Pantry Chili

Tonight was one of those nights that I got home late from yoga, didn't really have any time to make a big dinner but I wanted something hearty and comforting. I decided to throw together some chili with ingredients I already had in my pantry.

1 lb ground turkey

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes (mine had garlic in them)

1 can corn, drained

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 an onion, diced

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

1 medium size can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (optional if you are scared of a little heat!)

2-3 chilies (I had some chilies, no idea what they were called from Farmers Market, see pic below)

3 tablespoons chili powder

Directions: 

• In a large pot add the ground turkey and cook until it is done. 
• When the meat is done, add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. 
• Cook for about 15 minutes and then serve!
• If I have all the ingredients, I always like to top it with a little cheese, sour cream, green onions, and cilantro- Yum!!
• Also- tonight for the first time I served my chili up with some slightly pan fried tortillas, it was delicious. I always make corn bread but didn't have any so this was an awesome substitution.

Amazing Turkey Meatloaf

Poor meatloaf. I think it gets a bad rap sometimes, people think of meatloaf as a hard, tasteless brick, but it doesn't have to be that way. I have been making my meatloaf with ground turkey for years. It is a nice alternative to beef because it is lower in calories and fat, and really takes on the flavors that you add to it. I think the tricks to making a moist and delicious meatloaf is adding enough liquid to the mix, not over mixing the meatloaf and not overcooking it. You must try this recipe, I have to admit, I think its pretty amazing. Meatloaf is definitely one of my top comfort foods. I usually just eyeball my meatloaf recipe, but I measured everything this time so I could share it :)  Next time I make this recipe, I am going to try it in the crock pot, I have heard it is possible and what better way to get a meal on the table than a crock pot!?

2 lbs ground turkey

1/2 cup fresh shredded Parmesan (I have used Kraft's grated before, use 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup onion, chopped very small

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 egg

3 tablespoons Worcestershire

2 tablespoons milk

ketchup or tomato sauce

As you can kind of see, I only did Ketchup
to 1/2 the loaf- Stephen prefers to put it
on after its cooked.

Finished product on the plate! Complete
with mashed cauliflower and potatoes
and sauteed Parmesan Swiss Chard!

Directions:

•  Add all the ingredients, except the turkey and ketchup (or tomato sauce) into a large bowl and mix all together.
• Add the ground turkey meat and using the best tools you have in the kitchen (your hands) mix the seasoning/liquid mix with the turkey meat, careful, as soon as it looks all incorporated, stop. You don't want to over mix.
• If you have time (this isn't a crucial step) put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the seasonings all meld together.
• Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and put the meatloaf mix into the pan. Shape into a loaf. Cover with aluminum foil. 
• Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Open the oven and spread a thin layer of ketchup over the top of the meatloaf. Keep the aluminum foil off and return the meatloaf to oven.
• When the meat is cooked, it will be slightly firm to the touch (about 15-20 more minutes) or be about 155 degrees when tested with a meat thermometer.
• Slice up and serve! I usually serve it with some homemade mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and a veggie.



Easy Greek Pasta

Made this for a girls night in with Lauren, it was so yummy! Word of advice, I bought the Kalamata olives at Albertsons for $6.79, and right after went to Trader Joes to get some other stuff and the olives were $2.99!! Motto of this story, always go to Traders first. This recipe is SO easy and a must try to bring a little freshness into your day.

1 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1 cup feta cheese

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 box angel hair (would also be great with a penne or corkcrew pasta)

1 pint of tomatoes, I used grape tomatoes cut in 1/2

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions:

• Cook the noodles according to the instructions.
• Put the olive oil in a pan and start to saute the garlic, careful not to burn.
• Add the tomatoes to the oil and begin to cook until they are just soft. Then add the pasta to the oil and stir.
• Put the pasta mix in a bowl and add the feta, olives, salt and pepper and fresh herbs and mix to incorporate
• Another good addition to this dish would be slightly chopped capers- would add a great zing to the pasta!
• Serve up with a yummy side salad for a perfect, quick and easy dinner.

Cream of Mushroom Chicken

This meal is definitely my go-to meal because of its simplicity, I almost always have every ingredient and its so incredibly simple. 3 ingredients (not including the standard salt and pepper) and you are done! I made this recipe for years like the Campbells can told me to... not in the crock pot. However, about 3 years ago I started making it in the crock pot and never went back! It is hard to make this dish look exciting, its a lot of beige but I always add some colorful veggies on the side!

Pack of chicken breasts (I usually get a 3 pack for me and Steve and leftovers)

1 large can + 1 small can cream of mushroom soup

salt and pepper

rice

Directions:

• Put the soup and chicken in the crock pot. Add 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and walk away for 8 hours!
• Shred the chicken in the crock pot, stir up.
• Cook the rice, serve under the cream of mushroom chicken and you are done!
• Delicious!!



