Today's discovery:
Turkey bacon is a problem product for me. On the one hand, I love the smokey bacon smell and taste it gives. On the other hand, the texture is just wrong-- not only is it not bacon, but it gets all chewy. No no no.
I needed more protein in a chili recipe I was making up this morning, so on a whim I chopped up the turkey bacon and threw it into the food processor. Voila! Turkey bacon crumbles! For a little flavor (and because I kind of accidentally overdid the protein and had to balance backward), I chopped up a Granny Smith apple and threw that in the food processor with it. DUDE. I'll take it.
I can't get over the fact that I made the whole darn recipe up-- based in equal parts on a Calorie Commando recipe, Maggie's turkey chili recipe, and the chili recipe on the back of the chili beans can. And it's good! I portioned it out into sealed containers (fast-food microwave-safe ones we bought in bulk, hooray!) and tucked it into the freezer, ready for next week's lunches... but my Hub, who had gotten a taste before I portioned everything up, came in and raided the freezer immediately to use some of the chili in his mock chilequiles. I'd be mad at him for messing up my plan, but I'm just tickled at the moment that he liked the stuff so much that he wanted some RIGHT NOW.
Recipe under the cut.
Turkey Chili
20 oz ground turkey (lean)
9 slices turkey bacon (Jenny-O extra lean)
2 small apples
1 red onion
1 can black beans
1 can chili beans (or regular kidney beans)
1 can diced tomatoes
10 oz tomato sauce
1 chipotle pepper
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp Frank's Red Hot sauce
(Note: all seasonings approximate measures. Use your own judgement and season to taste-- I like things hot, so watch out. And yes, that's cocoa powder; I use it in place of Mexican chocolate. Sometimes I put a little cinnamon in, too. And a dash of red wine would not be amiss here, either.)
1 Roughly chop turkey bacon and apples; put into food processor and process into fine grind.
2 Chop onion, dice chipotle pepper.
3 Brown the ground turkey; drain off the fat.
4 Put onion and ground turkey bacon & apple mix into the pan with the ground turkey. Brown a bit more.
5 Get out a big pot. Put the mixture from the pan into the pot; add all remaining ingredients. Stir. Let simmer until thickened. Makes 8 servings (aprox. 270 grams apiece). Freezes well. Enjoy!
Aprox. 250 calories, 6.3 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbs, 6.5 grams of fiber, 24 grams of protein.
And as a bonus, the recipe I made last night:
"Confetti" in a pita
1 tsp olive oil
1 package spinach
6 slices turkey bacon
1 can mushrooms
½ onion (sweet)
1 clove garlic
2 cups low-fat or non-fat cottage cheese
4 rounds mini pita bread (or 2 regular-sized pita rounds, cut in half)
1 Thaw spinach; squeeze out water. Open can of mushrooms and drain.
2 Dice onion, garlic, turkey bacon, and mushrooms. Chop up the spinach as best you can.
3 Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions, and cook until translucent. Add turkey bacon and mushrooms; cook another minute or two. Add spinach. Stir and cook for another minute to let the flavors mingle together.
4 Take the mixture off the heat and put in a bowl; let sit briefly to cool. Stir in 2 cups non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese. Taste; season any way you want.
5 To serve: stuff into mini-pitas (aprox. 1/2 regular size) or 1/2 of a regular sized pita round. Serves 4.
Aprox. 213 calories, 3 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbs, 5 grams fiber, 23 grams of protein.
I've already made a batch of turkey sloppy joes this morning, too. Currenly working out a dip recipe and a fried "rice" recipe for the leftover bulgur wheat. We will, by God, have food in the freezer for next week, and I am bound and determined to make it using what we have on hand. I am NOT going to the grocery store this weekend.
We have a barbeque to go to tomorrow. I'm trying to figure out what to bring. I have the "splurge" meal alotted for it, but I don't want to make myself sick, you know?
I needed more protein in a chili recipe I was making up this morning, so on a whim I chopped up the turkey bacon and threw it into the food processor. Voila! Turkey bacon crumbles! For a little flavor (and because I kind of accidentally overdid the protein and had to balance backward), I chopped up a Granny Smith apple and threw that in the food processor with it. DUDE. I'll take it.
