Make good use of leftover turkey or healthy lunch slices with these gluten free dairy free quinoa and veggie filled turkey cups.

Back to school season. I feel it in the air, even though I don’t have little people running around my place sharpening pencils, and for that I breathe, a happy and joyous sigh of relief. However friends with kids, I’m not here to rub it in. I’m here to help. Let me try and assist with your frazzled back to school lunch routines with a healthy and tasty recipe of veggie filled turkey cups. And adults enjoying quiet households like me, you too can enjoy this make-ahead lunch as well.

I used to eat a sandwich every day for lunch while I was in school. There just weren’t that many options. No one knew how to pronounce quinoa yet and no one could figure out how to pack enough salad in a bag to fill a kid up.

We’ve come a long way, and lunchmeat has graduated as well. There are now much healthier options. Take Foster Farms All Natural Turkey Lunchmeat. It is free of nitrates and nitrites – you don’t want either in your food. It’s 98% fat free and the turkey is raised without hormones or steroids. There are no chemicals, preservatives, artificial ingredients or colors. Just say no kids, to all that fake stuff, and say yes to a healthy lunch full of protein.

These products are available in California and the Pacific Northwest, so I’m giving this recipe a CA twist by throwing in the popular superfood quinoa, along with some healthy vegetables. What’s great is that you can cook a big batch of these turkey cups on the weekend and you and your kids can enjoy them all week long, and know that you’re getting a nutritious meal.

You can also use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or otherwise to make this recipe. Just slice the turkey as thin as you can so you can get it to roll in the cups. You can also stack thin slices in the mini-cupcake tins or a wrapper so then you'll have some portable quinoa and veggie filled turkey cups.

Quinoa and Veggie Filled Turkey Cups
{Gluten Free & Dairy Free}

Makes 16 mini-muffins

Ingredients

• 1 package natural turkey or 16 long, thin slices of leftover turkey
• ½ cup cooked quinoa (directions here)
• ½ cup yellow squash, diced
• ½ cup zucchini, diced
• 16 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tablespoon shallots, minced
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal in 3 tablespoons water, rest 10 minutes)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place the quinoa, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, shallots, basil, thyme, lemon, flax egg and salt and pepper in a bowl and stir until combined. Put in the refrigerator while assembling the turkey cups.
3. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place a piece of turkey in each muffin hole, ensuring to cover the sides and bottom. You may need to trim the turkey so it fits. Once all the turkey slices are set, remove the quinoa bowl from the fridge and place a spoonful of the mixture in each tin, making sure not to overflow. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until turkey begins to brown and the cups are set.
4. Remove from oven and cool before eating.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Foster Farms All Natural Sliced Turkey. All opinions are always my own.