2 T. Butter

Sliced Portabello Mushrooms

Delicious Deli Buns - Your Choice

All The Fixin's

• Mix together turkey and chicken with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Don't over-mix.  Mix just until ingredients are combined.
• Divide into 8 equally sized patties.
• Preheat skillet to a med-high heat.
• Coat each side of the turken burgers with the Italian dressing and place in the pre-heated skillet.
• Pour about 2 T. of red wine onto each burger. 
• Cook on each side approximately 4 - 7 minutes.  It really depends on how your particular stove heats.
• Once the burgers are fully cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
• Add sliced mushrooms to hot skillet along with 2 T. butter.  
• Sauté a few minutes and add 1/4 cup of red wine to deglaze pan.  Continue to sauté until tender.
• Place cooked turken burgers back in the pan and turn heat down to low until the rest of your meal is ready!
• Put on top of a bun with all the fixin's and chow down!  :-D

These burgers turned out delicious for me.  The main reason I added the chicken to the turkey is because it was on sale for less than the turkey.  There are usually two ways I develop new recipes....buying what's on sale, and using what I have left.  Thanks for cooking with me.

God Bless!

*Disclaimer:  Red meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165° to be safe.  I am not a nutritionist or medical professional of any kind.  Please check with your doctor before changing your diet.

Pizza - Fresh From The Oven

Tonight's dinner was homemade pizza!  Pizza is a favorite in our house and we probably eat it at least once a week.  I absolutely love making my own pizza because you can customize it any way you want for much cheaper than you would find through delivery.  And it is healthier and definitely more delicious than a frozen pizza in my opinion!

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Pizza Dough (I used Publix brand)
Olive Oil
Pizza Sauce
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
Pepperoni
Pepper/Onion/Tomato Mix (Again from Publix)
Shredded 6 Cheese Blend (I usually grate my own mozzarella)

• Follow directions on your pizza dough package.  Mine was supposed to sit out for an hour to "rest".
• Coat hands with olive oil so the dough doesn't stick and spread out into a round pizza pan or rectangular baking sheet.
• Brush pizza crust with olive oil.
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning on the dough and garlic powder and Parmesan cheese around the edge of the dough.
• Top with about a cup of pizza sauce.  Use more or less according to how saucy you like your pizza.
• Sprinkle the fresh veggie mix into the sauce and spread evenly.
• Add about 3/4 of the shredded cheese.
• Cover with pepperoni to taste.
• Top with remaining shredded cheese and some extra Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in a 380° oven for about 15 - 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown.
• Let sit for 5 minutes to set and cool and slice with a pizza cutter.
• Sit down to pizza night with the family!

I hope you enjoy another fairly easy recipe.  One thing I did notice is that the pizza remains slightly soggy in the middle...maybe using an actual pizza stone would help?  Let me know how you make pizza at home!

God Bless!

*Disclaimer:  Red meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165° to be safe.  I am not a nutritionist or medical professional of any kind.  Please check with your doctor before changing your diet.

Baked Strip Steak Recipe

Tonight I made a delicious strip steak!  It was really simple and no fuss to make.  We like our steak well done so that's one less worry on my plate.

Ingredients:
Strip Steaks
Olive Oil
Italian Dressing
Country Bob's Sauce (or another steak sauce of your choice)
Red Wine

• Marinate strip steaks in Italian dressing for at least 1/2 hour in the fridge.
• Heat 1-2 T. olive oil in a skillet.
• Place steaks in skillet to sear on both sides.
• Pour in enough red wine to coat bottom of skillet.
• Add about 1/4 cup of Country Bob's Sauce.
• Let sauce thicken on medium-high heat.
• Put steaks onto a baking sheet and pour thickened sauce over steaks.
• Bake in a 350° oven for approximately 15 minutes, flipping steak and brushing with sauce from pan halfway through cooking.
• Serve and Enjoy!!!

*Disclaimer:  Red meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165° to be safe.  I am not a nutritionist or medical professional of any kind.  Please check with your doctor before changing your diet.

The Age Old Question - What To Do With Leftover Turkey????

Oftentimes around the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving, we have lots of leftover Turkey in the house.  This year we cooked two smaller turkeys instead of the usual one biggest bird we could find.  It actually made a lot of sense for our family considering we don't even have a 'real' roasting pan (we usually buy the foil ones).  Of course with two turkeys the question comes up, "What should we do with the carcasses?".  Isn't that a question everyone asks?  Well, in an effort to live more frugally and use what we have we decided to boil the carcass and make some turkey stock.  Instead of picking the bones clean like we normally do, we left some meat remnants to fall off in the stock-making process for flavoring and well...meat.  Then we added some beans and veggies and made some delicious soup.  I was personally pleasantly surprised at the end result.  So remember for Christmas to save your leftover carcasses for soup!!! :-)

Blessings!