Oven Tacos

I have never really been a big fan of ground beef tacos. I rarely had them as a kid because my mom makes a mean shredded beef that is incredibly easy so that was almost always what filled our taco shells. I surprisingly haven’t shared that recipe, I need to get on that.

Although I’m not a ground meat taco fan, I was intrigued by the name of these tacos so I had to take a closer look. They sounded a lot like a simplified version of enchiladas that you could throw together on a busy weeknight. And that’s how they tasted too. The original recipe made a large amount of tacos so I halved and tweaked it a bit to fit our tastes. These tacos were simple and required few ingredients with great results. They will be going on our regular menu rotation this fall!

Oven Tacos
recipe adapted from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures

1 lb. ground turkey
8 ounces of  canned refried beans (1/2 a can)
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 batch homemade taco seasoing (or half if you like things less spicy)
3/4 cup shredded cheese
Approximately 10-12 hard taco shells
Lettuce, salsa, sour cream, for serving

1. Brown ground turkey. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.

2. Spoon mixture into taco shells.

3. Place filled shells into a baking pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.

4. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

Turkey Avocado Wraps

These turkey avocado wraps, also known as my new favorite lunch, are the best! Noah is so incredibly busy so I am always looking for quick and easy lunches to throw together that are still relatively healthy. The salt and crunchiness of the bacon is soo good with the creamy guacamole. And who doesn’t love turkey and cheese? These are just perfect in my book!

Turkey Avocado Wraps

1 whole wheat tortilla
3 slices deli turkey
1 slice of bacon, cooked crisp
1 slice cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. guacamole

Spread guacamole over tortilla then layer with turkey, bacon and cheese. Roll up and slice in half.

Brined and Roasted Turkey {My 1st Turkey}

I have never, ever made a turkey. I have never eaten a brined turkey but I know about all the hype. So I thought for my first turkey, I would go all out and hope for the best. And it turns out it was pretty simple. The hardest thing was rinsing the turkey and getting all the inards out. I absolutely hate touching raw meat so I may have been a little prissy about the whole process. I’m glad the family was downstairs watching a football game so that they didn’t have to witness my ridiculousness. I may have let out a squeal-y “ewwww” as I stuck my hand in the darned bird.

But oh man was it worth the 30 seconds of disgust. I don’t mean to brag but this was probably the juiciest and tastiest roasted turkey I have ever had. Brining really does make all the difference. Any turkey cooked in my home will always be brined…no question.

Because I’ve never made a turkey before, Joel has never had to carve one so he got a little lesson from his dad.

This turkey seemed like a lot of work…more work than I had time for so I skipped the homemade turkey stock and simply basted the turkey with chicken stock. I also just made a simple pan gravy with the drippings and a cornstarch slurry. If you want to be a total allstar, you can click the source below to get the details.

Brined and Roasted Turkey
recipe from Emeril Lagasse

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey
Brine, recipe follows
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

1. Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.   Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with the butter. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string.

3. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

4. Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Brine
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.

Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Buffalo Sloppy Joes

I love to try Rachael Ray recipes. They may not always be gourmet or fancy but I have never claimed to be either of those things. She creates simple, accessible and yummy recipes that are usually relatively healthy. You can’t beat that. These buffalo sloppy joes were not an exception.

The addition of carrot, celery and onion sneaks in veggies for picky kids (or husbands in my case) without them noticing. I have a hard time finding ground chicken in my grocery store so I substituted ground turkey which was totally delicious. I found the sauce to be a little runny so I simmered the final product for about 10 minutes and it thickened up nicely. They were still very drippy and messy so make sure you have plenty of napkins handy.

I found that 1/4 cup of hot pepper sauce was just right for us but if you like your food with a big kick increase the amount. Joel and I aren’t fans of blue cheese so we topped ours with a drizzle of ranch, pickles and melted provolone. This is definitely a quick and easy meal that has become a new favorite in our home!

Buffalo Sloppy Joes
recipe from Rachael Ray

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken or turkey breast
1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted
1 cup blue cheese crumbles or provolone slices
2 large dill pickles, chopped
Ranch

1. Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in carrots, celery, onions and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more.

2. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomato sauce and stock. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more (I simmered for about 10 minutes). Pile sloppy buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese and chopped pickles.