My Meals #1

A week ago I made 5 servings of cheese tortellini with refrigerated tortellini.  I used canned tomato sauce and diced tomato (no salt) to create a sauce with onion, basil, balsamic vinegar and crushed red pepper.  I added a serving of green beans or broccoli to each tray.  The total for the whole meal was 340 calories.  Total cost per serving = about $2.

Yesterday, I made 8 servings of a Turkey Tamale Casserole adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.   My adapted recipe...

Turkey Tamale Casserole

Yield: 8 servings

1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided

1/3 cup fat-free milk

1 egg 

1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)

1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained

Cooking spray

1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)

1 20-oz pkg of ground turkey breast (98%lean), crumbled and browned

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 6 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with cooked turkey; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces.  Top with avocado or FF sour cream. (didn't have any sour cream, so I used avocado.)  Calories per serving: 300, 330 with a serving of frozen veggies.  Cost per serving (including the veggies) = about $2

I ate one serving and pacakged the rest with a side of green beans or broccoli.  I liked the meal a lot.  It filled me up and satisfied my craving for Mexican food... and I really like the ground turkey.  I've missed it. :D

Could have used less cheese and still gotten good flavor.