Turkey Pasta Soup

This is something that we have fairly often. It’s a little spicy – once I substituted turkey sausage instead of ground turkey, and let me tell you – that was hot! I don’t recommend it! 

Here's one tip - I cook my pasta, but don't add it to the soup. When I dish it up, I put the amount of pasta I want in each bowl and then add the soup. That way I can refrigerate the leftovers without the pasta soaking up all of the broth.This makes quite a bit of soup, so sometimes we freeze the leftovers and then it's quick to heat up for another meal. I also like to sprinkle some shredded Parmesan on top just before serving.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked small pasta shells
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) Italian stewed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, cook the turkey, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth, beans, tomatoes and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and add to the soup. Cook 5 minutes longer or until heated through.

Yield: 10 servings

Slow Cooked Pork Tacos

We tried this recipe tonight and I thought it was great! It was really easy to throw it all in the Crockpot and even easier to serve once it was finished. I found it in an issue of Taste of Home. Ok, I know - most of the recipes on here have come from TOH, but it's pretty much the only recipe magazine that I read. My mother-in-law gave me a gift subscription when I first got married and I've been hooked ever since. :) For the life of me, I could never find a pork sirloin roast, so I used a pork tenderloin. However, if I'm really being honest, I have to admit that I don't know much about cuts of meat, so maybe I really did find one and didn't realize it. I bought the meat without paying attention to how much I actually needed, so I had a 4 lb tenderloin - but I think it was perfect. Any less and there wouldn't have been any leftovers!!

Ingredients

1 boneless pork sirloin roast (2 lbs), cut into 1 inch-pieces

1 1/2 cups salsa verde (I used a whole 16 oz bottle)

1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

Dash hot pepper sauce

10 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed

Sour cream, sliced green onions, cubed avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato, optional.

Directions

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 11 ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until meat is very tender.

Shred pork with two forks. Place about 1/2 cup mixture down the center of each tortilla. Serve with toppings if desired.

Yield: 10 tacos

Cranberry Almond Salad

I head of romaine lettuce

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 Kraft creamy poppy seed dressing

Wash lettuce; dry, then rip into small pieces. Toast almonds in a frying pan until golden brown. Add cranberries, almonds and mozzarella to lettuce. Just before serving, add poppy seed dressing and toss until well mixed. Enjoy!

*I came up with this recipe and it's a nice change from the normal garden salad I usually make. I had to guess at the measurements - normally I just add the ingredients together until it looks good, so you may need to adjust them to your preference.

Slow Cooked Sirloin

1 boneless beef sirloin steak (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1 medium green pepper cut into chunks

1 can beef broth

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash of crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

In a large nonstick skillet, brown beef on both sides. Place onion and green pepper in slow cooker; top with beef. Combine the broth, Worcestershire sauce, dill, thyme, black pepper and pepper flakes; pour over beef. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or until meat reaches desired doneness.Transfer cooking juices into a small saucepan over medium high heat. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into cooking juices and continue to stir until thickened.

6 Servings


*I generally serve this with rice or baked potatoes. We love the flavor of the onions and green peppers, but we don't necessarily like them in the gravy, so when making the gravy I only remove the juice. I love this recipe because it's really fast to put in the crockpot and it smells delicious while it's cooking!

*I'm sure I found this in a cooking magazine somewhere, but I can't remember which one - I've been making it for a few years now and it's definitely a family favorite!

Cheesy Pepper Potatoes

I found this recipe in the Wal-mart Family Cookbook and my picture may not look like much - but trust me, it's so yummy!

8 medium baking potatoes, peeled and quartered

8 oz Velveeta, cut into cubes

1/2 cup butter, cut into quarters

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

No-Stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large saucepan cook potates, covered, in enough boiling water to cover for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender; drain. Quickly mash with a potato masher, adding cheese and butter. Add salt and pepper. Transfer potato mixture to prepared casserole dish and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top.

