Easy Turkey Chili for Chilly Fall Days

As the cool weather sets in and autumn activities commence, there is nothing better on a chilly afternoon than a warm bowl of spicy chili.  So, on Sunday, I made chili for my family. But instead of traditional ground beef, I tried Better Than A Bistro’s ground turkey as a healthier alternative. In addition to being lower fat and protein packed, this recipe is simple, delicious and—especially—perfect for a demanding schedule. As it simmered for four hours in a slow cooker, I spent the day with my family, rather than stuck in the kitchen. 

- Jenna

Prep time: 10 min.

Cook time: 4 hours

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Better Than A Bistro ground turkey

29 oz. pinto beans

29 oz. dark kidney beans

29 oz. tomato sauce

1 yellow onion diced

½ cup diced green chilies (typically one large pepper)

½ cup diced celery (typically two stalks)

29 oz. diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp. chili powder (Add an extra Tbsp. for a zestier taste or one less for children)

3 Tbsp. cumin

2 Tsp. salt

1 Tsp. black pepper

2 cups water

Optional toppings:

Low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Chopped scallions

Reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese

Cooking Instructions:

1.     Brown meat in a skillet until fully cooked, and drain fat

2.     Add all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.

3.     Garnish and serve.

Jenna is a mother, publicist and fitness enthusiast living in Providence, Rhode Island. She enjoys following international fashion and taking her two-year-old son on outdoor adventures.

BTAB Chicken and Guacamole Salad

Chicken and Guacamole Salad
(Smoked paprika gives a chicken rich, grill-like flavor-with no cooking. Serve with lime wedges.)

Prep Time:15 minutes
Cooktime: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe peeled avocado
• 1 cup plus 2tbs finely chopped tomato, divided
• 3 tbsp minced fresh onion, divided
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1 sm clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp minced seeded jalapeno pepper
• 2 cups shredded, skinless, rotisserie chicken breast
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 8 large lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Place avocado in a small bowl, mash with a fork. Stir in 2 tbsp, tomato, 1tbsp onion, 1tbsp juice, 1/4 tsp salt and garlic.

2. Combine the remaining 1 cup tomato, 2 tbsp onion, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt, cilantro and jalapeno toss well.

3. Combine chicken, remaining 1 tbsp juice and paprika, toss well to combine. Spread about 1 tbsp guacamole over each lettuce leaf; top each with 1/4 cup chicken mixture to 2 tbsp salsa.

Easy Stir Fry Recipe

Stir-Fried Bok Choy & Lettuce & Shiitake Mushrooms
The lettuce represents growing wealth for the coming year, as the Cantonese word for lettuce is saang choy, which sounds like "increasing fortune"

Servings: 8
Serving Size: 2/3 Cup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup boiling water
• 8 (about 2ozs) dried shitake mushrooms
• 2tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 packet equal sweetner
• 1ts canola oil, divided
• 1 tsp ginger, minced and peeled, optional
• 1/2 cup fat free, low sodium, chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 8 heads baby bok choy, halved lenthwise
• 1 head (about 8 cups) romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1" pieces

Directions

1. Comibine 1 cup boiling water and shitake mushrooms in a bowl, cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain mushrooms in a colander bowl; reserving liquid. Rinse mushrooms. Remove and discard stems, cut into quarters and then set aside.

2. Combine soy sauce and equal sweetner in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

3. Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tsp oil and ginger to pan, saute for 30 seconds. Add reserved mushroom liquid and broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add remaining 1/2 tsp oil to pan. Add garlic; stir fry 10 seconds. Add bok choy; stir fry 2 minutes or until bok choy begins to soften. Add lettuce; stir fry 2 minutes or until lettuce wilts.  Stir in mushroom mixture and soy sauce mixture; cook for 3 minutes or until bok choy is tender.

*For a meal, add meat of your choice! Scallops go great!*

Grilled Salmon With Warm Spinach Salad

Grilled Salmon With Warm Spinach Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

The sweet citrus vinaigrette can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigeration. Use Maple Grove Walnut Vinaigrette or Paul Newman's Low fat dressing. If you prefer to make the dressing from scratch you can use this recipe:

• 1/4 cup fresh low sugar orange juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oils
• 1 tbsp defatted chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons balsamic blend seasoned rice vinegar (such as Nakano)
• 1/2 teaspoon honey mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole clove garlic, minced

Salad Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 whole BTAB (6 oz) skinless salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• cooking spray
• 1 package 6 oz fresh spinach
• 4whole oranges, whole, peeled and cut into 6 slices

Directions:

1.) Preheat the frill to medium-high heat. for indoor grilling use the George Forman Grill.

