Crock Pot Turkey Chili

My mom gave us a big box of leftover Thanksgiving turkey. After 3 turkey dinners in a row, we were a little turkey'd out, so I needed to get creative! I found a turkey chili recipe here that sounded good, modified it for the crock pot, and only changed a few things. It makes a ton, enough for us to eat for a couple of days, some to freeze, and some to share with my parents.

Ingredients

2 cups chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans stewed tomatoes, mashed up

1 (15-oz)can crushed tomatoes

1 (15-oz)can diced tomatoes with chilis (unless you don't want it spicy, then just do regular diced)

1 small can tomato paste

1 cup chicken broth

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can lentils, drained

3-4 cups leftover turkey, chopped

1 tbsp chili powder (more if you like it hot)

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp cinnamon

Put everything in the crock pot and cook. I'm no crock pot scientist, but since everything is already cooked, I figure you just need to cook it for awhile for the flavors to blend, and until it is nice and hot. I did it on low until Eric came home, which was about 6 hours, but it had been hot and bubbly for awhile before that.

Since we had so much, we ate it plain with cheese, over cornbread, and over rice. All ways were delicious!

Summer Veggie Pasta

I made this when we had a lot of leftover corn on the cob, and it got rave reviews so I've made it a few more times since then for the family!

1 box pasta, any shape

2 turkey brats, sliced, or 2-3 chicken breasts, cut up.

3 ears of corn, cooked, cut off the cob

1 medium onion, diced

10 small tomatoes, cut in half (or a bigger tomato cut up)

1 green pepper, sliced

mushrooms, diced

Cook the pasta according to the directions. Cook the onions, peppers, and meat in oil until cooked, then add corn and mushrooms. Toss with pasta. One time we put some cheddar cheese on top, another time we put tomato-basil flavored feta cheese on it, which Sas and I really liked.

Sausage and Vegetables

This was one of the easiest things I've ever made, and it was so good!

The recipe called for sausages, but we used turkey bratwursts. Cut each one into 4 pieces. Grease a baking dish, and put sausages in. Cut some potatoes, butternut squash, green peppers, and onions and add to the dish. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with pepper, and toss to coat.

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, stir, and bake for 15 more minutes. 

My squash was a little too thin and kind of mushed a little, so I'll do it thicker next time, but other than that it was really good!

Turkey Brats

1 package lean turkey bratwursts (we used Jennie-O Original)

A crusty roll for each brat you're going to make

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

stone ground mustard (regular yellow would work fine too)

Cook turkey in a pan according to directions. Take it out of the pan, and put the onion rings in. Saute them in the turkey juices until they are translucent.

Cut slits into the rolls, spread mustard on one side, add the brat, and top with the onions.

Yum!

Turkey Nachos

1 bag corn chips

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 tomato

1 avocado

low fat sour cream

1 bag taco cheese, or other cheese

Brown turkey, and add taco seasoning according to the package. Spread the chips out on a baking sheet, and top with the turkey. Sprinkle cheese over the top, and bake at 350 until the cheese melts (about 5-10 minutes)

While it bakes, cut up the tomato and avocado. When the cheese is melted, take it out, and top with the tomato, avocado, and sour cream.

YUM!