Turkey Pumpkin Chili

So I've taken a bit of a running hiatus lately. I'm good if I get out and go 2-3 times a week. And I'm telling you, that takes every ounce of will power I have to make myself do it. Anyway, I was invited to this running group that just so happens to be training for a marathon. Yes, a marathon...basically my worst nightmare. I decided to go. Apparently Saturdays are their "long runs". So 12 miles and just shy of an hour and forty minutes later, I was done. Hallelujah! After that kind of run you definitely need some fuel for your body.

Of course we still have Thanksgiving leftovers in our fridge (who doesn't) but I am DONE with turkey cranberry sandwiches, as much as I love them. What can I make??? I only have dark meat left which I am not a huge fan of, especially eating plain. I also have some leftover pumpkin puree from making Rustic Pumpkin Bread and Cinnamon Spiced Pumpkin Latte (no caffeine). Light bulb moment!!! Turkey Pumpkin Chili! Doesn't that sound so warm and hearty? Well it was.

And the best thing about soups and chilis is that you can accommodate them to your own taste preference. I'm not so much of a "burn your tongue off so you can never taste again" spicy kind of gal. If you are, great, go bold. If not, stick with me and go mmm mmm mild! Oh, and you pumpkin haters, you cannot tell that there is pumpkin in this! It just adds to the consistency of the dish.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can black beans (15 oz.), rinsed and drained

1 can great northern beans (15 oz.), rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz.) with liquid or 2-3 fresh Roma tomatoes, diced (if using fresh add 1/4 cup chicken broth or water)

1/2 can diced green chilis (4 oz. can size) or entire can if you want more kick

1/2 cup can pumpkin

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1-2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup chicken broth or water

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced cooked turkey

 

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium high heat. Sauté onions until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add all other ingredients.

3. Bring pot to a boil. Once boiling cover with lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Adjust to taste adding more salt, pepper, cumin or chili powder.

5. Serve with additional toppings such as freshly diced tomatoes and avocados, shredded cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream. Enjoy!

 





San Antonio Stew

Ya'll, you know Texas is where it's at! Born and raised, true and blue Texas girl here. It's true, everything is bigger and better in Texas...well except when it comes to me. Hehe! Not sure my family is the "biggest" thing to come out of Texas.

One thing I loved about living in the south was experiencing the big bold flavors. Seriously, even living in AZ with supposedly the best "authentic Mexican" around, the flavors just seem to fall flat for me. And that same statement is true for most soups. They just don't have enough flavor and fall into that "boring, I'm only eating this because it sounds healthy" category. Well not this soup! I have made it countless times and it never ceases to disappoint. I have converted soup lovers galore with this recipe. So put on your best cowboy getup and get cookin'!

San Antonio Stew

 

Ingredients:
2 lbs. stew meat cut into bite size pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 1/4 cups beef broth

1 cup hot water

1 (8 oz.) jar picante sauce or salsa

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes or 3-4 fresh roma tomatoes, diced

3 carrots, halved and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 bag frozen corn (about 1-1 1/2 cups), again you can use fresh if in season. About 2-3 ears of corn

1 large zucchini or 2 small, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup cold water

2 tablespoons flour

 

Directions:

1. In a large pot, brown meat in oil. Drain excess fat.

2. Add broth, hot water, picante sauce, onion, parsley, salt, cumin and garlic. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover with lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour.

3. Add tomatoes and other vegetables. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

4. Add cold water to the flour in a separate bowl. Mix until flour is dissolved. Stir flour mixture into the stew. Bring stew to a boil and let boil for 1 minute until slightly thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add toppings such as shredded cheese, sliced avocados, tortilla chips and sour cream.

 

Now tell me, is this soup not a kicker?!




Cinnamon Spiced Pumpkin Latte (no caffeine)

What do you do with leftover pumpkin??? I'll tell you! Make yourself a velvety smooth cinnamon spiced pumpkin latte and pretend that it is snowing outside with icicles hanging off your roof. Oh wait, we're in Arizona...never mind. But still, the thought of it sounds nice.

So I opened up a can of pumpkin to make this delicious Rustic Pumpkin Bread and then had the rest of the can left over. Morning came and I asked myself, what would taste amazing with this bread??? I looked over at my husband who was making his first cup of peppermint hot cocoa (about the only thing he can make) and thought, of course! Here is a cup of warm and richly soothing cinnamon Spiced Pumpkin Latte!

Cinnamon Spiced Pumpkin Latte (no caffeine)

 

Ingredients:

2 cups milk (I used 2%)

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon cinnamon plus more for sprinkling

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon ginger

 

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients into small saucepan.

2. Bring to medium heat on stovetop. Mix until ingredients are incorporated and mixture is hot but not boiling, about 3-5 minutes.

3. Using a fine strainer over a bowl, pour liquid into strainer to sift out thicker pumpkin puree pieces. Repeat this step again.

4. Return to saucepan and reduce heat to low. Test temperature to make sure it is still warm enough.

5. Divide into two mugs and sprinkle with some extra cinnamon. Heck, you can even go all out and add some whipped cream, you crazy nut! Enjoy! 

 

This drink pairs divinely with a slice of Rustic Pumpkin Bread.





