Italian Meatball Burgers

I love, LOVE this recipe. Why? Because it doesn't taste healthy, of course! I also served this with some fresh spinach that wilted when I heated the whole thing up in its tupperware. YUM!

Side note: The original recipe calls to grill the burgers...but some of us are not lucky enough to have an indoor grill. As with a lot of the recipes we post on here, grilled can equal using an outdoor grill, the George Foreman or using a broiler.

Side note Deux: Use fresh mozzarella...it makes all the difference in the world

Italian Meatball Burgers

Serves 6

Ingredients:

8 oz sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 lb 4% fat ground beef

Cooking spray
2 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
6 Sandwich Thins
3/4 cup fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce

Directions:

Prepare grill.

Remove casings from sausage. Combine sausage, oregano, basil, salt, fennel seeds, garlic powder, and ground beef. Divide beef mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide fresh mozzarella cheese evenly over patties, and grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.

Place 1 patty on bottom half of each thin; top each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce and top half of thin.

Turkey-Wild Rice Tomato Soup

Oh the late 90's...must have been good to have products like dried tomato with basil soup mix packets. How do us 21st century gals survive?

Watch and learn Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook!

Turkey-Wild Rice Tomato Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3/4 turkey sausage

1 1/4 cup microwave in a bag wild rice (throw in without heating)

4 tsp fresh basil

1 can cream of tomato soup

14.5oz no-salt added stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 cup beef broth

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

12oz evaporated skim milk

Directions:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook sausage until no longer pink. Once cooked through, stir in remaining ingredients except flour and evaporated milk. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, combine flour and evaporated milk with a whisk. Gradually stir into soup. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until bubbly.

Mexican Casserole

Thanks to Santa (otherwise known as my sister) I received a years subscription to Cooking Light. I was super excited to see a Mexican Casserole in the vegetarian section but needed to make a few changes since "meatless, fat free crumbles" were a main ingredient. Yeah, no thanks. You think meat is processed? You should see the ingredient list for those "crumbles". I also made a few other directional changes that turned out really well.

The only thing I wasn't super crazy about was the tortilla chips. Since we re-heat our food everyday (I make everything on Sunday and we eat throughout the week), the chips got a bit mushy. While it wasn't a huge deal nor did it take away from the rest of the awesome taste, I just thought it deserved a heads up. Also, this isn't super spicy so you might want to throw in some diced chili's or more jalapeno pepper, complete with seeds.

Side Note: For our fans out there who have families and/or husbands who won't eat healthy food, they seriously won't be able to tell this is healthy. I promise.

Side Note Part Deux: I wasn't about to sit and count out 48 chips. I wasn't going to use the extras anyhow so I crushed them in the bag and then eyeballed what looked right.

Mexican Casserole

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 package (1.25lb) lean ground turkey

48 baked tortilla chips

2 cans beans (either pinto, black or a combo of the two), rinsed and drained

1tbsp fresh lime juice

2 cups chopped plum tomato's

1/4tsp salt

1 cup low fat cheese (mexican blend, monterey jack, whatever you want)

1 bunch of chopped green onions

1 small can chopped olives

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Heat 2 tsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and turkey until turkey is just cooked. Add garlic and jalapeno, cook one minute. Add in chili powder and black pepper, cook another 3 minutes or heated through. Arrange a thin layer of chips in a 11x7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with onion, turkey mixture.

Heat remaining 2 tsp oil in skillet over medium heat. Add beans, mashing with the back of a wooden spoon until chunky and thick. Cook 2 minutes or until heated, stirring constantly. Stir in lime juice

Combine tomato's and salt. Layer beans and tomato mixture on top of the turkey mixture. Top with remaining tortilla chips. Sprinkle evenly with cheese, green onions and olives. Bake for 13 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Tortilla Soup

You can tell it's obviously getting a little chilly here in sunny southern California (what?! 65 degrees IS chilly) because I keep busting out the soup recipes. This tortilla soup is a perfect solution if you don't feel like a heavy chili but are still craving something warm. Plus, this takes about 3 seconds to make and keeps very well. The sister gives this 5 stars.

