Thanksgiving Flavours in a chili.... yum yum

I didn't have turkey for Thanksgiving - I had Chinese because I spent the weekend at  The Salute to Supernatural convention, geeking out. Like my button says - "Fangirl - Has been known to squee without warning. Approach with caution!"

However, this meant I was craving my turkey and my pumpkin. Sadness :( 

But instead of making a full blown Thanksgiving dinner I decided to make chili instead!

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Adapted from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/turkey-pumpkin-chili

Serves 6

Besides adding a sweet nutty flavor to dishes, pumpkin is a ready source of vitamin A, which boosts the nutrition content of this offbeat chili.

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped,

2 sweet bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped

1 carrot, diced small

2 celery ribs, diced small

2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 pound ground white or dark meat turkey

1 19 oz can diced tomatoes, with their liquid

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin purée

1 cup vegetable stock

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper, to taste

1 can black turtle beans, rinsed and drained

Method: 

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add onion, sweet bell peppers, jalapeños and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes and remove from pot.
2. Add 2^nd tablespoon of oil into pot and brown ground turkey.  
3. Add the onion bell pepper mixture back in along with tomatoes, pumpkin, water, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium low and add beans.
5. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes more.
6. Ladle chili into bowls and serve. I like to serve mine over whole wheat macaroni.

(here’s a trick – if your chili is a little too runny for you add a couple of teaspoons of cornmeal to thicken it up!)

Garnishes you can add: a dollop of sour cream, pickled jalapeños, shredded cheese, hot sauce.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:280 calories (110 from fat), 13g total fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 55mg cholesterol, 580mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate (8g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 20g protein

Fall is here and crisp apples scent the air

It's a rainy fall day outside my window but nothing says comfort like the smell of baking apples. So here's an easy peasy recipe to make your kitchen smell like fall in the nicest kind of way.

Spiced Harvest Apple Chips

adapted from Leann Bakes

Ingredients:

Apples. Any number of any variety. (You can't really mess this part up.)

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of fresh grated nutmeg

1 tsp of cardamom

½ tsp of ground ginger

¼ tsp of allspice (optional)

2 tsp of fruit sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 220F, and line two large baking pans with parchment paper.

Using a knife, or a mandolin if you have one, slice apples as thin as possible. Lay them side by side on a baking sheet, being careful not to overlap, lest you want conjoined chips.

Mix your spices together and pour into a clean spice jar and gently sprinkle a thin coating of the spice blend onto the apple slices.

Bake for one hour, flip the slices, and bake for one hour more. Place on a wire cooling rack. Chips will crisp up as they cool.

Eat!

Enjoy!!