Turkey Taco Salad

 This is a new recipe to our house that became an instant family favorite.  It is a one pot meal that makes 4 servings. It takes about 15 minutes to put together, with breaks in between to do things like hang up laundry or other quick chores. It does take about 30 minutes total cooking time.  When I call out brands, they are the brands that I use at home on a regular basis.  If you have your preferred brands that’s fine too although the taste may differ from mine. I also have not asked permission from the brand’s to list them in the recipe and if asked I will change to a generic listing.

This recipe makes 4 servings or more if you have small children. This also reheats well  This recipe may be double. You may also use this recipe in tacos or burritos.

Turkey Taco Salad

1 Soup pot, I use my Le Creuset soup pot

1 pound 99% fat free ground turkey

2 Tablespoons of  California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon  each of salt and pepper 

1 Tablespoon of dried Onion Flakes or 1 fresh onion diced.

1 Tablespoon of Penzey’s Spices Chicken Taco Seasoning 

10 ounces of Mirepoix mix

1 - 12 ounce package of Good and Gather mixed vegetables 

2 - 2 1/2ounces cans of Early California Sliced Ripe Olives

A nice fresh vegetable salad with your favorite vegetables. We use romaine lettuce as the base. 

Optional: shredded cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Add the olive oil to the pan and heat to a medium heat.  Add the ground turkey, salt, pepper, and dried onion flakes. With a spoon mix in the spice’s breaking up the meat. Cover and let brown. Come back every few minutes to further break up the meat until it is crumbled and no pink shows.  Change to a fresh spoon once the meat is thoroughly cooked. Add the chicken taco seasoning and mix in thoroughly. Then add the Mirepoix mix and if you are using fresh onion, stir in and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the sliced olives and the frozen vegetables and thoroughly mix in. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the frozen vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

While the frozen vegetables are cooking make up the salads. Place 1/4 of the mixture on top of the salads. 

Knitting

I finally finished a couple of knitting projects. It was to dark to take good pictures tonight. So tomorrow you get pictures. 

I also avoided the donut monster today. 

Buttercup Yarn

 I have finally finished spinning the buttercup roving and plyed it with Ito raw silk yarn. Here is a picture of the last 2 skeins in the middle.  I have not counted the yardage but I am sure that I will have enough to knit a shawl.  The single skein I finished yesterday is on top. The one I finished today are in the middle. The top one was photographed on a light grey table with an Ott light.  The middle 2 skeins were photographed on a brown couch with an Ott light. This is a perfect example of how background color can modify the look of any yarn. The gray brings out the yellow tones while the brown brings out the white tones and mutes the yellow. 

I skeined the yarn tonight during the Lord of the Rings Trilogy fight scenes. I know fight scenes are part of the book. They are also part of the TV show. That does not mean I have to watch them. Skinning each bobbin took up one fight scene. 

The bottom photo is the start of 4 ounces of super wash BFL. It is obviously still on the spinning wheel.  It is not going to be an art yarn. Since it is a super wash wool, I will be using it in charity hats.  My rationale behind this is that a few hundred years ago this was the normal thing.  It will also give me another one of a kind hat.  Just because the kids may get them from the clothing bank does not mean all the hats have to look the same.  The teachers usually get to pick the hats out for the students, so I try to give each on a unique personality. 

Life Happens

 Well this week has been interesting to say the least. Friday I dropped my favorite tea cup when my silly arthritic hands lost my grip on the cup. Apparently it dropped at the perfect angle to fracture into many pieces. The fantastic news is that is was empty at the time.  I will also never have to wash it again. The question remaining, is will I be able to “Keep Calm and Carry Yarn”? The cup has permanently retired from carrying tea. I think it will be hard for me to stop carrying yarn.

Speaking of tea, yes I was speaking about tea. I have discovered that at my current age I will no longer be able to drink caffeinated iced tea with dinner. It called for Tums tonight. Maybe I should just carry some herbal tea with me and ask for hot water and a cup. Otherwise it will be iced water with lemon. 

I also figured out while I was having trouble with my spinning wheels. The very good news is that is was not me. It was a positioning problem. With my Cubii2, I needed a 2 inch cushion on my spinning chair to be in the best position. The only problem is that my spinning chair is the perfect height to spin with , without the cushion.  Yes, that’s why they call it a spinning chair. So today I removed the cushion. I filled 1 bobbin with merino wool. I then plyed that bobbin with raw silk for a beautiful skein of yarn. 

This is my first skein of yarn for Spin Together 2022. Since I used a commercial raw silk yarn for the plying I could only count the 366 yards of the merino.  You will notice that it is a thick and thin art yarn. I have 2 more bobbins to ply that won’t count for Spin Together 2022. The yarn will be a Shawl with the pattern  Count 1,2,3,4. Yes it is one of my designs. You can get the pattern from Raverly, LoveCrafts.com or your local yarn store. Have a good rest of the weekend. 

Reading Glasses

 We went to Costco today to buy another 3 pack of Foster Grant reading glasses.  I now have them placed at all the Strategic locations around the house. I even have two spare pairs. Still getting used to not wearing glasses all the time.

I Cooked Dinner

 It was a very slow day around here. Don’t look so schocked, I have not forgotten how.  I have just been super tired. Not to mention 2 eye surgeries this month.  I did make dinner.  I made taco salads with extra lean ground turkey ,let me know if you want the recipe.  It’s another quick cook one red pot meal that makes 4 to 6 servings.  Low fat, low carbohydrates and tastes good too. 

Lashana Tova - Happy New Year

 For all of you celebrating please have a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful New Year. I did not get to go to services because of COVID19. I am afraid that it will impact most of my fall and winter this year, yet again. 

I know in my heart of hearts that COVID19 will be around in some form or another for at least the foreseeable future. I base this on the fact that the 1918 Flu is still in our flu shots sometimes.  I am not sure of the exact science behind this, it has to do with constant mutations though. 

I have yarn so don’t worry about me.