Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I acknowledge that it has been longer between posts than my New Year's resolution allows. March was quite the month for us with midterms, plays, and an emergency trip to Salt Lake. However, I'm making amends by sharing not only one, but two of my signature, all-time-favorite recipes. First, a healthy delicious turkey meatloaf then fat-free garlic mashed potatoes. They are fabulous together!

Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf

Ingredients

19 oz. (1 pkg.) lean ground turkey

2/3 c. whole rolled oats

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/2 c. finely diced cellery

1/4 c. finely chopped green onion

2 egg whites

2 Tbsp. minced garlic (or garlic to taste)

2 Tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. oragano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form meat into a 9x9 glass baking pan coated with non-stick spray. If desired, shake an extra bit of garlic, parsley, and oats over the loaf for aesthetics. Bake loaf for 30-40 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

Notes
One sixth of the loaf  (which is a very generous serving) is 5 WW Points Plus.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
4 large ( or about 1 lb.) russett potatoes
1/2 c. fat-free sour cream (I recommend Tillamook)
1/2 c. skim milk
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash Seasoning (This is my secret ingredient, but italian seasoning will also do)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Peel or partially peel, cut, and boil potatoes in a large pot of water until soft and mashable. Drain water. Mash potatoes with a masher. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Notes
One 1/2 c. serving (or one sixth of the recipe yield) is 4 WW Points Plus.

Fresh Potato Fries

Fresh Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 medium Russet potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

Seasonings of choice- I use Original and Garlic Herb Mrs. Dash

Directions:

Thinly slice potatoes into wedges and wash. Place potato wedges, olive oil, and seasonings in a large ziplock bag and shake until potatoes are evenly covered. Lay potatoes out in one layer on a baking sheet covered in tin foil and bake at 425 degrees until brown and slightly crispy. (Appx. 40 minutes.)

Salsa Verde

I've been looking for good salsa recipes

as an occasional change from my fresh

tomato salsa recipe. I took this recipe for

Salsa Verde from simplyrecipes.com. It

turned out really well. It also gave me a

chance to try out my new food processor.

Ingredients
6 tomatillos
1/2 medium white onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar
3 jalepenos (seeded)

Process
Remove paper husks from tomatillos and rinse. Cut in half and place cut side down on afoil lined baking sheet. Place under broiler for 5-7 minutes until skin begins to blacken. Combine all ingredients including tomatillos in food processor. Chop all ingredients together to desired consistency. Salt to taste. Pour into a large skillet and sautee for 10 to 15 minutes (this is the secret step). Serve warm  or cool in  the refrigerator.

Zac's Seriously Good, Seriously Fresh Salsa

Last fall, Zac spent about two days in our kitchen chopping, dicing, mixing, blending, and tasting different salsa recipes to create a perfect salsa. I think he totally found it. This is embarrassing, but over the winter, we made this at least once a week and always finished it off in less than three days. And it makes A LOT of salsa. You should really try it.

Zac's Seriously Good, Seriously Fresh Salsa

Ingredients

10 roma or 8 regular tomatoes

1 medium white onion

3 jalapenos

1 green bell pepper

1 bunch (about 2 fistfuls) cilantro

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tbsps chili powder

2 tsps cumin

2 tsps paprika

1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/2 c white vinegar

3 tbsps lime juice

salt

Directions

Finely dice all vegetables. When dicing, cut off cilantro stems and core the tomato and the jalapeno (you don't want the seeds of the jalapenos or the slimy guts of the tomato). First, mix all green and white veggies in bowl. Second, add tomatoes, seasonings, and vinegar, lime juice and lightly mix again. If you mix the tomatoes too much they get mushy. Salt to taste.

NotesYou can chop the onions and peppers in the food processor, but we chop everything else by hand while watching TV shows on Hulu. It takes quite a while, but it makes for the best consistency.

Roasted Red Potatoes

I threw together two simple recipes tonight, a spinach chicken salad and roasted red potatoes. I thought I may as well jot down what I put in my salads at least and how I do the potatoes. I have some good ideas and a few tricks to share. In the future, however we will try to put some more complex recipes on here so it's not boring. :)

Roasted Red Potatoes

6 medium red potatoes

3 tbsps olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and cut potatoes into quarters. Mix the olive oil salt and pepper onto the potatoes in either a big bowl or a large zip-lock bag. Make sure coverage is even. Spread potatoes evenly onto a large cookie sheet covered in tinfoil. Put oven rack on the second lowest possible position. Roast in oven for 20 minutes then check potatoes. They may need 5-10 more minutes of roasting time. When cooked through, remove potatoes. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.

Note:

I know this is kind of a no-brainer, but it's easy, fast and SO yummy!

Sweet Potato Wedges

We like fries but try to do them with a healthy and creative spin. This is the recipe for our sweet potato wedges. They are pretty dang yummy and have all the nutrition benefits of a sweet potato. Win, win!

Sweet Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Dut the sweet potates into wedges. This can be a fairly difficult task as they are dense and hard to cut. Do your best. Put oil and seasonings into a gallon-sized freezer or strorage bag. Add potato wedges to bag, seal and mix the bag around so the potaoes get evenly seasoned and oiled. Place seasoned wedges on a large cookie sheet covered in tin foil. Bake in oven for 3o to 35 minutes or unitl cooked through and crisp. If they don't get crispy and are limp, you can turn the oven up to 400 for a mintue or two. This helps get them crispy but also can burn the edges. Remove and cool.

Notes:

Makes 2 or 3 servings depending on your serivng size. This makes 2 servings for us. We also do this exact recipe with regular potatoes and you could add or use any seasonings you want. With regular potatoes we throw in some garlic powder too. It's a fairly healthy way to have your french fry fix. :)