I used a can of "healthy request" cream of mushroom soup to save some time and dressed it up with some fresh mushroom and worcestershire sauce. I love that combo. It makes a great gravy like base that goes wonderfully over noodles. Even the husband thinks so and let me tell you, he’s a gravy over noodles kind of guy. The toddler also liked tonight’s dinner even though he gave me all his mushrooms. :)

This kind of meal always reminds me that if I keep a few key ingredients on hand I can make a home cooked meal rather quicly. Would I rather not use the can of soup? sure but in a pinch it’s a lifesaver after a long day of work.

Here’s what I did…

• 12oz bag of whole wheat noodles
• 20oz package of ground lean turkey
• 10oz package of baby bella mushrooms
• 10oz can of "healthy" cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

Cook the noodles according to the package.

While the noodles are cooking brown the turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Clean and slice the mushrooms. Add them to the browning turkey. Stir in, cover and lower to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes. The mushrooms will cook and shrink a bit.

Uncover, add the soup, plus 1/2 can of water and the worcestershire sauce. Stir and and cook until just boiling.

Serve the turkey and mushrooms over the noodles and pair with a side of veggies.

This makes 6 servings I packed my extra 3 for lunches. :)

Now let me warn you. Normally I write up and post a recipe immediately after I make it but this one has been sitting in the old noggin for a few days. I whipped it up on Friday after coming home form work early due to the SNOW! Sorry, to keep mentioning it but it’s totally crazy. We are in the middle of our second record breaking snow fall this week! But I digress. :)

So I whipped this up after work and to my surprise BOTH the child AND the husband ate it without complaints. No bargaining had to happen. No whining. No faces or dirty looks. Nothing!

Not only that but the husband actually said they "were good" unsolicited! This is a HUGE win considering the major ingredients were kale, mushrooms and bulgur. They didn’t even question the "green stuff"!

• 1/4 cup dry bulgur (I wanted to use 1/2 cup but this was all I had)
• 1/2 of a sweet onion diced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 8oz package of baby bella mushrooms chopped up small or diced
• 12oz lean ground turkey
• About 2 cups Kale chopped (~130g)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 5-6 medium sized bell peppers
• 1 cup tomato sauce (canned, jarred or homemade will work)
• Kosher Salt and Pepper

Prepare the bulgur according to the package. The formula is twice as much liquid as bulgur. Bring both to a boil and then cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. So I used 1/4 cup of bulgur and 1/2 cup water.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cup the tops of the peppers off. You can blanch but I don’t. We like ours to stay crunchy. :) I also dice up any good pepper parts of the tops and use it in the filling. You know, the stuff around the stem.

Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic with a little salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and cook until they reduce a bit. The liquid will come out of them. Add the turkey and brown, breaking it up as it cooks.

Once the turkey is all brown (gray) add the chopped up kale, cooked bulgur, and oregano. I also added the diced peppers I got from the tops. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the kale wilts and all the flavors merge.

Fill the peppers with the stuffing. I only had 5 peppers that I could have overstuffed but I added a red pepper and stuffed them modestly. The red one was huge so you should have more then enough for 6 average sized green peppers.

Top each pepper with some tomato sauce and sprinkle with some dried herbs. Bake for about 20 minutes until the peppers just start to scorch on the ends but still hold a crunch.

Here’s an inside shot…

And my boys EATING them. :)

Two peppers make a good serving but I’ll do nutritional info per pepper in case you want to serve with something else. Plus it’s easier to double the nutritional info then half it. At least it my brain. :)

Even though the child is not a fan of mushrooms or onions he likes this meal. Tonight I ACTUALLY got him to try a mushroom and he ACTUALLY admitted they weren’t that bad. Not in words, mind you, but by facial expression. We called him on it and he just smirked. It was cute.

I hope this loooong video gives you some ideas for you family. :)

As I mentioned it i the video click here for my frozen meat trick.

