Veggie Packed Chili

One of my favorite things to do when I cook is to adapt the recipe and make it a little healthier.  My kids are becoming pickier and pickier  eaters by the day (should be the opposite right!?) so I do whatever I can to sneak nutritious foods into their diets.     

So I thought I'd share this chili recipe I changed up. 

It was good before, but it's now veggie packed, lean, and delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach

1 cup bell peppers

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup broccoli 

1 cup white corn

1 yellow onion

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/8 cup olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. basil leaves

salt & pepper to taste

Optional toppings:

plain greek yogurt

cheddar cheese

1.  In a large saucepan brown ground turkey.

2.  Add chopped onion and saute.  (Or just use dry onions if you're a baby like me and refuse to chop fresh onions.)

3.  Next I combine spinach, bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli and puree them all together in my blender.  This hides the veggies in the chili (or else my kids wouldn't eat it!) and creates a yummy veggie base.

4.  Throw all of the ingredients (yep, the turkey, the puree and everything else) into a crock pot or a large saucepan and stir it up.

5.  Simmer that tastiness for 3-5 hours on low.  This is key.  The colors and flavors get all acquainted and after simmering you can't even see the green of the spinach or anything anymore.

6.  Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt (tastes just like sour cream but much healthier) and a sprinkle of cheese.

7.  While looking at your precious picky eaters yell (in your head) FOOLED YA SUCKAS.  Because they just got a delicious meal packed with nutrients and they didn't even know it.



*This method also works really well when I make spaghetti sauce.  I puree whatever vegetables are in my fridge or freezer and throw it into the mix.  Can't even taste a difference after it has simmered for a while.  Victory!

The Non Fast Detox

Did anyone else turn into a big fat fatty over the holiday weekend?

By "fatty" I obviously mean fatty of the heart.  You know with all that family time, thankfulness, and love how could you not!?  Hello swelling heart!  ;)

Yep my heart got super fat.  But my calorie consumption got super fat as well.  I'm not into dieting, especially not fad diets.  I'm all about living a lifestyle that is healthy.  I have a list of ingredients I try to keep out of my house, and a list of nutritious foods I've made a habit of including in my meals.  I don't like to be too extreme, because being extreme always seems to backfire. Good news is though, the healthier I eat, the less I want junk.  Bad news is that the reverse is also true.  I've noticed that the more junk I eat, the more I crave it.

So anyway life got really delicious over the last few days and I found myself eating junk just because.  When I start feeling that way the best way to get back on track is to drink tons of water with a few extra ingredients to help detox the crap.  I use this recipe I got from Jillian Michaels, that I modified a bit.  This is not a fast.  I drink this in addition to my regular balanced meals.  But it really helps to bring back my normal energy, stop the cravings for sugary fatty foods, gets rid of extra water weight, helps me feel full, AND it's full of vitamins, and ding, ding, ding, my favorite...ANTIOXIDANTS.  Yay!

Here is the recipe:

About 1.5 liters of water.
1 Dandelion Root Tea bag (steep in hot water for 3 minutes, then add tea to mixture)
4 TBS pure cranberry juice (PURE...this part is very important.  NO SUGAR ADDED.)
2 TBS Lemon juice (I'm out today so I'm just doing it without it.)
Add a touch of Agave nectar if you can't handle the bitterness.

Drink 2 or 3 of these a day and you'll feel refreshed and full of energy!

And if you don't know about the benefits of dandelion root, google it and be impressed.  No seriously.  You'll never want to curse at them in your yard again.  (Don't tell me I'm the only one who does that!)