Quick & Easy

Food Category: G-Rated
Difficulty: Easy

Tonight, I had a very important meeting to attend. OK, fine. It was a very interesting game of Bunco. But the point is that I threw together some food for the family before I headed out.

Man had leftover turkey & stuffing from the freezer. The kids had chicken strips baked in the toaster oven. I did make mashed potatoes to pull both meals together. Veggies, Schmeggiges. Who eats them if Mom's not home anyway?

Obviously, there was nothing exciting food-wise, but I'll share my recipe for HausFrau's Red Rooster:

2 quarts of cranberry juice
8 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 1/3 cups of peach vodka

Mix together into a gallon bucket (I use my Bill Miller ice tea bucket) with a lid & freeze for 24 hours. The cranberry & orange juice certainly count toward you five-a-day. Substitute orange juice blend with calcium for that extra nutritional punch. See how healthy it is? And vodka is made from potatoes. It's almost like kicking back a V8.

Turkey & Stuffing

Food Category: PG, Southern Comfort
Difficulty: Easy

Turkey

• one Butterball turkey breast roast, with all visible fat removed. I rolled back the elastic netting, trimmed the fat, then rolled the netting back in place
• rub generously with McCormick Turkey Rub
• top with sprig of fresh rosemary

Stuffing

• Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 celery stalk + leaves, finely chopped

• Layer stuffing mix into a covered baking dish & place turkey breast in the middle
• Cover & bake at 350F for approximately 90 minutes (meat thermometer 170F)

Served with:

• mashed potatoes
• frozen petite green bean cooked with a bit of evoo & wate
• Boston Market jarred gravy

Leftover potential: Extra turkey makes great club sandwiches. I have enough meat & potatoes leftover for another meal for 1-2 people. Everything except for the stuffing can be frozen & added to soup later.

Turkey Enchiladas & Spanish Rice

Food Category: PG
Difficulty: Moderate

Turkey Enchiladas

shredded turkey or chicken meat seasoned with:

• garlic powder
• onion powder
• chili powder
• cumin
• sauteed onion/garlic

grated cheese (extra sharp cheddar & monterrey)

12 corn tortillas
enchilada sauce

I created the sauce with:

about 1/2 can of tomato paste, chicken granules seasoning, chili powder cumin,
Adobo seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder,
2 T cornstarch & enough water to get to the consistency of tomato sauce

To assemble, either roll up like enchiladas are supposed to be or layer & stack in a casserole dish. I rolled turkey/cheese into the tortillas, covered with sauce & topped with cheese. Baked at 350F for 45-60 mins.

Enchiladas were served with:

side taco salad (Fritos & Fat Free Catalina dressing are a must!)
Spanish Rice

To make the rice:

sautee 1/2 chopped onion in evoo (& tri-color bell peppers, optional)
add 2 cups of regular UNcooked rice
continue to sautee both rice and onion until rice is golden brown & fragrant
add 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic
add 2 cups of water seasoned with:

• adobo or Spanish rice seasoning
• 1 packet of Sazon
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• cumin

bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to very low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until almost all the water is absorbed.

I don't really have a good recipe or technique for making enchiladas because I rarely make them. Man even had to ask if they were burritos. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe we've been away from Texas for a weeny bit too long? Anyway, I've been on a mission to clean out my freezer so that I can defrost it & needed to use up some turkey (this was leftovers from a whole grilled turkey). I had the ingredients to make the red sauce, not a can of enchilada sauce or the ingredients to make a green chile sauce that would be more traditional with turkey/chicken enchiladas.

You can also add corn (fresh, frozen or canned) & any type of beans to the rice. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, it just depends on what's around.

If you make your side salad big & serve with 2 enchiladas & a serving of rice, this meal is not bad on the tushy.

Leftover potential: straight-up leftovers only