Recipe of The Day: Homemade Turkey Helper Revisited

I have previously posted this recipe before, but I never had a picture. I decided to make this again for the kids. They seem to really like it. They almost believe that it's actually Hamburger Helper. LOL


This recipe is great, because you can adjust the seasonings to your taste. It's quick and it's easy. That seems to be my thing with cooking. It has to be quick. I'm so busy during the week. I just need to bang things out quickly. If I'm in a Top Chef mood I'll get a little bit more elaborate. My kids love casseroles and all things cheesy. So they really dig this one. I won't be having any, because I'm still on the weight loss plan. To date, JP and I have lost over 35 lbs combined! Woo hoo! I have 7 lbs to go, I think he has 5. Probably gonna whip up some fish tacos for us this evening. Another recipe I've featured, and again no pics. Might take some today. Anyways enjoy the recipe!

You can check the original post you want. I posted the Turkey Helper and Shredded Chicken for tacos on this post. Click here for previous post.

Turkey Helper
1 package ground Turkey
1 box mac n cheese (any brand)
1 cup cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese (add more if you I like I used cubed cheese)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
dash of Tony Chachere's

***Side Note**** Today I used Adobo season in place of Tony's, which was equally great. I also chopped up some Sharp Cheddar into cubes. I also added in 1/2 cup of milk and a tablespoon of butter. You can really experiment with this.

Brown turkey in pan and add in about half of the seasonings. I really do this buy eye, and just dash a good helping all over it. I did this in a non stick pan, so I didn't add in any oil or butter. Cook Macaroni according to box. When done drain and add to turkey. Add the rest of the ingredients on the Macaroni box. Add in the rest of seasonings and cheese. Mix well and simmer on low for a few minutes. That's it your done. I made some Garlic Parmesan Bread to go on the side with some veggies. Everybody seemed to like it!

~Feather
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Recipe of The Day: Ginger Chicken

Healthy Meal #4. It should be #5, but I ate Turkey Chili yesterday. I thought I posted my Turkey Chili recipe. But, now that I'm thinking. I don't think I did. Ooops! I'll post that recipe soon.

This dish is normally made with pork. Which I've also made too. Not sure I posted that one either. Gosh I'm going senile. Anyways! I felt it was much healthier using chicken. This meal is another easy one. It takes no time to cook or prepare. The only thing you really wait on, it the marinating time. It goes well with rice. I was thinking about putting some on some fried noodles. I may try that one day. I also have my meal in a cute little Bento. I'll talk more about that after I give you the recipe part. Also, this batch was really small. So if your going to make a larger batch just double the amounts. Okay, so here we go...

Prep Time: 1hr 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Serving Size: 1 or 2 People (I made a small batch)

Ingredients:
1 cup Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Mirin
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
2 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger


You want to first chop all of your chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Finely chop your Ginger and Garlic. In a Ziplock bag or tight sealed container, add in all of your ingredients. Let marinate for 1 hour. Do not exceed one hour. In a large skillet over medium heat. Empty contents into pan. Fry until meat is thoroughly cooked. I like it to get slightly crispy on the outside. That's it. Really really simple.

The chicken may not look very flavorful, but it really is. It has a lot of flavor. Very good over rice.

So now let me talk about my cute little bento and bento bag. My family loves me. They send me little kitchen goodies. Because they know I love it. Also, I have a super huge sick addiction to Hello Kitty. Ask JP. It's really sickening. LOL So they feed that addiction too.

My Mom was out in a huge Asian market a couple of months ago. She knew I was looking for Bento boxes. She actually found a few and sent me one! She sent me a smaller one a while ago. Which is cute too.



I couldn't get the lid all the way down, because of the rice. Oops.



If you lift up the lid, there is a little compartment for a spoon. It came with a spoon, but for some reason I don't know where it is. *shrugs*



Under that is a smaller area, you could probably use for sauces or smaller pieces of food.


Then of course you have your larger compartment for your bigger items. Isn't that cool?

And here is my cute little bento bag. My brother sent me this for Christmas last year. Awww! Kawaii!

So that's my recipe. I guess I'll have to feature Healthy Meal #5 sometime soon. This week worked out well for us. Saved a lot of time. The meals were good and filling. I enjoyed all of the meals as did JP. These will definitely be on my permanent menu. Hope you enjoyed!

~Feather


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Recipe of The Day: Spicy Tofu Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice

Healthy Meal #3, here is yet another meatless dish. This dish uses Extra Firm Tofu. Tofu is a great source of protein. It's practically flavorless on it's own, so it really takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. JP and I love spicy food. So this dish has a good amount of heat. You can add as much heat as you like or none at all.

