CLEAN Turkey Chili

We have been on a big turkey kick lately - from turkey balls to turkey chili - and I'm telling you I could live off this stuff for days!! It felt a bit selfish not to share, so I thought I'd do the kind thing and... well share. Here's one of our latest favorites!

Ingredients: 

1 lb. lean ground turkey

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion 

3 cloves of garlic

1 bell pepper

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (for taste)

2 cans (15oz) black beans

1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes

{note: genius here did not have black beans, so I substituted by pouring the turkey chili atop brown rice}. 

Directions: 

Heat oil. Throw in turkey meat, garlic, onion and bell pepper. Cook until turkey meat is no longer pink. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook for 1 min. 

Add tomatoes (with liquid) and beans (without liquid). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low until thickened.

Final product should look something this {below} ...but with beans. Ha! Like I said, brown rice was a good enough substitute. So although it was a fail, it was a DECLICIOUS fail, nonetheless. ;)

Bon apetite! 

Chicken Salsa Bake

This dish is so easy the kids could even make it themselves, other than the fact that it involves a knife, raw chicken, and an oven. Every ingredient I use for this recipe is usually on hand at all times, so this can become an easy go-to meal. 

Ingredients:

3 whole chicken breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp garlic salt

1 tsp crack pepper

1 1/2c salsa

3c spring mix leaves

Butterfly your chicken, which will leave you with 6 pieces {they should fit snugly in a 9x11 pan}. First, I like to season the chicken with the olive oil, garlic salt and pepper. I keep it simple since we'll be adding additional ingredients into the pan. 

Foil your pan, then place the chicken {as shown above}. Top it with the salsa, saving some salsa juice on the side. Add spring mix. Then use the salsa juice to drizzle over top. This helps keep them from drying up. 

Bake uncovered at 375, for 30-35 minutes. Finished product should look something like this.

Plate the chicken, topping it with some of the excess ingredients in the pan. Add some brown rice, and green beans to complete a nice hearty meal. Boom! {I like to season my green beans with a little sesame oil and sesame seeds. So good.} 

Bon apetite! 

Weekend Shenanigans

Yes, I'm aware we are approaching afternoon hours here, but this mama had a busy morning! I am usually more prepared with a quick post to keep things flowing, but not today... wutduhyado. This weekend was quite a busy one as well, with less than a few pictures to share. But nonetheless, I'll share what I have!

Friday night, the hubs and I spent the evening with my bestie and her husband. After making a quick grocery run, Jess picked me up at the house and we headed on up to her abode to save us from having two cars later that night; he was driving straight in from work. Although I only have two photos of that evening, I can surely vouch that we ate more than salad. The typical mistake of a blogger I'm almost always guilty of; start a photo stream... and then stop somewhere when the ADD kicks in. If by chance you're curious, we started out with some shrimp cocktail, salads, and a creamy mushroom chicken dish for our entree. Oh yea, and brownies for dessert (complimentary of her husband, Blake). It was a really fun night! Not done often enough. We'll have to schedule another very soon!

Saturday morning, my mother and I scheduled a girls road trip to watch the Providence volleyball team in the semi-state!!! I could not have been more excited; as we know, after sharing a bit of our own high school history the other day. The stands were full, and the team's dads had their Duck Dynasty themed gear on to get the crowd roaring and cheer the girls on into the finals! Yes... THE FINALS!!! The team swept through the semi-state matches and are on their way to the State Championship game this coming weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one game I can't believe I am going to miss, as we are leaving out of town for the week. I'm devastated to think we won't be there to see it .... this is the year, the year they will make it, I just know it... and I'm going to miss it. :'(  Serious tears here.

After witnessing the best team in the state, it was time to head back home because that evening my husband and I had dinner reservations. We were celebrating our ONE YEAR anniversary! Although, the actual day wasn't until Sunday, we decided to celebrate it a day earlier. No expensive steakhouse this time around. We decided to make it special by going to one of our secret (not so secret now) spots, that served our absolute favorite... sushi. Mmmmm. And let me tell you, it hit the spot! It does every time, but this time was more special given the occasion. ;) We topped it off with some cuddles and a movie, just the two of us. A perfect night.

Well, that was pretty much the gist of our weekend! Sunday morning we went to church, then relaxed that afternoon until dinner that evening with family. A perfect weekend if I do say so myself.