I have a bad habit of taking out a bunch of meat for the week and not really planning through my dinners (although, I am trying to get better with this). So I found myself with a container of turkey meat ready to go, but also a ton of veggies that were about to go bad as well. I needed to put on my thinking cap and figure out how to merge the two.

That’s how I came up with today’s recipe: open-faced turkey and portobello mushroom burgers.

What you need:

Portobello mushroom caps (1 per person/serving)

Ground, lean turkey meat ( I had a pound,but you can use what you have)

1 onion

Garlic powder

Red pepper flakes

Franch dressing (optional)

First, I popped 2 portobello mushroom caps into the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

While the mushroom caps were cooking, I chopped up the onion and sauteed it.

With the mushrooms cooking, I started to prepare the turkey meat. I knew I was not going to serve the whole 1 pound package of meat for dinner, but I figured any extra burger could be used for lunch the next day.

I put the meat in a mixing bowl and added a dash of garlic powder and a dash of red pepper flakes. I mixed all of this together, and when I was done, I grabbed my trusty 21DF red container to help me portion out our servings.

I am SO happy I have these containers, because before, I probably would have just split the meat between two servings. The pound of meat is enough for almost 3 burgers!

Anyway, once the onions were done cooking, I cooked the burgers in the same pan (no need to create more mess!). Just pay attention to the cooking time to make sure the burgers are cooked through, but still juicy. Feel free to use a knife to cut the middle to take a peek.

By the time the burgers were ready, so were the mushrooms. Take the mushrooms out of the oven and place 1 on each plate. Then, top the mushroom with a burger. I decided to use my Franch dressing we still had around instead of cheese. The Franch dressing counts as a protein, so I figured it was a better choice than cheese.

Add a little sautee onion and you got yourself a healthy, crave-worthy burger that I guarantee you will be making again!

21DF peeps: 1.5 green, 1 red

I literally cannot believe this recipe.

I had the idea of finding a “healthy” ranch dressing recipe for our super bowl festivities, but I honestly did not think it would be THIS good.

I couldn’t wait to share this with everyone, and kept it out of my Super Bowl recap because I thought it was totally deserving of it’s own post!

Guilt-free Homemade Ranch Dressing

Or as Pete likes to call it…”Franch Dressing” (Fake Ranch Dressing)

What you need:

1.5 cups Greek yogurt

2 Tsp dill weed

2 Tbsp garlic power

4 Tbsp parm cheese

4 Tbsp of olive oil

In a food processor, mix all the ingredients except for the olive oil until smooth.

Slowly add one tbsp of olive oil at a time.

You can add more olive oil to give the dressing more of a liquid consistency, if you desire. I tried to keep this healthy, so I did not add that much to mine, so it came out more like a dip consistency, but it was INSANELY good.

We used this as our buffalo wing dip, but I can’t wait to try it with another dish!

Another guilt-free, crave-worthy success in our kitchen 🙂

Stuffed peppers have always been a go-to for me. They are an easy way to get loads of nutrients in a small and delicious dish.

Recently, I found out that my stuffed peppers are my fiancee’s favorite dish that I make, so it’s only fitting that this is my first recipe post!

I will lovingly call this dish… “Pete’s Perfect Pepper”.

My stuffed peppers are always different because I basically use whatever I have in the house. No matter what, try to stick to these basic categories: 1) the pepper (duh); 2) a lean meat; 3) a little carb; 4) a light sauce.

Total cook time: 30 minutes

What you need:

2 medium/large green bell peppers

1.5 cups of lean meat (for this recipe I used tomato basil chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s)

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup cooked quinoa

First, boil a pot of water and place the peppers into the water. Let them cook until they are soft, but not falling apart.  Depending on the size of the pepper, this usually takes about 15/20 minutes.

While the peppers are cooking, get your stuffing ready!

Today, I used 1.5 cups of lean meat for our stuffing (3/4 cup for a single serving).

I don’t like to waste the tops of the peppers, so I sautee them quickly, and throw them into the stuffing mixture for some extra veggies.

A little carb helps keep the stuffing together. I usually stick to quinoa, but you can use brown rice or even lentils. Quinoa is naturally gluten-free, and is known as a “super food” because of all the nutrients it packs in its small shell. Even though quinoa is a “seed”, it is categorized as a carb since it is prepped and eaten as a grain. I used to make the mistake of eating large portions of quinoa, so just keep an eye on how much of this you are eating on a regular basis. For this recipe, I keep it to one serving per pepper, which is 1/2 cup .

Finally, it’s time to get saucy! I use a simple tomato sauce for all my stuffed peppers. I tend to think this goes well with any lean meat you are using. 1/2 cup is plenty for each pepper! Another tip to keep in mind, make sure you don’t pick a sauce that has too much sugar or sodium in it. Be sure to read the labels!

Now its time to put it together! Mix the stuffing together so everything is coated in the tomato sauce. Remove the peppers from the pot, and stuff them!

If you would like to add cheese, you can add a little part-skim mozzarella to the top of the peppers. The heat of the pepper should melt the cheese nicely.

Voila! You have yourself a lean veggie, super-food packed meal!

Any leftovers are great for the lunch the next day! Or you can turn the stuffing into some other fun dish 🙂

For my 21DF peeps, here is the breakdown:

1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1/2 purple, optional 1/2-1 blue