Cold Outside, Chili Inside

On a day where snow is falling and piling up outside, there is little I find as comforting as good bowl of chili.  I had never really ate chili before, but tried it when I first went skiing about 4 years ago.  After a very long day of a lot of falling down, all I wanted to do was sit in the lodge and have a beer.  It seemed as if everyone was eating chili out of a bread bowl and it looked so good, so I ordered it.  It was delicious, and as I swore I would never ski again, I also decided I need to start eating more chili.  The following year my friends were planning another ski trip, so I went and opted to try snowboarding.  I fared better on a board than on skis, but it was still a long day of falling down and again, I found comfort in the ski lodge's chili (and beer).  Since then, I've actually gotten pretty good at snowboarding, now very little falling down, but I still look forward to that warm, comforting bowl of chili when I'm done. 

This year, since it seemed to get so cold so early into winter, I tried and succeeded in making my own turkey chili.  It was perfect for when we were snowed in after Christmas and lasted a few days.  I had looked up a bunch of recipes and decided to start with one that was posted on the Food Network website and then add in a few things that I saw in other recipes.  At the time when I made my first batch, I did not own a crock-pot, so I had to make it in a regular pot on the stove.  Since then, I now have a crock-pot and have made the same recipe in it, and it comes out just as good.  The crock-pot is a bit easier because I didn't stir it or constantly walk over there to make sure it didn't get too hot or boil.  And also in the crock-pot, once it was done, I was able to keep it on the warm setting for quite some time, which was nice.  I'd like to also add that while this recipe calls for ground turkey, I one time substituted it with ground chicken and it came out just as good, so if your grocery store, like mine, is lacking in meat department, feel free to switch it up. 

Everytime I have made this chili it comes out delicious and is also very cheap to make.  Once you have the all spices/seasonings, your biggest expense is buying the meat.  What I like to do is see when ground turkey or chicken is on sale and buy a few packages of it.  I then keep them in my freezer so I have them on hand and feel great knowing I saved money on them.  If you have the meat, spices/seasonings, you can make a whole batch of chili for about $5 (depending on your grocery store).  Again, especially with canned goods like tomatoes and kidney beans, if you buy them on sale and have them in your pantry, it's a great way to save money and make quick, cheap meals.  Here's the recipe I ended up using (adopted from the Food Network recipe):

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 c. Yellow Onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Garlic - minced
1/4 c. Green bell pepper - chopped
1 lb. Ground turkey
1 (28 oz.) Can of crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz.) Can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 c. Low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1 tsp. Dried basil*
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Hot sauce (optional)

Directions
1. In a large skillet (or I use the large pot I plan to cook the chili in), saute the onions, minced garlic and bell peppers in the olive oil on medium heat, until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned.
3. If using a crock-pot, transfer the contents of the skillet to the crock-pot and add all remaining ingredients.  Set the crock-pot on low and stir well to combine.  If you are not using a crock-pot, reduce heat to low add all remaining ingredients to the skillet/pot and stir well to combine.
4. Let simmer on low for 1 hour.
5. This is optional but you can top each bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream if you like.  Enjoy!

Here's a picture of mine in the pot (once with flash, once without flash):

*Instead of using dried basil, I keep some frozen "fresh" basil leaves that my mom grows in her garden.  She, very kindly, picks them for me and puts them in a ziploc bag that I keep in my freezer.  It's great to have on hand!