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The Quickest And Easiest Meal Ever!

Every parent knows the struggle of figuring out all kinds of tasty lunch box fillers that wouldn’t be totally unhealthy or difficult to make. If you happen to have a picky eater or two then you know the task gets even more daunting. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches did the trick for a while, but these days I get “the look” if I try to suggest those again…

You know “the look”, don’t you? It’s the one that is sort of a mixture of cringing, disappointment, horror and “whatever you say, Mommy”. It makes me feel awful and I really don’t want to do that to my kids anymore, even though I do think we should be grateful for the things we have – including all kinds of food.

Heck, I couldn’t eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches five days in a row, so I can’t expect them to do so! That’s why I tried a different kind of sandwich and it turned out a huge success!

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Quick Tip: This are super awesome with homemade tortillas but store-bought are really tasty, too!

Stop! Don’t you dare throw those Thanksgiving leftovers away!

Not that I thought any of you would ever do such a crazy thing. I mean, how wasteful would that be? Very! However, there is a dilemma that we all face each year after the big holiday dinner and that is all the leftovers.

What the heck do we do with all of those leftovers?! I mean, you can only eat turkey for so many meals after the fact. My mother used to make a big old pot of turkey noodle soup and it was delish! However, that didn’t tackle the issue of the side dish leftovers.

I’ve found a recipe over on the Dining With Alice website that does tackle this beast. Good ‘ol Alice is quite a gem in the kitchen and she came up with a Thanksgiving leftover casserole. And get this…there are tater tots in it! Your kids will love this hot dish. yeah, I said “hot dish”. Apparently, that is what meals like this are called in Minnesota. I like it 🙂

Recipe and image courtesy of Dining With Alice.

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Quick Tip: You can make this yummy casserole and freeze it for later.

I am a huge fan of fusion meals. Not only fusion as in two countries’ flavors fused into one dish, but just opposites in one meal. For example, salty and sweet. That is such a cool combination to me and I really cannot get enough of it. I love to chow down a good dish of salty and sweet pretzels for example. There is nothing better than a pretzel dipped in some milk chocolate. Yum, yum!

Now, since I love this so much, I really enjoy playing with different flavors to achieve it. We have something like this in our Cuban culture with fried ripe plantains. They are basically sweet bananas fried to golden perfection and eaten along with our normally savory meal. It adds a touch of sweetness to our meals that is so cool! So, I decided I had to get something similar but with more of an American style meal which is how I came up with this cranberry turkey salad. It is cold and has the mix of the salty turkey with the sweet cranberry. Together, it is the perfect topping for a green salad or filling for a hearty sandwich. There are so many yummy things to be made with this one!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Six Sister’s Stuff.

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Quick Tip: Add any veggies you’d like.

We never get tired of turkey, do we? I actually love it more than chicken; and chicken is my most favorite meat—there’s a difference. Chicken is a staple meat in almost everyone’s household. It’s one of the meats under the “daily meat” list. Turkey on the other hand barely grazes most tables. It’s a “special occasion” meat. I consider any turkey meal a luxury dish, or something that I shouldn’t indulge myself with too much unless it’s on a special occasion like Thanksgiving or a milestone in my life. So when it’s turkey day, I make sure to exert all effort in cooking. Turkey is more flavorful. There’s this distinct taste that you will not find in chicken meat. There’s this essence that’s exclusive to it that allows you to level up with your recipe because of the additional flavor it gives.

During thanksgiving, I always experiment with the turkey stuffing. I place every ingredient I want in the mixture and replace everything I don’t want. Of course I let a particular person get away with a dash of chili flakes; but nonetheless, between me and my boyfriend, I have always been the Turkey Boss. That is until he tried this thanksgiving recipe he discovered that made me completely surrender the Turkey Boss title to him.

Photo courtesy of Sugar Dish Me. Recipe courtesy of Recipe Lion.

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Quick Tip: Serve with your favorite wine.

Did you get carried away and cook a little too much chicken or turkey? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. In fact, it happens to me a lot! When it gets to dinner time, I’m usually already so hungry that I assume I can eat like a horse. Surprisingly, though, my tummy doesn’t always agree, so I’m left with all this extra chicken. Which is why I have a stash of great leftover recipes!

This time I wanted a little something different! I’ve made all kinds of soups and casseroles from leftovers, but I hadn’t tried this recipe yet. So I thought, why not – and it turned out so tasty I’ll probably use the same one next time! This recipe makes 6 servings so it’s a great dinner for the whole family, especially when served with a nice salad and some fresh bread.

Recipe and photo courtesy of All Recipes

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Quick tip: For lesser calories, you can sub light dairy products.

There are so many ways to cook a turkey, that sometimes the simpler ways are overlooked. Fresh meat, savory green herbs of all types, and a redefined sweet gravy, make this a reinvention of a true classic. Whether you’re making this for America’s big day of binging, some other special occasion or just simply because you want a nice meal, it’s a recipe you’re going to hold on to for the rest of your life.

The recipe feeds about 12 people, and introduces fresh herbs like: sage, thyme, and rosemary, tucked under a crisp skin. The gravy is a new take on an old classic, incorporating hints of cranberry, and other sweet seasonal flavors. If you don’t have a yearly turkey recipe already, adopting this one, will set you apart, every year. I make turkey a few times, year round, mostly because this recipe is so incredibly delicious that I can’t always wait until the big day!

Recipe and photo courtesy of Betty Crocker

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Quick tip: The leftovers make mind blowing sandwiches with that incredible cranberry gravy!

There’s one thing that always makes me scratch my head when the holidays are over. Why is it that we only cook turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas? At least that’s how it seems to be in my family. It is such a special meal and everyone loves it (to the point where they fight over the last piece) – so why not make it more often, throughout the year? Well, once you’ve tried this recipe I’m pretty sure you will make it year round. Friends, this one is a keeper! Food Network’s Alton Brown has the perfect simple recipe, for fork-tender, moist cuts of meat, and a buttery crisp skin.

Keep in mind, preparation for this recipe must start two to three days in advance. Thawing the turkey in the refridgerator is still the best method to defrosting. You shouldn’t rush the process. You can also prepare the vegetable stock/Brine at the same time. Letting it sit, will ensure your turkey is infused with rich and bold flavors, that will invade your other dinners for a week.

Recipe and photo courtesy of  The Food Network

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Quick tip: The left overs can be made into anything from cranberry-stuffing turkey sandwiches, to turkey soup, open-faced turkey sandwiches with gravy, to turkey salad.