Side note: This isn't super spicy so if you want some heat you can use hot diced green chilies or throw in some red pepper flakes. Also, the world is your oyster when it comes to toppings....green onions, cheese, avocados, sour cream, what have you.

Tortilla Soup

Serves 4-6, depending on your serving size

Ingredients:

1 cup diced red onion

1.25 lbs ground lean turkey breast

4 cups chicken stock (I use lower sodium)

1 tsp mined garlic

1 (4oz) can diced mild green chiles

3/4 cup tomato puree

Directions:

In a large pot over medium-high heat sprayed with cooking spray, add onions and ground turkey. As turkey browns, move mixture around to break the turkey into very small pieces.

Once turkey is just cooked through, add chicken stock, garlic, chiles and tomato puree.Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cheese

This is easy, easy, easy. I added a layer of spinach into the original recipe because, you know, veggies are good for you. It's easy to omit the spinach so don't feel like you MUST have it. Also, I use mainly brown rice pasta but again, you can use whatever you damn well please. The sister gives this 5 stars!

Side note: Squeezing the sausage out of the casing is nasty. But you'll get over it, I promise!

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cheese

Serves 8 very hearty portions

Ingredients:

1lb bag uncooked brown rice spiral noodles

1 pack lean hot turkey Italian sausage (again, the Jenni-O package has about 1.25 lbs)

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic gloves, minced

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 (14.5oz) cans petite-diced tomatoes (I use no-salt added)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

4 oz freshly grated skim mozzarella cheese

4oz grated fresh parmesan

1 bag fresh spinach

salt

pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook pasta, drain and set aside

Remove the casing from the sausage (can can either cut it if you have a VERY sharp knife or you can squeeze it out). Cook the sausage, onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and basil and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine cooked pasta and sausage mixture. Coat a 9x13 glass dish with cooking spray and then lay spinach out on the bottom, Place half of the pasta mixture and top with half of the mozzarella and the parmesan. Repeat layers and bake at 350 for 25 or until bubbly.

Turkey Strokmeoff

I like to come up with dirty names. This is another one those mid-western, stick to your ribs kinda meal. This is also EXTREMELY easy to make and can be made as healthy or "unhealthy" as you want. You can serve over rice, pasta, biscuits or really anything. The sister gives it 4.5 stars.

Turkey Strokemeoff

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 pack lean ground turkey (I think its 1.25 lbs)

1 can low sodium cream of mushroom soup

1 pack of mushrooms

1/2 cup of low fat sour cream

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

red pepper flakes

salt

pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, cook turkey and mushrooms until turkey is no longer pink. Season meat with red pepper, salt and pepper. Add in soup and parmesan and simmer for 10 minutes. Lastly, add in the sour cream and enjoy!

Meat Loaf, Eat Loaf, I Don't Want to Eat Loaf

Remember when you were little and your mom made meat loaf and you hated it? And sometimes there was an egg in the middle of it (ps, wtf was that?!)? Yeah, this isn't that recipe. Think of all the yummyness of a hot wing (dressing included) and then imagine it coming out of a pan in a loaf. That is pretty much what this taste like. It.Is.So.Good. The sister gives it 4.75 and I'd give it 5.

Side notes: As I have mentioned before, ground white chicken meat is HARD to find. Ground turkey works great. Also, I have found the cooking time on this really varies for some reason. For a single loaf, it is between 30 and 40 minutes so keep an eye on it!

Buffalo-Blue Cheese Meat Loaf

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup skim milk

2.5 tbsp buffalo wing sauce (add some more if you like it super spicy, I use Franks Red Hot)

1lb ground chicken or ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup low fat blue cheese crumbles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9x5x3 nonstick loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine the oats and milk in a medium bowl and stir to mix. Let stand for 3 minutes or until oats begin to soften. Stir in wing sauce until well mixed. Add the chicken, celery, carrot, onion, egg whites and salt. With a fork or clean hands, mix the ingredients well. Add the blue cheese and gently mix to combine.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and spread so that the top is flat. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (again, keep an eye on it) until completely cooked through and meat is no longer pink. Cut into 8 slices and serve!