I can't get over the fact that I made the whole darn recipe up-- based in equal parts on a Calorie Commando recipe, Maggie's turkey chili recipe, and the chili recipe on the back of the chili beans can. And it's good! I portioned it out into sealed containers (fast-food microwave-safe ones we bought in bulk, hooray!) and tucked it into the freezer, ready for next week's lunches... but my Hub, who had gotten a taste before I portioned everything up, came in and raided the freezer immediately to use some of the chili in his mock chilequiles. I'd be mad at him for messing up my plan, but I'm just tickled at the moment that he liked the stuff so much that he wanted some RIGHT NOW.
Recipe under the cut.
Turkey Chili
20 oz ground turkey (lean)
9 slices turkey bacon (Jenny-O extra lean)
2 small apples
1 red onion
1 can black beans
1 can chili beans (or regular kidney beans)
1 can diced tomatoes
10 oz tomato sauce
1 chipotle pepper
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp Frank's Red Hot sauce
(Note: all seasonings approximate measures. Use your own judgement and season to taste-- I like things hot, so watch out. And yes, that's cocoa powder; I use it in place of Mexican chocolate. Sometimes I put a little cinnamon in, too. And a dash of red wine would not be amiss here, either.)
1 Roughly chop turkey bacon and apples; put into food processor and process into fine grind.
2 Chop onion, dice chipotle pepper.
3 Brown the ground turkey; drain off the fat.
4 Put onion and ground turkey bacon & apple mix into the pan with the ground turkey. Brown a bit more.
5 Get out a big pot. Put the mixture from the pan into the pot; add all remaining ingredients. Stir. Let simmer until thickened. Makes 8 servings (aprox. 270 grams apiece). Freezes well. Enjoy!
Aprox. 250 calories, 6.3 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbs, 6.5 grams of fiber, 24 grams of protein.
And as a bonus, the recipe I made last night:
"Confetti" in a pita
1 tsp olive oil
1 package spinach
6 slices turkey bacon
1 can mushrooms
½ onion (sweet)
1 clove garlic
2 cups low-fat or non-fat cottage cheese
4 rounds mini pita bread (or 2 regular-sized pita rounds, cut in half)
1 Thaw spinach; squeeze out water. Open can of mushrooms and drain.
2 Dice onion, garlic, turkey bacon, and mushrooms. Chop up the spinach as best you can.
3 Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions, and cook until translucent. Add turkey bacon and mushrooms; cook another minute or two. Add spinach. Stir and cook for another minute to let the flavors mingle together.
4 Take the mixture off the heat and put in a bowl; let sit briefly to cool. Stir in 2 cups non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese. Taste; season any way you want.
5 To serve: stuff into mini-pitas (aprox. 1/2 regular size) or 1/2 of a regular sized pita round. Serves 4.
Aprox. 213 calories, 3 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbs, 5 grams fiber, 23 grams of protein.
I've already made a batch of turkey sloppy joes this morning, too. Currenly working out a dip recipe and a fried "rice" recipe for the leftover bulgur wheat. We will, by God, have food in the freezer for next week, and I am bound and determined to make it using what we have on hand. I am NOT going to the grocery store this weekend.
We have a barbeque to go to tomorrow. I'm trying to figure out what to bring. I have the "splurge" meal alotted for it, but I don't want to make myself sick, you know?
posted by Meg at
10:24 AM
2 Comments:
My unfortunate discovery about turkey bacon is that you get what you pay for. I bought some Jennie O extra lean last week because it was on sale and, yeah, chewy. However, the expensive stuff I bought at Whole Foods two weeks ago was nice and crispy. I even crumbled it by hand. It was maybe 2-3 times as expensive though. The brand begins with a W. I'll drop by again when I remember the name. FYI, I cook it in the microwave, which seems to work better than trying to fry it like normal bacon.
By
Anonymous, at 4:02 PM
Heyla!
If I had to guess at Alison's "good" turkey bacon - I'd guess Welshire Farms. They make really good Turkey Bacon (it's not like real pig; but it's really tasty anyways.) I've seen it at Fred Meyer (which is a subsidiary of Kroger foods) as well as Whole Foods. So, should you want to, you should be able to find it without too much hassle. :-)
By
Anonymous, at 1:19 PM
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