Three for Three!! (Lean Turkey Meatloaf, Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes, & Jammin' Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken)

I've had the last few days off and I promised Brent that I would have supper ready for him when he got home from his long days.  Poor guy leaves home at 7:30AM and comes home around 7:30PM.

Monday night I made sweet and spicy sweet potatoes with pan seared chicken and jasmine rice, yesterday I made Jammin' Jalapeño (sauce from BWW) stuffed chicken, and tonight I went out on a limb and made turkey meatloaf and mashed tatoes.

For the record, I despise meatloaf.  I've NEVER liked it, not even when Mom and Gramma Ann made it and I couldn't bring myself to eat it.  "Shut up, put it between a couple pieces of bread and eat it."  I ate the bread, hid the meatloaf in a napkin and threw it out.  I basically starved that night because I couldn't choke down the meatloaf.   (Sorry, Mom and Gramma...)

I'm not sure why, but I've been craving meatloaf (no, I'm not pregnant) over the past few weeks.  I think it's just because it's been so long since I've tried it and I wanted to make sure either "Yep, this sh*t's disgusting" or "Hmm.. Maybe it's not so bad?"  My taste buds have changed so much as I've gotten older I wanted to give it another shot.

This recipe I found was a Weight Watchers recipe.  It seemed pretty legit.  I linked the page for the recipe, but please keep in mind that I do like to add more or less to the meals and what I typed up is what I did - it was good.  For reals.

Here goes:  (and I'll post the recipes for the other ones, too)

For the meatloaf:

1.3 lb 93% Lean Ground Turkey

1 C Grated Zucchini, all moisture squeezed dry with paper towel (don't peel it!)

2 Tbsp Onion, minced (I just put a couple shakes of dried onion flakes in there)

1/2 C Seasoned Breadcrumbs

1/4 Cup Ketchup

1 Egg

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 C FRESH Chopped Parsley

For Skinny Mashed Potatoes:

1 lb (about 2 medium) Yukon gold potatoes, washed well and cubed 

(you can peel them if you want, but I'm lazy and hate peeling potatoes... So I just don't :) )

2 Large Garlic Cloves, peeled and halved*

2 Tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream

1 Tbsp Light Butter/Butter Substitute

Kosher Salt to Taste

Dash of Fresh Ground Pepper

2 tsp Thyme

1 - 1-1/2 Tbsp Dried Rosemary (ground very well)

Put the potatoes and garlic in a large pot with salt and enough water to cover; bring to a boil.  Boil until potatoes are tender.  Drain and add butter and the herbs - use a hand mixer and mash until smooth.  Add the sour cream and season with salt and pepper.

*I buy the jars of minced garlic and keep them in the fridge - I used 1/4 tsp minced garlic when I was mixing in the sour cream, butter, etc.)

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375˚F - spritz loaf pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, mix the turkey, zucchini, onion, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg and salt.  Place meatloaf mixture into pan and make sure it is flat on top.

Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove from pan onto plate.

Another thing you might want to try is putting the meatloaf into tinfoil muffin cups and putting them into a muffin tray.  Two muffins would be one serving.  You can also put the mashed tatoes into a ZipLock bag, snip the corner and pipe the potatoes onto the top of the meatloaf muffins.  :)

TAYSTEE!!!!!!!!!

---------------------------------------

Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes (I got this recipe from my friend Teresa)

Three large sweet potatoes (I used a type of squash that tastes just like sweet potatoes - my mamacita gave them to me and I needed to eat 'em up!)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper (I used 1-1/4 tsp red chili powder since I didn't have anymore cayenne pepper)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp turmeric
one half stick of butter
1/4 cup real maple syrup
salt to taste (not too much, but you still want to add a little, or the flavors will be flat)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 handful golden raisins (optional) (I threw them in there, t'was pretty good :)  )

Boil the sweet potatoes until almost cooked through. You don't want them to get too soft because you will be cooking them more later. In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add all the spices and the maple syrup. Reduce heat and let simmer gently until the spices become fragrant, then turn off the heat, and set aside. When the potatoes are done boiling, drain them and cut them into one inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the maple/spice mixture and stir to coat all the pieces. Add the raisins and cover and allow to cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, allowing the maple and spice flavor to penetrate the potatoes. Remove from heat. Arrange potatoes in a serving dish topped with the chopped pecans.

I dusted the chicken breast with some black pepper and browned it in a pan on the stove - I used some Promise butter spread in the pan (because I've never really cooked whole chicken breasts like that on the stove and it's too cold to grill (my dad would be so disappointed if he heard me say that it was too cold to grill)).  I threw the chicken in the microwave for a minute and a half just to make sure it was cooked all the way through (juicy chicken freaks me out...).  I steamed up some jasmine rice, laid some down on a plate, put the cut up chicken on the rice, then covered it with the curried sweet potatoes.

(no picture of this, sorry dudes...)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jammin' Jalapeño Stuffed Chicken

3 chicken breasts

6 oz Cream Cheese

2/3 C Finely Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

B-Dubs' Jammin' Jalapeño sauce

Place chicken breast (one by one) into a ZipLock bag and seal it.  Pound the chicken breast out using a rolling pin.

Spread 2 oz of the cream cheese on the chicken breast, sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella cheese and drizzle some sauce on it.  Roll the chicken breast up and put on a lightly sprayed piece of tin foil (large enough to fold up around the breast) and pour some more of the sauce over top before folding up and putting on a baking sheet.

Do this with all three of the chicken breast and place in the oven at 350˚F and cook for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Use a tongs to place chicken on a plate and drain some of the juices onto the chicken.

SOOOO GOOOD!  :)