Recently I posted my Guineitos Escabeche recipe as a side and today, I am giving you my simple Ground Turkey Stuffed Poblano recipe that carries the bananas as the side. Really simple and delicious.
 
Category:  Entrée 
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   25 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $9.14 or $4.57 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
½ lb. 99% fat free ground turkey ($2.80)
1 large poblano pepper, roasted in open fire and charred skin peeled. ($1.10)
2 tbsp. salad olives (.20)
1 small onion, chopped (.40)
4 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped (.35)
1 tbsp. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil (.45)
1 tbsp. Angie’s Dry Seasonings (.25)
 
1 recipe of Guineitos Escabeche posted yesterday ($2.34)
1 avocado ($1.25)
 
Directions

• Season the ground turkey with 1 tbsp. Angie’s dry seasoning and a bit of basting oil.
• Char the Poblano, put them in a paper bag to sweat, peel all the char stuff, slice lengthwise and remove all seeds.
• Chopped the garlic and onion, sauté in a skillet with 1 tsp. of my basting olive oil.
• Add the ground turkey and cook until totally done. Then add the small olives. Stir to combine. Add a half Poblano to a plate and then stuff it with the turkey mix.
• Slice the avocado, warm up your GUINEITOS ESCABECHE and is time to plate.

 
Angie’s Dry Seasonings: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/family-life/oven-roasted-bacon-chicken-and-angies-seasonings
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil

My simple vegetarian green Escabeche bananas to die for. Not complicated to make but with my non-traditional ingredients to make them unique.
 
Category:  Entrée   Side
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  20-30 minutes
Approximate Cost:    $3.50 or $1.17 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free   __X__   Vegetarian __X__ 
Servings: 3
 
Ingredients
3 small green bananas ($1.00)
1 pot with salted water (0)
 
1 large or 2 small bay leaves (.10)
2 tbsp. sun dried tomatoes (.50)
1 c. Angie’s Basting olive oil (.80)
6 large Garlic cloves, peeled, minced (.40)
1 med. size Onion, peeled, sliced and cut each slice in half (.40)
½ c. Apple cider vinegar (.15)
1 ½ tsp.  Angie’s Dry Seasoning (.15)
 
Directions
Remove the banana skin as I indicated in my slide presentation, (Do not Peel), slice in approx. 1” rounds, boil in salted water to-taste until tender when you pick them with your fork, then drain, set aside.
Prepare all the veggies as indicated above. In a saucepan over med-heat, cook the sauce by adding first the basting oil, garlic and onion. When golden brown, add everything else, except the bananas and cook briefly.
Finally, add the softened bananas to the sauce and cook in med-low for about 10-15 minutes. They can be eaten cold or warm. If you like, allow to cool and refrigerate until the following day. Taste even better
 
Angie’s Dry Seasonings: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/family-life/oven-roasted-bacon-chicken-and-angies-seasonings
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil

I love to make meatballs with 99% fat free ground turkey, simply because it is healthier. One thing we all know about turkey is that it lacks flavor; hence, I make my business to create flavor combinations to make them yummy!
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $9.45 or $3.15 per serving)
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free (Please use GF PANKO) 
Servings: 3
 
Ingredients to Season the Turkey
½ lb. ground turkey ($2.50)
2 tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.50)
1 tbsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs (.10)
2 tbsp. Chopped Rosemary leaves, culantro, Sage and Italian Oregano (.50)
 
2 c. homemade chicken or beef stock ($1.50)
2 tbsp. of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp. of cold broth. (.10)
 
1 bag of Seeds of Change Organic Brown & Red Rice with Chia and Kale ($2.75)
1 avocado (1.50)
 
Directions
Season the turkey, add the chopped herbs, make the balls, sauté them balls in 1 tbsp. of my basting olive oil until golden. Remove from skillet.
Add the gravy ingredients to the skillet until it begins to simmer, at that point, add the cornstarch and broth mix until you see that the gravy begins to thicken.
At that point, add the turkey balls and simmer for few minutes. Done.
Slice the avocado, microwave the rice for 1 minute 30 second and start plating.
 
Note: A last minute thing I added pan roasted Brussels Sprouts after I softened them in lightly salted water.
 