This meal is super easy and takes no time at all to cook. Also, if you can't stand Tofu then substitute with any meat of your choice. I'm glad I chose to batch cook our meals over the weekend. It has been very convenient for us. I can go look in the freezer and decide what I want to eat. Throw it in the microwave and it's ready to eat. JP has even taken meals for lunch. It's a lot of work, but really does save you time over the week. Apologies again for no step by step photos.

Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes
Serving Size: 2-4 People

Ingredients:

1 Package Extra Firm Tofu (or any meat choice)
2 Cups Baby Bella Mushrooms
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce (reduce for less saltiness you can also use a low sodium brand)
1/3 Cup Fresh Ginger
1/2 Pack of Broccoli Stir Fry Mix (use any brand stir fry mix you like)
1/2 Medium White Onion
1 Tablespoon Chili Sauce (reduce for less heat more if you like it really hot!)
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Furikake (Optional Japanese Rice Season)


You want to go and chop your onion,Ginger, and Tofu before you start. Add your Sesame Seed Oil to a large pan over Medium heat. Add in your Tofu and saute a minute or two. Add in the rest of your ingredients. Be sure to get everything mixed in well. Continue to stir fry until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and plate. That's it. Very simple. You could have this as a stand alone dish, or over rice. Noodles would be good too. Enjoy!



~Feather
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Recipe of The Day: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Quinoa

Here is healthy meal #2. Stuffed Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. I will be honest and say that I'm not fond of white meat whatsoever. But, in an effort to further our healthy eating habits. I decided to try and like it. I figured stuffed would be the way to go, so I could distract myself from the chicken breast itself. lol I paired this meal with Quinoa.

What is Quinoa you ask? Quinoa is not technically a grain, but it can be substituted for grains. It's actually a seed of a leafy plant. It's high in protein and is supposed to be one of the most balanced for vitamins and nutrients. Quinoa dates all the way back to the days of the Inca. I dig it. Anyhoo...on to the recipe.




Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 Minutes
Serving Size: 4 People

Ingredients:
1 Package Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 cup of Spinach (frozen or fresh whatever your prefer)
1 1/2 cup Baby Bella Mushrooms
4 Cloves of Garlic
4 Stalks of Green Onion
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
Paprika, Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon Chavrie Garlic Herb Goat Cheese
Toothpicks (or anything to secure chicken once rolled)

In a large pan on medium heat, you'll also want to pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Saute your onion, garlic, mushrooms and spinach. You can lightly season with salt and pepper. Saute until nice and tender. Set aside. For the chicken, I took two large Chicken breasts and cut them in half. I used the other two pieces of breast for another recipe I'll feature this week.

Take one piece of the chicken and place it between a sheet of wax paper. Or you can use a ziplock bag. Using a kitchen mallet, or whatever else you use to beat your meat.(hee hee beat your meat) Beat the heck out of it. Not to thin, but thin enough. Give the chicken breast a light coat of seasonings.

Now get your spinach mixture. Depending on how big or small your chicken pieces are, place a nice dollop on the chicken. After the spinach, place a dollop of Goat Cheese on top of that. I didn't have much left. So each piece got about a teaspoon or so. You can most certainly use more than that.

I had some toothpicks soaking in a bowl of water. I wasn't sure if they would burn up. lol Carefully roll your chicken pieces and secure with toothpicks. It took about 4 toothpicks per piece for mine. Place in a shallow baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Until chicken is done. You could cover them to ensure more juiciness. I baked them uncovered. There was a little bit of juice in the pan, which I basted them with.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the flavor of the whole dish. Next time I'm thinking about maybe putting some fresh tomato and onion over it, or maybe some salsa! I think it was pretty good. You can experiment with this one. I really liked the mushroom and spinach combination. Stay tuned for meal #3. Enjoy!



~Feather

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Recipe of The Day: Faux Philly Cheese Steak

Well, looks like my puter wants to cooperate a little. So here is a post for ya.

For this weeks posts, I plan on featuring a few healthy dishes I came up with for JP and I. We are still maintaining a healthy eating diet. I decided today, that I would cook a weeks worth of food for the both of us. It makes it a lot easier for me. I broke everything down into individual servings and froze them. So that way we can just pull something out and heat it up. Easy enough. The kids aren't being subjected to this way of eating...yet! lol

Today we had, what I like to call "Faux Philly Cheese Steak." The easiest thing for us to eat healthy, is to have things that we still like, but with half the calories. I went to Earth Fare last week and picked a few things up. I saw these Smart Strip Steak Styles Strips.



