Beyond The Stoop - Life in Jersey City: turkey

Monday, November 19, 2012

friendsgiving

thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all of the wonderful things in your life.

yet, most of us simply spend a day eating, drinking, watching THE parade, and possibly watching or playing some football.... all with family.

for us, and many 20-somethings-without-children (and i suppose some WITH the kiddos), thanksgiving is ALWAYS a time for travel, especially us lucky ducks who decided to move hundreds of miles away, meaning holidays include a brutal amount of hours in the car (thanks, ke$ha and t-swizzle for making those trips a tiny bit more tolerable)

all that is great, but... what about your friends?

normally, we all just leave each other in the dust as we travel "back home" to our families.

this year, however, was different! we were able to celebrate a "friendsgiving" last weekend with some great people in philly that we have had the opportunity to become friends with. mr p and i have recently made friends through many different avenues, so they aren't all in the same group. but it was still nice to get together and eat great food (and drink great drinks.. hellllllo Wells Banana Bread Beer )

our wonderful hosts, matt and jenna, made the turkey, and the rest of us brought the rest! by the time the list came to us, most of the standards were taken. sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean cassarole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, collard greens... all taken. mr p and i decided to go for some not-so-traditional treats and hoped they would be a hit. after much hesitation, mr p's chicken liver pate was a HUGE hit! so was the mushroom pate, maybe even more than the chicken liver pate.

(ewwww... chicken livers?? you guys are gross..)

don't knock it until you try it (i couldn't even get a picture of it before someone snagged a scoop!!). we mr p followed this recipe to a T (with the exception of salt and pepper to taste), and the mushroom (aka vegan) pate recipe will be coming shortly, stay tuned :)

in the meantime, check out the rest of the pictures from our first ever friendsgiving :)

perfect labels for those not-so-obvious appetizers. cheap frames with white paper. write on the glass with dry-erase markers!! use them over and over again.

the spread. it's a good thing i'm getting to at least 2 kickboxing classes this week, because i tried this ALL .... AND the collard greens. AND the stuffing. AND the pies.

we will be spending next year's thanksgiving with these two lovebirds on the beautiful island of barbados for their WEDDING!!

meet edie james. slightly spastic, slightly cuddly, 100% awesome.

our other lovebirds. aren't they cute?

what did i learn from this weekend?

1. 2 thanksgiving weekends are better than 1

2. i NEEED a kitty
(wait, i already knew that, playing with edie james just cemented that thought into my brain)

3. chicken liver pate isn't scary... it's DELICIOUS!!

4. wells banana bread beer is heaven. definitely tastes like banana bread, but isn't sweet. perfect beer combo :)

we have thanksgiving numero dos this weekend in ohio... can't wait to see our families!
what are your plans!?

cheers!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Chunky White Bean Turkey Soup

remember last friday when i surprised mr p with dinner when i came home early from denver?

it's not often that it's ME who makes dinner all by myself, but this one is so easy and delicious and HEALTHY , that i make it fairly often. my mom cut it the recipe out of fitness magazine my sophomore year in college (i think?) and sent the page to me. i've been making it at least a few times a year ever since.

(images via fitness magazine)

mr p and i have successfully been cleaning out our fridge by using up all the meat we have shoved in there (and have vowed not to buy another meat product until we use at least half.. well.. except for tuna in the can... the best tuna salad comes from a can in our minds!!) we had enough turkey for the soup, had the broth, had the spices, had the green salsa, and only needed the onions and beans. talk about some cheap meals!!

so, here goes. i hope you enjoy it as much as we do! make sure to read the notes at the end for our tips on changing up the soup so it can be healthier, or just to turn it into a completely different meal than just soup.

chunky white bean turkey soup

12 oz lean ground turkey (if you use 93/7 or better you won't need to drain the fat)
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 15-oz cans great northern beans
1 16-oz jar green salsa (goya is best for a bit more spice... we used to use ortega before we lived in a place with hispanic groceries around the corner and multiple hispanic food isles at the big box grocery)
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp cumin (feel free to double or triple this after tasting... i add WAY more than the listed amount because i LOVE this spice!)

(forgot the cumin in the pic, and used veggie broth instead of chicken because i didn't want to buy chicken broth... BAD idea!! will never do that again. ONLY use chicken broth!)

heat the olive oil over medium heat in the pot you plan to make the add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. add the turkey and saute until all turkey is cooked. add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes (longer if desired).

that's it!

now for our variations:

1. immediately after serving, toss in some fresh spinach and fold in the spinach. it will wilt enough so that it's a nice texture, without being overly mushy. it's nice to add in, too, because it doesn't really add any flavor, just TONS of nutrients :D

2. serve over brown rice or quinoa. scoop up more "chunks" than broth, and serve over the brown rice or quinoa for more of a stew instead of a soup (or just keep the broth in there and it will end up just like you added the rice or quinoa)

(or add spinach AND quinoa like we did!)

(final product friday night)

3. bake 2 corn tortillas so they turn crispy, top with black beans, top beans with "chunks" from the soup, top with fried egg, top with queso fresco and serve with 2 lime wedges. insta-huevos-rancheros.

(like we did saturday AND sunday mornings)

i hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! it's a quick, healthy meal to make, plus you can make a lot of it and eat it different ways so it's not so mundane eating the "same" thing for a few days :D

cheers to a great week ahead!

toodles.

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Monday, November 19, 2012

friendsgiving

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Chunky White Bean Turkey Soup