Oriental (is that PC?) Pasta

In case you've been wondering, I like pasta. A lot. And I think pasta is the perfect lesson in moderation. Yes, you can eat pasta and have it be healthy. On average, the recipes I have on here have 2 ounces of pasta/serving. That's not a lot. But damn does it taste good. Once again we are shown that you do not have to avoid most foods when you are countin' your calories. Just don't have a box of pasta to yourself if you are concerned about watching your weight. CARBS ARE NOT THE DEVIL.

This recipe originally called for cooked turkey breast. We tried it and while it was ok, it was salty as hell. I would recommend chicken breast or even some steak...yum! Also, I like a lot of veggies. I pretty much doubled this when I made it but I realize not everyone may be as veggie crazy as me! The sister gave this 4.25 stars.

Oriental Pasta
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Oriental Dressing (recipe to follow)
8oz cooked meat (whatever you decide here)
4 oz carrots, julienned
4 oz asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 oz fresh spinach, chopped
8oz whole wheat thin spaghetti

Directions:

Combine all veggies and meat into a saucepan over medium heat and cook until warmed up. Toss over pasta and top of with dressing. Toss gently to coat and you are done! (Hi, I'm easy. No excuses not to make this one, even on a late night)

Oriental Dressing
yields 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/4cup low salt soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Mix all together and whisk until combined!

Super Easy Turkey Club Pie

This is straight out of old school Pittsburgh. Which means I took a very fatty recipe, made some replacements and out came a totally tasty treat (that won't pop the button off your jeans). Unless you REALLY hate real bacon, don't try to substitute with turkey bacon. This only uses 8 slices. Spread over 6 servings. That's 1.33 slices/serving. Stop being weird. It won't kill you. The sister gives this 5 stars.

Super Easy Turkey Club Pie
Serves 6 (if you double, just use a 9x13 pan, works fine)

Ingredients:

1 pack lean ground turkey
8 slices bacon, crispy cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Bisquick Heart Smart
1 cup skim milk
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Spray 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.

Cook turkey in pan until no longer pink. Once cooked, sprinkle the turkey, bacon and cheese in pie plate.

In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Italian Sausage Potato Salad Supper

Yes, you read that correct. I said potato salad. This is SO good. This isn't a meal that is visually pleasing so brace yourself. The original recipe called for 3 lbs of potatoes but that seemed like a LOT. The amount I listed below still provides a very hearty amount of salad. The sister gave this 3.75 stars but prefaced that by describing herself as a potato salad snob. Heathlier versions don't cut it for her.


Italian Sausage Potato Salad Supper
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2.25 lbs Yukon Gold or russet potatoes
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine
salt
black pepper
1 tbsp minced chives
1/2 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tbsp water
3/4 lb low-fat Italian sausage (I just did a sausage/serving)
16 cups salad greens, washed and dried

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Over high heat, bring to a boil, immediately reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are just done, 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

Prepare dressing by whisking together vinegar, dijon mustard, white wine, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

When potatoes are cooked through, drain and cool slightly. While potatoes are still warm, peel and cut into 1/2 thick slices. Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper, chives and parsley. Add dressing and mix well.

Place water and sausage in a small non-stick pan set over medium heat. Cover and cook until sausages are firm to the touch and cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Let sausages rest 5 minutes,then cut on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Combine salad greens and dressed potatoes and toss until all greens are well coated. Dish out servings and toss with sausage!

The Best Burgers EVER

Brace yourself for I am about to make an announcement that may shock you. These burgers don't need cheese. Yes, yes I know. The queen of cheese said she didn't even miss the cheese. But seriously, they are that good. On a side note, ground white meat chicken is HARD to find. And regular ground chicken is just as "bad" as ground beef. But ground turkey works just as well! Sister gave then 5 stars!!!!