They looked good to me! The picture had me sold! It looked just like meat. These strips have 14 grams of protein and no fat. The whole box is just 2 servings, which only total 160 calories! We didn't even eat the whole box for our sandwhiches either. My apologies for no step by step pictures. I cooked so much food today, that just would have been a lot of work.

So here is my recipe...

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 Minutes
Serving Size: 2-4 People

Ingredients:
1 Package Lightlife Smart Strips Steak Style Strips Seasoned Veggie Strips
1 Large Green Bell Pepper
1 Large Jalapeno (You can used can or jar varieties)
1 Pepperidge Farm Classic Whole Wheat Hoagie
1 Laughing Cow Garlic Herb Cheese Wedge( or any variety of cheese JP used Cheddar)
1/2 Medium White Onion
1 Serving of Hellmans Olive Oil Mayonnaise (or any other variety)
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Canola Oil for Cooking

In a large pan on Medium Heat. Add in your oil. Then add in your Jalapeno, Onion and Bell Pepper. Saute until vegetables start getting a little tender. Add in your Smart Strips. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Saute for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and assemble sandwich!

I must say, this was an excellent dupe for a Philly Cheese Steak. Wow! The texture of these strips is just like meat. JP enjoyed it, as did I. I can't believe how low cal this meal was. I almost felt like I was cheating. LOL


Another "faux meat" product we tried was White Wave's Chicken Style Seitan. Seitan is a fake meat product made from Wheat Gluten. I made this BBQ style. I simply sauteed it in a large pan with some onions until it browned a bit. Then poured some regular BBQ sauce over it and baked it for about 30 minutes. I think the overall taste was good. The texture wasn't quit like a meat texture. I want to say it was like a McRib texture. LOL Remember those? JP wasn't fond of the texture by itself. I ate it with some Quinoa and Veggies. The next day I threw it on a Whole Wheat Hoagie roll with Olive Oil Mayo and it was even better! JP thought it was good on the bread too. So we'll just keep experimenting with this product.

Don't worry friends, we haven't gone totally Vegan. Just trying out new things. Seeing what we like and what we dislike. We are trying to transition to healthier eating. I will still bang out the classics for the kiddos. Tonight I made them stuffed shells. Lucky! But, we'll see how it goes. We'll still have our cheat days, so you know those will be good. Because after all, we are Banginfood. We like food with a bang! Ha! That's all for now. Ciao!

~Feather
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Puter Issues

My computer does not want to act right. So I have not been able to post anything. Hopefully I can get something up in a few days. :(
~Feather

Type rest of the post here
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Kitchen Goody

My Lil Bro is the best! He was cruising around in Japan Town in San Francisco and stumbled upon this!

It's a pan for making Tamagoyaki, Japanese omelet! I'm so excited! I can't wait to try it out.


They even have a picture on there, that shows all of the wonderful egg creations you could make. Not sure what it says. I can't read Japanese.

The pan feels very sturdy. It's non-stick and looks very well made. I'll have to come back with a report after I try it out. :)

~Feather

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Recipe of The Day: Easy Fried Rice

Today I am doing some quick and easy Fried Rice. Anyone can do this! Really! You can! I'm just doing a plain onion and egg fried rice today. I have no meat to throw in there. But you can most certainly add in any type of meat you like. I remember when JP and I first moved in together I made him some Spam Fried rice. He was hooked! lol He used to ask me to make it for him all the time. The kids like my Shrimp version as well. This is also a good way to use up any leftover rice.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
Serving Size: 4-6 Peeps

Ingredients:
A pot of day old rice (or any amount of day old rice you have)
2 stalks green onion
1/4 of a white onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce (less if you don't want it to salty)
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce (optional)
Pepper
1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
2 eggs




You want to go ahead and get your onions chopped up before you start. So get that out the way.



In a large skillet heat your sesame seed oil on Medium heat. You may also use a Wok or any large pan. Looking at this now I should have used my Wok.

Throw your rice in first. Try and get the rice nice and coated with the sesame seed oil. Let it fry a couple of minutes, and then add in your onions.

Add in your Shoyu(soy sauce). Make sure to get the rice coated and mixed in well. Then add in your Oyster sauce. You should be moving pretty quickly. You don't want your rice to burn. So continue stirring things around.

Then you want to create a little well in the middle of your rice. Like so.



Crack your two eggs right into the well.



Let them set up a bit.



Then mix eggs into rice. Get everything mixed together well. Remove from heat and plate! That's it!



This rice can be made so many ways. You can add in shrimp, ham, pork, Kimchee, and even Spam! It's a great meal by itself or as a side dish. Enjoy!


And here is a picture of my lunch today. Spicy Veggie Noodles. Yum! I posted the recipe the other day, but didn't have a pic.



