Turkey Pumpkin Chili

It's pumpkin (and apple!) season!

But first, let me explain my absence over the past week. As I've said before, I moved last weekend. The apartment was quite a mess when we got here and we had to do a lot of cleaning, etc. to make it ready. All of my furniture was moved in last weekend, but I planned on moving the smaller items over in several trips over a few days. 

Well, on Tuesday, my car decided it didn't want to run anymore. The transmission, alternator and gas tank all needed to be replaced, and the cost to replace them FAR exceeded the value of the car.This presented a problem since I was half moved into my apartment and half moved out of my dad's house. I didn't really have enough in either place to be comfortable. Add that to the fact that i start clinical this week 40 minutes away from my apartment and have to get there too early for even the commuter rail. 

So on Thursday, I bought a new car. However, the title had not gotten to the dealership yet, so I could not actually use my new car. So that meant a weekend of not moving, not grocery shopping, not seeing friends, and generally sulking around my dad's house. 

But! I get the car tomorrow and just in time to start clinicals on Wednesday. I also started classes again today with a nice 13 hour-long day. Ugh. 

Anyway, this chili was the first meal made in my new apartment. My cooking stuff and normal photography stuff is still at my dad's but I decided to post anyway. But now that I will have transportation again, I can move that stuff over. 

Also, pumpkin!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Happy 2013! I'm really looking forward to sharing new recipes with you this year. For me, 2012 was a great year, despite the major surgery that kept me from blogging for several months. I am having part 2 of the surgery this spring, but hopefully I will be a little more prepared and have some recipes scheduled to post while I am away. Also, since I know what to expect, hopefully this surgery will go a lot smoother!

Also this year I got into and started nursing school! I absolutely love it, but it keeps me on the go all the time. The new semester starts in a couple weeks, but hopefully I won't completely disappear like I did last semester!

This recipe incorporates one of my favorite foods: buffalo chicken! I love it, but I don't eat it all that often. For the hot sauce in this recipe, I uses sriracha, because I love it. It is loaded with sodium, though. Feel free to use your favorite hot sauce in this recipe!

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

What screams comfort food more than chicken and dumplings? This recipe if perfect for a cold wintery night. Unfortunately we haven't had any of these days yet in MA. Now that I am on break until mid-January, I could go for a nice big snowstorm because I don't have anywhere to go! Knowing my luck, we will probably get one as soon as I go back to school and they won't cancel!

I got this recipe from Cooking Light and had some trouble with figuring out the points. On the Weight Watcher's site, they have chicken thighs as being way higher in Points+ than the nutritional information states. I know there is no way boneless skinless thighs have almost 19 grams of fat and decided to ignore the nutritional information in the tracker and use the information everywhere else. I normally figure out the nutritional information independent of the points and then enter it in the tracker to see if they match up. I skipped that part because clearly something is going on in the tracker!

Sausage, Kale and Lentil Soup

This soup is really simple to make and packed with delicious flavor. I found the recipe on Martha Stewart and of course modified it to make it light. I found it to be really filling because of all the fiber from the kale and lentils and the protein from the sausage. One bowl was all I needed to be satisfied for the rest of the night. It is low in points, which makes it even more delicious!

This is the first time I have ever cooked kale myself. I've eaten it many times, but something about the stems and the huge leaves seemed daunting to me. I was really happy to find out that there was nothing daunting about working with kale. I plan on trying out other foods that I've been avoiding for similar reasons soon.

Slow Cooked Sausage and White Bean Stew

I am completely and madly in love with my slow cooker. Seriously. Coming home to a house that smells wonderful and a meal that smells wonderfuler (I swear that's a word) is fantastic. I am always excited when I am driving home from work or wherever I might be when there is something going in the slow cooker.


I adapted this recipe from All You. The beans make it really filling because they are packed with fiber and there is also a good dose of protein from the sausages.

Slow Cooked Barbecue Turkey Chili

To me, chili is the ultimate comfort food. It is pretty much guaranteed to make you feel all warm and cozy inside. I almost always make mine with ground turkey instead of beef, but that can be substituted in this recipe also. I don't really notice a difference, and in fact I think I actually like it better with turkey instead of beef.

I put this recipe into the slow cooker before I left for work so that it would be ready when I got home. I don't usually get home from work until 11-11:30 at night. When I was on my break, I got a text saying that the house smelled wonderful. When I got home, two bowls were already gone from the chili. Therefore, I did not get to calculate the serving size, but this recipe makes 6 servings.

Also, the pictures are not that great because I was in a hurry to eat it. I photographed it a day after I had tried it and didn't feel like trying to get that perfect shot. It will definitely be made again, and then I might update the pictures.

This chili has a bit of a kick to it, so if you don't want that substitute regular diced tomatoes and use mild chili powder. 

Taco Soup

This is a delicious recipe on a cold night. The temperatures in the Northeast have been very deceiving lately and if it weren't for the bare trees then I would think we were in early spring. However, it looks like those temperatures are finally giving way to the cold December days they should be. That being said, what is better than soup on a cold day? I have also been under the weather again, like I was when I made the Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup. Whenever I don't feel good, soup always seems like the perfect comfort food.

All the regular taco toppings can be placed on top of the soup. I used sour cream and cheddar cheese, but pico de gallo, crushed tortilla chips, scallions, hot sauce, or whatever else you want would be fine also.

Also, this makes great leftovers. In fact, it may be even better on the second day than the first!

Chicken and Chickpea Stew

This is a great comforting dish on a cool fall night. Not to mention the protein and fiber will keep you satisfied for a while. This dish also smells great while it is cooking. I adapted this recipe from Epicurious.  This can be served over brown rice or couscous, or it can stand on its own.

Make sure that you rinse and drain the peas before adding them to the dish. This helps rinse off a lot of the salt that is put on during the canning process. The nutrition information is without rinsing and draining the peas.

Slow Cooked Chicken and Rice Soup

I have been a bit under the weather the past couple of days and we have been in a string of rainy, gray days. I thought a nice, slow cooked soup would be perfect to both help me get better and also be the perfect comfort food for the bad weather. I looked up several different recipes for this dish, and in the end I decided to just wing it. I took the parts I liked best from each recipe to come up with my own. I hope you enjoy it!