I thought I might write a few recipes focused on ground turkey.  In our house, we don't eat too much ground beef--it's all turkey.  Once you know how to season and cook with it, you'll be a fan too!  It's cheaper, healthier and can replace any meal made with beef. 

To start off, I thought I would give some tips for buying ground turkey.

• Most packages are 1.25 lbs.  It's a bit of adjustment to season if you're used to just 1 pound packages of beef.  When seasoning ground turkey, you do need to add a bit more than you would for other ground meat. 
• Start off with "Lean" labeled packages (or 93/7).  Extra lean is quite dry if you don't know how to cook it.  Sometimes premade burger patties will use both dark and white meat and they will be a fattier variety.  I prefer just making my own burgers.
• Keep your eyes peeled on the Sunday paper coupons or on Coupons.com....very frequent coupons lately!  Pair with a sale and stock up!

Our favorite recipe: tacos!  Serve with some pantry salsa and you have dinner in less than 20 minutes! 

What you'll need:

• 1 package of Lean ground turkey
• 1 can (4 oz) of green chiles
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (about 1.5 packets)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Optional: 1 can rinsed black beans + 1/2 cup frozen corn

1.  In a large pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil over medium heat.  Add onions, green chiles and garlic. (Also corn, if wanted) Cook 3-4 minutes, until soft.  Add package of ground turkey.  Use a spatula to break up turkey as it's browning.
2. Season with cumin and taco seasoning about halfway through cooking.  (Since you don't drain it, you can season early).  Cook about 3-4 minutes longer.  Add water and turn to low heat.   
3. Optional: Add black beans.  Cook on low for 5 minutes. 
4. Serve on taco shells or in a taco salad!

Tired of tacos?  Make some stuffed peppers!  I love to make these when I find markdown produce pepper bags and I'll freeze half of the batch!

This recipe is perfect for a quick and healthy dinner.  I added quinoa instead of rice to keep it light.

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup of quinoa, cooked as directed with 2 cups chicken stock
• Turkey taco meat (see recipe above) making with black beans and corn- I used about 2 cups for my peppers and had plenty left over
• 1 cup shredded Mexican Cheese
• 5-6 green peppers- poblanos or red peppers work great too!
• Garnish: cilantro, salsa, guacamole, green onion, sour cream/Greek yogurt

Let's Cook!

1. Cook 1 cup of quinoa as directed with 2 cups chicken stock (there will be some leftover)
2. Preheat oven to 400*.
3. Cut peppers in half and seed them.  Place in a sprayed 9x13 pan.
4. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup cooked quinoa with about 2 cups taco mixture.
5. Fill peppers generously.  Top with a sprinkle of cheese.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and peppers are browning. 
7. Top with favorite garnishes and serve with a salad!

What's your favorite way to enjoy turkey? Head on over to my FB page to answer that question and I'll draw one lucky winner on Thursday (5/15/14) to get 4 FREE product coupons for Jennie-O Turkey products!

Slow Cooker Southwest White Chicken Chili

Sometimes, you magically come up with a great recipe by mistake.  Don't you love when that happens? Since I've been trying to only do one big shopping trip a month, by the end of month we are at the end of our freezer and pantry supply...which is perfect and hard at the same time!  It forces you to be creative!

One day, I was craving white chicken chili, but we were out of chicken breasts.  I did happen to have some ground chicken in the freezer.  Voila! This recipe was born!

I have this amazing new Ninja cooking system (another swag item from BlogHer!) which is an oven, slow cooker AND a stove-top in one.  I KNOW!  It seems too good to be true, but I am in LOVE! I can even steam and make CUPCAKES in this thing.  It is so fun to play with!

I was able to saute the ground chicken first with some onion, then I just started cleaning out the pantry: beans, chicken stock, tomatoes, green chilis and a packet of White Chicken Chili seasoning. At first, I wanted to add sour cream, but we were out.  Alas, I used plain yogurt (Greek would be even better!).  I had some fresh corn I added during the last 20 minutes of cooking, but canned or frozen would work too!

This chili has a mild heat that is  perfect to load up with toppings: especially lime, avocado and some cilantro.

Yes, I do realize it's summer still...but I love soup!  Served with a salad, this is still the perfect dinner to beat the heat!  And it's quite healthy!

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs of ground chicken (lean) or 93% ground turkey
• 1 can of Great Northern Beans, 1 can Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
• 1 can (5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh, frozen or canned corn 
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken stock
• 1 packet McCormick White Chicken Chili mix
• 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained (the ones with chilis add heat!)
• Optional: Perfect Pinch fiesta citrus seasoning
• Topping suggestions: green onions, jalapenos, cilantro, Mexican blend cheese, avocado, tortilla chips, lime

Let's (Slow) Cook!

1. Cook the ground chicken with the onions before adding to the slow cooker, season with the Fiesta Citrus seasoning, if you want!
2. Add everything else to the slow cooker, except toppings.
3. Cook:
• High: 3-4 hours
• Low: 6-7 hours
4. Top with whatever you want and enjoy!  If it seems thin, mash the beans up a bit.  It's great with another dollop of yogurt!

What are your favorite toppers for chili?