~Feather
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Recipe of The Day: Shoyu Chicken

In the Islands, Soy Sauce is referred to as "shoyu". So today I bring you Shoyu Chicken. This is insanely simple and delicious.

This dish requires little work. It also only uses 4 ingredients. I love this dish over a nice scoop of hot rice. It's crazy to me how a lot of Asian inspired dishes use minimal ingredients, but boast so much flavor.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hr 30 minutes (I like to let my simmer a while in the juice)
Serving Size: 4-6 People

Ingredients:
4-6 Pieces of Chicken (any kind you like)
1 cup Shoyu (Soy Sauce again any brand you like I use a Korean Brand)
1 cup white sugar (or brown)
4 stalks of Green Onion


You want to get a large pot. Place all of your chicken in the pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to medium high heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Or until chicken becomes tender.

Chop your green onion. Once your chicken is tender. Pour out all of the water. I like to leave a tiny bit in the bottom of the pot.
Add in your sugar.


Then add in your shoyu and green onion. Let simmer another 30 minutes uncovered.


After 30 minutes or so. Start to remove chicken from the pot. As you can see, the meat has already started falling off the bone. The meat should be really tender by now. So remove whatever meat is left on the bone. Discard bones. You can shred chicken up a bit with a fork. Place chicken back in pot.


You should have something that looks like this. You could be done with it at this point, but I like to let it simmer another 20-30 minutes on low heat just to soak up all that juice and flavor.


That's it! Pour some of the juice over your chicken. This dish is perfect with rice. You can have it over the rice, or have it on the side. I made some mixed veggies to go with it. You can also add some more green onion as garnish. Go ahead Kau kau (eat)! Enjoy!
~Feather
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Quick Recipe of The Day: Spicy Vegetable Ramen Noodles

Here is yet another one of our Ramen noodle creations. I love Ramen noodles...well because in Hawaii everyone loves Ramen! So here is a quick recipe JP actually created today! I acutally prefer fresh Ramen. But, I have to improvise.

JP and I, are still on our weight loss journey. It's kind of hard for me to come up with healthy things to eat that stay within my calorie range. This is pretty filling and low on cals. It's even lower if you use the House of Foods Shiritaki Tofu Noodles. At 40 calories for a whole entire pack! It would make this meal really low cal. But, I'm fresh out of them...so Ramen will have to do.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Serving Size: 1 or 2
Cook Time: 10 minutes or less

Ingredients:

1 Package Ramen Noodles Beef Flavor (or any flavor you like)
1 Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese Wedge
1 Cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables (I used an Asparagus mix)
1 tsp of Chili Garlic Sauce (Same people who make Sriracha)

Boil your noodles. During the boiling process you can add in your veggies so they can start cooking. Once noodles become tender. I don't like them to tender. Drain all of the water. Add in your season pack, cheese wedge, and chili sauce. Let cheese melt and mix well. You can add more or less chili sauce. We like it spicy! Once everything is well incorporated your ready to eat! That's it. I'm still cooking regular meals for the kids. So I'll have to post those soon. lol They still eat good.

You can check out these other Ramen entries that we've featured in the past:

Ham Fried Noodle

Ramen Two Different Ways


Cold Somen Noodles (it's not Ramen, but still noodles)

Shrimp Fried Noodle
~Feather
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Chipotle Trip #8 Marietta,GA

We took a day trip down to Atlanta this weekend. The weather was pretty nasty, but we still had a good time. We finally made it to Ikea! Wow...and wow!!! That place was huge. So many things it will make you sick! Aaand you know since we were there Chipotle was on our minds!

Because we visit Chipotle's in almost every area we find there is a location, I'm going to start numbering these visits. We pretty much stick to the same item every visit and I don't foresee us changing that. Our obsession is that sick. JP and I are still on the weight loss journey. One month and ten pounds later. We use our weekends as our cheat days. We tried to stay reasonable. You really don't want to know the caloric content of one Barbarcoa Burrito. :) But if you do...Google it! So, this trip we ordered Barbacoa Soft Tacos and one Burrito. The kids enjoy the tacos and chips. JP and I shared a burrito and had one taco each. Everything was good as usual. We enjoyed our meal, and didn't have to feel to bad about eating a days worth of calories in one sitting. lol

The aftermath!

Our meal was Bangin, just how we like it. After our meal we enjoyed an evening of bowling with JP's car club buddies. Also, a while back we were told at the Charlotte location that they were opening two locations in South Carolina! Yay! One is going to be somewhere in Greenville, which a friend already spotted being built. Another will be right here in Columbia! Location still unknown. The burrito obsession will live on!

~Feather and JP
Banginfood


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