Turkey vs. Beef

Earlier this year John decided to complicate my life. He didn't do anything crazy like sign us up for trapeze lessons, instead he gave up beef. Not all beef mind you, we still have the occasional burger or steak out, but for the most part my other half wanted to stop eating red meat at home. I must say I was never a HUGE red meat chef to begin with, but nothing beats homemade tacos or my bff's meatloaf recipe.  So what's a girl to do? I began doing my research. Turkey meat? hmm, would it taste the same? Obviously it still has protein. However, unlike beef, it has zero to low  trans fats and low sat. fats. As long as you buy "lean" ground turkey you are almost guaranteed to be consuming less calories and fat. If it doesn't say lean you could be getting a high mix of dark meat and skin in your ground turkey. White meat is alot less fattening.

Off to Battle I went, armed with my grocery cart and purse to peruse the turkey section. I have to admit it was much less nauseating to look at than ground beef. The color is a light pink as opposed to the blood red hue of beef. I chose what appeared to be a nice pack of turkey and off I went.  Oh and bonus surprise, Turkey is cheaper than beef! Turkey Recipe #1 was tacos. It felt like I cooked that first pound of  turkey for years before it started to resemble what looked like what I was used to seeing with ground beef. The consistency is definitely different in the skillet for those first few minutes, but once it's cooked you can't tell the difference. Seasoning wise I did add a little garlic salt and red pepper that first time to add more flavor. Now for my big reveal, would my audience of 1 be able to taste the difference?!? John could not beleive that we were eating turkey tacos and I loved every bite! The 2nd time I made tacos I used a little less than 2LBS of meat so I used two taco seasoning packs and a little garlic salt.
Recipe #2 Pre-made turkey burgers...we added a little garlic salt again and it even passed the test of 4 year old picky picky eater E!!! If that's not an endorsement I don't know what is.
Next week I'll be making Turkey burgers from scratch, keep your fingers crossed!

Our family does not eat bacon at home very often, but I wanted to make a special breakfast this past Sunday. French toast and bacon. When I went to the store I decided to give turkey bacon another shot. I had had it years ago and did not like it at all! My sister raves about it and with my new found love of all things turkey, why not? We cooked the bacon, I hesitantly took a nibble and....YUM! But would it pass the 4yr old test? Ding ding, success! Ok, so It was cheaper, it's healthier for us, why do people ever eat pork bacon? Off to compare....less calories, less fat, less sat fat, and in some cases turkey bacon actually has MORE protein than regular bacon. seriously?! whats the downfall here? Well it is a bit higher in sodium, but you can buy a low sodium package. The biggest thing is that you need to make sure your package says nitrate free. Nitrates can turn into carcinogens (cancer causing agents) when grilled.  So when buying turkey we need to read the labels but overall the benefits outway the negatives.  My name is Lauren and I am a proud Turkey convert..Gobble Gobble!!