Pulled Pork Sammys and Coleslaw

I have always loved this meal and with my new crock pot, I am actually able to make a large amount of pulled pork at once! This is a must try :)

Pulled Pork:

Pork Roast (I trimmed off the fat before cooking)

3/4 bottle of bbq sauce

8 oz sprite or 7up

Coleslaw (below makes for 4 people):

1/2 head of cabbage

2 large carrots (If you have shredded carrots all the better)

2 green onions

1/4 cup mayo

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon carraway seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

•  Put the pork, bbq sauce and sprite in a crock pot and cook on low 8 hours.
• Shred the pork when it is done and remove some of the excess liquid. If you want it to be a little bit more bbqy (that a word? haha) add the rest of the bbq sauce after remove excess liquid.
• Chop the carrots, onion and cabbage and put in a bowl.
• In a small mixing bowl add the mayo, sugar, carraway seeds, s & p and vinegar and mix. Do a quick taste test to make sure its how you like it and pour over the cabbage mix.



Broccoli & Beef Lo Mein

Tonight I was craving Panda Express and didn't want to spend the money, calories, or time in getting it. I decided to make a beef and broccoli lo mein, inspired from a recipe I found on a Disney site (go figure). Its delicious and I think this will be a mainstay in our house! Next time I make it, I am going to use brown rice spaghetti, I think the extra starch it has to offer will be awesome. This meal makes plenty for 4-6 people depending on how big your eaters are.

1 12 oz package of angel hair

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons veggie oil

1 medium or large onion, sliced

2-3 cups chopped broccoli

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger ( I don't even peel it)
1 pack of baby shitaki mushrooms, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts

7 cloves of garlic, minced

1 flank steak, cut crosswise into thin strips

1/4 + 1 tablespoon cup beef broth

1/4 cup  soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons oyster sauce (this is an awesome ingredient to always have on hand)

Directions:

• Boil the water for the spaghetti, add a dash of salt and cook until al dente.
• After you drain the noodles put them back in the pot and add the sesame oil. 
• Heat the veggie oil in a large skillet and add the mushrooms, broccoli and onion to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and continue to stir about a minute. 
• Add the flank steak (or whatever beef you prefer, chicken could even work too just make sure it is cooked all the way through) and cook it, stirring often for 5 minutes until it is no longer pink. Add the bean sprouts and stir.
• In a small bowl, mix the broth, soy sauce, brown sugar and oyster sauce. Add the mix and the pasta to skillet and cook for about 3 more minutes, stirring often, until everything is heated through. 
• Serve it up hot and enjoy!
• I served it with a spicy spicy garlic chili sauce (like Sriracha) SO GOOD!

Crock Pot Orange Chicken

So this is no Panda Express Orange Chicken (I LOVE Panda Express chicken) but it is definitely yummy and so easy! I served this up with some Jasmine rice and Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce. I think the next time I make this I am going to make it a little spicier, it was like something was missing. I added a sprinkling of red pepper flakes near the end of cooking, but adding them when it starts would give it a more intense flavor. If you are up for it, add 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes!

1 12 ounce can condensed OJ, thawed

4 chicken breasts cut into cubes

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon salt

1/3 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons ketchup

1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

• Cube the chicken breasts and put in a plastic bag with the flour. Shake the bag to fully coat all of the chicken.
• Begin to heat a pan with 2 tablespoons oil. Once the chicken is coated, brown the flour coated chicken. No need to worry about cooking it all the way through, it will cook in the crock pot.
• Put the OJ, brown sugar, pepper, salt, pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, and ketchup in a small bowl and mix together.
• When the chicken is done, put the chicken and sauce mix in the crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours (or high 2-3).
• When done, serve over some rice. I also made some yummy veggies to go with it.
• Who needs Panda Express when you have this right? YUM!

Crock Pot Stew

Yet another yummy crock pot meal. This recipe is the ultimate comfort food! The smell of this cooking is unbelievable. Now the prep for this meal took a little bit longer, but I woke up 10 minutes early for work to make sure it was just right. Stephen claimed this was the BEST stew I have ever made. I really think the wine I used had a big influence. We happened to have a bottle left open from the night before from Talley Vineyards, one of their Bishops Peaks wines, it really made the dish amazing. The hint of wine in the dish made it spectacular. 

Hard to take a picture of stew and make it look
appetizing, but trust me, this one is a winner!

