Three Bean Turkey Chili in Slow Cooker

What did you hear early this morning?  I heard three little girl voices exclaiming:  Snow!!!  Snow!!!  First I thought, brrr and then chili of course, but I had errands and school pickups today.  I know people leave pots simmering but I can't do that if I'm not at home.  I don't even like the coffee pot to be in on mode even though it has an automatic shut off!  Slow cooker to the rescue again.  This chili is simple, healthy and has a nice smokey flavor thanks to the chipotle chili powder.  And as all chili lovers know this will taste even better the next day so be happy to have those left overs.

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced onion
1 lb ground turkey
2 cans of tomato sauce (15 ounce)
2 cans diced tomatos (15 ounce)
1 - 2 cups of chicken broth
1 can kidney beans (15 ounce) drained
1 can black beans (15 ounce) drained
1 can northern beans (15 ounce) drained
1 jalapeño minced (add two if you like it spicier)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder, sprinkle for meat
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Cook onion in pan over medium heat until slightly browned.  Add ground turkey.  Sprinkle chili powder over meat to season.  Cook until meat is done and no longer pink, stirring to crumble
2. Add meat mixture and all other ingredients to slow cooker.  Add more spice and jalapeño for spicier chili.  Add 1 cup broth for thicker chili and 2 cups for a more soupy chili.  You can always add after it cooks awhile too.  
3. Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Or you can cook an hour and high and 1-2 hours on low.  The longer you cook the better the taste.  Serve chili with cheese to garnish if you wish

Super Easy Slow Cooker Cheddar Broccoli Soup

School is in full swing now, busy in-and-out schedules keep us moving all day.  We still manage a family dinner each day and I am now understanding my mother's love of the slow cooker.  Start dinner, run and grab the kids take them to after school activities and come home to a done or nearly done meal.  It's magic!

This recipe was my first attempt at cheddar broccoli soup.  I wanted something that is creamy and hearty but a little healthier than the traditional soup.  I also didn't want to dirty a bunch of pans and needed it to cook while I was running the kids around, hence the slow cooker.  As an added bonus my four year old loved helping me add the ingredients to the slow cooker.  I used my immersion blender but didn't quite blend enough so I tried out my normal blender and it was perfect.  The soup was just shy of being deep enough and my immersion blender was splashing a bit.  It's hard to believe there is no cream or whole milk in this recipe!

Ingredients

4 cups of chicken stock
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
6 cups fresh roughly chopped broccoli
1 cup peeled and washed shredded carrots
3 cups cheddar cheese (we love tilamook sharp cheddar)
garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Pour the chicken stock and flour into the crockpot.  Using a whisk combine until the flour is completely incorporated.
2. Add broccoli and carrots.  Cook on low for 3 hours or until broccoli is cooked.  
3. Remove 2-3 cups of the broccoli, don't worry if you get carrots too.  Chop these and set aside.
4. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper now.  I just add a sprinkle of each.
5. Add the cheese a cup at a time and let melt.  Stir it up before each addition.
6. Blend until smooth with immersion blender then add reserved chopped cooked broccoli.  If you don't have an immersion blender you can use a normal blender but be careful the soup is hot! Allow to heat a few minutes if the soup has cooled.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes

It took me years to appreciate many of my wonderful kitchen helpers that I received as wedding gifts.  We were lucky to have great aunts working at Macy's ensuring we registered for the products that last and were good quality.  And when I finally did begin using my crockpot I was not immediately in love.  If you cook something too long it can get dry even immersed in liquid.  If you add a normal amount of liquid like a stovetop recipe it becomes too soupy because none of the liquid escapes.  My natural curiousity makes me want to lift the lid and peek and sniff, a big no no.  But once I figured out these rules of the crockpot I realized you can make amazing delish meals with little effort.  Too hot to BBQ outside or too cold or too lazy, no problem just add chicken and BBQ sauce to the crockpot and you will have the most tender moist BBQ chicken.   Veggies and roasted red potatoes make great sides for this dish.  

And if you're like us you will have plenty of meat left over.  I usually shred it and store it with some of the crockpot liquid over it.  We use the meat to make quick easy lunches or dinners.  Some typical uses - BBQ chicken sandwiches topped with cheese; chicken quesadillas (cheese, tortillas, chicken, salsa all melted together on stovetop);  tacos;  salad with chicken, spinach, mandarin oranges, walnuts and dried cherries; pasta salad with veggies and chicken... and the list goes on.

Ingredients 

Chicken - 

• Bone in Chicken.  We prefer split breast.  Four large split breast fit in our slowcooker smushed in without having to stacking.  Best results for this recipe do not stack your meat.
• 1/2 - 1 cup BBQ sauce

Potatoes - 

• 1.5 lbs of red potatoes, or like I measure half a 3 pound bag
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup white onion or shallots
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Recipe for Roasted Red Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Line 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil.
2. Cut potatoes into small bite-size pieces.  And put in pan.
3. Chop onion and mince garlic.  Put in pan.
4. Add olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix all ingredients together until potatoes are coated with oil and seasonings.  You may need more oil if you have more potatoes.
5. Cook for 30 minutes stirring potatoes at 15 minutes.  Depending on heat of your oven you may need to bake a bit longer to get a nice golden color on the potatoes.  You can also achieve these my broiling for about 2 minutes, but be careful they don't burn.

Recipe for Chicken

1. Cut the skin and extra fat off your chicken.  There's no need it when slowcooked and it will save you calories and fat by removing it.
2. Pour your favorite BBQ sauce over the chicken covering the top of the meat.
3. Cook for around two and half hours for 4 large breasts.  For legs and thighs check at 2 hours.
4. Add extra BBQ sauce if you'd like and enjoy!

Easy Crockpot Turkey Tenderloin

Doing my grocery shopping I ran across a "manager's special" markdown.  If you haven't checked these out they are items that fastly approaching the sell-by date.  I like to pick up meats that are marked down and pop them in the freezer or cook them in the next few days.  So I took my $5 turkey tenderloins and made an easy slow cooker meal.  After a day of errands and playing the meal was ready to go.  And it makes your house smell delicious!

Ingredients

• Turkey Tenderloins
• Carrots
• Celery
• Red Potatoes
• White Onions
• Garlic
• Chicken Stock
• Sea Salt
• Pepper

Recipe

1. Chop  Carrots, Celery, Red Potatoes into bite size pieces.  You'll want around 1 - 2 cups of each.  The amount doesn't have to be exact.  Add to slow cooker.
2. Dice the onion and mince the garlic.  Add to slow cooker.
3. Add some chicken stock.  If you just want to steam the veggies add around 1/2 a cup.  If you want a soupy broth to dip bread in add more.  
4. Place the Turkey Tenderloins on top of the veggies in the slow cooker.  Season meat and veggies with sea salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cook on high for one hour.  Cook 5-7 hours on low.  The total time depends on the thickness of your tenderloins.  I tend to buy thicker pieces and they generally are done after 6 hours on low.