Quinoa Turkey Chili

Wow...it's been a long while since I've been on here! Thought I'd start posting things on here slowly again. I'm planning on purchasing a recipe book online soon where I can post everything but in the mean time, this blog works!

I've made this recipe twice now..the second time being tonight. I found it in Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine. I loved it the first time I made it and I love it the second time as well. I gave this recipe to a family member and after telling her about it, I started craving it. It's really filling and it makes a lot. It freezes well too, which is a plus since I live alone. It calls for corn, but I omitted it both times. It also calls for an adobo pepper, which I couldn't find the first time, so I used red pepper flakes instead. I used the pepper this time around and it's a little too spicy for me so next time I make it, I'll just use the red pepper flakes again.

Here's the recipe (2 1/4 qt):

1 c quinoa, rinsed
3 1/2 c water, divided
1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 med sweet red pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 med zucchini, chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tbsp adobo sauce
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c minced fresh cilantro

In large saucepan, bring quinoa and 2 c water to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 12-15 min or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan (I used my Dutch oven) coated with cooking spray, cook turkey, onion, red pepper and garlic over med heat until meat is no longer pink and veggies are tender; drain. Stir in chili powder, cumin and cinnamon; cook 2 min longer.

Add black beans, tomatoes, zucchini, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, bay leaf, oregano, salt, pepper and remaining water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 min. Stir in corn (if using) and quinoa; heat through. Discard bay leaf; stir in cilantro.

Enjoy!

Paula Deen's Hearty Vegetable Soup

My new favorite chef is Paula Deen and with me being on a soup kick, while looking through her cooking magazine I came across this veggie soup. And me being me, I of course made some mistakes! :) I forgot to pick up spinach so I just left that out. The recipe called for 1 can (15 oz.) great Northern beans, drained. I picked up a 16 oz. bag of dried Northern beans. Tastes the same but I added the entire bag, when I should have only added about half the bag. So after I made the soup, I had to take out half of the beans just to actually be able to taste the soup. After I did that, the soup tasted great!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise and cut crosswise into thin slices
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used pearl onions)
2 cups tightly packed fresh baby spinach
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 (15 oz.) can great Northern beans, drained
1 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

To pre-soak the beans, heat 4 cups water and beans. Bring to a rapid boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, place a lid on the pan and let cool for 1 hour. Drain.

In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots, zucchini, and onion; cook; stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add spinach, stirring until wilted.

Add diced tomatoes, broth, beans, green beans, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Pre-soaking the Northern beans..




Raw veggies...




Diced tomatoes, chicken stock and Northern beans..




Veggies cooking in butter...




Everything added to begin simmering..




Less beans!




Enjoy!



**NOTE: I've made this soup again after the first time and instead used one can of Great Northern (or cannellini) beans and the serving size of beans to soup was just perfect!

Benihana's Ginger Salad Dressing

Here's another recipe obtained from the book "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2" by Todd Wilbur. I love this dressing! I forgot to buy fresh ginger, so I used 1 tsp of dried ginger instead. It makes a great dressing and I'm also going to try putting it on chicken in the near future!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup peanut oil (I used veggie oil instead)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp fresh minced ginger
2 tbsp minced celery
2 tbsp ketchup
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all the ginger is pureed. Chill in refrigerator.

Using my chopper to mince the onions..




Minced veggies...




All the ingredients ready to be blended....




Blended dressing...




Served with lettuce and carrots....Enjoy!

Olive Garden's Italian Dressing

I own the book: "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2" by Todd Wilbur. As you can tell from the title, it holds tons of recipes used by restaurants. Besides soups, I love salads so I decided to make the Olive Garden's dressing. This recipe was not included in this book, but in another book by the author. And it's super easy to make and tastes awesome!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup veggie oil
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 1/1 tbsp grated Romano cheese
2 tbsp dry pectin
2 tbsp beaten egg
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes
Pinch dried oregano
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse for 30 seconds. Store dressing in the refrigerator.

All the ingredients in the blender...




Ready to be blended in my bullet. I love my magic bullet!




Ready to eat! Enjoy!

Easy Noodle Soup

I love making chicken noodle soup, sans the chicken and this recipe is super easy, as long as you have green onions, carrots, chicken granules and noodles! Plus, you can easily add anything else you want to add to it. I like this combination the best. This is my go-to meal when I'm not feeling good, like tonight, or just for an easy dinner.

Ingredients:

6 cups water + 6 tsp chicken granules
Handful sliced carrots
4-5 green onions, sliced thinly
2 handfuls of frozen egg noodles

Heat water and veggies to boiling. Add noodles and cook 12 minutes.


Veggies and broth simmering...




The noodles I use...




Enjoy!

New Kitchen Appliances

Thought I would share some of my newest kitchen stuff I've gotten recently!

I received this for a Christmas present this year-love the red color! It's the mini version of the original so you have to fill up the water every time you use it, which is totally fine with me! I bought the little stand soon after and filled it mostly with iced tea, hot tea, hot chocolate and of course some coffee. So far, I'm loving it!




I bought this for myself after Christmas and I love love love it! I only used the immersion blender part of it just once but I use the chopper part quite often. I'm sure I'll start using the immersion part more as I get used to it. But I highly recommend buying one if you don't already own one!




My substitute for a KitchenAid mixer. I bought it on clearance at Target for $24.99. It so does not work as well as an actual stand mixer. In fact, it kind of sucks! I used it to make my peanut butter cheesecake. It doesn't mix up around the bowl well at all-I had to keep turning the bowl and use a spatula to make sure it mixed. And towards the end, when I got tired of rotating the bowl, I just took off the mixer and used it as a hand mixer. But as often as I bake, it will have to do until I can actually afford the real thing.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops

The above picture is what this dessert was supposed to look like...mine didn't turn out so pretty! But they still tasted good! I found this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com while looking for a new dessert recipe for our annual girls' Thanksgiving/Holiday dinner. It looked and sounded good and it did taste good and I did get good reviews from the girls. But it was a little more difficult to make and I think the next time I make it, instead of putting it in the fridge overnight, I will freeze it so when I cut it, it won't fall apart on me and fall off the sticks. The cheesecake was so soft, I ended up taking out the sticks and drizzling chocolate over it. It worked. Oh and next time, I'll be more careful and not cut my finger open with the scissors while cutting the sticks in half!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 lb cream cheese, at room temp.
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Chocolate:

5 tbsp veggie shortening
12 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips)

Wooden pop sticks (I used cheap wooden skewers that I cut int half)

For the cheesecake: Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Line a 8-in by 8-in baking dish with foil letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Break up the brown sugar to remove all lumps. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. Make sure not to over beat the mixture otherwise it can cause the cheesecake to crack.

Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up the foil. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place shortening and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat the chocolate at small intervals, mixing well in between.

Dip the cheesecakes into the chocolate mixture, and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. At this point, I put them in the freezer to set more quickly. Serve cold (straight from the fridge), or freeze up to 2 weeks. (Left out, the cheesecake tends to melt a little.)


Adding the cream...




Mixing up the ingredients...




After the peanut butter was added...




Cutting up the cheesecake...




Cheesecake with the sticks in before dipped in chocolate...




Finished product, minus the sticks...Enjoy!