The husband looked remotely interested because I told him we’d be having mashed potatoes. As long as there’s mashed potatoes, gravy and some kind of meat he’s happy. So I knew he’d like this and he did. The toddler did too! Although I skipped the mushrooms on his plate. Glad I did, he ate everything else. :)

• 4 boneless pork loin chops about 4 oz each
• 1/2 sweet onion diced
• 10 oz package of mushrooms sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or applesauce
• 1 cup of your favorite broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• non-stick cooking spray
• Kosher Salt & Pepper

Lay the pork chops on a sheet of saran wrap. Top with another sheet and bang away! You want to thin the pork out to 1/4 -1/2 inch. Similar to the way we did it for the Naked Chicken Parm Idea (click to see pictures.)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Season both sides of the pork with a bit of a Kosher Salt and Pepper. Once the pan is hot add the chop. Don’t crowd the pan, do them in batches if you have to. Flip after 2-3 minutes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove the pork from the skillet and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and spray the skillet with a bit more spray and add the onion. Stir and add the mushrooms and garlic. Let them cook down a bit, maybe a minute or two. Add the apple cider vinegar. Stir.

While the mushrooms are cooking, whisk the broth, worcestershire sauce and flour. Add to the pan, bring to a boil. Put the chops back in, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until ready to serve.

As I said I served mine with my own creamy mash potatoes, which honestly was perfect but you could do noodles or even brown rice I suppose. So for the nutritional info I’ll stick with just the pork, you can add what you decide to pair it with.

The head count may be up to 13, THIRTEEN! I don’t think I even have 13 chairs! But that’s the least of my worries. Turkey day is a big deal. You got the bird, the potatoes, and most importantly the stuffing! It’s like the cooks signature on the Big Day. Right?

So I couldn’t wait until the big day to try a new stuffing recipe. I had to take at least one dry run. So I defrosted a small chicken and called Mom. :~)

See… mom makes a mean stuffing. She doesn’t have a recipe, every year it’s a little different but every year it’s good! (well, except the year she slipped on the pepper :~)

So this was a stab at Mom’s technique, with a GreenLiteBite makeover, of course. :~P I plan on doubling this recipe for my "Big Day".

Oh! and the husband liked it! He wasn’t as excited as I would have liked but, whatever. I thought it was AWESOME! The toddler, not so much. He tried but was turned off by the look of it. As you can tell, it’s hard to photograph a big bowl of stuffing and make it look appetizing! Or at least as good as it tastes! :~)

• 6 large slices of 100% Whole Wheat Bread
• 1 tbsp olive oil (14g)
• 1 medium onion (I used a red one it was all I had)
• 15 baby carrots (about 3 regular ones) diced
• 3 celery stalks diced
• 8 oz white button mushrooms diced
• 2 turkey sausage links
• 3-4 cups of baby spinach chopped
• Kosher Salt to taste
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp each ground sage, garlic powder, onion powder
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/8 – 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 cups of chicken fat free chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Lay the bread slices on a cookie sheet and back for 1/2 hour flipping once until crunchy all the way trough.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots. Cook for a minute or two before adding the celery and mushroom. Stir and keep on heat while you prepare the sausage.

Lightly cut the sausage lengthwise by piercing the casing (skin). Remove and add the sausage meat to the skillet. Cook while breaking apart with a wooden spoon. As it browns it will get easier.

Start adding your spices while the sausage is browning.

Once the sausage is broken up, add the baby spinach. Stir in and it will cook down.

Now you may have some good bits sticking to the bottom of the skillet. That OK, good even! Add about half of the chicken broth, stir and all the goodness will come up. :~)

At this point the bread is probably done. Remove from the oven and cut into cubes. Add the cubed bread to the skillet with the remaining broth. You may want to add the broth a bit at a time, so you don’t make it too moist. If it’s not moist enough, add a splash of water.

Shut off the heat and let it sit a minute. Enjoy now or stuff in the cavity of a chicken or turkey. Put any leftovers in a bowl and keep warm in the oven.

I didn’t official weigh the serving sizes but I was able to estimate about 4-5 cups of finished stuffing. So I’m going with 6 servings of just over 1/2 cup each and that’s a conservative estimate. There was a lot of stuffing there! Worse case scenario, you can separate into 6 equal portions for more accurate nutrition information.

For some reason I bought an 8 oz package of mushrooms last weekend. I had no idea what I was going to do with them but they looked so darn good! This morning I decided I better use them before I was forced to throw them out. Especially considering this weekend is so jam packed with events I’ll never have time to cook.

So I came up with a stuffed mushroom idea. I wanted something light and tasty using what I had on hand. I have to admit, I hit the nail on the head. They were awesome! I didn’t even offer any to the husband in fears he would actually want to try one. :~P

I’m also excited as this is my first recipe to receive 5 out of 5 stars for weight loss and optimal health on NutritionData.com.

