Creamy Turkey Soup/Gravy

Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving.  I love to cook a whole turkey or a turkey roast about once a month.  I cook it at 325 degrees in my roaster oven.  All I do is sprinkle minced garlic, salt, and pepper over it.   We will eat it for dinner one night and then I'll usually make soup with it the next night.  I freeze the rest of the leftovers.

I concocted this recipe as a way to secretly get my family to eat vegetables.  I have found that if I blend the cooked vegetables up and make them into a thick broth, my family will gobble it up.  If I leave them as chopped pieces, they will pick out what they think they don't like.

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped, cooked turkey
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 chopped onion
1 TBSP minced garlic

Directions:
Cook veggies in 2 cups chicken broth until tender.  Blend until smooth and add all ingredients together in crockpot.  Allow to simmer until ready to serve.

My husband and kids used it as a gravy over leftover mashed potatoes.  I'm not a big potato fan, so I had brown rice.  It was super delicious and everyone LOVED it!!!  They had no idea that it was FULL of vegetables.

Sweet Sour Meatballs

I got this recipe from BeachBody's Thin Kitchen Recipe Book.  My entire family LOVED it!!!

Meatballs:
1 lb of lean ground turkey
1 cup cooked brown rice (I have used quinoa too)
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/2 cup green onion (I have used 1 TBSP dried onion)
1 TBSP light soy sauce
1 tsp ginger (I don't really like ginger, so I didn't add it)

Combine Meatball ingredients, make into golf size balls and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min (line baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper for easier clean up).   I put the meatballs in my slow cooker on warm and topped with sauce.

Sauce
3/4 cup reduced sodium, low fat chicken broth
1/3 cup chili sauce (if you like A LOT of kick, try Sriracha-WOW)
3 TBSP rice vinegar
2 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until everything is dissolved.  Place over medium heat and stir intermittently until it comes to a boil.  Reduce to low and stir for another minute until it thickens slightly.

I used Sriracha because that was the only "chili sauce" that I had and it was SPICY.  The next time I made it I added more chicken broth and less Sriracha.  That helped, but it still had a bit of a kick.  If you don't like that much spice, try a more mild chili sauce.

FUNCTIONAL Clean Eating

Question from one of the members from my Clean Eating and Fitness group:
"My biggest need is to take the time to convert/remake recipes of meals my family likes and eats to cleaner versions.  I don't feel like I should be making two meals every night, one for me and one for them."

After much thought and consideration, I have decided that I'm calling it FUNCTIONAL CLEAN EATING
Clean eating isn't an EXACT term with precise guidelines to follow.  That means that I get to make up my own interpretation of  what I think clean eating should be.




FUNCTIONAL CLEAN EATING IS NOT

• A diet or eating plan with RIGID RULES
• Calorie counting, subtracting, or calculations of any kind
• Exactly defined
• To be over thought
• Eating foods that have been injected with chemicals you can't pronouce

FUNCTIONAL CLEAN EATING IS

• Open to a interpretation 
• An easy lifestyle to adopt- if taken slowly
• About eating foods in their most natural state POSSIBLE
• Avoiding foods that have been stripped of their nutritional value

MY BASIC GUIDELINES
These guidelines are what I have found to work for me.

• Unrefined whole grains
• Eating fresh fruits and vegetables with each meal (making up 50% of the "plate")
• Drinking 1/2 my body weight in WATER
• No artificial sweeteners
• Restricting my sugar intake- 1-2 sweets per week
• Eating healthy fats from natural sources: nuts, coconut oil, avocados
• Choosing foods closest to their NATURAL STATE as possible
• Constantly learning how to cook and eat as cleanly as possible
• Simplifying things by planning and prepping
• One weekly "cheat" meal!

MY BASIC GUIDELINES FOR FEEDING MY FAMILY

• Make vegetables and fruit readily available at all times
• Encouraging, not forcing, the kids to try new "clean" foods
• Making 1-2 of their favorite "less clean" meals every week
• Family cheat meal once a week- such as ordering a pizza
• My kids get to have their own choice of 1 box of "sugar" cereal each week
• I will also buy a "treat" for each of them each week-they get to choose it.  Sometimes it's Oreo's and sometimes it's chips.  I don't limit their intake, but when it's gone, it's gone.
• Sometimes I do cook 2 dinners, I don't know how to get away from that.
• Sometimes I just eat what they are eating.
• I know that whatever I make will still be healthier than fast food.

When I first started eating clean, many of my meals were a DISASTER!  Even I thought that they were disgusting.  I have had to learn through trial and error and you will too.  

