Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes

I have been craving sloppy joes like NO ONE'S BUSINESS! (Where did that expression come from anyways?) However... that is a very unfortunate craving to have when one cannot have gluten or sugar. I have been looking around the web at a bunch of different recipes and I really wanted to try the Tempeh Sloppy Joes that are on our menu this week but when it came time that I needed to get dinner ready I realized that I was out of Tamari and had no time to run to the store. I scanned through a few other recipes but didn't have all of the ingredients for any one of them so I decided I had to just come up with something.

And oh wow! It turned out AMAZING! Cute hubster LOVED it and so did I. It was the perfect flavor - rich and savory with just a touch of spiciness to it. I made the sauce out of two recipes that I adapted together. I used Worcestershire sauce this time (since that is what I had on hand) but next time I will use the Tamari when I actually have it!

Really, this is a very simple recipe if you can have store bought ketchup and barbecue sauce. I can't because of the things they usually add to it. All the sauce ingredients are are the ingredients for a homemade bbq sauce + homemade ketchup. This way I get to control the ingredients.

SLOW COOKER TURKEY SLOPPY JOES
PIN IT!
Sauce adapted from this recipe and this recipe

SAUCE
6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or honey, or agave)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
--------> You can replace all of the above ingredients with 1 1/3 cup ketchup.
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp brown sugar (I used date sugar)
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or soy, or tamari)
3/4 tbsp dry mustard
3/4 tsp paprika (preferably smoked)
1/8 tsp cayenne
Black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and mix until completely blended. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn heat to low. Let simmer while you prepare the other ingredients

1 lb ground turkey (or chicken, or beef)
1 small yellow onion
2 large carrots, shredded
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup water

Brown the turkey with the onion until no longer pink. (You can use a bit of oil in your pan if you need to. 1 tbsp should be plenty or just spray with nonstick cooking spray.) Once the turkey is cooked through add it to your slow cooker.

Add carrots and celery to the same pan you cooked your turkey in. Add in water and cook until carrots are partially soft. Add veggies to the slow cooker, pour sauce on top, and mix all ingredients together thoroughly.

Cook on low for at least 1 1/2 hours. Add more water at the end if you need to to thin it out.

Serve on buns or do what I do and make a deconstructed sloppy joe salad! Yummy!

High Protein Quinoa Almond Berry Salad

Wow. I have been so neglectful! So sorry. We have been adjusting to a new schedule around here with the start of the "summer" and things have been pretty busy.

Like I said on my last post, I actually made this salad twice last week - once for a combined Family Home Evening and once for a Bridal Shower. It was devoured both times. Everyone commented on the unusual ingredients but talked about how they still liked it. LOL.

The greatest thing about this salad is how versatile it is. It calls for cherries but have you seen the price of cherries? OH MAN! This would be an intensely expensive salad! I was lucky the first time around and caught blueberries on sale. So the first salad consisted of strawberries, blueberries, and 1 1/2 large banana slices. The second time around blueberries were no longer on sale so I only did strawberries (2 lbs. worth) and bananas (3 bananas worth). It was delicious both ways. I will admit that I liked it better with the blueberries and I am sure it would be amazing with the cherries as well. Whatever way you do it - do it! This salad rocks!

The picture from the original recipe is too gorgeous to not post. My picture didn't turn out anywhere as beautiful as this one. So extra special thanks to Oh She Glows for the courtesy of the recipe and the picture found at this site HERE.

High Protein Quinoa Almond Berry Salad (Vegan & GF)

From Oh She Glows

Yield: 2-3 as a main, 4-6 as a side. (I think that this isn't quite accurate for a side dish... I think we could easily serve at LEAST 6 with this salad but the nutritional information is based on 6 anyways.)

Nutritional Information per serving (calculated on MyFitnessPal.com): Calories 214, Carbs 38, Fat grams 6, Protein 6 (This would be lower without the almonds but almonds are SOOOO good for you!)

• 3/4 cup dry quinoa
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced (2.5-3 cups)
• 16 oz. fresh blueberries (1.5-2 cups)
• 1 cup cherries, pitted and sliced
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (or lemon might work!)
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, chop the fruit and place in a large bowl.

