quick, clean & easy meal starter
10:31 AM
my bestie amber has been trying the clean eating for a few weeks now and is beginning to see some real results! however, she's still a little discouraged about the taste of her food. after reading a few of her posts all containing the word "disgusting" i decided to share this little tidbit i came up with the other night.
if you have:
ground turkey
bell peppers (all colors preferred, but not required)
and any other vegetables for that matter. . .
you have the beginning of a great meal!!
i was making sloppy joes on this particular evening, but as i was preparing the meat, i realized i could go a number of different directions with our meal. i could have made spaghetti, tacos, lettuce wraps, lasagna, stuffed bell peppers, the list goes on as far as your imagination can carry it. it just depends on what spices you add to the turkey to really take it where you want to go.
here's a visual to help inspire amber you=))
chop your veggies (onions would have been fabulous, but i wasn't in the mood for the 4 year old melt down at that point about the "oooooonioooonnnnns"
saute with your ground turkey (this is a pound, and i seasoned with cracked pepper, garlic powder, a dash of salt, cumin - you can never use too much cumin in my opinion - and a little onion powder, cause i missed my onions) drain the fat.
at this point, you have free reign to do WHATEVER your little heart desires!!
i added a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce (organic, no sugar added)
i also added a little natural ketchup to thicken it a bit because i was out of tomato paste. i have a major aversion to large amounts of ketchup because the thought of it makes me gag, but just a little worked out fine. it also gave it that "sloppy joe" sweeter taste. let that simmer on low until it thickens to the consistency you think your bun can handle.
*however, you could go to town with this, add more tomato sauce and whole wheat pasta and you have a yummy spaghetti recipe. if i were you, i'd add mushrooms, zucchini, artichoke hearts, and of course onions!! maybe in that case, i'd leave out the cumin and add italian seasoning. oooh, fresh basil!*
way before i did all of this, i cut up a sweet potato, tossed it with cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, a little sugar, and a little butter buds and popped it in the oven at 350 degrees, until tender and crisp.
and there you have it! a quick and clean meal, even the kids will enjoy! all of this took me maybe 20-25 minutes! it can take that long driving to, "thru," and back from a fast food joint but the pay off is so much greater!
that dollop of yum you see is "yogurt cheese" i mixed with a little vanilla yogurt for dipping the fries. i'll tell ya how to make it tomorrow!
hope that gets you started thinking "clean and easy!" what are you going to make?
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