Turkey Oatmeal Muffins

My version of "prison loaf"  Actually, it's not mine at all, but a recipe from Jamie Eason and she calls this "Turkey Oatmeal muffins".

You are wondering what on earth would even make me want to create this dish?

My sister and I were driving down to visit my father this past weekend and I knew I would need some quick and easy meals. I needed something I could eat in between the "normal" meals, something that would provide all my nutritional needs, was fast and no mess.

Enter the muffins.

They are basically turkey meatballs with all of the complex carbs right in them, so you don't have pasta, you can eat them plain, on salad, or as I did, heated with mustard.

Here is the recipe and nutritional breakdown:

Chicken or Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

1/2 tsp. ground cumin1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed

2 tsp. dry yellow mustard

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. McCormick’s Chipotle Pepper Spice (spicy, but key to the recipe)

1 tsp. salt1 cup quick cooking oats

2 cloves garlic, minced (or 2 tbsp of garlic powder)

1 small onion, finely chopped (I get the pre chopped version or even the frozen - thawed)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped (bell peppers will work too)

3 egg whites

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground extra lean chicken or turkey breast (I use 3 packages)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a large bowl, add cumin, thyme, yellow mustard, black pepper, McCormick’s Chipotle Pepper Spice, salt, oats, garlic, onions and celery. Mix until well combined.  Next add the ground chicken and egg whites and mix with your hands until evenly distributed.  Make racquetball size portions and place in muffin tins, sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake for 40 minutes. 

Yields about18 muffins

Nutrition: 1 muffin

78 calories

2 g fat

4 g carbs

11 g protein

Servings are usually 2 for women and 4 for men.

Raw ingredients above, just before I mixed them up. Doesn't look too bad does it?

Would I make these again? Actually yes I would. Were they great and tasty? Not really. They were a great item to take while visiting someone though, it was a quick warm in the microwave, I didn't go hungry and warm food always satisfies me more than cold.

I think it can easily be changed to be a bit more tasty, changing spices, adding some vegetables. How does this compare to prison loaf? Not sure, but it keeps me in line!