Ground Turkey Lasagna Roll-ups

I've seen a lot of recipes for lasagna roll ups around, and honestly this one isn't going to be hugely different. However, most of them lack a key ingredient that has to be included if my husband is going to be enthusiastic about dinner - meat. So without sacrificing the healthy integrity of this meal, I decided that some lean ground turkey would be a smart addition.

Ingredients:

9 Lasagna noodles
15 oz of Ricotta cheese
Spinach (I used about half a container of organic spinach)
1 jar of tomato sauce (we use Ragu because we like to be fancy :)
3/4 of a block of Mozzarella cheese shredded
1 egg
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 lb of ground turkey
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of steak sauce
1 tsp of garlic powder
salt and pepper


To get started I got out a pan to brown the turkey, added minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning (I do this to help the turkey have a more beefy flavor since the palate is used to having beef not turkey with lasagna). While that browns I am also boiling the lasagna noodles in one pot and cooking the spinach in another. That's multitasking! But the spinach and noodles are pretty low maintenance, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Noodles on my stove take about 9-10 minutes to get the texture I like them; you likely know how to make your own noodles though and so I suggest you cook them the way you like.

When the noodles are done, drain them and drape them around the container to dry somewhat (they'll be easier to handle that way), drain the spinach and chop it up, and take the browned turkey off the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the container of ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese. Add ground turkey and spinach and stir well. On a piece of parchment paper, lay your noodles flat and line them with the ricotta turkey mixture. Be careful not to overfill them, lest when you roll them up the mixture falls out. Roll up your lasagna noodle and place them into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour over the tomato sauce evenly then top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 40 minutes on 350.

As always, I hope that you will enjoy this recipe.

Have a blessed day!

Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Today was a fantastic day. We went to Wal-mart, which is actually pretty rare for us and I was so excited to be moving forward into this new season of Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas that I couldn't help myself, and got some baking supplies. I am so looking forward to making people cookies and treats - and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. My favorite thing to do is to feed people, and well...'tis the season!

I was pretty amused to see this inflatable Turkey today, I know there's some sort of brand he is representing, but for me he was the very first Thanksgiving turkey I've seen, and I was really pleased to see him all larger than life and signifying second wing of fall and the last wing of this year. The holidays in general is the very best thing there is about the growing cold months and so I just can't help myself - I'm so excited!

He looks a bit angry doesn't he?

We've had some cooler weather the past few days, due to what is going on up in the New England area, and while the cool air and wind has been really refreshing for us, I want to take a minute and send my condolences to those up north who are experiencing hardships, have lost everything, or have lost their loved ones. My husband and I have been praying for their safety and an end to their discomfort and hope that you will join us in doing so.

It's amazing to imagine that Thanksgiving is going to be upon us in just three short weeks. I have a mind to make a carrot cake for the holiday, which is something I've never done. I've also got it in my heart to let my grandmother teach me how she makes her famous cornbread dressing. We've made it together a couple of times, which was so much fun, but I'd really like to see if I could accomplish that feat on my own. You know I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, starting last night, David really started talking about what we could do for dinner tonight and as he had taken down some ground turkey to thaw, we started brainstorming over what we could do with it. He immediately got vegetable soup in his mind and couldn't let go of it. Initially, I wasn't too excited about the idea, because we'd had meatless vegetable soup that very night at church for dinner. But he was adamant, and I was interested to see what I could do with it if I put my own spin on it. Of course, when we got downstairs, we had no tomato soup - hence the trip to Wal-mart (unrelated, but we also needed kitty litter).

So after both of us diligently resisting eating some fast food (we're trying desperately to remain on our established budget), we came home and I immediately got started on our soup. Our eating better regime is really struggling these days. I don't know what's the matter with us lately, but our willpower is really ridiculously susceptible to temptations left and right. It seems like once a week, we make a deal, shake hands on it, pinky swear with a kiss, and then all of a sudden it's like "oh! look I found a recipe for fudge on Pinterest" or "Oh! Look what Pioneer Woman made on Foodnetwork, lemme try to make my own version" or similar and we're back to promising tomorrow will be different.

