Mission Family Nutrition - Week Four

This week I attended The Heart Of The Matter conference.  Monday through Thursday I logged into my computer for four "webinars" each day for wonderful homeschool inspiration and practical tips and tricks.  Wow!  Was it good!  After all the audio is edited, etc. it will be available on their website to purchase.  They also have a bigger online conference in August that I am already planning on "attending."  If you homeschool, this is a great inexpensive way to attend a homeschool conference!

So with webinars daily, and Buddy Bear getting sick, I didn't complete my Mission Family Nutrition goal of introducing my family to a new grain.  But I did try two new recipes that were Very well received by my family.  Early this week I received a free issue of Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking.  I was excited to sit down and browse through the magazine to find recipes to try with my family.  I love that Taste of Home always has such practical recipes with ingredients that most average people have on hand and not a lot of ingredients that I have never heard of nor have any clue where to buy them!

Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas
   This was very good!  Even Ally, my picky eater, ate some!  RaeRae
   had seconds (unusual), and My Man had thirds!  And as a plus, it
   was quick and easy to make.
Prep: 30min  Bake: 15min   Yield: 8 servings

2 cans (15oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (15oz) enchilada sauce, divided
1 cup (4oz) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, divided
8 whole wheat tortillas (8in), warmed


1.  In a small bowl, mash 1 can black beans (great way to involve kiddos!), set aside.  In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey, pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the mashed beans, remaining beans, half of the enchilada sauce, and 1/2 cup cheese;  heat through.
2.  Place 2/3 cupfuls of bean mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in two 11"x7" or one 9"x13" baking dishes coated with cooking spray.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake, uncovered, at 425 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.


Nutritional Facts:  1 enchilada equals 360 calories, 11g fat (3g saturated fat), 55mg cholesterol, 808 mg sodium, 42g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, 24g protein.

This next week my goal is to experiment with making a healthy Ranch dressing from scratch.  Ranch dressing in our house is like white gold... it gets served with everything from vegetables to pizza, from chicken to watermelon (although the later doesn't happen often...yuk!).  Ally has even been known to dip her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in Ranch...YUK!  Personally, I prefer to leave Ranch for fresh veggies, salad, and sometime sandwiches; but I think that sometimes the rest of my family would starve without Ranch!