Rustic Pumpkin Bread

I LOVE pumpkin...like seriously, I LOVE pumpkin! There is something about the smell, look and taste of pumpkin that is just so warming and festive. In fact, why do we only feel like we can have pumpkin during the holidays. That's just sad. Maybe it's so we appreciate it more when all those soothing holiday recipes come floating around. Kinda like we're supposed to appreciate our families more around that time, right??? Haha!

Anywho, I opened up a can of pumpkin to test out a rustic homemade pumpkin bread that I adapted from an amazing website, Simply So Good. She has this amazing no fail recipe for Artisan No-Knead Bread that I have been experimenting different flavors with. I thought a hint of pumpkin, cinnamon and whole wheat sounded divine, so I whipped some up. It was DELICIOUS! Don't expect this to be a sweet bread. It is savory enough to go with a leftover turkey and cranberry sandwich, but also accents well toasted with some butter and cinnamon sugar.

Rustic Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ¾ teaspoon sea salt (if using regular salt use 1 ½ teaspoons)
½ teaspoon yeast
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
⅓ cup canned pumpkin plus enough water to make 1 ½ cups liquid

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add pumpkin liquid and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours. Overnight works great.

2. Heat oven to 450⁰. When the oven has reached 450⁰, place a cast iron or stoneware (oval or circular) pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot with lid for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Lightly flour the surface of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.

4. Remove hot pot from the oven. Carefully place dough onto parchment paper and drop into pot (the more you touch it, the more you lose those nice fluffy air bubbles). Cover and return pot to the oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes (rotating pot halfway through). If top is browning too much, lay some foil on top.

5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. Serve and enjoy! 

Pairs divinely with Cinnamon Spiced Pumpkin Latte (no caffeine).





Quinoa Salmon Salad

So without further ado, here is my first recipe for a very healthy and very flavorful Quinoa Salmon Salad. This is one of Ben's favorite meals! He took me to eat at a trendy restaurant in Phoenix. He of course ordered the burger of all burgers and I opted for this healthy, super foods kind of meal. It was so heavenly that I just had to recreate my own version. And boy am I glad that I did. Even the kiddos can't get enough of this meal. So yummy!

 

Quinoa Salmon Salad

 

Ingredients:1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable stock
1 lb. salmon filet
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 thinly sliced radishes
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 large avocado, sliced
1/2 cup shelled edamame
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
Sweet Chili Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Quinoa:
Rinse quinoa until water becomes translucent. Bring quinoa and vegetable stock to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Boil for 15-17 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Fluff and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. I love making this in the morning because I can just stick it right in the fridge and it is one less step that I have to worry about when making dinner in the evening.

Salmon: Marinate in soy sauce for 30 minutes before cooking. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Bake at 375⁰ for 20-30 minutes until it barely flakes. A fillet that fills an 8X8 pan would take about 20 minutes and a fillet that fills a 9X13 pan would take about 25-30 minutes. I love a grilled flavor, so you may do that as well. We use the trusty George Foreman grill we got 10 years ago as newly weds. It takes 6 minutes to cook the salmon through. Do not overcook salmon! It should have just a slight hint of shine in the middle when it is done.

Sweet Chili Vinaigrette: enough dressing to serve 4-6. Great on salads too.
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons sweet Thai chili sauce (may not find at Walmart, but is in most grocery stores in the Asian isle)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Chill in fridge before serving.

Assembly: (this meal serves four, so divide evenly among four plates)
Layer radishes and cucumbers at bottom of plate. Scoop quinoa over top. Drizzle 2 tablespoons dressing over. Place salmon over quinoa. Place edamame around edges of plate. Top salmon with slices of avocado. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of dressing over top of salmon. Garnish with chopped pistachios.

 

Welcome!

Well here it goes! No drum roll please (that would imply that something amazingly spectacular was about to happen). Well okay, maybe a slight drum roll. It is pretty amazing that I am sitting down, not being bothered by kids, attempting to figure out something on the computer, and have somewhat learned how to use the really expensive camera that Ben bought me almost a year ago. That deserves some recognition, right?

Anyway, I've always had a love of baking/cooking thanks to the culinary expertise of my mother. Growing up it was always, "I need that recipe!" whenever my mom showed up with one of her simply delicious foods to share. And that's exactly what they were: simple and delicious! Now I may like to tweak many of her recipes to include more veggies, whole grains, or daring flavors, but fact of the matter is, they still remain delicious.

So here's to the launch of my new blog Breezy Bakes! I spend at least five to six nights in the kitchen cooking wholesome meals for my family and I would love to share my tips, recipes and ideas with those wondering how to fit healthy and satisfying home cooking into their hectic lifestyle. Pause, let me add two disclaimers before I begin:

1. I am a HEALTH NUT! That however does not mean that I do not occasionally cook with processed foods such as canned soup. Yes, I do take short cuts here and there. But if I am going to cook with these ingredients I make sure to choose the "healthier" versions and spruce them up with tons of freshness. Also, I NEVER use sugar alternatives. I believe in yummy, mouthwatering desserts! I sacrifice the amount of dessert that I choose to eat rather than the flavor. The only dessert recipes you will find here are full sugar and full fat, just the way I like them!

2. I am by no means a photographer! Let's get that straight! C'mon people, how many talents can one expect to have?! I'm happy with ONE. I at least have the cooking down. Now you may go to other blogs and see the most beautifully vibrant pictures of the most tempting delicacies, but who knows if they taste good. I, however, guarantee that my recipes are delicious whether or not the photos live up to their taste. Bear with me as I learn the ins and outs of this camera.