another recipe for those ground turkey (or lean beef) logs.  i have never thought of meatloaf as a healthy dish, ever.  it even sounds like anything but healthy. every now and then i want it though, so every now and then i make it.  i know you’ll enjoy and appreciate this flavorful, lighter, healthier, yet filling recipe.

lean turkey meat loaf

the stuff:

meatloaf:

• 1 cup almond milk (or skim milk)
• 1 minced yellow onion
• 1 med shallot or 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 slices of double fiber wheat bread
• 2 lbs of ground turkey 93/7% or 99% lean (i used one of each)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon tony c’s (seasoning salt)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 whole eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites
• few squirts of low sodium worcestershire sauce

sauce:

• 1-1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard or yellow mustard
• tabasco to taste

do this:

pre-heat your oven right now before you forget @ 350 deg. start by soaking the bread in the milk for a couple minutes.  while that does its thing, chop up the shallots and/or garlic, yellow onion, parsley, and cilantro.  in a huge bowl, throw everything in (soaked bread, veggies, meat, eggs, seasonings). make sure those hands are scrubbed clean, then dive on in and mix.  i stuck with the boring, classic loaf shape and put it on my broil/grill pan. i’ll be more adventurous next time.

as you can see, i like my veggies nice and chunky.  you can dice/mince them if that’s too big for your liking.

top the loaf with only half the sauce for now, and let it bake for 45 minutes.  that’ll produce this:

 go ahead and sauce it one more time, and pop it back in the for last 15.

i fished out my meat thermometer and stuck it right in the center of the loaf- that little dial shot up so fast!! it was definitely overdone and i worried that it might be dry as i was already using lean meat.

nope, it was still juicy, flavorful, and moist.  even still, i suggest you check the temp after about 35 minutes in.

 2 lbs makes plenty- we ate off this thing for about 3 days for sure.  tasted better and better each time.

instead of the usual mashed potatoes and peas, i did cabbage.  cabbage is a nutritious veggie that is cheap and produces A LOT. it doesn’t wilt down so much like spinach does.

 i sliced up 1 yellow onion, 1 green bell pepper, and a few slices of bacon for flavor (2-3).  before topping the pot and letting it simmer on med-low for about 20 minutes, i pour in about 1/2 – 1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth to help get the steaming process going.  i like my cabbage with a little crunch to it, but you’ll just have to taste test it along the way.  oh don’t forget to add fresh cracked black pepper and as little salt as necessary.  i was able to get 12 generous slices out of the loaf.

stats per serving:

cals: 140 (w/out sauce)

165 (w/ sauce)

fat: 1.6g

protein: 6g

fiber: 1g

last thing i HAD to share! no matter how much i love a product, i never trust their (or anybody’s) portion sizes.  i was getting snacks ready for the week and although i  didn’t want to lol, i put that chocolate drizzled popcorn to the test….i just had to know.  the bags says 1.5 cups is one serving, and that there are 6 servings total in the bag. that equals, yes, 9 cups of popcorn.

um…

…

i only managed to scoop out 6 cups. barely. more like 5 and 3/4th.

to be honest, i was expecting the exact opposite so i could tell you to be careful about taking in WAY MORE cals than what the label actually says!!!

…not this.

 i don’t know whether to be happy there are 400+ cals less than i anticipated in the entire bag, or to write a letter to Popcorn, Indiana about my 3 missing cups!! regardless, a lesson was learned.  read the label and do your own measurements.

when’s the last time you ate or even made meatloaf?

le