The Best Turkey Chili

I love my Mom’s chili recipe – it’s thick, tomatoey and great over elbow noodles.  But, recently I’ve wanted to try my hand at a recipe with a little more substance so I whipped this up.  It was wonderful!  So thick, rich and had much more flavor than the chili I’m used to.

This recipe makes a rather large batch of chili (I  made this for a committee meeting and it easily fed 8 people), so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you’re just making it for 2 or 4 people.

Like our Halloween placemats? 

INGREDIENTS
1.5lb. Ground Turkey
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1T. Olive Oil
3 Cans Reduced Sodium Tomato Soup
1 Can Pink Beans
2.5T. Chili Powder
2t. Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste
Sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions – or other toppings of your choice

DIRECTIONS
Finely dice peppers and onion.  Add to a large pot with olive oil.  Saute until just cooked – about 6 minutes.

Add turkey and brown completely.  Drain off any excess fat.

Add garlic and stir to combine.

Next, add the soup, seasonings and beans along with 2 cans of water.  Stir to combine completely.

Simmer on low for 45 minutes with the cover on. Remove cover and cook an additional 20-30 minutes to thicken.

Serve with cornbread and toppings of your choice.

Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Delicious first attempt.  Next time we should try it with beef or buffalo!”

Classic Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week one of my very best friends, Adam, is having a birthday.  Unfortunately, I cannot be there to celebrate with him so I decided to bake up some chocolate chip cookies and send them along – nicely packaged in a reusable Tupperware container and plenty of paper towels to avoid breakage while in transit.

I have always had good luck with the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, and that’s what I used today.  They’re slightly crispy, slightly chewy – in my opinion, the perfect cookie!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4C. All-purpose flour
1t. Baking soda
1t. Salt
1C. Butter, softened
3/4C. Granulated sugar
3/4C. Packed brown sugar
1t. Vanilla extract
2 Large eggs
12oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1C. Chopped nuts (did not use)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Cream butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using).

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown (mine took about 13 minutes, I think I just made them too big).

Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 

Happy Birthday Dork!

 

 

 

 

Us at my wedding.

Witch Hat Cookies

Aren’t these just too cute?  One of my co-workers gave me the idea and I just had to try it out for my Nephew’s first Halloween Party tomorrow.

They were so easy to make – perfect for a kid’s Halloween party.

INGREDIENTS
1 Package Chocolate Striped Shortbread Cookies
1 Bag Hershey’s Kisses (I used the caramel filled ones)
Orange icing

DIRECTIONS
It’s simple, unwrap Kisses, place over hole on cookie and pipe icing around the seam.  That’s it!  So easy!

Triple Chocolate Halloween Truffles

I saw these little guys on the Kraft website the other day and decided to make them for a Halloween party we’re attending on Saturday afternoon.

I didn’t use the Kraft recipe, but one I already had, to make them super-chocolatey.

The coconut dying didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped, and my white chocolate seized up on me, so I didn’t get to do the little ghosts…but I’m going to try again before the party and will hopefully have better pictures to show soon.

INGREDIENTS
1 Batch of your favorite Chocolate Cake (homemade or box)
1 Batch of your favorite Chocolate Frosting (homemade or canned)
1 12oz. Bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
8oz. Sweetened Coconut, dyed orange

DIRECTIONS
Bake cake in a 13×9 pan and allow to cool completely.  Break up into small pieces and mix with the frosting.  Set in fridge for at least 2 hours to set up.

Remove from fridge and make small balls out of the mixture – around 1 1/2t. each – and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

Move your cake balls to the freezer to set up again while you melt the chocolate.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler, making sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl of chocolate.

Remove cake balls from the freezer, dip in chocolate (one at a time) and coat in dyed coconut (if you want).

Allow to harden – overnight in the fridge is best.

Enjoy!

Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “I don’t care how they look, they taste great!  The only reason this isn’t a 5 is b/c I like Bella’s brownie truffles better”

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Here’s my second try – the coconut dying went better (note to self, use liquid dye, not gel).  But, the white chocolate still gave me a little bit of a hassle.  Oh well.  Better luck next time.

 

Pasta Primavera with Shrimp in a Garlic Tomato ‘Cream’ Sauce

As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, my darling Husband can’t eat dairy.  Poor guy.

About two weeks ago we went out to dinner and I ordered this dish.  It was so good and I kept wishing I could just give him a forkfull to taste how wonderful it was!  So, I decided to try my best to re-create the dish using dairy free ingredients.  I must say, it was quite good!  The trick is to use the silken tofu instead of the regular kind…it purees up nicely and was super creamy.

Of course, you can just substitute heavy cream if you don’t have any dairy issues.

INGREDIENTS
3/4C. Silken Tofu
3/4C. Plain Soy Milk
4 Cloves Garlic
2C. Tomato Sauce (I used one that had basil already in it)
3C. Veggies of your choice (I used shallots, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and broccoli)
3/4lb. Shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1T. Olive Oil
1lb. Pasta of your choice (I like farfalle)
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a blender mix garlic, tofu and soy milk until very smooth – about 45 seconds.  Stir in tomato sauce and set aside.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking chop all veggies into bite-size pieces and saute in olive oil until just cooked (do not overcook).

Add shrimp during the last 2 minutes of cooking.  Then, add half of the soy tomato mix and stir to warm completely.

Add the other half of the soy tomato mix to the drained pasta.  Then, add the pasta to the veggies and mix thoroughly.

Enjoy with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Husband Rating – 3.5 out of 5 – “All these veggies scare me…but the sauce is good!”

