Monterey Chicken (or Turkey)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday!  We had a nice quiet day just our little family of 3.  It was close to 70 degrees in Colorado, and just a beautiful day.  I of course made way too much food, but how can you not on Thanksgiving!  I did buy the smallest turkey I could found, but even that was 13 pounds.  Needless to say we will be eating turkey for awhile! 

I made this chicken dish the other night,and it was really good.  You could easily use left over turkey for this and transform it into something completely new.  It was supposed to be topped with green onions (which would have been perfect), but I didn't have any.  Next time I am going use a few slices of real bacon to crumble on top, instead of the store bought ones.  I am sure with that and the green onions it will become a family favorite.  I promise, it tastes better than it looks!  I need to get the hang of taking pictures when it is completely black out!

Monterey Chicken or (Turkey)
Adapted from All the Simple Things
Printable Recipe

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup Barbeque Sauce
1/4 cup  real bacon bits
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
Dash black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pound out chicken breasts to about 1/2 in thick.  Season each side with black pepper. Cook chicken (grill, saute, bake) until no longer pink.  Put on a baking sheet covered in foil.  Top each chicken breast with about 1 Tbls barbeque sauce, 1/4 c cup cheese, 1/4 cup tomatoes, 1 Tbls green onions and 1 Tbls of bacon bits. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. 

Guest Post - Toasted Turkey Sandwich!

I love that while I am on vacation, I can still share great things with you.  Today I want to introduce you to my friend Dee. If you have not checked out her site Deelicious Sweets, you really need to.  Dee and I have the same sense of humor, so I love to read what she writes.  She also makes amazing food!  Just wait to see what she has made for us today!  I mean really, I want to go to her house for lunch, and have her pack my picnics!  So sit back, enjoy, and meet Dee!

I'll admit, I am not a fan of turkey.  Don't get me wrong, I can make a killer turkey at Thanksgiving but I would rather go outside the box and cook up some filet's or salmon anything that isn't turkey.  Alas, my family (mom and dad) is so strictly traditional that anything other than turkey just won't do.  So, when I decided to plan my whole weeks menu around the new issue of Everyday Food and flipped through it only to see that Thursday was this sandwich, I was pretty hesitant if not even a bit disappointed.  But, being the big girl that I am, I put on my big girl pants and trudged ahead and bought the turkey for said sandwich.  I'm an open minded girl, I can sit with the big dogs if need be.  Now, with all that build up, you're wondering if I liked aren't you?  No worries, I won't leave you in suspense much longer.  This recipe also came with a side of cucumber pickles.  I have never pickled anything in my entire life and I was shocked at the ease of this.  I may need to look into a pickling career.  That's odd, right?  Why would I even say that?  Maybe it's the screaming, wailing neighbor child.  I'm being distracted.  Oh, the sandwich!  EXCELLENT!  This will be made again my house.  This was the conversation in my house after this meal was consumed: Hubby - "Where did you get that recipe?"  Me - "Everyday Food magazine but I went my own way a little bit with it."  Hubby (pointing to himself with a big dorky smile - "Well, this guy liked it!" Still makes me LOL a little bit!  Okay, okay, enough chitter chatter, here's the recipe!

Toasted Turkey Sandwich with Quick Cucumber Pickles

Yields 4 servings but I managed to get 8 out of mine - yeah lunch!

For the Sandwich:
1 large round rye bread (about 8 inches in diameter) sliced in half horizontally, insides scooped out
1/3 cup tapenade (I used Culinaria a brand sold at my local Schnucks - Black Olive)
1/2 pound deli turkey, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
4 ounces provolone, thinly sliced

For the Cucumbers:
2 medium cucumbers, cut lengthwise into thin wedges
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
coarse salt and ground pepper

For the Sandwich:
Preheat oven to 350.  Cover inside of both bread halves with an even layer of tapenade.  Arrange turkey on bottom half of bread.  Top with zucchini, tomato, and cheese.  Sandwich with top half of bread and wrap tightly in foil.  Place on a baking sheet and bake until bread is toasted and cheese is melted, 25 minutes.

A step by step guide to the Toasted Turkey Sandwich!

For the Cucumbers:
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss cucumbers with vinegar and sugar; season with salt and pepper.  Let sit at room temperature, 20 minutes.

