Category Archives: meat

Pin 225, Taco Night and Make your own Taco Seasoning

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, kid friendly, low-fat, meat, Processed at home, savory and tagged with , ,

Yay, taco night! It’s right up there with pizza night, pizza night and, of course, breakfast for dinner night! But taco night does get boring and honestly, the kids never put the chopped tomatoes and lettuce on them. Just meat, cheese and taco shell. So I found this Pin that mixes tomatoes and beans in with the meat. Smart and really tasty. The pin also has a recipe for taco seasoning which is great because I recently bought four packets at Aldi only to read the sodium content:

IMG_0729

Yup, the fine print says: 460mg in a serving, a serving being 2 teaspoons, and the packet contains 6 servings! Holy Salt! I’m not eating that, and neither are my kids. Even if the packet was only $0.25. I followed the pin and found this great recipe for homemade taco seasoning that tastes just like the packet only without all the sodium. I tweeked the recipe a bit because of the kids (less heat) and lowered the salt amount. Here’s what I made:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp pepper

Put all spices in a jar, cover and shake to mix. Done.

IMG_0724

Now onto the tacos. I also tweeked the original recipe based on what I had in the pantry and fridge. I did not make the taco shells, I used hard tacos I had. I also used some lower fat ingredients including these:

IMG_0726

Ingredients

  • 1-1/4 lbs ground all white turkey
  • 1/2 can fat-free refried beans
  • 15 ounce fire roasted crushed tomatoes
  •  2  Tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning
  • 1 – 2 cups shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese
  • 12-15 hard taco shells

IMG_0731

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground turkey in a saucepan.  Liquify the can of tomatoes in a food processor leaving some chunks. Add to browned turkey along with refried beans, seasoning and a 1/4 cup of water. Cook on low heat till combined. Spoon mixture into taco shells. Place filled shells into a 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 5 – 7 minutes or until cheese is melted. Add your own toppings or leave them alone and dig in.

IMG_0734

224 to go………

Pin 230, Crispy Breaded Shrimp with Garlicky Beans

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, casserole, chicken, kid friendly, low-fat, meat, pasta, pizza, salad, savory, soup, veggies and tagged with , , , , , ,

There’s a handful of dinner recipes that are my “go to” recipes. The kind of recipes that aren’t time-consuming, are able to be cooked with a two-year old tugging at my pant leg, include a small list of ingredients, are affordable and can be easily doubled. Those are my requirements for a “go to” recipe. Oh yeah, and they gotta taste really good! That’s a requirement. Here are my dinner “go to’s” in no particular order:

IMG_4492

The best roast chicken with the crispiest skin and moistest chicken. I make 1-2 a week, no lie. Continue reading →

Pin 243, Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings with Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, chicken, gluten free, kid friendly, meat, Party Time!, savory and tagged with , , ,

IMG_0264

Riley picked out wings for dinner the other night and I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do with them. Then I remembered this Pin and I had to run back out for a couple ingredients. But it was well worth the trip. We really liked these wings, at least my husband and I did. I made different ones for the kids knowing that they would not dig the spices or the dip. I should correct that. Riley wasn’t digging them but Kendall dug in. She loved them once I ripped the meat off for her. I think she ate as much as my husband did. Maybe more. She’s an animal. In the original Pin the wings appear a bit more crispy and I think mine could have been more crispy if I had not roasted vegetables at the same time. I think the moisture in the veggies sucked the crispiness out of my chicken. But they were still yummy. And the sauce was super yummy. There was quite a bit left and we are using it on sandwiches for the week.

I know a very important football game is coming up and I think these would be a nice addition to anyone’s party. Continue reading →

Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

Posted by suzyhomebaker in kid friendly, meat, pasta, savory and tagged with , ,

This is my go to recipe just about every other week. Sometimes every week. Here’s why:

  1. it’s super simple to make
  2. there’s a small list of ingredients
  3. it makes enough for leftovers
  4. it’s flippin delicious and most of all
  5. the kids love it

If you can’t get the orecchiette you could easily substitute small shell pasta. If you do use the orecchiette, you may want to cook it a little bit more than the package says. My kids like their pasta easy to chew. Also, I use 20 ounces sweet Italian turkey sausage instead of regular sausage to cut down on the fat. I know its more ounces but I’d rather use the whole package than freeze two links. It tastes just as good and the turkey sausage is a little more tender for the kiddies. If the kids don’t like the heat you can eliminate the crushed red pepper. Continue reading →

A childhood favorite: London Broil

Posted by suzyhomebaker in meat, sandwich, savory

When I was a kid my favorite food to eat was my dad’s marinated London Broil. It’s that traditional recipe that every family makes with a marinade of soy sauce, garlic, and most times Worcester sauce. Dad would either grill it or broil it in the oven and it was always delicious. I still can’t get mine to taste as good as his did but it comes pretty close. I think the best part was eating the cold leftovers out of the fridge the next day. Well, here’s an ode to my favorite meat in a recipe that uses the meat in a sandwich. I used a marinade recipe from Cooking Light and the steak sandwich recipe from Barefoot Contessa. I actually served this at Riley’s birthday party this year and everyone loved it. I should have made more that day. I served mine with the steak cold but you can serve it any way you like. It takes good both ways. I did make some substitutions and eliminations. I didn’t use shallots in the marinade because I didn’t have them. I also used mixed greens and a crusty hoagie roll from Sam’s Club instead of arugula and foccacia bread. I don’t think these substitutions made any difference in the taste and enjoyment of this sandwich.

Continue reading →