Turkey Noodle Soup

Hard to believe that I am talking turkey a month after Christmas!  But the turkey leftovers are long gone, except for the turkey that my Dad froze for us after he cleaned off the turkey at Christmas - and so, it is time for a Turkey Noodle Soup.  Here is my recipe:

Turkey Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups turkey or chicken stock (I used organic chicken stock)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon parsley
2 cups egg noodles
2 cups of turkey, diced

In a large pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil until the onions start to soften, approximately 3 minutes.  Add in the minced garlic.  Sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Add in the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat.  Add in the potato cubes, simmer for 5 minutes.  Add in the carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, pepper and parsley.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add in the noodles and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add the diced turkey, allow the turkey to warm through.  Serve and enjoy!

VERDICT
A nice, hearty soup in the middle of winter, no matter how mild winter is this year :-)  A nice change to chicken noodle soup.  Tasted great!

Meal Plan Monday

Here we are...Monday again. Hard to believe...it's nearly February!  How was your weekend? Ours was relatively quiet...the usual swimming / hockey / tennis / groceries / laundry - it wasn't crazy busy and still seemed to fly by.  We've got a busy week coming up, so I've planned ahead with our meals:

Sunday - Lasagne (chock full of veggies, cuz that's how I roll)

Monday - Leftover lasagne

Tuesday - Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Coleslaw -  I'm trying a new recipe this time, but if you want to check out some of my other pulled pork recipes, this one for Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork is very popular, as is this one for BBQ Pulled Pork.

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Soup in the slow cooker...just not sure which one yet :-)

Friday - Leftovers / clean out the fridge... and Mama's going out for dinner with the girls!

Saturday - Hockey tournament...looks like take out.

Happy planning!

Turkey Pot Pie with Puff Pastry

Ahh yes, turkey leftovers.  We hosted Christmas dinner at our house this year, which means we had lots of turkey leftovers.  I got to experiment and try some new to me recipes for those turkey leftovers.  This time we went for a delicious Turkey Pot Pie, great comfort food!

Here is my recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup carrot, washed, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup peppers (I used red and yellow)
2 stalks celery, washed and sliced
2 1/2 cups turkey or chicken broth (I used organic chicken broth)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups turkey, chopped
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
Puff Pastry (2 sheets)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Add in the onions, sauté until soft.  Add in the other vegetables, continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat, pour in the white wine, continue to cook until the wine has cooked off.  Add in the chicken broth and seasoning, bring to a boil.  Add in the flour to thicken.  Once thickened, add in the turkey, heat through.

Line a pie plate with puff pastry (I used the pre-made butter puff pastry, found in the frozen food section), fill the pie with the turkey mixture.  Top with another sheet of puff pastry.  Pinch the two sheets of pastry together, add in a few "breathing holes" on top of the pie (I just used a knife to cut a few slits into the top of the pie). 

Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes, or until top of pie is golden.

Serve and enjoy!

VERDICT:
This was a big hit with our family.  Everyone inhaled their dinner...and my hubby asked if I was making another one for dinner the next night.  Looks like this is a keeper :-)

Throwback Thursday

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so I thought it was fitting if I shared a Valentine's inspired recipe for this week's Throwback Thursday!  These cookies are so pretty.  A bit of work (especially if you are home alone with the kids!) - but they are well-received!

Here is this week's Throwback Thursday Recipe - Valentine's Heart Cookies! (link to the original recipe in the title).

Breakfast Cookies

Yes, you read that right.  Breakfast Cookies! Here at Addicted to Recipes, I'm a big cookie lover, always have been, probably always will be.  Y'all also know that I also love muffins.  But I've been into shaking things up a bit, and decided I wanted to try some breakfast cookies.  I saw some for sale at the grocery store the other day, so I took the little flyer about the cookies, read the ingredients, did some research, improvised, and this is what I came up with.

Breakfast Cookies

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used natural peanut butter)
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup oats
1/2 cup coconut (I used medium shredded)
1 cup (combined) of flax seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds, raisins, cranberries, pitted/diced dates

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter, honey, butter, egg and vanilla.

In a second bowl. combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, oats and coconut.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing just to combine.

Fold in the seed and fruit mixture.  Spoon onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes, remove from oven and cool slightly before moving to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

VERDICT:
I love these, perfectly easy grab and go snack, especially for my work morning.  I can't send these to school or daycare because of the peanut butter, but we can take them to work.  The kids like them too...which is great for a "healthy" cookie!

Meal Plan Monday

Hello friends, Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was fairly quiet, our toddler was feeling under the weather, so he and I did a lot of hanging out and cuddling.  Our oldest has his usual activities over the weekend - hockey, swimming and tennis, and I did get a special visit in with a good friend on Friday night (before baby's fever hit).  However...I still didn't get the laundry caught up!

Here is this week's meal plan:

Sunday - Ribs (done two ways - Maple Glazed Ribs for the kids, and Sweet & Spicy Ribs for the adults), Dawn's Baked Beans, Roasted Broccoli

Monday - Pork chops, leftover baked beans, salad

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday! With Homemade Taco Seasoning.

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Homemade Hamburger Helper

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Undecided (yup, two weeks in a row, undecided on our Saturday dinner!)

What's on your meal plan this week?

Cranberry Banana Maple Muffins

Yum, muffins.  We all know that I love them.  I know, they aren't always the best for you, but hey...a girl likes what a girl likes!  Maybe in addition to being Addicted to Recipes, I am also addicted to muffins!  I actually took a bit of a break from the muffin baking through December - with the holidays and all the places we had to be all the time, baking seemed to take a back seat for a while.  But it's January, and I'm back on track!

I was taking stock in my fridge and came on some cranberries that needed to be used, so these muffins were born!

Cranberry Banana Maple Muffins

1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oats (I used quick oats)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 bananas
1/2 cup butter, melted

1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, salt).

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (egg, maple syrup, bananas, melted butter).

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix to combine.  Fold in the cranberries.

Spoon batter into lined muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

VERDICT:
Our oldest told me that these are his "favouristest muffins ever!" - which says a lot for our first time having these.  These were a hit with the whole family.  The sweetness of the maple syrup is there, as is the tartness of the cranberries.  Next time I would probably put in a few more cranberries (on the 1 1/2 cup side).  Enjoy!