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oi

​YES, if we substitute some of the ingredients when we make muffins, (look at the bold ingredients) there will be no guilt in eating a muffin any day soon! And don't be scare with the ingredients list, you have most of them in your pantry. Smile.
 
Category: Dessert _√__    Breakfast _√__   Snack _√__
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  35 to 40 minutes
Approximate Cost:    $6.27 or .52 cents per muffin
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  This is NOT Gluten Free     
Servings: 12
 
Ingredients
1 ½ c. Flour (for gluten free cupcakes, please use the 1 to 1 GF flour) ($1.00)
¾ c. ORGANIC sugar (.40)
2 egg whites (whisked) (.32)
¼ c. unsweetened applesauce (.20)
¼ c. Fat Free Greek Yogurt (.20)
2 tsp. melted unsalted SMART BALANCE BUTTER @ room temp (.15)
½ tsp. vanilla extract ($1.00)
½ tsp. almond extract (.20)
½ tsp. Lemon Extract (.20)
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder (.15)
½ tsp. baking soda (.15)
½ tsp. ground nutmeg (.15)
1/8 tsp. regular salt (10)
2 med size mashed banana, super black if at all possible (.50)
½ c. Craisins - Cranberries (.65)
1/4 c. chopped mixed unsalted nuts (.90)

Directions
Preheat oven at 350 F. degrees. 
Use a 12 muffin cup baking pan sprayed with good olive oil spray or place muffin wraps instead and set aside.
 
In a med size bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, sugar and salt. Set aside.
 
In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients: First, mash the bananas, set aside.
Whisk the egg whites, then add the applesauce and yogurt, melted unsalted butter at room temp, vanilla, almond, and lemon extracts, mix to combine, then add the chopped nuts and craisins to the bananas.
 
Now, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened and incorporated, the batter will not be soft. Now pour the batter into your baking mold.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes depending on your oven calibration.  ENJOY!
 

So, we all live hectic lives. Every day, before we know it, it is time to go to sleep. Work, school, chores, kids, medical appointments, groceries shopping, long drives round trips to work, well, you get the picture. One thing I decided some time ago was to eat healthy, and avoid the typical question; what will I have for lunch every day? So, I solved the problem. First, I baked my own bread, (no preservatives.) I prepare my own chicken salad and then assemble all my sandwiches for the week. I keep them in the fridge at a high temperature and they last perfectly. Is it boring? Not at all! Love it.
 
Category:  LUNCH
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  UNDER 30 MINUTES (Bread takes longer)
Approximate Cost:    $15.85 or $1.98 per sandwich
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other: (Purchase GF Bread for this project) 
Servings: 8
 
Ingredients for the chicken salad ($2.70)
1 12 oz. can of chunk chicken breast, drained and rinsed the fat and salt out ($1.20)
¼ to 1/3 c. of Tzatziki (.30)
2 to 3 tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
¼ c. Lemon juice (.60)
¼ c. Dried minced onion (.20)
 
Sandwiches mixings ($9.35)
1 loaf of bread (homemade or purchased) ($4.95)
2 jalapenos (.40)
1 jar of Roasted red peppers ($2.10)
3 c. Spinach ($1.50)
½ white onion, sliced (.40)
 
Ingredients for my Hummus $3.80
1 can (15 oz.) of chick peas, drained and rinsed ($1.20)
2 to 3 tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
¼ c. Lemon juice (.60)
1/3 to ½ c. Organic Tahini ($1.20)
3 large garlic cloves with salt and pepper to taste (.40)
 
Directions for my Hummus
In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, salt and pepper and process until chopped.
Then add ½ can of the drained chickpeas, the Tahini, lemon juice, and basting olive oil and the other half of the chickpeas on top of all that. Process until smooth.
Then test for any adjustment of salt, oil or lemon juice to make it tastier and or smoother.
 
Assembling the Sandwiches
First, spread hummus on both bread slices.
Add a handful of spinach.
Add a scoop of chicken salad on top.
Add the roasted peppers, onion and jalapeno slices. Cover with another bread slice.
Boom, done. Place them in Ziploc bags and refrigerate.
 
Footnote: The bread recipe that I made for the sandwiches is not my recipe. if you are interested in making your own bread, please Google Chuck Hughes, a Canadian chef. He came up with this NO KNEAD BREAD recipe, I just love it and have been making it for a couple of years now.
 
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oi