RECIPE « Healthy Turkey Chili

My favorite cold weather food by far is homemade turkey chili. The recipe is extremely simple, super healthy, and is very hard to mess up! Made with minimal & completely clean ingredients, it is the perfect lunch or dinner, and goes oh so well with a fresh salad or some warm crusty bread.

It is a nutrition power-house! Loaded with veggies (peppers, onions, tomatoes), quality fiber (kidney beans, veggies), lean protein (ground turkey) & metabolism boosting spice (jalepino, chili & spices)

 It is my moms incredible recipe, so I have to give her credit for this one, she is the best cook in the world! I modified it a bit by adding more spices + jalepino because I have grown to love spicy food. I know you will love it as much as I do. It is a hit with everyone who I have ever made it for! This is a great meal to meal-prep during the week, or make a big batch and freeze for future meals! 

You will need:

1 container ground lean turkey (or ground chicken or lean ground beef)

2 green bell peppers

1 jalepino pepper

1 white onion

1 can kidney beans

1 24oz can crushed tomatoes

1 24ox can diced tomatoes

2tbsp minced garlic

olive oil

spices: pepper, chili powder, cayenne, red pepper flakes, cumin

Step 1

Chop your white onion, bell peppers, jalepino & garlic. You can chop them into whatever size you prefer! Heat a large pot on medium heat, and drizzle olive oil on the bottom. Add onion + garlic, and sautee until onion is translucent and slightly browned.

Step 2

Add the peppers and cook for 5 minutes until tender. Add the ground meat to the pot, breaking up into chunks with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir and cook until meat is 90% cooked (no longer raw/pink). 

Step 4

Season with pepper, chili powder, cayenne, cumin & red pepper flakes to your liking. (Important: taste as you go to make sure you are not over-seasoning! A little spice goes a long way.)

Step 5

Add kidney beans, and both cans of tomatoes. Stir.

Step 6

Continue stirring and let simmer on low/medium heat for 25-60 minutes. Add more spices to your liking, tasting as you go. You really can’t over-cook it, and the longer it sits the thicker & more flavorful it becomes! This is one of those recipes that is also amazing leftover cold, and one that gets better & better the longer it sits in the fridge! 

This chili is amazing topped with parmesan cheese. I also paired it with organic rosemary olive oil bread spread with olive oil butter. Soo good!

Recipe « Chili Lime Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Hey guys! I hop everyone had a great weekend. Mine was very relaxed. Got a lot of quality sleep, did some fall clothes shopping (finally..cozy sweaters!), and watched a lot of netflix :) Also got a great sweat sesh in Saturday morning (HIIT sprints + abs)

I have an amazing recipe for you guys today! The original is from the wonderful Half Baked Harvest, but I made a ton of modifications with ingredients + instructions so I will post my version below! 

These are so healthy. High in lean protein, healthy fiber-rich carbs from the sweet potato, nutrients + antioxidants from the spinach & sweet potato. Perfect paired with a nice green salad!

You will need:

8 small sweet potatoes or 4 large potatoes

1 package ground chicken (or ground turkey)
1/4c olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1tbsp minced garlic

2 minced jalepino peppers

1tsp dried oregano

1tsp cumin

1tsp chili powder

salt & pepper

1 container spinach

sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry your sweet potatoes, place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes or until fork tender. Let the potatoes cool for 5 minutes before cutting in half. Let them cool for another 10 minutes.

In a bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, jalepinos, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Wilt the spinach. This can be done many ways. I microwaved it in a large microwave safe bowl for a minute. You can also steam it, or wilt it on the stove! Once wilted (not soggy), set aside.

To prepare the ground chicken, simply heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan on medium heat & cook the chicken, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go. I seasoned  the chicken at this point with salt, pepper, cumin, chili, & oregano. This amount of spice is extra and I did not include in the ingredients. You can omit.

Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Using a spoon, scrape 1/2 the potato out of the peel and put filling in a bowl. Once all potatoes are scooped, place them all back on the foil lined baking sheet. Brush the skins with with a little of the chili lime sauce and bake for about 10 minutes or until slightly crisp.

Meanwhile, mix the wilted spinach, cooked ground chicken, remaining chipotle sauce, and leftover sweet potato filling that you had set aside. (I combined all in the same skillet I cooked the chicken in, with heat turned off).

Remove potatoes from the oven and stuff with the filling mixture. Grate & sprinkle cheese on top of each, and place back in oven. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly & skins are hot + crisp. 

Wine is optional ;)

Remove, let cool, devour.

These potatoes were so good and made for tons of leftovers. I have been eating them for lunch or dinner every day since I made them. They are good cold, or heated up! I love chopping them up on my salad, as well as picking one up like a taco and eating it with my hands (classy I know).