Tag Archives: turkey

When it comes to the what’s for dinner? question, the struggle is real folks! We’re taking most of the guess work out with our new weekly meal plans! Turn Sunday in to Plan Day and you’ll be set right on through the weekend. (more…)

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Natalie K

WIN an Applegate Half Time Prize Pack — Enjoy the Best Lunch Kit Ever

We love the new Applegate Half Time lunch kits so much that we want to share the awesome lunchtime joy with everyone! Seriously, you’ve gotta try these! And two of our DietsInReview readers are going to do just that — on us!

Lunch has never been easier, tastier, or smarter. Take it from me, these bad boys have effortlessly gotten both me and my four-year-old through our mid-day meals since this summer.

How to Win!

Comment on this Facebook Post! Tell us how Half Time is just the break you need from junky, boring lunches!

What You Win!

All three varieties of HALF TIME: Turkey & Cheese, Ham & Cheese, and Bologna & Cheese

A draw-your-own lunch bag

A set of permanent markers

Coupons

Activity book

DietsInReview T-Shirt

The total value of the kit is $50. (more…)

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Natalie K

The Best Club Sandwich Ever is Made with Cleaner, Fresher Ingredients You Can Feel Good About

If I see a club sandwich on a menu, I’m ordering it. End of story. No matter how you stack it, I rarely find a sandwich that has a better combination of ingredients that meld so perfectly together. That first bite through the crisp lettuce, juicy tomato, sweet ham, and salty bacon sends the endorphin center of my brain to the realm of utter satisfaction.

Eating these sandwiches at a restaurant is anyone’s gamble. It’s all pretty processed, and I know that. The salt is higher than it should be, the meat came from God knows where, and all in all it’s never quite as good as anything I make at home. So I try to take my own sandwich makings to the office to build my own for lunch. It’s always a far better option than what the corner deli is dishing up.

That better option, for me, is Applegate. I’ve been a long-time consumer and fan of their cleaner approach to meat products. How could anyone not be? They source humanely-raised animals to craft quality meat products that are organic and hormone free. The sandwich meats are tender, juicy, and never overwhelmingly salty. For pre-cut sandwich meat, it’s truly as good as it gets. (more…)

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Natalie K

A Turkey Meatball Sub is a Healthier Alternative to the Classic

Win a $5 Jennie-O Coupon when you share this recipe on Facebook and/or Twitter by Friday, March 29! Four winners will be selected.

We all know when going through a sub sandwich line that the meatball isn’t typically the healthiest choice, but why does it have to taste so good? The perfectly cooked meatballs simmering in hearty marinara sauce, nestled into a fluffy bun and topped with melty mozzarella cheese – what more could you ask for? How about a version that doesn’t leave you regretting your lunch pick for hours?

This sub sandwich may appear a little complex but it’s so, so simple. Thanks to Jennie-O’s lean ground turkey and Italian turkey sausage, there’s lots of flavor and protein without much fat. Our favorite marinara sauce amps up the flavor and sends the savory factor over the top. Then, we nestled ours into a whole wheat bun and topped it with two slices of low-fat mozzarella and a bit of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve it alongside salad and you’ll be satisfied the healthy way ’til dinner. (more…)

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Dana

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Leftovers Guide: 20 Delicious Recipes

The big day is over and you likely have a few containers of leftovers lying around your house. This could either mean you eat lots of the same thing over and over again for the next few days or you get creative and turn your turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries into something much more delicious than they were before.

We’ve rounded up 20 of our favorite recipes from around the web to help you utilize your Thanksgiving leftovers creatively and (mostly) healthfully. Let’s start with the most common leftover item of all: the bird.

Turkey
You can easily chop up leftover turkey and add it to a salad, vegetable soup or sandwich for a quick and easy source of protein. Try these creative and healthy recipes for a unique spin on your Thanksgiving bird. (more…)

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Dana

A Reader’s Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe Gets a Healthy Makeover

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we are getting very excited about the upcoming holiday. Thanksgiving has always held a special place in my heart as I’ve always loved getting together with family and sharing a delicious meal, especially considering all the women in my family are amazing cooks. Think pies, turkey, stuffing and everything in between. Let’s just say I don’t leave hungry.

It seems everyone has their own special traditions when it comes to holiday gatherings and recipes are no exception. While passing down recipes such as your grandma’s signature “green marshmallow fluff” does hold sentimental value, more and more people are becoming conscious of their diets and desire real, whole foods instead of fake, processed ones. This is where recipe makeovers comes in. (more…)

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Dana

Healthy Labor Day Recipes for the Last Weekend of Summer

Seeing as Labor Day is right around the corner, many Americans will be pulling out their grills this weekend. Equipped with our figure-friendly summer cookout recipes, you ought to be one of them.

The problem with most cookout recipes, however, is that they’re usually high in calories and fat. In addition, they leave you feeling lethargic long after the table is cleared. Thankfully though, the line-up we’re sharing today won’t have you reaching for your stretchy pants. Instead, think light, savory, and scrumptious dishes that are the perfect, healthy way to kiss summer goodbye.