This food is low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Calcium, Iron and Zinc, and a very good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Manganese and Selenium.

Not too shabby for a quick mid day invention! :~P

• 8 oz package of white button mushrooms
• 3 large cloves of garlic minced
• 4 cups of baby spinach leaves chopped
• 2 tbsp (10g) parmesan, shredded
• Kosher Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil cooking spray

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees

Clean the mushrooms and remove stems. Mince the stems and set aside as they will be part of your stuffing.

Mince the garlic.

Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray. Add the minced garlic and mushroom stems. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. While cooking, chop the spinach, you don’t want large pieces or stems.

Add the spinach to the skillet a little at a time and cook down sprinkling a bit more salt and pepper.

Remove filling from heat. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Stuff the mushrooms with the spinach mixture. Really jam it in there you just have more then enough.

Top with parmesan cheese and bake for about 20 minutes!

It really should be called “supreme pizza salad” as I purposely put all my favorite pizza toppings in the salad but pepperoni had a better ring to it.

• 1 tsp (4g) olive oil
• 1 tbsp (16g) tomato paste
• ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp water
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp dried basil
• Kosher salt & pepper
• About 2 cups your favorite greens (I used baby spinach)
• 1/3 of green bell pepper sliced
• 1 medium mushroom diced
• 3-4 raw broccoli florets
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1 oz fancy shredded mozzarella cheese
• ½ oz (30g) turkey pepperoni sliced thin

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, tomato paste, vinegar, 1 tbsp of water, garlic powder, dried basil and a pinch of salt & pepper. If you need to thin it out a bit add another tbsp of water.

Pile the greens, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes on a large plate. Sprinkle the pepperoni and cheese on top. Drizzle with tomato paste vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Here’s a shot of the salad from another perspective. I liked how high off the plate it is. Really, it was a HUGE salad an I loved having all m pizza toppings in raw form for a change.

I bought some fresh ginger this weekend, it was my first time. Normally I make stir-fry meals with ground ginger and that works out great but I wanted to try something new. I’m glad I did! The fresh ginger has such an awesome smell and it’s much easier to work with then I thought. Just a simply peel the skin off slice and dice like you would garlic.

The dish ended up with a very mild flavor and a light sauce. The husband gave an unsolicited “It’s good” and the toddler gobbled up hordes of chicken and broccoli. He even at the mushrooms after telling me he “doesn’t like ’shrooms”.

• ½ pound (8oz) boneless chicken breast cut into small pieces
• 1 inch of a ginger root diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic diced small
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• About 3 cups of fresh broccoli florets (267g)
• About 2 cups snow peas (125g)
• About 2 cups mushrooms slices (140g)
• ½ cup of water (separated)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• non-stick cooking spray

Put the chicken, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and honey in a bowl and let marinate while preparing the veggies.

Heat a large skillet over high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add the chicken and marinade. Cook for a few minutes until chicken is brown.

Add 2 oz of the water (1/8 cup) to the skillet, and top with veggies. Lower to medium high, cover, allowing the veggies to steam. Stir occasionally but recover, cooking for a about 5 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch and remaining 2oz water.

Once the broccoli is just tender, uncover. Power the cornstarch water mixture on top. Stir and the sauce will immediately begin thickening. Continue to stir for 1 minute. Turn off heat and serve over your favorite brown rice.

Here is a shot of the ginger root and the toddler. He turned his head at the last second and I didn’t have the patience to take another. :~)

I’m going to count this as 2 LARGE servings. We split it between the three of us. Nutritional Information does not include the rice.

So this morning, in attempt to get my eating habits back in order I decided to give them a try. Making them was fun, the toddler helped and they took 15 minutes flat! My only problem came about afterwards. They all stuck a bit to my mini muffin pan but it didn’t bother the toddler and I, we still had fun dipping them in ketchup! Honestly, he loved them and so did I. I only wish I had some red bell peppers and maybe some chives. They both would have been good in there.

This is how I made them, take the idea and run with it. The base recipe is really versatile. Oh! and you are going to get a lot of pictures with this one. I was a bit camera happy this morning!

• 2 whole eggs
• 6 egg whites
• about ¼ cup sweet onion diced
• about ¼ cup button mushrooms diced
• about ¼ cup green bell pepper diced
• about ¼ cup zucchini diced
• about ¼ cup cherry tomatoes diced
• 1tbsp (5g) Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp (7g) of real bacon bits
• non-stick olive oil spray
• Kosher Salt & Pepper
• Dried Parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Dice all the veggies and set aside.

