My New Easy Go-To

So I know I said I would be posting more back in September... 

Yeah. 

That didn't happen. 

BUT - GRADUATION DID! 

I now have my bachelors in nursing science!  GO ME!  And then the holidays came and went.  They were super fun filled with super foods and super drinks.  In a way though I am glad they are over.  The partying can get to be a little much and my body was definitely screaming for me to get my act together.  That's where this post comes from.  Getting my act together. 

I wanted to share with you my new favorite go-to meal.  Curry Turkey Bites with Apricot-Ginger Sauce from Nom Nom Paleo is like a spicy-sweet dream!  Not only is it super easy, your family and/or friends will think you slaved for hours while also begging for you to make them again tomorrow.  I also like to double or triple the batch as they make excellent leftovers all week. 

When I do make these I usually only make the turkey bites and the sauce because the bites are loaded with veggies.  Also - confession (kind of), though Matt and I have drastically changed the way we eat (I have lost 40.4 pounds total since mid-August - that's just over 18 more pounds since I saw you last which included ALL the badforyou holidays including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Festivus, Christmas Eve-Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas, the day after Christmas, Uncle Ron's Birthday, NYE, and Grandma's New Year's Day Party.  What?  You and yours don't celebrate all the time at the end of the year?  I told you the partying had to come to an end....)

WHOA!  I got way off topic.  What I was confessing was that the way I make these and the way Michele, the original author, makes these is slightly different because I use an apricot preserve with added sugar.  It's all I could find in my neck of the woods.  But it's local so I figured its good enough.

Now, lets get to the FOOD!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Then combine 1 pound of ground turkey, 2 cups of shredded sweet potatoes, 1 cup of finely chopped swiss chard (or any kind of chard really - I have tried them all), and one large whisked egg.

I also add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of minced ginger, 1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced, 2 thinly sliced green onions, 1 tablespoon of good quality curry powder (I like Penzeys), 2 teaspoons of salt, and finally the juice and zest of 1 lime.

A smidge off topic again, there are certain items I have discovered that I love to cook with, kind of like the hot curry powder.  I have recently discovered this ginger "paste" at my grocery's produce section.  This stuff totally works, tastes great and is soo easy!  Go buy it for extra-awesome convenience!

I mix everything with my hands until I have one HUGE turkey bite.

I then make the turkey into 1-2 tablespoon balls, placing them about 2 inched apart on the parchment paper.  Taking my hand I smash the balls into about 1/2 inch thick patties.  (Your hands really are a wonderful tool for this particular recipe!)

Per the directions I only cook one tray at a time.  I just do it that way because that's the way Michele says to do it.  I'm obedient like that sometimes. 

I cook each tray for 15 minutes, rotating the tray half way through.

While the turkey bites bake, it's time to start the sauce.  In a saucepan I combine 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos, 1/2 cup of apricot preserves, and 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger.  I stir the sauce over medium heat until simmering, remove the pan from the heat source and stir in 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Coconut aminos is made from a coconut tree's sap.  It is very similar to soy sauce and very common in paleo cooking.  I can only find it on amazon because every time I have made the trip to Whole Foods on the other side of town they have been out. 

This is the good part of the recipe:  EAT!  Plate up your turkey bites and serve with a side of the sauce.  These bites have a spicy kick and honestly it's a bit too much for my kids.  But they are soooo delicious and Matt and I eat them up every time!  I hope they become your next go-to too!  You won't be disappointed!

I promise I will begin to post more recipes.  I have been taking tons of pictures and just need to take the time to load.

Till next time!

(After re-reading my post I realized it feels like I am getting paid for some of these products.  I'm not.  At all.  (Though that might be cool.)  I just really liked this stuff, know it can be difficult to find, and wanted to share!  HAPPY COOKING!)

TWO For The Price of ONE!

So I was chatting with a friend the other day about my blog. I told her that I had pictures for 2 meals that I had made months ago and I never got around to uploading and so forth. Well.... turns out I was mistaken. I, in fact, have 4 random meals from the past! These next two recipes are simple and fast (almost no prep!) - GREAT for a weeknight dinner!

First off we have ANOTHER PIZZA! This time it's a pesto pizza. I started out with a whole wheat prebaked crust and spread a layer of store prepared pesto on top.

The toppings for this pizza include fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, green bell pepper, and red onions.


I top my pizza with the veggies, spread some feta cheese on top, pop it in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes and DING: dinner is served. I usually pair these quick pizzas with a salad. This meal took me a total of 25 minutes from start to finish! Not too shabby!

Next is another trusted recipe from allrecipes.com. Cheese ravioli with tomato and artichoke sauce. (I LOVE ARTICHOKES!) The recipe calls for fresh tomatoes, but to speed things up I used an undrained can of diced tomatoes. To start things out I prep my artichokes and some green onions. I then start to saute all the sauce ingredients which include tomatoes, artichokes, green onions, garlic, salt and pepper. (I added some Italian seasoning to the mix as well.) This is a very simple sauce that was super tasty!

I boil some prepackaged cheese ravioli while the sauce simmers.

