Hurricane Helene is blowing through the Southeast. Prayers for those in areas that have been devastated. Florida and South Georgia were hit hard. If your power is out save this recipe for later! If you’re hunkered down for the weekend, this Turkey Arrabbiata is an easy dish to put together.
Arrabbiata is a bold and spicy Italian tomato sauce cooked with hot chili peppers. The term “arrabbiata” translates to angry or furious! This super simple Turkey Arrabbiata is my spin on the Whole30 version that I enjoyed at a dear friend’s house. Her recipe uses pork and pancetta and is served over roasted spaghetti squash.
I wanted to try it with bacon and ground turkey. Even though her recipe is a healthy-ish Whole30, I knew I could drop the fat and calories a little more. Huge success! I know you’re going to love it, too. (And, don’t worry – you control the heat and make it as angry as you want!)
This issue also shares
- The Best Life Living Tip: ☔️ Saving Food During Power Outages
- The Self-Care Technique: 😱 Dealing with Storm Stress and Anxiety
- Ideas and Inspiration: 💪🏻 Raising Resilient Daughters (and Grandaughters)
Read on for more — including events and appearances for the launch of Bon Appetit, Y’all (Revised and Updated) plus this light and easy Turkey Arrabbiata, your new favorite dish for fall.
Best Life Living Tip
Usually, the Good and Good for You™ best life tips are more personal than saving food in a power outage! It’s more like “How to Tell if a Facebook Page is Fake“ or “How to Keep the Promises You Make Yourself.”
But with hurricane season here in full force, I wanted to share thoughts and info on how to save food in a power outage by Rebecca Lang.
She reports a refrigerator will hold a proper temperature for 4 hours (if the doors haven’t been opened) and a full freezer will be fine for 48 hours (or 24 hours if it’s not full). Mainly, she says to ready the ice chests! You can use regular ice or dry ice to keep things cold.
Dealing with a freezer full of spoiled food is both costly and time-consuming. Take steps before storms. Try to plan and be prepared.
How to tell if Your Food has Defrosted, Then Refroze
Here’s a cool tip from UNL Food on how to know if your freezer has defrosted, spoiling the food but then refroze, creating a dangerous food safety problem.
- Store a couple of ice cubes in a small container in the freezer. (A container is important so the ice cube doesn’t evaporate and disappear.)
- When you open the door and see that the ice cube has melted down from its original shape, you’ll know the power was off for an extended period and it’s time to ditch the contents.
- Not sure? When it doubt, throw it out.
Self-Care Technique
Dealing with storm stress and anxiety is a real thing. It’s one thing to be informed and another to be weather-obsessed. Sometimes you need to take a break. Here are some tips on the best way to manage storm stress:
- It’s important to realize that it’s not an overreaction to prepare for severe weather.
- Regulate your research to ensure doomscrolling doesn’t consume your entire day.
- Mindfulness exercises are important when managing storm anxiety. It’s easy to hyper-fixate on the worst possible outcome. Bringing yourself to the present moment can minimize stress.
- Storm anxiety can stem from a lack of safety or from fearing what will happen to your loved ones. Make a plan.
Out and About: Events with Virginia Willis
The best way to keep up with book signing events and demonstrations is the events page on VirginiaWillis.com.
My launch party is at the Atlanta History Center 15 October! We’ll have nibbles and sips and then sit down for a conversation with my dear friend and colleague, Cynthia Graubart for a conversation.
21 October I’ll be at the Decatur Library giving a short talk about Bon Appetit, Y’all including Good and Good for You™, my real-life approach to health and wellness.
Excited to be a part of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens Great Pumpkin Carving Festival on 24 October.
Please also follow me on Instagram for interviews, podcasts, and more! Thanks so much.
Ideas and Inspiration
Last week Mama went to me to Texas for my tour of Central Market Cooking Schools. We had a blast! Here we are about to pop into Neiman Marcus for her birthday lunch at the Zodiac.
Times like these horrible storms call for resilience. Mama is one of the strongest women I know and she helped make me one, too.
One of my new favorite IG pages is the @ResilientDaughterProject
Lots of great videos on how to help young girls and women become more resilient. You need to watch this. Check it out!
Point it Out
This Turkey Arribbiata comes in at around 200 calories per serving. Serve it with zoodles, butternut squash noodles, or pasta. Let me know what you think if you give it a try.
Hope to see you soon at an event or online. Thanks so much for reading and stay safe!
Bon Appétit Y’all!
Virginia Willis
Turkey Arrabbiata
Ingredients
- 1 slice bacon cut into matchsticks
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- 1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup drained and chopped roasted red peppers
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds crushed
- Basil for garnish
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano for serving
- Zoodles for serving
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the turkey, tomatoes, red peppers, red pepper flakes, and crushed fennel. Stir to combine, breaking up the turkey. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the mixture is well-combined and saucy, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Good and Good for You with Virginia Willis is a lifestyle brand that shares health and wellness content through digital channels, events, and print media. For more information visit virginiawillis.com
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