Crock Pot Applesauce

My Husband loves apple sauce.  Almost every day he takes one of those Motts single-serve cups to work in his lunch bag.  Now, while I’m happy that he’s eating fruit I figure there has to be a better (read: more cost effective and slightly healthier) option.  So, after searching for a crock pot applesauce recipe I combined a few and came up with this.

Christopher loved it!  I’m so happy!  Now, I can make a big batch and have it last twice as long as the single-serve cups!

INGREDIENTS
4lbs. Apples (I used Macintosh because that’s what the local farm had ready in 1/2 peck containers – no time to pick my own)
1/4C. Sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2t. Cinnamon
3/4C. Water
1T. Lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
Wash, core and slice apples and add to crock pot.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and stir.

Pour water and lemon juice over apples, stir again.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “So good!  I love it warm.”

Chicken Fajita Pizza

A few weeks ago my sister and I went to her friend’s Pampered Chef party.  While there, the consultant whipped up this pizza.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t taking notes and couldn’t find this on their website so I’m not sure if my recipe is right or not…but after tasting it I don’t really care.  It was so good!  We will absolutely be making this again soon!

Don’t mind the funny green pepper line down the middle of my pizza – that was just to separate Christopher’s soy cheese from mine.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 Red pepper
1/2 Green pepper
1/2 Yellow pepper
1 Small Yellow Onion
1 Large Chicken breast
1 1/2T. Taco/Fajita Seasoning
2T. Choulula Hot Sauce
1 Batch Pizza Dough
Cheese of your choice
Fresh Cilantro for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake chicken until thoroughly cooked.  Shred and set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, thinly slice the peppers and onion.  Saute 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic and seasoning, saute another 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add hot sauce.  Stir to combine.  Allow to cool slightly while the chicken finishes in the oven.

Roll out pizza dough and top with cheese, veggie mix, chicken and more cheese.

Bake 14-18 minutes or until the crust is crispy and the toppings are piping hot.

Top with fresh cilantro, slice and enjoy!

Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Really, really good!”

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookie Cupcakes

Ok, I just have to brag for a second … happy 100th post to me!  That is all.

I was in search of a sweet treat to take to work this week – Wednesday is our annual “planning for next year” meeting.  The meeting takes all day and something sugary is always appreciated and helps keep us awake and productive all day.

I saw these on Annie’s Eats and was intrigued by the combination of cookie and cupcake but decided to make a few tweaks.  First, I don’t own a mini muffin tin, and didn’t want to buy one just for this recipe, so I made these the size of regular muffins.  I also decided not to use the marshmallows or M&Ms.  I wanted to keep the purity and simplicity of the peanut butter and chocolate together and I must say, these are delicious!  I’ll definitely be making these again soon!

INGREDIENTS
2C. Creamy Peanut Butter
2C. Sugar
2 Large eggs
12 (or 24 if using mini muffin tin) Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
1 Bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine peanut butter, sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat until well combined.  Divide the dough evenly between 12 wells of a muffin pan.  Make an indentation in the center of each dough ball.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie until it is flush with the top of the dough.  Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan before removing them.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Remove cookie cupcakes from the pan and dip the top into the chocolate.  Using a spoon (and a little more chocolate to fill in the dent) smooth out the top of the cupcake and allow chocolate to harden before digging in. 

Husband Rating – 3.5 out of 5 – “Just like a giant peanut butter kiss cookie!  Love it!”

Samoas Bars

I love girl scout cookies…especially samoas.  There’s something about the combination of chocolate, coconut and caramel that I just love.  Unfortunately, my co-worker’s Granddaughter – my only source of said cookies – only sells them one precious time per year.  But, after finding this recipe on Beantown Baker I can fulfill my samoas craving whenever it hits.

These do take a bit of time, as each step has to cool completely before you put them together, but it’s definitely worth it!  I skipped the step at the end where you dip the bottom of the shortbread into the chocolate…mine was a little too crumbly to do that…but they’re absolutely delicious even without it.

INGREDIENTS
Cookie Base:
1/2C. Sugar
3/4C. Butter, softened
1 Egg
1/2t. Vanilla extract
2C. All purpose flour
1/4t. Salt

Topping:
3C. Shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) – I used sweetened
12-oz Chewy caramels – I used the Kraft caramel bits
1/4t. Salt
3T. Milk
10 oz. Dark or semisweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
First, make the crust.

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.

When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter.

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper – I used a spoon to spread some melted chocolate on the bottom of each bar. I then laid them chocolate side up to set the chocolate.

Transfer all remaining chocolate into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Almost as good as the original.  The guys at work loved these too!”

Roasted Turkey Dinner

What a weird day!  It’s snowing outside and is cold enough to be December.  Christopher was craving a turkey dinner so we did an early Thanksgiving, which shouldn’t be until November.  But, no!  It’s the middle of October!  I’m SO not ready for snow yet.

Anyway, onto the food.  Like I said, Christopher was craving a turkey dinner and there’s no way I’m going to make a whole bird just for the two of us (and the occasional scrap I give to the kitties), so I decided to get a bone-in turkey breast.  It cooked in under an hour and was delicious on this cold night.  The hint of lemon in the meat was lovely.

INGREDIENTS
1 Bone-in Turkey Breast (2-4lbs.)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Cloves Garlic, pressed
1/2t. Italian Seasoning
1/4t. Poultry Seasoning
1T. Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Gently pull the skin away from the outside of the bird but do not remove completely.

Mix lemon juice, garlic, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning and olive oil in a small bowl.  Rub generously all over the bird, making sure to get plenty in the cavity you’ve just made between the skin and meat.

Roast in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the breast reaches 155 degrees.

Remove from oven and cover with foil to rest for 5-10 minutes.

Carve and serve.

Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “This really hit the spot.”