Turkey Burgers

What's so fabulous about this Turkey Burger? It's delicious, under 200 calories, and is great served with sauteed peppers and onions! You can even play with it and make it what ever flavor you want. I have recently rediscovered Mrs. Dash seasoning, so I made my turkey burgers with a kick! This picture isn't very good, but the patty sure was : )

Southwest Chipotle Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 4-oz. patties

Adapted from AllRecipes.com "Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers". The following Nutritional Information is for my version (and it's better!)


1.25 lb Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey 93/7
1 T. + 1 t. Plain Bread Crumbs
1 T. + 1 t. Onion, minced
1/8 c. Egg substitute (yeah, that's half an egg white lightly beaten..)
1 T. + 1 t. Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1/2 Clove of Garlic, peeled and minced (1/4 t. of the jarred stuff)

Now here's your time to decide. I added 4 t. of Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning. You can pick another salt-free flavor and get the same nutrition info. This was great, but if spicy isn't your thing, try another flavor.

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and form into 4 patties. Cook patties over medium heat, turning once. Suggested internal temp is 180.

Serve with delicious veggies, brown rice and maybe some salsa. I crumbled my last patty and made a taco salad with it. This Sunday I am making it with ground chicken breast, and I will BBQ them.

Nutritional Info:
Cal 182
Fat 8g
Carb 3g
Sod 108mg
Pro 22g


What flavor will you use?

Ground Turkey- لحم الديك الرومي المفروم

Confetti Rice

Brown rice. Are you as unsure about that as I am? Earlier this year when I first started "watching my weight" (not that it wanted to go anywhere) I discovered that Brown rice is NOT as bad as I had believed. I had some preconceived notion that it was a disgusting wannabe. 


If we're gonna be honest here, which we always are, brown rice does take some getting use to. It is not just white rice of a different color. It's a little bit chewy and takes a while longer to cook. BUT it's versatile and good for you. 

The original recipe is in the Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals cookbook and the Light and Tasty book. Also, the original recipe calls for white rice, but I used brown rice.

Confetti Rice
serves 6 


1 can (14.5 oz.) reduced sodium Chicken Broth
1 c. uncooked Brown Rice
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. Salt
1/4 t. Oregano
1/8 t. Pepper
1/2 c. Diced Red Bell Pepper
1/2 c. Diced Green Pepper
1/2 c. frozen Green Peas, thawed
1 T. minced, fresh Parsley

In a large saucepan combine broth, water, rice, salt, oregano and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low - still visibly simmering! Cover and cook rice for ~about~ 30 minutes, then stir in peppers. Cook for about another 45-50 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed..

-My rice wasn't simmering the whole time, we turned it ALL the way down and it took over an hour to cook-

Remove from heat, add peas and cover again for about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and serve with a yummy, healthy protein packed main dish, like the Herbed Lime Chicken!

Nutritional Info (altered slightly-brown rice is lower cal and carb):
Cal 120g
trace fat!
Carb 27g
Fib 3g
Prot 4g

This turned out really good for me -EXCEPT- I didn't mince my parsley fine enough... get a good knife.

This was a fun day of cooking because in the early afternoon I met up with my friend Katrina. She just returned home from serving a mission in Thailand and in Texas. We talked mostly about food - what else is there? The different street vendors and shops all sound so interesting! I would love to go to foreign places as a tourist and venture out to try all this awesome cuisine.

Who wants to fund my adventure?

Medium-Grain Brown Rice

Herbed Lime Chicken

The first post after the weight loss proclamation... will it be good, or just -blech- healthy?


I'm sure you all are worried that I will post 90 days 81 days of different ways to plate a garden salad. Have No FEAR!! Taste of Home Everyday Light is here!

Trainer Meal Plan Approved. :D Friend and Family dinner table appreciated.

Herbed Lime Chicken
Serves 4


(I'm a terrible person and forgot to take a picture... here's the one from the interwebz...)

1 16-oz. bottle Fat-Free Italian Salad Dressing
1/2 c. Lime Juice
1 Lime, halved and sliced
3 Garlic Cloves
1 t. dried Thyme
4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breast halves (about 4 oz. each)

In a bowl, combine everything but chicken. Remove 1/2 c. for basting, cover and refrigerate. Pour remaining marinade into gallon ziplock bag and add the chicken. Seal the bag and turn over to coat. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.

~~~jeopardy theme music~~~


Drain and discard marinade. Grill Chicken on the BBQ for about 5 minutes. Turn over and baste with remaining marinade. Grill for another 5-7 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve immediately with a delicious and healthy side like Confetti Rice - coming up next!

Nutritional Info:
Cal 62 - (That's what the book says, I'd guess more like 160-180. Thanks Stacy for pointing that out!)
Fat 2g
Carb 8g
Fib 1g
Prot 27

Lime

Cook's Comments

I am a loser. I am going to be a big loser. I'm actually hoping to be the Biggest Loser there is. Now let me explain.

Before I go off into I-Heart-My-Gym land, let me comfort you with the fact that I am NOT going to stop blogging or cooking. Ever.

With that said, I do love my gym. I go to VisionQuest Sport and Fitness at the Auburn Supermall. Twice a year (I think) they hold a Biggest Loser 90 Day Weight Loss competition (judged by percent % total weight lost).

I'm not going to be on TV or anything, it's just a 5-Gym competition.

 My wonderful boss/friend/workout partner is offering full support and I am competing. The kick-off day was Thursday, June 2nd, and today is Day 9. The Finale is Thursday, September 1st with a prize of $500 and Grand Prize of $5000. Please mark it on your calendars and plan on coming and supporting me. The louder my supporters are, the higher chance I have at winning the Best Before-and-After and the Best Testimonial competitions. You have full permission to scream your head right off.

***All Finale Night supporters will get a homemade breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert of their choice cooked for them.***

I'm down about 9 lbs or 3.61% so far (not sure how much of that was the water I guzzled that day). Since I started at the gym I'm down 19 lbs.

My first 10 days are pretty tough because my trainer's given me a meal plan, and sugary sweets are NOT welcome : ( . It's a week and a half of meal replacement shakes (which -thankfully- aren't that bad) and one real-food dinner a night. My many boxes of whole wheat spaghetti and I are becoming good "after 5" friends.

No worries, I am better than just eating a bowl of healthified Sketti every night for the next 90 days. I have my trusty "healthy" cookbooks - and I'll probably eat a lot of taco salad, minus the sour cream.

Being the change I want to see in the world, I will post healthy and TASTY recipes. With these healthy recipes you have no excuse not to eat healthy.

Be awesome. Like me!

(and support me please)

 All healthy recipe ideas, advice, articles, etc. are welcome. If there is a recipe you love that you want to see "Healthified" tell me and I will see what I can do!

Layered Salad

Here's a simple, pleasing layered salad. I like to make it when we have company because it's less messy and all ready when it's time to eat.

I use a decorative, clear glass bowl. so you can see the colors.

Simply layer, bottom up: Romaine Lettuce, frozen Corn, frozed Peas, (Broccoli optional), shredded Cheese, Iceburg Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, shredded Cheese, Croutons.

Top your own serving with whatever dressing you like.