Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Here in Georgia, we've had a major cold snap this week. We had an ice storm (snowstorm for much of northern Georgia) that cancelled school for two days and threatened to take out the electricity (it did manage to take out the cable and Internet).

Weather like that calls for belly-warming food. Belly-warming food on a diet can be tricky.

Enter turkey chili. Warm, filling, hearty, nutritious, low in fat, it's the perfect Crock Pot meal for winter days.

If you think turkey tastes bad (I used to, until I started using only turkey breast), substitute lean beef or ground chicken. Either way, it's delicious.

And cheap.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
makes a lot. ;) (enough to feed three adults and two children twice, plus leftovers)

What You Need:

• 1 lb small red beans (or pinto, or kidney, or whatever you feel like using), dried, sorted through and rinsed (or four cans of beans, rinsed and drained)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 2 large bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey breast
• 2 cans of chili-ready diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 can of tomato sauce (4 oz)
• 8 oz water
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• cayenne pepper to taste (up to a teaspoon for hot chili)
• 2 tsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brewed coffee (optional, but adds another dimension)
• 1/3 cup masa mixed with 1/2 cup cool water

How it's Done:

1. If you're using dried beans, cook them. If you're using canned beans, rinse and drain them. I use cooked beans almost always. They're a fraction of the cost of canned, and I've got some financial goals to accomplish this year, so it's dried beans for this household. I digress....
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown the turkey with the onion and peppers.
3. In the crock of your slow cooker, combine all of the ingredients except for the masa mixed with cool water. That comes later.
4. Cover and cook on low for ten hours. Then, give it a stir, and decide if you want to thicken it up a bit. If so, stir in the masa flour combined with cool water. Cook and stir for a few minutes in the crock.
5. Serve with sour cream and/or cheese, over spaghetti, or with crackers, or however you like your chili. Freeze the leftovers. :)

Chili Mac

....made healthier!

I am doing very well on Weight Watchers, having lost over 13 pounds in the first month. I really enjoy the eTools Recipe Builder, and used it again to calculate this recipe. I regret that I can't share POINTS values with you on the healthy recipes I'm sharing. I realize other bloggers do disclose POINTS values. However, maybe my scruples are more pronounced than others'. Maybe I'm just a stickler for rules. I just can't violate my own ethics standards here. I will, however, give you accurate measurements, which you can plug into Spark People or another healthy living site and it will give you the nutritional profile. I hope you understand.

Chili Mac

serves 8

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb dried pinto beans, picked through for debris
• 1 lb extra lean (95 to 97%) ground beef
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 packet chili seasoning (or make your own)
• 1 can, undrained, chili seasoned diced tomatoes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup 2% 4-cheese Mexican style cheese blend
• 1/2 cup light sour cream

How it's Done:

1. Cover beans with water and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for two minutes. Cover pot and remove from heat. Let stand one to two hours.
2. Drain beans. Recover with water equal to three times the beans' volume. Bring to a boil. Cook at boiling for one to three hours, or until beans are tender.
3. During last half-hour of cooking time, brown the ground beef with the onion and bell pepper. Combine cooked beans, browned beef, onion, pepper, tomatoes, chili seasoning, and water in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for an hour.

4. Meanwhile, cook the elbow macaroni al dente.
5. Add macaroni to the chili. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Serve with 2 Tbsp each shredded cheese and sour cream.

Chili...When it's Less Than Chilly Outside

I know, I know; Chili in July?

But July is prime chili time, because July is prime fresh produce time! When else can I go into my back yard, pick peppers and onions and tomatoes, come inside and cook them into a delicious chili straight away?

So I say, "Go ahead and enjoy this winter treat now, while the produce is at its prime." And don't leave out the special ingredients, either. They make the recipe.

Chunky Veggie Chili

What You Need:

• 1 lb ground chuck
• 2 large sweet bell peppers in any color, seeded and diced into 1" pieces
• 1 large onion, Vidalia if possible, diced into 1" chunks
• 6 sweet banana peppers, seeded and sliced into 3/4" rounds (you can use another bell pepper if you prefer)
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 28 oz can drained diced tomatoes
• 2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained (I used black soybeans)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp chipotle powder (this lends a smokey flavor, and it's wonderful)
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp sea salt (omit if your tomatoes are already salted)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (yes, really)

How it's Done:

1. Brown the beef while chopping your vegetables. Heat the oil in a stockpot and add the vegetables to it. Stir and saute until the beef is browned. Drain the fat off the beef and add the beef to the vegetables in the stockpot.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings. Stir in beans.
3. Cook over medium-low heat at least an hour. Longer is better. What I like to do is simmer it on the stove for 30 minutes or so, then transfer it to the slow cooker and cook it on low for a couple hours. This lets the flavors mingle and keeps me from babysitting the pot. If you choose to cook it the entire time on the stove, be sure to stir often to keep things from sticking.
4. Serve with hunks of cornbread and top the chili with sour cream and shredded cheese.