3. Mix the dressing ingredients (maple syrup, balsamic, lime juice, salt) in a small jar and adjust to taste if necessary. Note: You may have to double the dressing recipe if your salad is quite large.

4. Fluff cooked quinoa with a fork and add to large bowl with fruit. Combine. Pour on dressing and mix well. Serve immediately or chill in the fridge until serving time. Serves 2-3 as a main or 4-6 as a side. Or if you are reeeeally hungry 2 people!

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing

I will admit that when I first saw this pin on Pinterest that I was really skeptical of how it would taste but I always like to try new things! I got out an old jar that I saved from having banana peppers one time and mixed all the ingredients together and let it chill. When it was "finished" an hour later I tasted it and was really surprised that it tasted really good! It is a little bit more tart than a lot of the bottled ranch dressings that I have tried but I like it better. It tastes like a mix between salad dressing and ranch dip.

And guess what? The ENTIRE jar has just over 270 calories and no fat. Wow.

No more buying ranch dressing for us! This is our go to from now on. I even used fat free milk instead of the 1% milk that the normal recipe called for and it still turned out perfectly well!

Just ignore the pesto and feta in my picture... I was making a variation on the pizzas that I posted yesterday. Whole wheat pita with a mix of this ranch and a little pesto for the sauce, covered in fresh spinach leaves, just a sprinkle of feta, sliced leftover grilled chicken and freshly cracked pepper - wow. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes.

This recipe is courtesy of The Caffeinated Chronicles of Supermom and can be found at this site HERE.

GREEK YOGURT RANCH DRESSING
From The Caffeinated Chronicles of Supermom

Nutritional Information for the WHOLE jar (calculated on MyFitnessPal.com): Calories 273, Carbs 34, Fat grams 0, Protein 28 (Calculated based on skim milk)

1 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1 packet ranch dressing dry mix (not dip ~ I found online that this is 3 Tbsp equivalent)
1/2 cup skim or 1% milk

Mix all ingredients together in a jar and refrigerate for 1 hour before use.

Fluff

This recipe is an incredibly easy side dish that goes great with many different meals. I would recommend cutting back on the boxes of strawberry jello. It definitely didn't need 2 and got to be kind of grainy. I think next time I will only do 1 and I will definitely cut up some fresh strawberries to go with it. Or even banana slices would be yummy! The best thing about this is you can change it up to any flavor you want. Orange with mandarin oranges in it, or pineapple with pineapple chunks! Be creative and go for it!

This recipe and picture are courtesy of Sadie's Kitchen and can be found at this site here: http://sadieskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/fluff.html

Fluff

From Sadies Kitchen

Printer Friendly Version

3 cups cottage cheese

2 (3 oz) boxes of strawberry jello (Add the second box slowly to adjust to your personal tastes)
1 container of cool whip
Strawberries (optional)

Whisk the jello powder into the cool whip. Add cottage cheese and stir well. Add fresh, sliced strawberries (optional) or have them for garnish. Refrigerate until serving.

BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

When I told my husband that we were having salad for dinner tonight he kind of groaned and mumbled something about "rabbit food." I am pleased to say that this amazing dish from Mel's Kitchen Cafe was a hit! It had the most wonderful combination of flavors and textures. Yes... it is more work and a longer ingredient list; however, before you write this one off take a close look at the ingredient list - most of the things in the dressing are things that you probably already have on hand. The only things that I had to buy for this dish were buttermilk, cilantro, lettuce, onion, and the black beans. I had every single one of the spices on hand. Plus, the dressing recipe makes a TON of dressing so you are guaranteed to have more to store in the fridge for future salads. And let me tell you - that was my husband's idea! After the meal he said that the salad reminded him of Cafe Rio and was, "The best rabbit food I've ever tasted!" Lol! The recipe is courtesy of Mel's Kitchen Cafe and can be found here.

BBQ CHICKEN SALAD
from melskitchencafe.com

*Serves 4-6

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups BBQ sauce, storebought or homemade
½ head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped
2 romaine hearts, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed small or shredded
4 ounces Monterey jack cheese, cubed small or shredded (We just used mozzarella)

Combine the cooked chicken and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl, toss together the iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, red onion, cilantro, corn, black beans and cheese. Toss the mixed salad with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime dressing, if desired. Otherwise, you can serve the dressing on the side. Place salad on plates and top with the prepared BBQ chicken and additional dressing.