Crack the eggs in a medium bowl and set aside.

Mix the Parmesan cheese & bacon bits together in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add in all the veggies. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and sweat for a for minutes until soft and the flavors merge.

Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper.

Spray a 24-cup mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place about 1 tbsp egg mixture in each muffin cup. You will have some leftover.

Scoop about ½ tbsp of the cooked veggie mixture into each muffin cup. Using the rest of the egg mixture, top off the muffin cups making each one about even. Sprinkle the cheese bacon bit mixture on top.

Bake for 10 minutes. Serve! I sprinkled with a bit of parsley.

Here’s the before and after cooking. They do rise up quite a bit!

And finally, the toddler shots, of course! :~P

Update:I made these again this time halving the recipe for only 2 servings and they came out just as good! They still stuck but this time I ran a toothpick around the edge when they were still hot and that helped a lot. I think I’ll be buying a silicone muffin pans just for these!!

So I pulled out every veggie in the fridge, made a marinade, pulled out the skewers and viola! Instant fun side dish!

What I whipped actually makes a better salad dressing then a marinade but it worked. The toddler LOVED it so much he was stealing broccoli and peppers right out of the bowl (as you can see below) and the husband had no complaints. He even ate a few raw himself!

• 1 red bell pepper cut into large chunks
• 1 green bell pepper cut into large chunks
• 1 broccoli crown cut into large chunks
• 1 sweet onion cut into large chunks
• 10 white button mushrooms
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp gralic powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• Salt & Pepper
• 10 wooden skewers

Prepare all the veggies and place in a large bowl. Whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over veggies. Let sit for about an hour.

Skewer alternating veggies and grill over medium heat for about 15 minutes turning regularly to prevent burning.

I’ve never bought Mahi Mahi (dolphin fish) before but I’m trying eat more fish. So when I saw some frozen fillets on sale I thought I’d give them a try. I’m glad I did! It was moist and light, not a fishy taste at all.

The husband and the toddler both like this, surprising enough. Although the toddler needed to be bargained with – no cup cake until you finish your fish, kind of deal – but he ate it none the less!

I’m going to scale the recipe down for 2 servings, I made enough fish and veggies for 4 but only enough rice for 2. Just take the idea and run with it!

• 2 Mahi Mahi fillets (4 oz each)
• Salt & Pepper
• ¼ red onion diced
• Small zucchini diced
• 1 pepper diced (I used ½ red and ½ green)
• 2-3 button mushrooms sliced
• Sprinkle of dried dill (about ¼ tsp)
• ½ tsp dried parsley
• About 2 cups of instant brown rice (like Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Pouch, Whole Grain Brown)
• Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the Mahi Mahi with salt and pepper and bake for 10-12 minutes.

While the fish is baking, spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the veggies with salt & pepper and sauté over medium heat until they begin to just soften. Sprinkle with the dill and parsley.

Pop the instant rice into the microwave for 90 seconds.

Put about ¾ cup of the brown rice on the center of the place, top with the cooked fish fillet. Then top with the cooked veggies. Server with a fresh lemon wedge.

About a year ago I was distraught to find that Trader Joe’s discontinued one of may favorite summer treats, their Southwestern Turkey Burger. I think they replaced it with some chicken burger but it’s just not the same.

This is my recreation. I cooked mine on the George Forman but I can’t WAIT to get them on the BBQ this summer!

• 8oz extra Lean Ground Turkey
• 1/3 of a red bell pepper diced small
• 1/3 of a green bell pepper diced small
• 1/3 of a yellow bell pepper diced small
• ½ of a small onion diced small
• 1 medium button mushroom diced small
• 1 egg white
• ¼ cup quick oats
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• ½ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• Salt & pepper

Put all ingredients in a bowl and combine with hands.

Form the mixture into 4 equal sized patties approximately 4 ounces each.

Grill about 4-5 minutes a side or about 6 minutes on the George Forman Grill.

I served it on a Whole Wheat Potato Roll (a whole wheat English muffin would work too) with a bed of baby spinach and some ketchup. I also cooked up the other 3 and froze them for lunches.

What about the husband? well, he had a regular old burger. BORING! ;~P

Are your burgers sticking? Click here for me tips?

Update: See me make these burgers on video!