Once the ravioli is finished, I drain the water out and mix in half of the tomato and artichoke sauce.

Final steps include plating the pasta, adding some more sauce to the top, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese! Everyone in the house liked this meal. Matt said I could make it any time I want! I also paired this pasta with a simple salad (my go-to). This meal took me about 25 minutes to complete.

More meals to come! (Maybe.... I start the new term on Tuesday. Hopefully I can find some time for at least one more post this weekend!)

Green Soup! (But not the kind you're thinking of.)

While checking up on family and friends on facebook, I saw that my aunt had posted a recipe that she wanted to try, Avocado Soup, from GMA's 10 Things You Should Eat. Being the avocado-lover that I am, I was instantly curious. After looking over the ingredients and directions, I decided this would be a perfect weekend lunch for my family, and with a few tweaks, Matt and I (not so much Ronnie - too "green" for him) GREATLY ENJOYED this awesome avocado soup!

First things first, the leek. For those of you that have never worked with leeks, it's basically like working with a really big green onion. Seriously, it's super easy and don't let the unknown intimidate you with this vegetable. I cut off both the rooted end and the tough green ends of my leek. I then cut the leek right down the middle, and proceed to chop. TIP - You'll find that leeks have hidden mud and dirt in them once you start chopping, so I always save the wash for after I am done chopping by soaking it in a bowl of water for a minute (to loosen the dirt) and then rinsing in a colander afterwards.

When I am done prepping my leek, I prep my other vegetables, a few celery stalks and a white onion.

I follow the directions by heating some olive oil in my soup pot, but I also add a bit of minced garlic to the olive oil. Once it is hot, I add the leeks, celery, and onion to saute for about 8 minutes.

While the veggies are getting soft, I cube and mash a large avocado.

Once the veggies have been softened, I add the bay leafs, coriander, and cumin. I actually used about a whole teaspoon of cumin and though this version turned out tasty - next time I am going to add some chili powder at this point as well. I give the seasoning about 2 minutes to get hot before I add the remaining ingredients.

Now it's time to add the vegetable broth (called for chicken broth, but obviously I changed that), the mashed avocado, and lime juice.

Instead of the ten minutes suggested, I let my soup go for about 20 minutes. It's kind of cool to see that as it heats, the avocado kind of disintegrates and starts to turn the soup a nice green color. When I am ready to serve, I remove the soup from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Finally, I ladle the soup up and top it with some cilantro (all I had was dried at the time) and chopped green onions. We paired this soup with one of those pull-apart cheddar loaves you get from the bakery. YUM! Super good to dip in the soup.

For the easiness and healthy factors of this soup - it is definitely a keeper! As stated before, I'll add some chili powder next time. TRY IT! Leeks? Avocados? Don't let it distract you from this awesome find!

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Busy, busy, busy!!!! The holidays combined with working and going to school make it hard for me to keep the blog current. My apologies to anyone out there in cyberspace that likes to check up on Luckey's Lunch regularly. I will say this though - after today's post, I just have to upload some pictures and I'll have two more posts ready to go (an avocado soup and calzones from scratch). So check back for those soon!

I know the Super Bowl is coming up, so I thought I would post a few appetizers I have made lately that are truly crowd pleasers. First one up - Cowboy Caviar. This is actually a combination of two recipes where I only took the ingredients that suited my tastes. I just made this for a birthday party this past weekend and it was a hit!!! I had several people ask me for the recipe! So - here it is people!

Cowboy Caviar, Luckey's Style

• 1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen corn (depending on how much you like corn), thawed and patted dry
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 (4oz) can of diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup of Zesty Italian dressing
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 2 avocados
  

In a medium bowl, combine the beans, peas, corn, onion, jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes. Season with the Italian dressing, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Right before serving, cube the avocados and add them into the bean mix. Serve with tortilla chips. ENJOY!

Next up is a twist on your average artichoke dip, Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Dip (<--- click on the name for the recipe). Instead of using spinach, this one adds in roasted red peppers and leeks. As you might have guessed, I spied this recipe from allrecipes.com and followed the recipe pretty closely. All I did differently was add some minced garlic to the hot oil and added about 2 more tablespoons of mayo. This is something GREAT to make up ahead (minus the baking), stick it in the fridge till you're ready to pop it in the oven and eat! I served this particular dip with plain pita chips, though I think next time getting the parmesan or garlic style ones would be AWESOME!

And finally for your Super Bowl party needs, whats a party if there is no chip dip!?!?! Green Onion and Ranch Dip is a PERFECT pick! Once again, allrecipes.com was the source of this find and WOW! This dip packs a green onion punch - but the good kind. I followed the recipe exactly and I mixed everything really well in my food processor. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever buy chip dip again because not only was it packed with good flavor, it was super easy to make too!!! I served this dip with carrot and celery sticks, along with ruffled potato chips. Pretzels would be good too!

See - you thought you would be stressing about what to make for your Super Bowl party... Not anymore!!! Try them out for yourself, I promise that people will be asking for the recipes!!!

Till next time - have a fun party!