Best Burgers
4 servings

Ingredients:

1pound ground white meat chicken or ground lean (NOT extra lean) turkey
2 cups bread crumbs (I use Panko. Yes, I'm obsessed)
1/2 cup low fat milk
3 tbsp grated or minced sweet onion
1/4 cayenne pepper
salt
pepper

Directions:

Place chicken in a mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1/2 cup bread crumbs, milk, onion, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Mixture will be wet so don't freak out...just prepare for an ick factor when you start to form into patties. Place remaining bread crumbs on a dinner plate. Divide chicken mixture into four even patties. Coat each side with bread crumbs. Either in a skillet or a George Forman (my preferred choice) "fry" patties over medium heat until golden and cooked through (about 5 minutes per side).

Spaghetti Bolognese, YUM!

Because my brother is obsessed with Spaghetti Bolognese and the fully loaded version is well...loaded with fat and calories, I kept my eye out for a healthier version. I was delighted by this Sandra Lee version and with a few modifications (frozen chopped onions Sandra? Seriously? How lazy can you be?) made it this past Sunday. Haven't heard back from the brother yet but the sister described it as "tasting not like diet food" (a huge compliment from her) and gave it 4.25(out of 5) stars.

Spaghetti Bolognese
Makes 8 large servings

Ingredients:

1 box spaghetti (I used organic whole wheat)
1 carton mushrooms
1.25 lbs ground turkey breast (I used lean, not extra lean)
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 jar (25.5 ounce) pasta sauce
1 cup Merlot
1 cup chicken broth (I use the low sodium version)
1/4 cup low-fat evaporated milk
Parmesan cheese(for topping)

Directions:

Cook pasta, drain return to pot and toss with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking

In a large skillet sprayed with olive oil, add the ground turkey, onions and garlic and cook until meat is no longer pink. Add the pasta sauce, wine and chicken broth to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes until sauce thickens. Stir in evaporated milk.

Toss with pasta, top with Parmesan cheese if desired and serve!

Spaghetti Pie

I should preface this very first recipe with a bit on how I cook. Most everything I create are good, hardy meals that are not going to kill your waistline. However, I don't use a lot of fat free products mainly because they are usually full of sugar or salt and lack flavor. I should also forewarn our audience out there that I use A LOT of onions in most everything I cook. Onions are awesome, pack lots of flavor and compliment a variety of dishes. However, if you are an onion hater, of course feel free to omit or use something else.

I also cook a lot by sight and taste as opposed to formally measuring everything out so don't be surprised if I don't give specific measurements. All these recipes are SO easy that it is not difficult to figure out how much to use of what. Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Spaghetti Pie
Makes 10 large servings or 12-14 smaller servings

Ingredients:

2 packs 4% fat ground turkey
1 red onion
minced garlic
1 pack of mushrooms
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I usually try to find one that is organic and lower in sugar)
pack of brown rice spaghetti
1 large carton baby spinach
2 cartons low fat ricotta*
1 cup low fat shredded mozzarella
1/2-3/4 cup of egg substitute
1/2 cup REAL Parmesan (that stuff in the shaker is gross)
*if you don't care for ricotta, you can also use low fat cottage cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta. But be careful! Brown rice pasta goes from not cooked to al dente VERY quickly so keep a close eye on it. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water so it is easier to handle. Flip spaghetti in colander several times to get rid of as much excess water as possible. Once the noodles are dry, line them along the bottom of a large casserole dish which has been sprayed with Pam.

Meanwhile, saute chopped onion (I use a mini-food processor here as it makes life about 1.000 times EASIER. Plus they are only about $35!) and garlic in large pan. Add in turkey meat and brown...but just until it isn't pink. Dried out turkey is gross. Add in sauce and mushrooms and heat through.

In a small bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella and egg substitute.

Spread all baby spinach on top of the spaghetti "crust". On top of the spinach, spread the cheese combination. Top with meat and sauce combination and finally, top with a light dusting of Parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Once it is warm and bubbly, you are ready to chow down!