Gluten-Free Gravy Mix Review and Mini Turkey Meatloaf recipe

Mini Turkey Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Did you know 3.1 million turkeys were bought by Canadians in 2012?? That's a lot of gobbling by turkeys and us alike!

Canadian Thanksgiving is officially on October 14th but we will celebrate on Sunday the 13th.  This gives us Monday to relax and enjoy all the leftovers! I love making Thanksgiving dinner and planning the menu from beginning to end. I make home-made rolls, appetizers, desserts, mains, sides ... pretty much everything ...except the gravy! I love gravy but I always find the last 30 minutes of trying to get everything to the table (and keep it hot) very stressful so I decided years ago to cut out the home-made gravy. I have to say that no one has complained. I usually buy it from a local shop, heat and serve.

Of course, when you host a big dinner like Thanksgiving or Christmas you have to make sure everyone's needs are met - extra sides for vegetarians, Uncle Fred's favourite brussel sprout dish and gluten free offerings for friends and family with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities (and don't forget my big glass of wine). It can be a lot of preparation and effort but, of course, it's all worth it when everything is on the table and bellies are pleasantly full (ok... stuffed to the max).

If you are like me and don't want to make gravy and need to ensure it is gluten free, you should try Club House gluten-free turkey gravy mix. I was lucky enough to be offered a stash of samples to review. Club House is part of McCormick Canada. Did you know,130-year-old McCormick Canada is the largest spice, dry sauce and seasoning extract and specialty food operation in the country! The largest of McCormick's brands is Club House which is now the 54th largest brand in Canada. They have launched a line of gluten-free products to meet the needs of the 15% of North American households who are consuming gluten-free foods.


Preparing the turkey gluten-free gravy mix is as easy as opening the package and adding water. That's it. Easy. If you want to gourmet it up a notch, you can add turkey drippings. Today, I used it to top off some mini-turkey meat loaves and mashed potatoes but I will also be using at my Thanksgiving dinner. It was great. What I liked the most was:

• consistency - not goopy or too thin - easily coated my spoon.
• taste - tastes like gravy, not too salty (it actually has 25% less salt than Club House's regular mix), no after taste. 
• ease of preparation - no need to make a roux, season, stir forever etc
• calories - if you just use water (no turkey drippings) there is only 20 calories in 1/4 cup of gravy (leaves room for extra dessert :)

One package makes 1 cup so I'd suggest using one pack per 3-4 people at your table.

Here is my mini turkey meatloaf recipe. Please note that I did not make it gluten free but you could easily substitute gluten free breadcrumbs and other ingredients:

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey breast
3/4 lb  turkey sausage
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp worcestershire 
1 c panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup curry bottled sauce (I used yellow curry) + extra for brushing 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all of the above in a large bowl until well combined.
Press mixture into 12 muffin tins that have been sprayed with cooking oil.
Make a small indentation in the centres of each "muffin".
Bake for 25 minutes. 
If desired carefully spread a bit more curry sauce on top of mini loaves and bake for another 5 minutes.
Make sure the internal temperature of meatloaves reach 165 degrees F.

If desired, pipe smoothly mashed potatoes on top and spoon Club House's gravy over top!


Click for more information on Club House Products or McCormick Spice on Facebook.


This sponsorship is brought to you by The Gluten Free Agency whom we have partnered with for this promotion. 

All opinions and recipes are my own.

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

How was your Christmas? Merry, I hope!

I know many of us will have a tonne of leftovers. For me, the best part of Christmas leftovers are turkey sandwiches and turkey pot pie! Here is an easy recipe for pot pie. I like a thick and hearty filling so I use leftover gravy and pretty much any other leftover veggies. The crust uses frozen butter to create the flakiest crust that you will ever taste.





Crust
2-1/2 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup frozen butter
12 tbsp ice cold water

Filling
2 c turkey, chopped
1/2 c carmelized onions
1 c cooked yams, diced
1/2 c carrots
1/2 c peas
any other veggies you have left from dinner could also be added
1-1/2 c gravy

What to do

Crust

• In a large bowl, stir or whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
• Using a box grater, grate the frozen butter into the flour bowl. (this is not fun, but well worth it)
• Toss the butter and flour mixture together.
• Add the ice water by the tbsp so evenly spread over butter-flour mixture.
• Using your hands (take off your rings!), mix and knead the mixture until it comes together in a smooth ball.
• Divide the dough in two, wrap each in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate at least an hour, perferably overnight.

Pie

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, gebtly mix all of your left overs together. Season as required.
• Take dough out of fridge and let warm up slightly so you can more easily work with it (15 minutes).
• Flour your working surface and your rolling pin.
• Roll out the first wrapped dough so it fits into the bottom of the 9 inch glass or ceramic pie plate.
• Add the turkey mixture.
• Roll out the second half of the dough and place on top of pie.
• Tightly crimp the edges of the two layers of dough together so they form a tight seal.
• Slice four vent holes in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.
• Bake for 60 minutes.
• If you find the crust browning too much wrap edges in foil.
• Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving.

Note: Any leftovers should be reheated in the oven as microwaving it will make the crust soggy.

Smokin' Turkey Chili

Those of us with left over turkey, please raise your hand!!!

We roasted a 19lb gobbler and I was worried it might not be enough for our table of 12. In the end, there was no need to worry as there was enough for  2nds and a few 3rds. There was also more than enough for leftovers.

To make sure none of the turkey went to waste, I decided to make turkey chili and freeze it for lunches in the New Year. And although gluttony is a definite Christmas tradition, the New Year will bring renewed thoughts of a healthy eating so little added fat and lots of added fibre make this a delicious and healthy left over dish!

This recipe also reminds me of the thanksgiving back in university that I made a big pot of turkey chili for a group of friends....it wasn't until we were almost done eating that I realized I forgot to put turkey in it!!!! Lol.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of diced, cooked turkey
• 2 large cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14 oz) white beans, rinsed
• 1-2 cans (14oz) black beans, rinsed
• 1 jalepeno, diced (keep seeds in if you like it on the hot side)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (I like chipotle sauce)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 large red sweet pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke

What to do:

1. Until transparent, saute over medium heat onions, red pepper, and jalepeno in pan lightly coated with cooking spray. (about 5 minutes).
2. In large pot, add all ingredients including sauteed vegetables.
3. Simmer over medium heat until heated through and bubbling.
4. Serve or place into smaller containers and freeze for future use.