2.) To prepare vinaigrette, combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. If you did not make dressing from scratch this step is where you can substitute your favorite low fat bottled dressing

3.) To prepare salad, drizzle lemon juice over fillets; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of pepper. Place fillets, skin side up on a grill rack coated with cooking spray, grill 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or is at your desired degree of doneness. Remove skin.

4.) Add spinach to vinaigrette in a bowl, toss well. Place two cups of spinach mixture on each of 4 serving plates, arrange 1 warm salmon fillet and 6 orange slices on top of greens. 

Enjoy! 

Is Your Fish Really Fresh

Have you enjoyed some of our fish lately and wondered why it is so outstanding, leaving your tastes buds screaming for more? We take pride in the way we handle our fish, which is by flash freezing. This process can taste fresher than the "fresh" fish you could get at your local bistro. Most fresh fish spends one to two weeks in the cold chain before it even reaches your plate. Our fish is processed within 4 hours of harvest and frozen using state-of-the-art Japanese belt freezing systems.

What is flash freezing?

• Flash freezing is used in the food industry to quickly freeze perishable food items. Products are subjected to temperatures well below freezing causing the water inside the foods to freeze in a very short period without forming large crystals, thus avoiding damage to the cells, otherwise known as freezer burn. 

Why buy flash frozen products?

• Quick freezing fish seals in nutrients so it is often fresher than "fresh" fish.
• Fish and seafood begins to decline in quality immediately after being caught, so freezing fish as soon as possible retains quality and seals in freshness.
• "Fresh Fish" can often take up to a week to reach a store. Often time, flash Frozen products are frozen at sea within hours of being take from the water. 
• Flash freezing insures that ice crystals within both meat and seafood are extremely small. This reduces water absorption and destruction of the cells. End result is better quality meat and seafood. 
• Enables the consumer to purchase a high quality food product no matter where they live. Proximity to the food source is not an issue. 
• It is impossible for bacteria to multiply on frozen food. 
• Freezing naturally locks in nutrients and vitamins with no need of preservatives.

Environmental benefits of frozen meat and seafood

• Keeping flash frozen products on hand limits the trips to the grocery store. This reduces your carbon footprint. 
• A full freezer uses less energy than an empty one.
• Longer shelf life results in less wasted food.
• Air freighting unfrozen food has a huge negative environmental impact.

Cinco De Mayo Steak Burritos

It is the beginning of May which means Cinco de Mayo is in a few days. This is a widely celebrated holiday in the United States. For those of you who are planning on celebrating Cinco de Mayo this Sunday here is a great steak burrito recipe you can use to spice up your party.

Makes: 4 servings

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup fresh salsa

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup instant brown rice

1-15 ounce can of black beans-low sodium rinsed

12 ounces strip steak, trimmed and thinly sliced crosswise

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil

4-8 inches whole wheat tortillas 

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup prepared guacamole

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

PREPARATION

1.) Combine salsa and water in a saucepan; bring to boil. Stir in rice, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in beans, return to simmer and cook, uncovered, continue to stir occasionally until the rice is tender and liquid is observed. 

2.) While step one is simmering. Sprinkle your steak with fresh pepper, heat oil on medium-high in a large skillet, and steak and stir occasionally until brown and cooked through. 

3.) Assemble ingredients onto a tortilla, add equal amounts of cheddar cheese, guacamole and fresh cilantro. Roll up tortilla into a burrito.

For all of you steak lovers we have a steak lovers special that is crazy to pass up.

The Importance Of Family Dinners

To most adolescents (and even some parents), there's nothing more out-of-date than dinner with the family. Instead of sitting down with boring parents and annoying younger siblings, they'd prefer to load their plates, scurry away and separate themselves in their own rooms to eat. With the fast growing pace of technology in today's world it is hard to get kids to sit down with the family when they could go to their own room and plop down with their IPad or laptop. Evidence shows that this destructive behavior must come to a stop.

According to TLC's "How Stuff Works", the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University researched the benefits of family dinners and found clear results. Specifically, researchers compared the responses of children who reported having family dinners fewer than 3 times a week to those who have family dinners 5 or more times a week. The study concluded that children who enjoy frequent dinners with their family are far less likely to develop substance abuse problems. If a child has family dinnertime on a regular basis, he or she is:

• half as likely to try cigarettes or marijuana
• one-third less likely to try alcohol
• less likely to have friends who drink alcohol or use marijuana
• more likely to say they will never use drugs

We would like to encourage families to get back to dining together. To motivate you to do so, we have decided to run a family dinner photo contest! The winner of this contest will receive a $25 Better Than A Bistro Gift Card. Please see the link below for more information.

Better Than A Bistro Family Dinner Contest

Better Than A Bistro Can Help Your School Raise Money!

 

Click here to check out the Fundraising Opportunities available with Better Than A Bistro

Free Dessert For Easter