When my doctor told me that I needed to watch my cholesterol, I started to panic. "Great!" I thought. "There goes my favorite foods." But when I sat down and looked at the things I was eating, it turned out that a few changes made a big difference. I started by having oatmeal with dried fruit every morning for breakfast. Then I switched from regular milk to skim milk and chose low or no fat versions of all my dairy products. But I was most impressed with the easy change from ground beef to ground turkey. Previously, I'd been enjoying regular ground beef with a fat content of about 26 grams per 3.5 ounce serving. When I switched to ground turkey, that dropped to about 2 grams for the same sized serving! And here's the really amazing part ... I didn't miss it!
Now, if you are ready to make the switch as well, there are a couple things you should know. First, do not let ground turkey simmer like you might with ground beef. It will dry out very quickly that way. Also, ground turkey benefits greatly from some good seasoning as well. If you simply must have a little extra fat, opt for regular ground turkey instead of ground turkey breast, which has about 7 grams of fat per serving or cook ground turkey breast in a little olive oil.
If you are looking for a great way to enjoy ground turkey, look no further. This is one of my favorite recipes and I used to make it with ground beef. I made a few changes and used ground turkey instead and it's every bit as good as it used to be and much healthier now.
Crockpot Taco Soup
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 can corn
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes with chiles
- 2 cans chicken broth
- 1 envelope taco seasoning
In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add the chopped onion and cook until tender; add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Drain well and transfer to a crockpot. Add the corn, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, and taco seasoning; stir well. Cook on low for four to six hours.
- Yields: 6-8 servings
- Preparation Time: about 6 hours