[Fat Melanie]

My freezer is FULL of butterball ground turkey, and chicken tenderloin strips (unbreaded.) I've got a large can of pinto beans, and a bag of dried great northern beans. I need to come up with an idea to make for dinner.

I have more than that, but I'm not sure what to make. I've got cayenne pepper.... and cilantro... could I make a white chili with the ground turkey and cayenne and then add the pinto beans at the end?

Or should I make some sort of chicken and beans dish? I don't know what to do, I've never really cooked with beans before nor have I ever really eaten them. I do know that I like them now, though. I made chili with red beans right before I came down with a stomach virus. I've got a tomato and some onion, some mozarella cheese, maybe I could make turkey meatballs and make the tomato and onion into a sauce 'cause I've got basil & oregano & garlic... and top it with shredded mozarella. But I like to have my meatballs with pasta, I'm not so crazy about them plain.

I don't know what to do with ground turkey other than make turkey burgers, and BF won't eat those without rolls. I used to use turkey to make hamburger helper but we're not eating any of that crap anymore. Also used it in tacos before... I use it in everything you use ground beef in ... but without the other stuff, I've got to come up with a way to make a meal out of it. Any ideas? I'm up with insomnia as I always am and I thought I'd ask.

[cottagebythesea]

There are a couple of great recipes in our recipe section for using ground turkey and beans. The Fireside White Bean and Turkey Soup is a favorite of mine, and there's a recipe for a Turkey Meatloaf with beans in it somewhere in there, too.

[chipper15173]

try using "supercook" it's a site where you put in one or more items and it asks you if you have this or that and tells you what to make with what you have.

[winning the war]

I'm a fan of www.recipezaar.com . they have some really great recipes, and a bunch of different diet categories. The chili sounds yummy though!

[ladybugnessa]

i make a nice faux cassolet with beans.
sautee in SBD healthy oil green pepper and onions

mix the beans, tomato paste, spices and the browned meat together with the onions and peppers... heat through....

serve with side salad in ph1

serve with side salad and brown rice or quiona in p2

[jillybean720]

You could cook the ground turkey (or the chicken, cut up), mix with beans, salsa (or just the tomato and onion chopped up and add some spices for a kick and maybe some chicken or vegetable broth or even just a little water to make it "saucy"), and top with cheese. sort of a Mexican type thing that's easy and quick. I also like to top with guacamole and sour cream if I happen to have it in the fridge.

[pamatga]

My recipe isn't much different than Jillybeans. The best way to think of ground turkey is just "pretend" it is ground beef. So, take any recipe you might have where you used to use ground beef and substitute it. You really will not taste a difference but the saturated fat content is a lot less! I find that it works for burgers, chili, casseroles, whatever you liked with ground beef. It is a very versatile meat.

[Fat Melanie]

Excellent ideas, everyone. Everything sounds good to me. I'll let BF 'choose' (and by that, I'll make him think that he HAS a choice, bwhahaha) out of the recipes listed here so when I make the transition to full-out phase 1, he will be used to eating good without the bad carbs.

Hey Chipper, oh yeah, that is a GREAT website, I used it the other week and made a delicious chicken recipe. I read about it in the same diet and nutrition magazine that I read about the carb blocker things or whatever it was that some of the 3fc mod chicks tested out... That was pretty cool to read.