6 servings

*I cook my potatoes in a pressure cooker - it's just easier and faster. I also mashed my potatoes using my mixer - again, it's just easier. Besides, I like my mashed potatoes creamy rather than lumpy and I inevitably get tired and leave lots of lumps if I try to mash them by hand.

Oddly enough, my husband isn't a big fan of potatoes, but he gave this 4 out of 5 stars! My sister gave it 4 1/2 stars :)

Apricot Glazed Chicken

1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup apricot preserves
1 1/2 t. soy sauce
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (5 oz each)
salt
pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil

In a small bowl, combine broth, preserves and soy sauce; set aside. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides; drain excess liquid. Add broth mixture to skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes or until chicken juices run clear, basting occasionally with pan juices. Remove from heat. Spoon pan juices over chicken.

Serves 6

*We just tried this recipe tonight and it was simple and quick to make. The original recipe calls for sliced green onion to be sprinkled over the top of the chicken, but I can't stand green onion, so I left it out. Instead, I had dried apricots on hand and I sliced a few and threw them into the sauce while it was cooking. There is a lot of sauce, so I served it over rice.

*This also came from Taste of Home's Cooking for 2 and I tripled the recipe so that we'd have enough for leftovers. My husband and sister gave it 3 1/2 stars (out of 5). Let me know what you think! :)

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Ingredients: 

(meatballs)

1 Tbsp beaten egg

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Dash of pepper

1 lb lean ground beef

Ingredients:

(sweet and sour sauce)

1 can (16oz) pineapple chunks, undrained

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 cup sliced fresh carrot

1 medium green pepper, julienned

3 tsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp cold water

Hot cooked rice

In a medium bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. In a large skillet, cook meatballs over medium heat until browned on all sides and meat thermometer reads 160 degrees; drain.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice; set pineapple aside. Add water to juice to measure 1 cup. Stir in the brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; pour over meatballs. Add carrot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until carrot is crisp-tender. Stir in green pepper and pineapple; cover and simmer 5 minutes longer or until pepper is crisp-tender.

Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into the meatball mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over rice.

4 servings

*Note to self (or any other readers of this blog): I normally use frozen meatballs from Ikea because it's so much faster and it makes this a really quick meal to throw together - I just heat the meatballs in the skillet while I'm chopping vegetables. However, the last time I made it I didn't have enough. I did have ground beef, so I tried the meatball recipe included here. It's ok, but I've had better.  I'll have to do some checking and see if I can find a better one.

*I found this recipe in Taste of Home's Cooking for 2. If you're looking for a great recipe magazine try this one; I really like it - we've found so many good ones from it and I just double the recipe for our family.

Roasted Pepper Ravioli

1 each medium orange, red and yellow peppers

1 package (25 oz) frozen cheese ravioli

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce, divided

4 oz sliced part-skim mozzarella (you can also use shredded)

Place peppers on a cookie sheet lined with foil.  Broil 4 in. from the heat until skins blister.  With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn.  Rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened.  Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to package directions; drain.  Peel off and discard charred skin from peppers.  Remove stems and seeds.  Finely chop peppers and place in a small mixing bowl.  Combine the peppers with the oil, sugar and salt.  

Spread 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce in a 9 x13 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.  Layer with the ravioli, pepper mixture and cheese.  Top with remaining spaghetti sauce.  Cover and bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes.  Uncover; bake 15-20 mins longer or until heated through.

I found this recipe in Light and Tasty magazine a few years ago and it's been one of our favorites ever since.  I changed the recipe some; originally it called for 2 peppers of each color, green red and yellow.  On accident, I once used an orange pepper instead of a green one, but we liked it and kept the change.  We also found that we liked it just as well with fewer peppers, and considering the cost of peppers, it worked better with our budget :)  One more thing: it may seem strange to layer the spaghetti sauce on top of the cheese - but trust me, it works.

*Please forgive my unprofessional photos - I'm sure I'll get better at some point :)