First up, enjoy the end of summer with a glass of our famous Red, White, and Blue Sangria. This sangria is perfect for any cookout because it’s light, refreshing, perfectly sweet, and loaded with antioxidant-containing strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Cheers to that!

Sides

Avocado Serrano Coleslaw will make a great side dish for your cookout side. Our slaw contains pineapples and orange bell peppers with a light avocado dressing. Using avocado instead of mayo is a healthier substitute and adds more southwest flavor to the dish. (more…)

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Samantha

Red, White, and Blueberry Turkey Burger Sliders Recipe for Summer Cookouts

I’m a pretty all-American girl, I like to think. I love running around barefoot in the summer, classic rock ‘n roll, a hot grill, and cool drinks. Summer is my season and I, admittedly, love to eat and drink my way through it.

I also, admittedly, like to remain relatively close to the same size at the end of the summer as I am at the start of the summer. That means a few trade offs. I (mostly) gave up beef burgers years ago. Turkey is where it’s at now. And I say this as a pretty picky eater. If I can be sold on a turkey burger, the rest of you should already be on this train.

With Memorial Day unofficially kicking off the summer this weekend, I’m ready to enjoy everything I love about the warm days ahead, minus a few unnecessary calories. So I hope you’ll join me in devouring a few of my Red, White, and Blueberry Turkey Burger Sliders.

The great thing about sliders is the automatic portion control. One or two of these little guys is all I need, and I still have plenty of room on my plate (and calories) for corn on the cob, potato salad, grilled fruit, and maybe even a little ice cream. I found the whole wheat slider buns at Kroger, but even small dinner rolls will work. (more…)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Natalie K

Canola Oil Moderately Improves Nutrition of a Deep Fried Turkey

Here at DietsInReview, we believe in thoroughly enjoying holiday meals. Many diet plans encourage having a splurge meal once every week, and Thanksgiving is the perfect moment to enjoy rich foods without counting calories. In general, this prevents people who want to lose weight from feeling deprived and helps them avoid ditching a healthy eating plan for the entire holiday season.

However, certain foods seem over-the-top, even for a day of indulgence, and the deep fried turkey is one of these. On one hand, without the skin, deep fried turkey is deceptively moist and doesn’t have a greasy taste. On the other hand, we know quite well how many calories frying anything will add. So, I consulted with Alison Lewis of Ingredients Inc.

“The amount of fat and calories for a deep fried turkey is higher than a regular turkey,” says Lewis. “Three and a half ounces of deep fried turkey has approximately 190 calories and 11 grams of fat. The same portion of a roasted turkey typically has 165 calories and 7 grams of fat.” Eating turkey without the skin will lower the calories even further. “If you eat your roasted turkey skinless, calories drop to only 150 calories and 3.5 grams of fat,” adds Lewis.

(more…)

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Margaret

Get the Most of Thanksgiving with Leftover Turkey Recipes

Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday of the year. I mean, as a food person, how can I not love Thanksgiving, as the holiday’s primary focus is a huge meal chock full of tasty dishes.

When I say a huge meal, I mean huge. Even if the dinner itself turns out to be small, my family gobbles up all of those pre-Thanksgiving grocery store sales and cooks up mountains of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. However, cooking up so much food for Thanksgiving inevitably leaves us with lots of leftovers.

While reheated turkey leftovers are great, sometimes you need to be a little creative in order to use up all of those turkey leftovers. Here are my top 6 ideas for cooking with leftovers.

Soup

This is definitely a classic in my house, as nothing beats a good bowl of soup on a cold day. Simply dice up some leftover roast turkey and add it in instead of chicken in your favorite soups. Here are two great leftover turkey recipes for soup:

Caribbean Soup
Turkey Vegetable and Rice Soup
Curried Turkey and Cauliflower Stew (more…)

Posted on November 19, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Source a Sustainably Raised Turkey for Thanksgiving

More than 250 million turkeys are slaughtered in the industrial system each year in the United States, and about 46 million of those are for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful, warm holiday, full of family time, great traditions and good food. Unfortunately, there are many not-so-good things about the Thanksgiving turkeys most grocery stores offer to their customers.

The status quo for raising turkeys and other meat birds is the industrial, factory farming system. The conditions in which factory farmed turkeys are raised is horrendous. It’s cramped, with each bird given about 3 feet of space to live its life. So that these cramped and stressed turkeys won’t turn to pecking at each other, prior to confinement their beaks and the tips of their toes are cut off (processes some liken to having the tips of a child’s fingers and toes chopped off). These turkeys, raised in gigantic warehouses, are denied their natural instincts and can’t eat their natural diet of seeds, vegetation and insects. They’re also bred to grow so rapidly that it puts an incredible strain on their bodies. Some researchers estimate that factory farmed turkeys spend at least a third of their lives in chronic pain.