Unwrap sandwich and cut into 4 wedges (or 8) with a serrated knife.  Serve with pickled cucumbers.

Source: Everyday Food

Wondering what to do with all of that leftover bread you scooped out?  I gave it to my kids to fish with.  You could also make breadcrumbs.

A big hug and thanks goes to Erin for allowing me to be a guest blogger!  XOXO

~ Enjoy!

Lemon Turkey Cutlets

I always thought of turkey as you have it on Thanksgiving, which is not my favorite. I really enjoy it once a year on Thanksgiving, but that is usually enough turkey to last me the whole year. My husband feels the same way. Then a couple years ago I decided to give Turkey Cutlets a try. Can't remember why I decided to be so brave! Turns out both my husband and I like them! We have a couple different trusted recipes we use often. This lemon one is probably my husbands favorite. And really, probably mine as well. With only a few pantry staples and 15 minutes these can be on the table!

This weekend is my son's 6th birthday. With multiple parties coming up, I have a feeling my next few posts will be dessert related :)

Lemon Turkey Cutlets
2 Turkey Cutlets
2 Tbls Lemon Juice
1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Lemon Pepper seasoning
Olive Oil

Heat pan over med-high heat. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning over both sides of turkey. Cook turkey for about 10 minutes, turning half way. While cooking, you can mix together the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Once turkey is almost done, pour sauce into pan. Cook for just a couple minutes, and you are done!

Can't really get any easier for a low calorie, but really tasty dinner. I served mine last night with a little sauteed zucchini, and it was a great spring feeling meal.

Asian Burgers

I saw an Asian Turkey Burger recipe on the Rachael Ray show one day. They were having a brother burger battle, or something like that. I thought the Asian one looked really good, so I printed the recipe. I made a couple modifications, and it was yummy! I took a risk making these for my husband, it has mushrooms in it, and he really does not like mushrooms. But low and behold, he liked it! The mushrooms are really there to keep the meat moist, and give it just a little more flavor - not mushroom flavor, just flavor. I can't get my 5 year old to eat them, but I can't really get him to eat anything.

I am a picky eater, and my husband is a picky eater....too bad we are picky about completely different things! The original recipe has an Asian coleslaw to top the burger. I don't make that part, because I wouldn't like it. My husband hasn't seen the recipe, or he would probably insist I make the slaw. You could do it really easily - buy a bag of the premixed coleslaw in the produce section at the grocery store. Then just mix in your favorite brand of Asian dressing, and maybe a little mayo if you like it creamy. It would probably make a great side dish to this as well.

You can also find this recipe and other Rachael Ray recipes at Taste and Tell in her Saturdays with Rachael Ray series!

Asian Turkey Burgers
1 pound ground turkey (I use 93% lean)
1 garlic clove
1 Tbls Soy Sauce
6 mushrooms (I use the Baby Bellas, but Shitake would be great as well)
Olive Oil
Dash of Pepper

Sauce:
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp sesame oil


Start by chopping up the mushrooms. It works best to saute them in a little bit of olive oil, before mixing them in with the meat. Cook for about 5 minutes. Once they are softened, add them to the turkey. Season with a dash of pepper, soy sauce, and garlic. I use a hand grater and grate the garlic in. It makes it more of a paste, so it mixes in well, and you don't ever get big chunks that you bite into.


Use your hands, and get in there! Mix together, and form into patties. You could easily make these into little sliders, but we made full size burgers here. Form them so they have a little well in the middle. Whenever I cook burgers, they always plump up and almost turn into balls. I have found that making them thinner in the middle works well. It was a yucky day here yesterday, rainy, and cold - so I couldn't use the outdoor grill. I broke out my indoor grill pan, and everything was all good!

You need to make sure the turkey is cooked all the way through. Over medium to medium-high heat it usually takes me around 15 minutes total.

Practicing with fancy camera!

While the burgers are cooking, you can work on making the sauce. It is super easy!

Mix together the Hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Done! I love this sauce, you could put it on grilled chicken breasts - anything really!






I like the buns to be toasted. I usually just put them in a dry frying pan with the heat a medium high for a couple minutes, or you could use the toaster. Once the burgers are done place it on the bun, and top with the sauce. Enjoy!