 2-4 lbs of beef, cut into cubes (I saved some time and bought some pre-cubed meat at the butcher. A little more expensive but saves so much time)

1/2 cup flour, for browning meat

olive oil

1 large onion

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 cup red wine

4 cups red potatoes, cut up into small pieces

2 cups carrots, cut into rounds

2 cups beef consomme  

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoon parsley

2 cups chopped mushrooms (I didn't have this but think it would be a good addition)

Directions:

• Coat the meat in flour. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan and brown the meat. Then put in the crock pot.
• Add the onions to the pan and cook until tender, then stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions. Add the wine to pot to scrape up all the yummy bits left over from the meat and onions, then add all the wine and juice to the crock pot.
• Add all the vegetables and spices to the crock pot and cover.
• Cook on low for about 8 hours on low, until the potatoes are fork tender and the meat is cooked. 
• I had mine cook for 8 hours then it clicked to warm for a few hours while I was still at work and it was awesome. 
• You HAVE to try this!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Italian food is my absolute favorite. When I discovered "no boil" lasagna noodles, I knew I had to try and make a lasagna in the slow cooker. I pretty much wing it when I make my own lasagna from scratch so I decided to do that with this recipe, but I did try to keep track so I could add it to my blog :) Let me tell you, ahh-may-zing! Next time I will add even more sauce though!!

1 pound of turkey meat, cooked and drained
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 very small can of tomato paste
1 packs of "no boil" lasagna noodles (mine were by Barilla)
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 8oz bag of frozen spinach, cooked and drained (I did it in the microwave)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese

Directions:

• Brown the turkey meat (you can use beef, but I always use turkey, lower cals!), season with garlic powder, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning
• Once the meat is done, add the jar of spaghetti sauce and small can of tomato paste and let cook about 5 minutes, put aside
• Spray the inside of the crock pot with cooking spray (trust me, makes clean up SO much easier)
• Put a little bit of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the crock pot
• Layer some of the uncooked noodles, followed by a layer of sauce, then ricotta, then spinach. Do two more layers of this, on the second layer, add a sprinkle of mozzarella over the ricotta. Finish with a layer of noodles, then sauce and cover with mozzarella cheese.
• The order of how you do things really isn't too important, as long as you have the layers- you can customize it and add whatever you want too!
• Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Butternut Squash Black Bean Chili

I was lucky enough to discover this recipe about a year ago. Stephen and I were doing this 21 day cleanse (no animal products, no gluten, no caffeine, no sugar, and no alcohol). As you can see, our diet was severely limited. We were on a mission though, and I really worked hard to make us hearty, healthy dinners so we never really felt like we were missing out. This is one of Stephen's favorite chilis now, he ALWAYS asks for it. I recently made it for a couple of our friends that came over to watch football and they loved it too. Its hearty, mildly spicy, and delicious. This will forever be one of my favorite chilis. This recipe was adapted from epicurious.com. It is also really good the next day, don't be scared of the Swiss chard and butternut squash. It really is delicious and GLUTEN FREE!

Olive oil

2 medium onions

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 small to medium peeled butternut squash (about 3 cups), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (can also use chicken too, both are good)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

3 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard leaves

Directions:

• Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until tender.
• Add squash, stir for about 2 minutes
• Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper
• Stir in the beans, broth and tomatoes with juices and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender.
• Stir in the chard and simmer until it is tender but still bright green (about 4 min)
• Serve!

Butternut Squash Bowties

So no words were spoken while eating this meal, with the exception of a few "mm's" and "oh's" it was quiet, some serious devouring was taking place.

This recipe was adapted from a Giada de Laurentis recipe. I added a couple different things and changed up a few ingredients. It is overall the same, but awesome! I served it up with a side of thinly sliced flank steak, the recipe had called for prawns (which I would have LOVED, but Stephen can't eat shrimp). Guess I have to cook some beef to satisfy the hubby sometimes!

Served as a side with steamed broccoli
and a pretty amazing flank steak!

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup chicken stock (or you can use veggie)

1 pound bow tie pasta (this would also be excellent with brown rice pasta)

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

• Cook the pasta, drain and set aside
• Warm the olive oil in a large skillet, then add the butternut squash, garlic and seasonings.
• Saute until the squash is golden brown and tender.
• Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the squash is very soft.
• Trasfer to a blender or food processor and puree.
• Add the pureed squash back into the pot, the milk and cooked pasta. Stir to combine. If it is still a little dry add more milk (up to 1/4 cup more).
• Add basil and cheese and serve warm!

Chicken Posole

So. so. good! I absolutely LOVE hominy, so I wanted to try out yet another recipe with my new crock pot. I looked up tons of recipes, didn't really love any so made up my own. This one is awesome, you have to try it!

2 cans hominy

1 can mild or medium enchilada sauce

1 or 2 cans chicken broth (2 cans makes a lot more broth, 1 makes it more meaty)

1 can diced tomatoes, I used ones with chili's in them

2 teaspoons pepper

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons oregano

3-4 chicken breasts

4-5 carrots, sliced into half moons

1 medium onion, chopped in large dices

5 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

• Put all ingredients in a crock pot and stir to mix.
• Cook on low 8-10 hours
• Shred chicken and return back to the soup
• Top with avocado, cilantro, and tomatoes
• Gobble up!