Good For Kids

Your Kids Deserve Good-For-You-Food

This fun, fast and healthy TV show Now We’re Cooking is airing again this week end with “Turkey, Turkey, Turkey” As we go into the holidays there is no better time like the holidays to fix good-for-you foods. Your kids deserve the best and there is no better time to fix prepare healthy foods than on a celebration.

10-12 lb. turkey
3 Tbs. seasoning of your choice
turkey neck
turkey giblets (excluding liver)
1 qt. water

1. Remove any excess fat from the turkey. Sprinkle inside and out with your favorite seasonings, or spice blends. (I like Pampered Chef’s Rosemary Herb Seasoning mix.). Tuck the wing tips under the turkey and put into a stoneware baking bowl with lid or a roasting pan and tent with foil.
2. Bake at 375º for approximately 2.5 hours or until an internal temperature of 170º is reached. (Note that the turkey may take longer if you do not use a baking bowl combination.)
3. Allow to rest for 45 minutes before carving.
4. Place giblets and neck into sauce pan and cover with cold water. Heat to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour. Use for sauce recipe below.

Apple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes
1 Granny Smith apple
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
pinch ginger
pinch allspice
1/2 cup dark brown sugar-packed

1. Boil potatoes until a firm but done state. Remove potatoes from the water and shock to cool in ice water. Remove skin by scraping with a knife. Slice into 1/2 inch slices and shingle in a casserole dish.
2. Peel, core and slice a Granny Smith apple. Layer on top of the potatoes.
3. Sprinkle with all other ingredients and bake at 350º about 30 minutes until hot.

Homemade Stuffing

This Whole Grain Date Stuffing is fun, fast and healthy. Remember that when you make it from scratch it is always healthier. Homemade stuffing is always better!

1 med onion-diced
2 stick celery-diced
2 medium carrots-peeled, and shredded
6 slices whole wheat bread-cubed
4 slices 8-grain whole wheat bread-cubed
1 egg and 4 oz. egg white
1/3 cup parsley-minced
1/3 cup fresh herbs-minced (I used rosemary, thyme and sage)
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup turkey stock

1. In a small sauté pan, gently cook the celery and onions covered over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix until evenly distributed without over-mixing or breaking up the cubes too much. Put into lightly oiled stoneware casserole and cover with parchment paper or oiled brown bake.
3. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

Easy Gravy Recipe

3 cup de-fatted turkey stock
(use stock from giblets above and from the bottom of your roasting pan)
1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs
( I used rosemary, thyme and sage)
S& P
Granulated Flour (Wondra)

1. Heat stock to a boil and stir in seasonings.
2. While continuing to boil add flour gradually while constantly whisking until the sauce is the consistency that will coat the back of a spoon.
3. Reduce heat and cook at a simmer until sauce reduces to the desired consistency, approximately 10 minutes.
4. Taste and correct seasoning.

Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole Recipe has nothing compared to this Green Beans with Roast Onion Vinaigrette recipe that is very healthy and does not have all of the sodium in it that the convenient version has.

1 red onion
1 tsp. olive oil
several sprigs fresh thyme
6 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. stone ground mustard
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
S & P
1 cup washed, sliced white mushrooms
1 lb. green beans-stems removed

1. Peel onion and cut in half crosswise. Cut down into onion like a pie without cutting through to bottom. Do both halves.
2. In a small stoneware baking bowl or other casserole dish, place onion on a bed of thyme and drizzle with olive oil, then top with thyme. Cover and bake for approximately 35 minutes.
3. When cooled cut onion into a dice.
4. In bowl combine all other ingredients with the diced onion, except mushrooms and onions. Whisk.
5. At service time: Microwave sauce until hot. Boil beans until done. Combine hot beans, sauce and mushrooms just before you serve.

Slab-A-Pumpkin Pie

Crust
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans-chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar-packed
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbs. canola oil

Mix all ingredients until combined and crumbly. Press into bottom of a 10″ X 15″ stoneware bar or a sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Filling
2 whole eggs
4 oz. egg whites
2 ( 15 oz.) cans solid packed pumpkin
2 (14 oz.) cans fat-free sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.
2. Pour into partially baked crust and distribute evenly.
3. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350º or until done.
4. Serve with non-fat whipped topping and a pecan garnish.

If you have not seen Now We’re cooking check this out:
Cooking With Herbs