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Bolognese With a Twist

How do you make a healthy bolognese sauce? Use lean ground turkey.

This recipe is quick and easy, We consider it a healthy twist on the traditional bolognese sauce, which features beef, pork, pancetta and butter.

Classic bolognese can take hours to prepare and can be quite heavy tasting. This recipe is lighter, but still comforting. Despite using a leaner meat, the results are a thick, rich sauce which is healthy and delicious. Fewer calories, less fat and great flavor…tastes like a winner to me.

In our household we pair the sauce with fresh zucchini noodles. The recipe is large enough to freeze portions for future quick, last minute meals.  So good!

One trick we use to create a more intense flavor is to use tomato paste. We make ours from Freeze Dried Tomato Powder. And boy, is it packed with tomato flavor. It is a great item to keep in your kitchen pantry. It can add that extra oomph to any recipe your might add it to.

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Quick Turkey Bolognese sauce

Lean bolognese is made with ground turkey instead of beef, and the result is just as delicious. Plus, finely chopped mushrooms are incorporated into the sauce for a earthy flavor. This is served over pasta, zucchini noodles or polenta, then sprinkled with parmesan cheese.
Course: Main Course
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1 cup mushrooms finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 28 oz tomatoes crushed
  • 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
  • ½ cup fresh basil chopped

Instructions

  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic and itallian seasoning. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add turkey, mushrooms and salt. Cook, crumbling the turkey with a wooden spoon. Stir until the turkey is no longer pink and the mushrooms are cooked, about 10 minutes.
  • Increase heat to medium high. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and cook. Stir occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
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Fossils, rocks and turkeys

Being retired we find time to embrace certain concepts or more like Rules to Live By. They help us focus on what’s really important and among them are:

    • Fun will be had by all
    • Live life like my dog 
    • Housework never supersedes fun

However, today we plan to use the Never Go Back The Same Way We Came rule. After a wonderful morning and lunch at Spring Basin Wilderness, we continue our exploration of the area.

We head along a scenic drive to explore the prehistoric past of Oregon and stop at the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. It is located 18 miles west of the town of Fossil, Oregon.

The Palisades are the most prominent landform and are ancient mudflows.

The trailhead is located along Highway 218. The Trail of Fossils (¼ mile loop) is the only trail in the park where visitors can easily see fossils in the rocks. Large boulders strewn below the Palisades contain dozens of visible plant fossils. We glimpse fossilized plants along the cliff walls as well … when suddenly we hear a strange “gobble” sound. I kid you not! We grab the binoculars and sure enough it’s a flock of wild turkeys. What a perfect end to a perfect day.

Sure, we get home late. But luckily we’ve put into practice our Always have dinner ready and waiting after a long day on the road rule.  On the menu, Minestrone Soup with toasted baguette. Yeah … these are rules we can live by.

 

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Better Than Pasta

The Internet is overflowing with food and diet advice. The problem is sifting through all that clutter. In the past few months we’ve been using EatingWell to build meal plans and make our daily lives better.

However, this post isn’t about diet but rather a discovery we made through that search. Zucchini noodles are a great replacement for pasta and with a few simple steps very easy to prepare.

I have an excellent mandoline and can julienne like a pro, but these babies can be finger shorteners. Luckily, there is a much safer and cheaper solution … the spiral slicer.

Again the Internet is packed with a variety of these. But our advice is to avoid the small handheld tubes and go with a horizontal crank type, The above link is the one we use, but you can find similar models … on-line.

The 2mm noodle blade works best for most pasta dishes. Keep in mind that the stream of veg coming out the cutter blade can get unruly. Making use of kitchen shears when moving raw noodles to the cooking vessel works well.

Cut zucchini in half and place the cut side next to the blade. This does two things. First, it makes it easier to cut, and finally it moves the waste to the end you would have trimmed anyway.

Once cut, we typically give them a quick ‘wilt’ in a skillet over medium high heat with a teaspoon of oil (or quick spray). Not looking to do much more than pull the moisture out, but then we like a bit of crunch so you can cook them down to personal taste. A steam basket in the microwave works just about as good and again, the idea is to draw out water.

They don’t keep well, so you do need to make them fresh. Pair them with any sauce you choose. They are especially good with basic pesto stirred in at the end of the sauté. Just be sure to drain any excess liquid first.

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Kokanee Karnival

In late fall we joined a group of flyfishing-centric people that get together the third Thursday and talk about fishing. The Sunriver Anglers organization offers regular programs focusing on fishing Central Oregon. These topics range from slide shows to on stream activities. Tucked into this membership are some interesting opportunities to help nurture the rivers, riparian and aquatic life we’re enjoying.

Kokanee Karnival is one of the educational programs Sunriver Anglers supports. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife started this classroom and field study program in the late nineties.

It’s mission “to help sustain, improve and develop an appreciation of Central Oregon’s unique outdoor environment.” Kokanee Karnival brings that message to 4th and 5th graders.

Perhaps not so coincidentally on Earth Day this year, we participated by helping other Sunriver Anglers serve lunch to 100 hungry elementary students, teachers and volunteers. This was part of Kokanee Karnival’s Angling Clinic Experience.

For most participants this is their first time angling. ODFW has racks of fishing rods and boxes of worms to make it as simple as possible for a successful cast. The other advantage added to the event is that Shelvin Pond is stocked with about 700 trout. From our vantage point, the deck on Aspen Hall, the pond’s banks were filled with bursts of excitement as bobbers dropped below the pond’s surface.

Environment education, especially when it involves grade schoolers, can have substantial impact. ODFW’s unique prospective focuses attention on something the kids are surrounded by but may not fully comprehend…their potential impact. They are doing it in a really fun way … at least we enjoyed ourselves.

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What’s for lunch – Bento!

Avocado Egg Salad, berries, cherry tomatoes, carrot, celery, and crusty baguette.

You can create a nutrient rich, balanced and portion-controlled meal in these specially divided containers. Long a Japanese tradition, a bento box traditionally contains rice or noodles, fish or meat, with pickled and cooked vegetables.

The boxes are easy to make ahead and can be eaten on the go. When packing your box, focus on the flavors you enjoy.

4 tips to packing bento

Vary textures

Think hard, soft, crispy, crunchy

Eat seasonally

Fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables retain more nutrients. Naturally ripened and harvested at the right time, they pack more flavor and nutrition.

A feast for your eyes

Vary the colors of ingredients. Diversity of colors leads the eye around, adding to anticipation of your meal.

Keep it simple

Slicing, dicing, julienning, or any of other cutting techniques affect flavor. Surface area can affect the flavor of vegetables and fruit. Avocado Egg Salad recipe can be found here.