Homemade Turkey Chili

I made turkey chili for the first time and it came out great! The best thing about making chili is that you can adjust it to make it to your liking! Prep time is about 10 minutes and cooking time is about 45 minutes so enjoy!

What you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 Serrano Chili
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce (without spices)
• 1 15oz can Kidney Beans (undrained)
• 1/4c Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 2 Stalks Celery
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/4tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4tsp Cumin Powder
• 1/4tsp Oregano
• 1/4tsp Cayenne Pepper
• French Bread
• 1lb Ground Turkey
• Cream Cheese

All fresh veggies are minced.

Make It:

Start by cooking the turkey in a frying pan until about 90% fully cooked. While the turkey is cooking, in a medium sized pot, add all of the veggies in the pot on low with some olive oil (1tsp) and sauté until translucent. Add some salt and pepper while sautéing. Once veggies are aromatic and translucent, add the kidney beans and tomato sauce. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes then add all of the spices.

Add the turkey to the pot and let simmer on low for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking on low for 20 minutes and add additional spices to taste for your liking and then add the Cheddar Cheese, cubed . If you like it spicier add some hot sauce, or jalepenos (I like Mt. Olive Jalepeno slices from the jar). Continue to stir and let simmer for another couple of minutes until the cheese is melted in.

Serve your Turkey Chili in a bowl, add a dollop or two of the cream cheese on top and mix in, with a side of sliced French Bread. Scoop your chili out of the bowl with your bread or spoon it on top and enjoy.

Lettuce Wraps

Crunchy and delicious. Super Simple. Fun and healthy.  Trifecta! : )

What you'll need:

• 1/2 Head Iceburg Lettuce
• 1lb 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey
• 1 Carrot
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1 Handful Dry Roasted Peanuts
• 1/2 Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1/2 Jalepeno

Dipping Sauce:

• 2 tbls Hoisin Sauce
• 1 1/2 tbls Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Lite Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Fresh Lemon
• 1 tbls Rice Wine Vinegar

Start this off with making the sauce. I like to make the sauce as a a little potent because ground turkey is very bland and flavorless and tends to soak up all the flavor of this sauce when it's cooked in. 

Very simply mince the 1 garlic clove and ginger as finely as you can. Add all the ingredients of the dipping sauce together in a mixing bowl and whisk until completely mixed or peanut butter blends completely.

Let this refrigerated while we work on everything else. Taste test...is the sauce a little salty for your taste? Add a little water and a teaspoon of sugar!

Julienne (cut into thin, long strips) the carrot, cucumber, jalepeno and peppers. In a small bowl add some Rice Wine Vinegar and let them soak. Chop up the jalepeno a little more if you're afraid of the heat.

Rise your 1/2 Head of Iceburg lettuce well and gently pull off the "cups" and arrange on a plate.

In a medium dry heated pan, add the ground turkey with the other minced garlic clove. As is begins to cook, start chopping the meat until it starts to look crumbled. Cook thoroughly for approximately 15 minutes.

Once the turkey is about 80% done, add the sauce and let it cook in. (*If you broke the rules and are using ground beef or chicken or turkey that is not 99% fat free, please drain the fat from your pan before adding the sauce we made.) Have extra sauce? Good! Put it in a small cup on the side for dipping! Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, or until the turkey is done cooking.

Then, drain the vegetables that were soaking in the Rice Wine Vinegar.

Arrange the veggie blend on a large serving plate next to a small pile of peanuts with the lettuce cups and a small cup of the dipping sauce in the center.

In a small bowl, serve the ground turkey on the side or on the plate for individual servings.

Let the fun begin by building your wraps with all your favorite pieces!


*Editors note:  I mentioned serving this with peanuts. They are supposed to be on the plate until I realized my lovely boyfriend ate them all. So, you get a dinosaur instead. Don't eat the dinosaur.

Turkey Taco Salad! Gobble Gobble

Apparently great minds do think a like!! Linzatart and I unknowingly made food last night that was similar in nature

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 pkg  Ground Turkey (or any other type of meat is fine)
• 1 head O'  Lettuce
• Some Onions
• Salsa
• Corn Chips

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You can also use Cheese, and Sourcream.

In a medium sized pan, pour a little oil and heat till hot. Add the ground meat to the pan and cook thoroughly with added spices to your taste. Once the meat is fully cooked, remove from heat and allow to sit.
Prepare the salad by cutting up lettuce, and onions. Once finished cutting, create a bed of lettuce so you can top it off with corn chips. Once the meat has cooled a bit place the meat on top of the corn chip / lettuce bed. Top with salsa, and onions; and enjoy.
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If you decide to use the sour cream, and cheese, top the salsa with the sour cream and cheese, and enjoy
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If you want to add a dressing, a ranch, or blue cheese dressing would have a nice cooling effect if you decide to use a very spicy salsa.