This recipe, in my opinion, is pretty healthy. I made hubby cornbread to eat with his and cheesebread for me to eat with mine - which is not so healthy. But it's better than pumpkin rolls and calzones, which totally both went down last week. Pray for us, we are really trying in spite of what it looks like, we're just truly weak on the execution. I might very well have to resurrect my Weight Watchers membership. In any case, this soup was really good. Enough about me, here's the recipe:

Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Ingredients
1 can of fat free Chicken broth
2 cans of Tomato soup
2 cans of water*
1 can of whole kernel corn, un-drained
1 can of green peas, un-drained
1 can of green beans, un-drained
4 Red potatoes washed and cubed
2 T of light Country crock margarine
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
dashes of sage, garlic powder, garlic pepper, cilantro, and parsley

For the ground turkey
1/2 pound of ground turkey, browned
1/2 tsp of worchestershire sauce
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt and pepper

*After emptying the can, fill with water and add it to the pot

Add all of the ingredients for the soup at once, and stir to incorporate. Put on medium heat. Brown ground turkey in a separate pan with the minced garlic. When the turkey is brown, add seasonings and stir. Add turkey to soup. Allow soup to simmer for about an hour and a half, periodically checking on it and reducing heat. (What I love about soup is that you literally can throw all of the ingredients into the pot and go do something else while it does its thing. I finished watching the season finale of 19 Kids and Counting; love that show.)

When you think the soup is done, reduce it to low and make some cornbread or some grilled cheese, or some cheese bread, or nothing, depending on how you enjoy eating soup and grab a bowl. We enjoyed it on this chilly evening!

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to tune in.

Blessings from my house to yours!

Tater Tot Casserole

So it's been a long time since I've sat down to blog, but tonight, I'm going to make it up to you with several posts. I might just make it up to you with this version of tater tot casserole, which, if I do say so myself, is the bomb....dot com. I've tried two or three different ways of making this casserole, and this seems to be the crowd pleaser (well, if you count my hubs as a crowd, because I do). A lot of them turn out really dry, which is disappointing. And even though I love the Duggars, theirs doesn't have any cheese. Although theirs is likely healthier, no cheese is just not acceptable in this household. We live for cheese!

Anyway, on the list of things that we buy almost every time we grocery shop is ground turkey. As I have mentioned before, I'm not a ground beef fan, so we're always looking for ways to make ground turkey throughout the week that isn't redundant and tiresome. Because I don't often buy tater tots, I have to make a point to buy them with the intention of making this dish. It makes it a rare enough effort that always turns out as a special treat that breaks the ground turkey routine of baked spaghetti and hamburgers. So without further adieu, I give you my version of Tater Tot casserole.

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 bag of tater tots
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups of shredded cheddar or colby blend cheese
1/2 cup of Velveeta cheese (I used the 2% kind, but it really is whatever you want)
1 or 1/2 pound of ground turkey (depending on how meaty you'd like it to be)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 T of Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

In an oven, bake the entire bag of tater tots according to the package directions. While the tots are cooking, brown your turkey meat in a pan. Season with garlic powder, W-shire sauce, salt and pepper. In a large sprayed 9x13 (3 qt) casserole dish, pour the browned ground turkey into the bottom of the dish. Top with cooked tater tots. In a bowl or measuring cup, mix the milk, cream of mushroom soup, and sour cream. Stir well and sit aside. Cut off Velveeta cheese into quartered chunks and tuck in with tater tots all over the dish. Pour liquid mixture over the top and then top with with the shredded cheese. Bake on whatever your oven is already on from baking the tater tots (425 or so) for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. You're done!

I like this recipe best because the milk really gives the casserole an added moisture and creaminess that it lacks without it. Also, in most recipes they suggest you can just bake the tater tots in with the casserole. But this is where my Mama came in. She told me that it's a lot more guesswork with unbaked tater tots, a longer cooking time and then you still run the risk of uncooked tater tots in overcooked casserole (yuck!). So I just go ahead and bake them to be safe. :)

In this house, we like a little tater tot casserole with our ketchup if you know what I mean, but it is just as good without it.

Enjoy!