Recipe #3: Turkey Sausage and Peppers

Now for a real recipe. As I have said in previous posts, it's sometimes difficult to cook for one person. I know it is certainly hard to buy fresh meat amounts for one person without freezing leftovers. So my strategy is generally to cook a family-sized meal and eat it over a few days. I usually have a meal ready to go that I can eat a few minutes after deciding I am going to have it.

My previous recipes have been simplistic but this one qualifies as an actual meal.

Ingredients: 5 turkey-Italian sausages (near 2 pounds, I usually get fresh Harris Teeter brand), 1 package frozen pepper stir-fry mix, 1 small jar spaghetti sauce, olive oil, Spices: garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, parsley, cayenne pepper

1. Pour about 2 tbsp. olive oil (not extra virgin) in a large frying pan over medium heat.
2. Brown the sausages on all sides. This should take a little under 10 minutes.
3. Remove the sausages to a cutting board.
4. Pour 2 more tbsp. olive oil in the pan and up the heat to medium high.
5. Add in the entire bag of the pepper mix, still frozen, and let it cook for about a minute.
6. During this time add in a solid dash of all your spices and stir.
7. As that is cooking, cut your sausages into bite-size pieces and return them to the pan.
8. The sausage pieces will still be a little pink in the middle so just make you turn each piece at least once.
9. After the sausages are no longer pink, add about 1/2 cup to a cup of your spaghetti sauce, stir and bring to a simmer.
10. Turn off the heat and let cool for a minute.

At this point, I usually put the meal straight into Tupperware for saving. If I'm going to eat a portion, I try to make sure to serve myself an individual portion in a separate bowl in order to avoid over-eating. This whole dish is about 1000 calories and will make 2 very large meal-size portions or the parts of multiple meals.