Baked French Fries

We LOVE these fries.  They take a little work (There is a trick to getting them brown and crispy that I didn’t know before reading this! You may be surprised!

Baked French Fries – adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (well, not so new anymore)

1 ¼ pounds baking potatoes
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon paprika

1.  Fill a large bowl with water and add 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and mix to dissolve.  (It may not all dissolve and that's ok)
2.  As you cut the potatoes, put them in the water to soak.  Once you have all the potatoes in the bowl, let them soak for 15 minutes.
3.  Preheat the oven to 450°F; spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. (I use Reynold's Non-Stick Foil instead! It's the BEST!)
4.  Drain the potatoes and use paper towels to blot them dry. 
5.  Drizzle the oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with paprika.  Stir to coat them well.
6.  Spread them out on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until desired crispness, stirring and turning the potatoes about every 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining salt when done.

FYI: DON'T SKIP THE SOAKING STEP! It is important in getting crispy fries.  The sugar in the water helps to pull the water out of the potato. This is the difference from other Baked French Fries recipes I have tried in the past.  These ones are not soggy!


These are the best, healthiest, fresh cut fries you are going to get without getting them from somewhere that deep fries them.  And I think they are just as good, if not better because there is no grease.  And no stomach ache later!

Enjoy!

Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf

My hubby and I have always loved buffalo wings, but what we really love is the hot sauce/blue cheese combination.  It has so much flavor!  I had previously made Buffalo Turkey Meatballs, but meatballs are so labor intensive, and I don't really want to spend my time rolling meat into balls.  So, I went ahead and modified the recipe and came up with this recipe for the meatloaf.  I also double it.  You can freeze the cooked meatloaf for another meal!  Feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don't want two.  :)

Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf

2-20 oz. packages of ground turkey (or chicken)
4 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 eggs
1/3 cups chopped celery
1/3 cup crumbled low fat blue cheese
1 teaspoon pepper
6 oz. Frank's Red Hot + more for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well.  Form into two loaves and place into a 15x10 glass dish.  You can also use two smaller dishes if you don't have that size.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Coat with additional Frank's Red Hot sauce and bake for 15 more minutes, or until internal temperature registers 165 degrees.  Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

You will notice a lot of water bakes off the loaves.  That is normal.

We really liked this!  We tend to like things a little spicy, so we added even more hot sauce to the slices we put on our plate.  I served this with broccoli.  But it would be good with any hot veggie or a big salad!

Enjoy!

Greek-Style Turkey Burgers

I first made this recipe early this past year when Frank and I were following the 17 Day Diet eating plan.  Both Frank and I realized we loved eating less carbs, and we felt better while we were doing it.  So, several of the recipes have become ones I make often.

This recipe is a modification of a few recipes I came across.  I like to make the turkey burger patties in advance and freeze them so I can pull them out easily when I want to make this recipe.

Greek Style Turkey Burgers

Burgers:
small diced onion or dried onion
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
20 package ground turkey
Baby Spinach leave
3 tomato slices

Sauce:
1/2 cup plain, non-fat greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped peeled cucumber
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced

In a mixing bowl, mix the burger ingredients (except for the spinach and tomato) together and shape into 4 patties.  Grill on outdoor grill or countertop grill until burgers are cooked to 165 -170 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, place the sauce ingredients and blend until smooth. 

Serve each burger by placing a tomato slice on the plate, top with a burger patty, then a handful of baby spinach, another tomato slice, then spoon sauce over top. 

These are great if you are looking for a no/low carb meal.  Yes, you have to eat it with a fork and knife, but they are still pretty delicious!

Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes and Feta

I have been searching for healthy vegetable dishes to serve as side dishes. I love all these flavors and decided to try this recipe I found at myrecipes.com with a couple small changes. You can view the original recipe here.

Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes and Feta

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic or 1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons crumbled reduced-fat feta

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar; cook 3 minutes. Stir in salt. Arrange asparagus on a platter; top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and pepper.

I served this along side meatloaf and we really liked it.  The kids did not eat it, but that was fine because there was more for us. The one part of the recipe I was confused about was cooking the asparagus. I was unsure whether to bring the water to a boil, then add the asparagus, or put the asparagus in the pot with the water, bring to a boil, and then cook for 2 minutes. Well, I ended up putting the asparagus in before bringing the water to a boil, but I was happy with the result.  I like my asparagus a little more tender than crisp, but I don't like it soggy.  So it's up to you to decide how you want to try it.  If you make it the other way, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!

Turkey Meatballs

As many of you may know, we have been trying to eat healthier at our house, so I have been making some changes to things we like to eat. I was looking for a good meatball recipe to make with ground turkey, and after looking at several, I put together one of my own. Sorry there is no picture....we were hurrying to eat dinner to make it to basketball on time!

Turkey Meatballs

20 oz. package ground turkey

1 egg

1/4 cup Hodgson Mill Oat Bran cereal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1.    Heat oven to 375 degrees. 

2.    Mix all ingredients in large bowl until well combined.

3.    Roll into balls using 1 tbsp. of meat for each. (I use a 1 tbsp. cookie dough scoop to measure and then formed with my hand)

4.    Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with non-stick foil or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 8 minutes, turn over.  Bake 8 more minutes, turn over.  Bake 8 more minutes, and remove from oven. Total bake time is 24 minutes.

5.    At this point you have meatballs to use in any recipe you want!  Either eat or freeze for later use.

Makes about 45 meatballs.

These were so good, I'm thinking I won't need to make them with beef ever again. My son was gobbling them up right out of the oven. And my husband even commented on their tasty flavor.  So, this is definitely a keeper recipe for us!!!

Hope you like them, too!!