Thanksgiving Coming Early!

While doing some cardio today I happened to catch Rachel Ray cooking a rather tasty meal. It was Turkey meatloaf with cider gravy and sour cream and onion mashed potatoes. I plan on cooking it this weekend, but will substitute a few things to keep in on the healthier side.

Instead of using actual sour cream I will substitute with fat free greek style yogurt, which has the same texture as sour cream and I honestly can't tell the difference. Obviously for the ground turkey I would choose ground turkey breast as it is naturally very low in fat. Lastly I would substitute a whole wheat stuffing mix because of the effect processed white flours have on blood sugar. The only other thing I'm not thrilled about is the sugar content in the cider again because of the spike in blood sugar it causes, but hey you can't win 'em all!

Making a few small changes in the way we cook and the ingredients we use can have significant impacts in managing body weight. A quick comparison between the use of sour cream and fat-free greek style yogurt shows just how much of a difference it can make. The recipe below calls for 1 1/2 cups of sour cream for the potatoes, which yields nearly 700 calories and almost 70 grams of fat. Compare this to the greek style yogurt which the same portion provides only 180 calories almost a fourth of the sour cream. Keep in mind small changes can yield big results!

I've attached the recipe below for anyone who loves Thanksgiving as much as I do and needs a good turkey fix before Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups apple cider
• 4 cups chicken stock
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 3 pounds (about 6) potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 scallions, white and green parts finely chopped
• 2 McIntosh or Gala apples, peeled and cut into small dice
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 pounds ground all-white turkey (or a mix of dark and white meat)
• 3 to 4 ribs of celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups stuffing mix
• 1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation

Gravy-In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in the cider and stock. Let thicken, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Serve turkey and stuffing meatloaf with sour cream and onion potatoes, cider gravy and some roasted broccoli or green beans.

Potatoes-In a pot of cold water, add the potatoes and bring up to a bubble over high heat.

Cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot they were cooked in to dry out. Mash them up then mix in the sour cream, scallions, salt and ground black pepper.

Turkey Meatloaf-Preheat oven to 400ºF.

In a large bowl, add apples and lemon juice, and toss together. Add turkey, celery, onion, poultry seasoning, egg, salt and ground black pepper.

In a medium-size bowl, add the stock and the stuffing. Toss around, letting the stuffing soak up the liquid, then add it to the bowl with the turkey. Mix everything together well, then turn it out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and shape it into a loaf. Coat with EVOO, transfer to the oven and roast until brown and cooked through, about an hour.