CREAMY BBQ CILANTRO LIME DRESSING
from melskitchencafe.com

1 cup mayonnaise, light or regular
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 to 1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Combine all the ingredients together and whisk (or shake, if using a jar) vigorously to combine. You could also run this through a blender to make it even more smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Taco Pasta Salad

Taco salad is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It is so quick, easy, and delicious. When I found this recipe on Sadie's Kitchen Adventures I knew that we had to try it! I am really happy to report that it turned out delicious. I love the addition of that pasta as I felt it gave the dish more substance so it was more filling. Still very easy too! The picture is courtesy of this site here.

TACO PASTA SALAD
From Sadie’s Kitchen Adventures

2 cups uncooked spiral pasta (I used Garden Rotini-YUM!)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced

OPTIONAL: (The bolded/italicized ones are the ones I used)
3 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
2 cups shredded cheese
1 avacodo, chopped
1 cup corn
1 cup sliced olives
Tortilla Chips

Cook pasta according to package directions. (If you are using corn you can just throw in frozen corn in the pot with the pasta towards the end - that way you don't have to dirty 2 pans.) Meanwhile, cook beef, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, and chili powder in a skillet over medium heat. Let cool.

Drain pasta and rinse with cold water, stir into the meat mixture. Add any of the optional ingredients you want. Toss to coat. Serve with tortilla chips.

Pistachio Salad

I was informed that I was supposed to bring a salad to a dinner the next evening at 9:30 at night the day before... and then I had to work all morning the next day! AHH! So I started frantically browsing recipes for an easy and inexpensive salad that would still be tasty and I found this one on Real Mom Kitchen. I love pistachio flavor and normally I don't like these kinds of salads because of the chunks of fruit so I was especially happy when this one called for crushed pineapple. It was delicious and a great addition to our dinner!

The picture and recipe are courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen and can be found here: http://realmomkitchen.com/276/pistachio-salad/


Pistachio Salad

1 (20 oz.) can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 (16 oz.) container cottage cheese
1 (8 oz.) container cool whip
1 ( 3.4 oz.) package pistachio pudding mix
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

In a bowl, add cool whip and dry pistachio pudding mix. Mix until well blended. Then add pineapple and cottage cheese; mix well. If you like really soft marshmallows add them at this point, if you like more firm marshmallows, mix in just before serving (I like mine soft). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Dunford Potato Salad

This is the famous Dunford Potato Salad that is requested at every party we ever go to. (My mom's maiden name is Dunford.) Unfortunately, there really isn't an "official" recipe... so here is the best I can offer!

DUNFORD POTATO SALAD

6 medium red potatoes, cubed

4 eggs, hard boiled, cut horizontally, vertically, and then sideways (in your hand...)

1 1/2 - 2 cups Mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Mustard

3 - 4 tablespoons Celery seed

Boil the potatoes until they are tender and then cut into cubes. Place in a bowl and fold in the cut hard boiled eggs. Sprinkle with celery seed. In a separate bowl mix together mayonnaise and mustard. Pour into potato and egg mixture and fold until everything is well combined. Serve immediately or chilled.

*Okay, that is a general idea of the recipe but here is what you look for: 1) Make sure that the eggs are present but not overwhelming. 2) When mixing the mayonnaise and mustard you should be able to taste the mustard slightly, but not too much. The mixture should be faintly yellow, and you should make enough of it to coat the potatoes and eggs very well. 3) The celery seed needs to be uniform in consistency throughout the whole salad. If you need to add more, don't be shy!

Apple Jello-O Salad

This is super easy and really tasty! My family has had this for family gatherings for YEARS! Hope you enjoy it too! *NOTE: Picture is raspberry jello salad, not apple.

I served this at a party we hosted at my house and between six people this HUGE bowl of jello was almost completely devoured. People had 2 - 3 helpings each!

APPLE JELL-O SALAD

3 LARGE packages Apple Jello
1 – 12 oz. container cool whip
3 – 4 apples

Make up jello using 9 cups water instead of 12 (3 hot, 6 cold). Let set for 4 - 5 hours. Once set, use electric mixer to blend in cool whip. Mix in apples.

*You can use this same technique with various different combinations of Jell-o flavors and fruit!