Chilly Means Chili

Alright so we have had some pretty chilly weather here in Iwakuni and even had a snow day! For this California girl that was crazy and cold. Well tis the season for soups and Chili on cold winter days. But what about all that fat that comes with a nice slow cooked chili. Well since I was trying to eat a bit better I went with a new Turkey Chili recipe and it turned out great.

Now I love to make my chili in the crock pot. I feel like the flavors have lots of time to merge together and make one wonderful pot of flavor. So I brought out the crock pot and got to work. For this chili, I bought some ground turkey and instead of red beans I bought some white beans (in a can) and started my lighter version of chili for that snowy day.

Okay for this recipe you will need the following.

2 pounds ground turkey
3 cans white beans
1 lg can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt n pepper to taste
1 tbsp oil

Alright, let's get cooking! 1. So first, chop your onion up really fine. Put your tbsp of oil in a large saute pan and start cooking your onions and garlic. Add in your Jalapeno at this point as well.
2. Then add to this your ground turkey. Be sure to cook your ground turkey good and get it to brown a bit. Browning your ground turkey gives it more flavor and depth. Additionally, be sure to season each layer with salt and pepper. No one wants bland food and this will keep your flavors alive.
3. At the point the meat was done, I added the spices in the meat and stir it around. I also add the tomato paste and brown it a bit with this mixture. After about a minute you can add in about a cup of your chicken stock and be sure to mix everything up really good.
4. I then start putting ingredients into the crock pot. I open and rinse the canned beans and add them as well as the crushed tomatoes and then add the rest of my chicken stock to a decent consistency. I added about 2 cups.
5. Stir it up and cook it on low for 8 hours or high for about 4 or 5.
Then you are done.

You can jazz it up with some avocado on top or eat with some tortilla chips but I was going for healthy so didn't add any cheese or anything and it was really good and a bit more healthy.

Now my regular chili is definitely to die for but not at all healthy. So I was very please with the turkey chili results and the house was smelling good as it bubbled away in the crock pot. Next time your body is cold and your tummy wants warmth, put on a crock pot of healthy chili and satisfy that need. Remember folks, Always make it so good the are Going back for seconds!