Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Soup




As much as I love holiday leftovers, this soup is too good to pass up and I always save the turkey and mashed potatoes for this hearty meal!  Oh, and by the way, it's even better the second day!  The broth gets thicker and creamier! 

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Soup

Ingredients: 

  • 1 T butter
  • 6 large carrots, sliced
  • 3-4 celery stalks, sliced
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 32 oz cans chicken broth
  • 3 cups mashed potatoes
  • 14.5 oz can stewed or diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3-4 small red potatoes, diced to ½” cubes
  • 3 c cooked cut-up turkey
  • ¾ - 1 package whole wheat egg noodles
  • 1 t thyme
  • 1 t sage
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 t freshly ground pepper


Instructions: 

Slice carrots and celery in a food processor if you have one to speed the prep along!  Switch the blade and chop the garlic cloves and onion together.

In a very large pot, over M-H heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté 4-5 min.

Add the broth & mashed potatoes.  Stir until mashed potatoes are mostly dissolved & broth is smooth.  Add spices, tomatoes, turkey, potatoes, and noodles; bring to simmer.  Reduce to M-L heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes & noodles are soft, about 10 minutes.






Holiday Roasted Carrots




Finally, a healthy side dish you can bring to that holiday pitch in that everyone will love!  Sweet and savory, these roasted carrots will compliment the main dish beautifully!  Prep is a breeze, especially if you use pre-cut carrots, which is an added bonus!

Holiday Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:
  • 3 lbs cut carrots
  • 2 T butter, melted
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 t thyme
  • Salt and pepper
  • Shredded Parmesan

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir melted butter, olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic together.

Place carrots in a 9x13 Pyrex dish.

Drizzle with butter/garlic mixture.

Roast in oven for 40 minutes.

Occasionally rotate carrots with spatula for even cooking.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese and roast for another 10 minutes or until carrots reach desired doneness.






TIP: use pre-cut carrots to shave off a ton of prep time!
   




Crockpot Stuffed Peppers



These stuffed peppers are a go-to for a practically no prep meal option for those busy weeks!  Just mix up the ingredients, stuff into the peppers and turn on the crockpot!  The flavors are delicious and comforting, and the presentation is so impressive even guests will never know you barely put any effort into it! Recipe cred totally goes to my longtime friend, Katie Beisel.

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

21 Day Fix container fulfillment
1 RED
1 GREEN
1 BLUE

Prep time – 10 minutes
Cook time – 3 hours

Ingredients:
  • 6 large bell peppers (I used a variety of colors)
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef (go for leanest possible; it will be less greasy)
  • ½ cup onion, chopped (you can buy prepackaged in the veggie section…this saved me a lot of tears)
  • 14 oz. can Italian style diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup uncooked brown rice 
  • 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 1 ½ cup shredded cheese, divided 
  • ¼ cup water (for bottom of slow cooker)

Instructions:

1. Cut off top of the peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes – set inside crockpot
2. Combine ground beef, onion, diced tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and 1 cup of cheese (optional). Stuff each pepper with mixture.
3. Cook on HIGH for 2-1/2 - 3 hours until peppers are tender and ground beef is cooked throughout.
4. About 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle cheese on top and let it melt.
5. Top with Greek yogurt and Enjoy!

 

TIP: Let excess water drain out of the pepper before plating them when you remove them from the crockpot.


Natural Cranberry Relish




What holiday plate is complete without a little cranberry relish?!  I love the sweet and tart flavors as a sidekick to balance all the heavier foods, as well as the gorgeous pop of color! As a true "relish" the texture should be course and chunky, which also intensifies the zesty flavor! I use turbinado, or "raw cane sugar", which is less processed than refined white sugar, so it's a little healthier but just as sweet!

Natural Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:
  • 1 bag fresh cranberries, washed 
  • 1 large naval orange, washed and quartered
  • 1 cup turbinado sugar
Note: I find that freezing the bag of cranberries first results in a nicer texture, but this is not strictly necessary.  

Instructions: 

To get the right texture, add the ingredients in portions throughout the process.

First, add turbinado to food processor and blend for 20 seconds to create a finer grain.  (Do not blend longer or you could burn the sugar).  

Add 1/2 of the naval orange and blend for 10 seconds

Add 1/2 the cranberries and blend for 5 seconds

Add remaining orange and blend for 20 seconds

Add remaining cranberries and blend until desired consistency, about 20 seconds. 

Refrigerate overnight or as long as possible for flavors to marinate and meld together.