Turkey Sausage Patties From Scratch

Making your own turkey sausage patties from scratch is easy –  and bonus, no processed ingredients! I'm so honored to have my friend Jackie share this recipe here on Skinnytaste as a guest post. Jackie is an incredible chef with Celiac, and has a blog called CAFE, Celiac and Allergy Friendly Epicurian where she shares her gluten-free recipes. I made these for breakfast today with my Red Pepper Egg-In-A-Hole and it was delish! Jackie will be guest posting once a month here on Skinnytaste, please welcome her...

I am excited to be here on Skinnytaste again. A lot has happened since my last guest post. This past summer I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime (or at least my lifetime) to work as a test kitchen contributor at Bon Appétit Magazine. I interned there after completing culinary school last year but it was quite a different and incredible experience to actually contribute to the magazine and website.

After working at Bon Appétit for 8 months I am happy to be back home with the kids and focus on developing recipes on a freelance professional basis as well as for my website. In addition to gaining a ton of experience while working in the test kitchen, I gained a few pounds. Occupational hazard, I suppose. I decided to re-join weight watchers and work on creating and maintaining healthy eating habits once again.

I used weight watchers after the last 2 of my 3 sons were born and it is my favorite weight loss program. The balanced approach is not only physically healthy but I’ve found it to be the best for my long-term success. Once I started calculating points for all of my recipes, I immediately thought of Gina and of course all of you here at Skinnytaste. I am looking forward to visiting here from time to time and sharing my healthy recipes with you. I hope you will stop by my page to say hi to me there as well.

Today’s recipe is for Turkey Sausage Patties. They are extremely flavorful and savory. You could serve them for breakfast with eggs or even for lunch and dinner. I soften the onion and garlic and then toast some fennel with the mix to add a depth of flavor you wouldn’t get by just adding everything raw It’s a short extra step that is definitely worth taking.



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Gluten-Free S'mores Tartlets

For all the bakers and chocolate lovers out there – this recipe is for you! These chocolate tartlets are a fun twist on a my favorite camping dessert, S'mores. Crushed graham crackers on the bottom, a yummy chocolate filling and a marshmallow Italian meringue on top.

Madison loved helping me in the kitchen. I put those little hands to work. I also made the cupcakes a day ahead, then made the meringue the following day which worked out perfect.

I adapted this recipe from Kyra Bussanich's cookbook, Sweet Cravings. Such a great cookbook for gluten-free desserts. I met Kyra a few months ago, she was the first gluten-free winner of Food Network's "Cupcake Wars" where she beat out non-gluten free cupcakes on the show which is pretty impressive. Although her recipes are all gluten-free, they are obviously not light so it took some work to cut the calories but I loved the final result. Her original recipe uses heavy cream in her chocolate ganache filling, but these worked out well using evaporated milk instead. I made some other modifications and everyone enjoyed them.

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Perfect Filet Mignon for Two

As a steak lover, I can't think of a better meal to enjoy for Valentine's Day.
Since it can be pricey, I only make it on special ocassions – and Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion! Get sizzling in the kitchen for an easy, Romantic dinner for two.

Filet mignon is the most tender cut of steak you can buy, and doesn't require fancy seasonings – coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper is all you need for a delicious steak that's pan seared then finished in the oven and cooked to perfection! I like mine medium rare, but you can cook it to your taste.

It's practically foolproof if you have a meat thermometer, but you can also use the finger test just in case you don't. This starts on the stove and finishes in the oven, so you'll need a heavy oven-safe non-stick skillet, or cast iron skillet to make this. One thing you should keep in mind is you'll want to bring the meat up to room temperature, so let it sit on the counter at least 30 minutes before you're ready to cook. It's perfect with sauteed or roasted vegetables on the side, here I made a quick sauteed garlic broccolini, but you can also serve it with skinny mashed potatoes.


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Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

This chocolate chip cookie pie is secretly good for you, but don't tell anyone! You won't believe it's made with beans, dates and oats! And because it's made with such wholesome ingredients, it's very filling.

I can't tell you how excited I am to share Katie's new cookbook, Chocolate Covered Katie! I've admired Katie's blog for years and have always been amazed by the sweets she dreams up and her healthy approach to making dessert. Oh and by the way, the back of her cookbook has a blurb from yours truly! Thumbing through her book I wanted to make so many things, but I'm a sucker for chocolate chip pie, so I knew I wanted to try this.

Katie says: "So famous it's been featured on ABC's Five O'Clock News, this gooey cookie pie sparked a complete beans-in-dessert revolution on the Internet..." I knew I HAD to make this! She has two versions, one with xylitol or sugar, and this more natural version using dates as a natural sweetener. If you prefer to skip the dates and use a sweetener, she used 1 1/2 cups.

I topped this with a little fat free vanilla frozen yogurt but that's completely optional. Everyone in my house enjoyed this!


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Avocado Toast Egg-in-a-Hole

The perfect 5 minute breakfast to make the one you love! Whole grain toast with mashed avocado, eggs over easy and a few dashes of hot sauce – 5 ingredients, 5 minutes to make, doesn't get better than that!

I'm obsessed with avocado toast and eggs lately as you might have noticed! I was thinking about Valentine's Day breakfast ideas and forgot I had these heart shaped cutters, so immediately this came to mind. I bought heart shaped cutters on Amazon last year, but even if you don't have fancy cutters, you can keep it simple and use the rim of a glass to cut out a hole.

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Chicken Barley Soup

Warm up with a bowl of this Chicken and Barley Soup! My entire family loves this including my five year old, and the leftovers are better the next day!

This week's forecast – snow, snow and more snow! Making soup is my way of dealing with February and the cold. I like to use chicken on the bone when making soup because it adds more flavor. If you prefer to use water instead of broth, that is fine too, just add salt to taste.

Make a big pot of this, and freeze the leftovers if you wish! Enjoy and stay warm!

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Chicken Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

This hearty soup – loaded with chicken, kale, sweet potatoes and veggies, will warm your bones on this cold winter we are having! And the leftovers are perfect for heating up for lunch the next day and can also be frozen for another night.

I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes unless they are savory, so I loved them in this soup! There's no grains in here, but a large bowl is very satisfying. The jalapeño adds the perfect flavor, and just a trace of heat. Of course if you like your food spicy, you could add more! This is naturally gluten-free, Paleo and a great One-Pot meal – enjoy!

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