Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Here is a quick little sandwich idea for you.  Sometimes Pinterest gets the best of me and I find all kinds of interesting recipes to try. This recipe just really jumped out at me as something easy I could make for lunch that would give me some variety too.  So I went for it and I liked it - even more than I thought I would. I love to fix this and have it in mini whole wheat pita with a fresh salad.  It doesn't take more than 5 or so minutes to make but gives you a lunch straight out of a deli!

Here's What You Need:

-  15 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed

-  spoonful of capers (optional)

I love adding these in - give it an extra kick!

-  2 stalks celery chopped

-  1/2 medium onion chopped

-  big spoonful of vegan mayonnaise (if you are trying to keep it vegan - if not use normal!)

I love this stuff!!!

Here's What You Do:

1.  Mash the beans first (I use a potato masher to do it!)

2.  Add in capers and mayo. If using a processor pulse these with the beans. Otherwise just stir it in!

I added in some green peas we had in the fridge! That is the beauty of this, you can really mix it up.

3.  Stir in the celery and onion

4.  Serve on top of your bread of choice and top with mustard, lettuce or your favorite sandwich toppers

I seriously love to whip this up on a Sunday after church for me and the hubs!  Let me know what you think.  If you are going vegan or mostly vegan, this is a great substitute for your standard chicken salad sandwich when you just crave that comfort food!

Turkey and Cheese Bread Bowls

I saw this on Pinterest and decided it was a good idea for my "mixing' up lunches" New Year's goal.  I put off making them because it looked a little labor intensive but my bread was going to go bad so I had to do it TODAY.  Surprisingly the kids played well while I worked on these and honestly, it didn't take as long as I thought.  By played well I mean J pulled out all Tupperware and every pot and pan I own...but hey I got lunch ready! I think maybe total prep time was 15 minutes and then they had to bake for 20.

The verdict? Very happy kids at lunch. E ate ALL of hers and then ate the last bit of J's that he couldn't finish.  The only negative - they are a bit messy and some floor cleaning was in order after lunch. Still, it was a healthy and filling and now I have 4 more in the fridge ready for the weekend.

Here is what you need (I cut my recipe in half from the original, I knew we wouldn't need that many):

1.  6 dinner rolls

2.  1 lb ground turkey

3.  half of medium onion

4.  1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used low sodium)

5.  1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Here is what you do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 (or wait if you are going to bake them later)

2.  Brown the ground turkey and the onion together

3.  Cut the tops off of the rolls, take out the insides, and set aside the tops for later use 

4. Once the turkey is brown, add in the cheese and cream of mushroom soup and stir

5.  Put the turkey mixture in the rolls, replace the lid

6. Wrap each roll individually in aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes

Delicious!

Also in way of exciting news!  Our next challenge is approaching and I'm super excited. These 10 days are so focused and so fun. We work hard to really get results and to also really discover the balance we need in fitness and health. Join me!  Message below and I'll get in touch with you.

original recipe here:  http://all-things-delicious.blogspot.com/2013/04/stuffed-hamburger-cheese-rolls.html

Sausage, Peppers & Onions: Freezer Friendly

Another hit for the freezer friendly recipes I've been trying lately!  Even DH agreed that this was one of the best ones yet.  And I'm telling you - it smelt amazing cooking this afternoon.  I'm really glad that I have another one of these sitting in my freezer.  Hope you enjoy this ridiculously easy and incredibly tasty meal :)

Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches: Freezer Friendly!

Hello August!  Where did July go?  In honor of "Back to School" month, here is a quick, easy, and freezer friendly breakfast option for those busy mornings. I've mentioned that I'm on a quest for better, quicker, healthier breakfasts.  I found this one and have been meaning to try it for quite some time.  I fiiiinnnnaaalllllly made time this week and boy, they didn't disappoint!  These little egg (and anything else you want to put in them :) cups are made in the oven in muffin tins.  It does make a little bit of a mess, but it makes mornings SO much easier - it's worth it!

Turkey Meatballs

My DH doesn't like meatloaf and he didn't dig the turkey meatballs I made for Thanksgiving, so I was hesitant to try these.  They just looked so cute and delicious when I saw them sitting there on this blog post.  I figured I'd sell them as mini burgers.  And it turns out I didn't even have to.  His exact comment: "Meatloaf tastes like this?"  Maybe I might have a shoe in to try some meatloaves in the future!  This blog is so fun.  And her freezer-friendly post made me click right away.  She says "Meatballs are great. I actually defrosted some of these turkey meatballs two nights ago and it was such a perfect little meal when I really didn’t feel like cooking one more thing. I like to freeze individual tupperwares of four cooked meatballs with marinara sauce, and then it’s easy to defrost the perfect amount for one!"  Once I got the check of approval, I'm actually going to make a stock for my freezer for those nights I just don't want to cook.  Yippee!

Turkey Sloppy Joes

On tonight's menu: Turkey Sloppy Joes 
Taste of Home: Casseroles, Slow Cooker & Soups, Copyright 2008

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Healthy Request Tomato Soup
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 hamburger buns, split


In a large saucepan coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook the turkey, onion, celery and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain if necessary.  Stir in the soup, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and pepper.
Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.  Serve on buns.
Yield: 8 servings


I must admit I'm always on the lookout for something new to do with ground turkey.  We don't eat a lot of ground beef - honestly I've never even cooked it myself.  Our substitute is turkey.  The 99% fat free lean ground turkey breast.  It's more expensive, but worth it in the end.  I always am trying to stretch it out and do multiple things with it.

So, in my new cookbook from my grandparents for Christmas I came across this recipe.
Ground turkey -- check --
Crockpot -- check --
Easy enough -- check --

Here it goes:

And it starts off with a bang.  Of course, I have a stash of red peppers and no green peppers to use in the fridge.  So, true to form, substitution starts early in this recipe.  I also didn't feel like measuring out 1/2 cup celery or 1/4 cup green (red) pepper, so I again, just threw some in :) {Or maybe it was a time issue: Insert suspiciously-quiet-baby-in-the-living-room-so-I-keep-going-back-and-forth-from-kitchen-to-living-room-to-check here} It ended up being 2 stalks celery and 1 small red pepper.  Instead of using non-stick cooking spray, I poured in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Then put in the turkey.

And cooked until turkey was no longer pink.  Now, in hindsight, I would have cut the veges up smaller and broken up the turkey into smaller pieces.  I think it might be a little hard to eat on a bun.

I poured in the ketchup, soup, mustard, and brown sugar.  And who really measures pepper?  I few grinds from the pepper mill were used here.

I put it in the crockpot.

And the final product:

All nice and bubbly and I guess the word 'sloppy' suits it :)

The verdict: 

It doesn't look like the picture in the cookbook.  I'm assuming they didn't use the 99% fat free turkey.  Most people don't.  And it tastes reminiscent of sweet and sour pork.  But, I think that may have to do with the fact that red peppers are sweeter than their green counterparts.  And I probably used more than it called for.   I'll definitely try this recipe again.  Next time, I'll cut up the veges smaller and break the meat into smaller chunks.  It would be delicious served over rice.  Tonight we'll try it on some hamburger buns!