Turkey Pumpkin Crock Pot Chili

 

Fall is upon us, which means it's time to use one of my favorite ingredients: Pumpkin.  It just makes everything taste like fall.  Pumpkin pies, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin thyme alfredo, give me all of it.

I found this recipe on a wonderful blog for healthier recipes that aren't typical lame health food: Skinnytaste.  Expect to see a lot more recipes from there in the future.  For this recipe though I cut everything in half and adjusted the spices somewhat.

Turkey Pumpkin Crock Pot Chili

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1lb Ground Turkey
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 Small Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 tsp Chili Powder, to taste
1/2 tsp Thyme
1-2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano
1 15 oz can of White Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of Canned Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 oz Canned Chopped Green Chile
1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Sour Cream for topping (optional)
Chopped Cilantro and Chives for topping (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

I put in the full 15oz of pumpkin puree,  so yours 
may look a  little more watery than mine.

Directions:

Heat a large saute pan on high and lightly spray with oil.  Add meat and cook, breaking it up until white, about 5 minutes.  Add to crock pot.

Add oil to the sauté pan, then onions, garlic, sauté about 3-4 minutes; add cumin and sauté another minute.

Add to crock pot.  Add beans, pumpkin puree, green chills, broth, chili powder, oregano, thyme and bay leaf.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning to taste before serving.

Easy Week Night Staple - Italian Sausage and Pasta

By some miracle, the universe decided to introduce me to the wonderful tastes of Italian Sausage dancing on my tongue last year.  From the very first bite I was hooked and couldn't stop sneaking a bite from the Thanksgiving stuffing we were making.  Ever since, my freezer has never been without this little slice of heaven.

Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit, but trust me, this stuff is so good.  It's already packed with flavorful spices, but when you mix it with your own, Italian Sausage just makes any dish packed with deliciousness rather easily.

When I am pressed for time or am just being lazy at night, this is my go to dish.  Some staples I always have in my fridge, that I get made fun of for including in everything I make, include frozen spinach, mushrooms and parmesan cheese.  Needless to say, if things sound like they will go together, I'm willing to try anything once.  Luckily for me, this incredibly easy dish turned out to be so delicious it became my go to weeknight staple.

 Weeknight Italian Sausage and Pasta 

Serving Size: 1

Ingredients:

1 link of Italian Sausage

Spinach (frozen or thawed)

Mushrooms (recommended - portabella)

3 Tblsp (approx) Olive oil

Garlic (salt or 1 clove, minced)

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Pasta

Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Directions:

Boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta to taste.

Remove skin from sausage link and break up the meat.  Cook in a skillet on medium heat with spinach and mushrooms.

If using garlic clove, in a separate pan, heat olive oil on low and mix in minced garlic until garlic is soft and aromatic.

If using garlic salt, once meat is almost fully cooked, pour in olive oil to heat with other ingredients.  

Sprinkle the spices on the meat and veggie mixture to taste.

Strain pasta and combine with oil, sausage, veggies, etc.

Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy.

 REMEMBER:  Olive oil is a healthy fat, but it is still a fat.  With this dish, you don't need a lot of oil because the sausage creates the flavor that takes the place of a sauce.  The oil helps to coat the noodles and bring all the flavors together.  In this case, less is more.

Asian Style Breaded Chicken

My recipes usually consist of whatever I happen to have on hand at the moment with the least amount of things needed from the grocery store as possible.  I like shopping, but the grocery store just makes me angry.  Unless it is 3 o'clock in the morning, the grocery store always seems to be packed full of people just trying to make me scream.  From the people who walk extremely slow in a snake like pattern making it impossible to get past, to the shopping carts blocking every aisle while their drivers stand in the most inconvenient spots, to the death stares I get while I have to shimmy up against the ketchup racks just to get by.  IT'S INFURIATING.  But I digress.

Because of my utter hatred for Los Angeles supermarkets, I usually improvise.  That being said, every once in a while when I cook for someone else I will go through the effort of making something that requires special ingredients.  I did this a few weeks ago and made Asian Chicken Burgers which were to die for.  Now I have random ingredients like Hoisin Sauce and Thai Chili Paste that I have no idea how I'll ever use up.  This is where my creativity needed to stretch it's legs.  In my sheer hatred of letting food spoil (I'm really not an angry person, I swear) I invented a little thing I like to call:

Asian Style Breaded Chicken


Ingredients:

Chicken Breast
2-3 Tblsp Soy Sauce
1 Tblsp Hoisin Sauce
1-2 tsp Thai Chili Paste
Panko Bread Crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix the Soy Sauce, Hoisin Sauce and Thai Chili Paste (be warned, that stuff is SPICY!).

Coat the chicken in the sauce and Panko Bread Crumbs.

Cook for about 45 mins or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Pair this with some green beans and peanuts, and you are ready to go.

Make sure to make some extra sauce for dipping, just don't let the raw chicken touch the extra sauce.

1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies

I love these cookies because I'll never forget the recipe.  They are basic, but I think they are even tastier because they don't require a ton of ingredients.  Plus, the easier they are to make, the less frustrated I am when they are finally done, and the happiness can just grow exponentially with each bite.

My 1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies are an adaptation of Food Network's Magic Peanut Butter Cookies because I don't like using Splenda.  If you do, though, just replace the 1 cup sugar with 1 1/3 cup Splenda.  The rest is the same.

1-1-1 Peanut Butter Cookies


Ingredients:

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Stir well. 

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls.


Place the balls on the cookie sheet.  Use a fork dipped in sugar to prevent sticking and create a criss-cross pattern on the balls, flattening slightly.

Bake for about 12 minutes and lightly sprinkle with more sugar. 

Let cool and remove from tray.

Enjoy the peanut butter deliciousness. 

These are a great dessert after asian fare such as Asian Style Breaded Chicken.