Healthier Turkey Broccoli Bake

Well, here we are, the day after Thanksgiving, and there is PLENTY of turkey left. The natural inclination may be to bake a turkey spaghetti, which is delicious, but I know I’ll feel better if I do something lighter.

I also want something with some nice, green veggies. We have corn on Thanksgiving, but that’s as far as our vegetable intake goes. So, I pulled a family recipe we have been making for years. This is one of our post-Thanksgiving ideas that just happens to be lighter. I make it a little more guilt-free with fat free cream cheese and fried onions instead of Ritz crackers on top.

It’s so easy, fast, and the proportions hardly matter at all. So, if you have a lot of turkey, load it up. If not, do extra broccoli or add some bacon or ham or anything else in your fridge.

I also love that all of the additional ingredients are easy to store with all the holiday food. The broccoli goes in the freezer, the cream cheese takes no space, and you have the meat and onions anyway! And it’s a complete meal; you don’t need to make a side.

And, this means you have room for a slice of leftover pie for dessert. You’re welcome.

INGREDIENTS:

• Leftover turkey, chopped into big chunks. Use your discretion.
• 3-4 cups of frozen broccoli spears, thawed
• 1 8oz block fat free cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup french fried onions

TO PREPARE:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9×9 baking dish with spray or butter.

Layer the thawed broccoli on the bottom of the dish. Layer the turkey on top.

In a small bowl, whisk the milk, cream cheese, garlic salt, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the top.

Layer the french fried onions on top.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly. Serve!

 

BBQ Roast Beef and Bacon Sliders

We had a Friendsgiving in the department last night, and I just had to share my contribution!

Now, I know what you’re thinking: BBQ for Thanksgiving? Let me explain!

We had made a sign up sheet for what to bring. When I looked at the list, I saw some delicious words coming from my friends: sweet potatoe, pie, jello salad. However, I saw nothing that felt like an entree. Surprise, nobody wanted to bring a turkey. As if that were ever an option for a bunch of collage sophomores.

So, I knew it was my god-given responsibility to bring something substantial. However, I was driving in from Arkansas that day, and I knew I’d only have like 30 minutes to cook!

Naturally, these came to mind. I make baked sliders for almost every party I throw. They’re cheap, versatile, fast, and there’s never any leftovers. And imagine the combinations! Chicken and marinara and mozzarella. Pepperoni and olives and pizza sauce and cheese. Turkey, Swiss, and cranberry sauce. Ham, Swiss, honey mustard. I could go on.

I went these ingredients because I knew everyone would like them, and literally because roast beef was on sale. Easy as that!

Thess are great for all of your holiday parties, or a fast dinner with a soup or salad. Get ready!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package Hawaiian style buns
• 1/2 cup BBQ saucr
• 8 slices precooked bacon, sliced to fit buns
• 16 slices provolone
• 16 slices Deli thin roast beef

TO PREPARE:

Preheat the oven to 350

Grease a 9×13 pan and place bottom buns along pan

Lay one slice of cheese, a spoon of sauce, a slice of bacon, two slices roast beef, another spoon of sauce, another slice of cheese, and top bun.

Cover in foil and bake 10 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 5. Dig in!

Ultimate Elvis Cake

There is one thing you should know about me: I love peanut butter. Wait, make that two: I love bananas. Wait, okay, three: I love chocolate. Alright, there it is: peanut butter, banana, and chocolate. What does that sound like? Oh yeah, the classic Elvis flavor!

Growing up, I always had a peanut butter and banana sandwich in my lunch box. And I literally mean this was the case from middle school to my senior year of high school, and even now, I eat them pretty often. When I want to be special, I toast a slice of bread, spread with chocolate chips, then peanut butter and banana. It is the perfect combination of richness, saltiness, creaminess… it is simply God’s gift to flavor combos.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana has long been my milkshake order of choice, as well as my sundae and concrete picks. I also like to add chocolate and peanut butter chips to my banana bread. However, while this is my favorite flavor, I never thought to make it into a birthday cake!

Don’t ask me why. I guess I thought birthday cakes were supposed to be chocolate or funfetti and that bananas didn’t really go into cakes and it was all just a conspiracy to keep me from creating the perfect treat.

Well, I overcame that conspiracy and brought you the love of my life. This is a very moist, dense chocolate cake that uses buttermilk and boiling water to keep it rich. I layer in chopped bananas before it bakes, which get smooth and sweet and keep it even more moist! Then, I top it with a light and fluffy peanut butter frosting.

If you like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, this is a vary close flavor profile. The frosting reminded me of a fluffy Reese’s filling. Of course, the brand of peanut butter will effect this. I had a sweet peanut butter, but a saltier one will taste differently or require more sugar to get the same flavor.

I could go on about why this cake is worth trying, but I will get to the recipe before my mouth starts watering more:

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Medium Bananas, sliced

For the Frosting:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I’m a Jiffy girl, but go for your fav)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (I left mine out for about 4 hours, it was quite soft)
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

To prepare:

Preheat the oven to 350

Get your water boiling if you forgot

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and cocoa powder together. Once the butter is melted, pour in the water and let it all bubble and boil for about 90 seconds. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.

Pour the butter-chocolate mix into the flour bowl, stirring quickly to cool down the stuff. Gradually whisk in the egg mixture, don’t scramble them!

Pour the batter into two greased 9 inch pans, then place the bananas in a layer and stir to cover them with cake batter. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For Frosting:

Beat together sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt with electric beaters. Pour in the cream and taste for sweetness. When the cake is cool, frost in between the layers and on top/ sides. Enjoy!

Crockpot Cranberry Glazed Chicken Tenders

I have a confession to make: I. Love. Cranberry Sauce.

This is an unpopular opinion, I understand. Not everyone loves sweet with their meat. However, the great thing about this recipe is that it is not coyingly sweet. I counter the sweet cranberry sauce with savory spices to make it into a BBQ-sauce like flavor. If you’d eat BBQ chicken, you would eat this!

It’s also very reminiscent of holiday flavors. Cranberry, duh. But, it also adds a dry onion soup mix, which is the number 1 flavor in any holiday dip down here in the south. Spinach artichoke, creamy onion, you name it, there’s a soup mix in there. Just the smell makes me think of every Christmas party I go to, standing there with a red paper plate full of dips and an eggnog in my hand.

So, this is a great recipe to usher in the season! The chicken comes out tender and coated in a thick glaze, with almost no effort from you at all!

Quick trick: Use a slow cooker liner to make this recipe even easier! At one point, I have you drain off the chicken juice, and it’s way easier just to pull out the meat and pick up the liner and drain then to scoop out juice one spoon at a time.

It also freezes beautifully, which is my priority when I’m cooking and eating for one. I cooked it all today and left one portion in the fridge, and the rest is in my freezer in small tupperwares perfect to pull out every morning for lunch. This meal is also super cheap and pretty healthy, a real winner for anyone watching money, low on time, and trying to eat lightly.

Dig in!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins
• 1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 8 oz (half a bottle) fat free Catalina salad dressing
• 1 package dry onion soup mix

TO PREPARE:

• Place the chicken in a slow cooker and cook on high 2.5 hours.
• Drain juice from slow cooker
• In a mixing  bowl, combine other ingredients and pour over chicken
• Cook on high another 45 minutes, until the sauce is thick and coats the chicken.

Enjoy!