Turkey as Diet Food

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

12 May 2008 05:38 AM

I know many of us consider turkey an annual binging food that we only see on Thanksgiving so what I am about to say may shock you.

Turkey is an excellent diet food.

Mind you, I said turkey, not turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

I'm a very busy mother of two boys so finding time to prepare healthy meals for myself between kiddie meals and bottles is practically an impossibility. Like most mothers, if I have nothing available that can be microwaved in less than two minutes and eaten, I usually fall back on something I shouldn't like crackers, chips or toast. While these foods can be easily and quickly consumed for a little bit of energy, they just don't work in the long run. That is why I prefer to set aside one afternoon per week to do my cooking for the week. This is where turkey comes in.

Turkeys in general are fairly large. One turkey breast can easily weigh five pounds. That is a good deal of meat and can make several meals for the whole family throughout the week. Cook once, eat four times? That just makes sense when you are a multitasking mom. While the dark meat from turkey is quite fatty, as is the dark meat from chickens and other fowl, the white meat is low in fat and very tasty if cooked properly.

Turkey is rather inexpensive in the U.S. during the off season (by off season, I mean non-Thanksgiving). Personally, I prefer to buy the turkey breast on the bone. (Sometimes picking the meat off the bones of a whole bird is a job I just don't have time for.) This way I know that the meat hasn't been processed and it is just white meat. Preparation can be extremely easy. I like to cook mine on a rotisserie. This keeps it juicy and keeps me from having to check on it or baste it. If you don't have a rotisserie, just pop it in a baking bag, follow the instructions and forget about it until the oven timer says it is done.

Once it is ready, give it a few minutes to cool and then slice into single serving sizes. Wrap it up in Ziploc bags and put half of it in the refrigerator for early in the week and the other half in the freezer for later in the week, or another week altogether.

Time management is one of the biggest hurdles that busy mothers face when trying to lose weight. Turkey is a great diet food that can help you to have more time for everything else in your life while still being able to prepare a healthy meal in minutes.

Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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Michele Cheplic (37339) 12 May 2008 07:19 AM

Turkey rules in our house too. My daughter calls it "the bird." I love it for all the reasons you do. It's affordable enough for me to buy a 15-pound bird at least a couple times per month and we eat the leftovers for days after. And the best part my daughter loves turkey. LOVES IT. She never tires of it and doesn't need it prepared in a special way either. She just likes it plain. My only issue with turkey is that I can't disguise veggies in it the same way I can with ground beef. I can hide carrots, olives, mushorroms, etc. in hamburger but my dd's keen eye picks it out in turkey burgers. Also, the oven bags are a Godsend.

Lisa P (24013) 12 May 2008 08:47 AM

I agree - the oven bags take all the work out of baking a turkey - they also take a lot of the cleanup out of the equation too!