ABOVE ALL REMEMBER THAT 

 

Many of you may not agree with my idea of "functional" clean eating, but that doesn't matter.  You need to come up with your own interpretation.  Just be a good example, make the best choices possible and eventually your family and friends will have a desire to join you in your healthy lifestyle.  Don't try to make everyone become "clean eaters" cold turkey.  Transition them into it slowly.  Make small changes and eventually you will notice a BIG change.

For more great tips/ideas check out The Gracious Pantry Clean Eating 101

Start Small

This is a SECRET!!! DO NOT TELL MY FAMILY!!! I substitute cream soups and mayo with greek yogurt in my casseroles and soups. Yep, no one has noticed! 

I also started using ground turkey in soups, spaghetti, tacos several years ago. We still have to use ground beef for our hamburgers, but my brother raises his own beef so it's as organic as you can get. 

The other day I was pulling out whole grain noodles to cook and my teenage son said "Gross, don't use the brown noodles." I told him that I had been using "brown noodles" for the past 5 years. He said "Oh." I'm so sneaky!!!\

Start small. Change one thing every week: Start replacing your white, processed foods with whole grains. 

Then quit buying sugar loaded beverages. 

Take the candy and cookie jars off the counter and replace them with fruits. 

Leave a plate of veggies on the kitchen counter in the afternoon for when the kids come home from school and for when you get the munchies. 

Make your food from scratch to limit additives and preservatives.

Carbohydrates

I instructed my challenge group to eat 5-6 small meals daily, pairing a lean protein and a complex carbohydrate.  I soon realized after several questions, that I had been very vague by saying this.  What I should have said it to include a fruit or vegetable with each meal, pairing it with a lean protein, and to limit starchy carbohydrates to 2-4 servings daily.  Eat at least 4 vegetables with a low Glycemic Index each day.  For more info on Glycemic Index, check out What is the Glycemic Index? 

So what are carbohydrates?  

Carbohydrates come in two forms: simple and complex.  Simple carbohydrates (SC) include processed starches, fructose and refined sugar. SC are digested quickly into glucose causing spikes in blood sugar. Most SC are empty calories because they contain few nutrients.  Complex carbohydrates (CC) include whole grains, legumes, vegetables. CC are nutrient dense and when paired with a lean protein help to keep you fuller longer while rebuilding muscle.  CC are digested more slowly, causing glucose to enter you blood stream more slowly and help to maintain a more even blood sugar level.  

Fruit and Other Natural Sugars

Fruit, honey and milk products are SC.   However, these are whole foods and are considered clean.  I

recommend eating 2 servings of  fruit per day.  Not only are they delicious and satisfying, they are nutrient dense.  I do use honey, pure maple syrup and other natural sugars in small amounts nearly everyday.  There are many recipes for breads and even clean sweets that you can replace processed sugar with honey (add 1/2 the amount called for).  Honey is still high in calories, but it is a far better choice.  I drizzle about 1/2 Tbsp of pure maple sugar on my Pumpkin Protein Pancakes.  

Starchy Carbohydrates

Starchy carbohydrates include bananas, potatoes, rice and grains, pasta, and breads.  These carbohydrates are all full of nutrients such as fiber, calcium, iron and B vitamins.  Many people try to avoid starchy carbs when dieting.  However, since clean eating isn't a diet, I recommend eating them in moderation.  Keep the proper portion sizes and keep it to 2-4 servings of starchy carbs per day.  If trying to lose weight, aim for only 2 servings.

  

Oats:  I buy oats in the bulk section.  I use them in my meatloaf, meatballs, for cereal, granola bars and I grind it to make oat flour.  Usually oats are the only grain that I eat in a day.  This is due to my own preference.  I would rather get my starch carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables.

Brown Rice and whole wheat pasta are other great clean starchy carb option.  I switched over to brown rice

and whole wheat pasta several years ago.  The other day I was putting pasta in a pot to boil and my son said "Gross, why are you using brown pasta?"  I told him that I had been using it for years and that I hadn't bought "white" pasta for a very long time.  He had never noticed.

  

Flour:  Replacing processed white flour for wheat may seem daunting, but overtime you and your family will adjust to it.  I have white flour in my food storage, but I haven't used it for several months.  I have even been putting all wheat flour in my cookies lately.

Bread:  Not all breads are created equal.  Once again, it is important to read the labels.  Just because the packaging says whole wheat, doesn't mean it isn't processed.  The best bread I have been able to find is Harper's Homemade Honey Wheat.  The very best option is to make your own (which I don't do because I would eat the entire loaf).