Crockpot Turkey Chili

Happy Monday and welcome back to Crockpot Monday! It's the first Crockpot Monday of 2015, hard to believe I know. I am very excited to back crockpoting, especially now that is freezing cold and there is snow on the ground. I was more than happy with the warmer than normal and snowless December (is it June yet?). Sadly the winter semester started for me today, but at least I had a warm meal to come back to.

I have a confession to make- I have never had chili before. WHAT?!? Crazy I know. My dad is an insanely picky eater, so growing up my mom kept our meals very plain, thus I never had chili. Awhile back Sam from Love Live Balance posted an incredibly delicious looking crockpot turkey chili recipe. I tweaked a few things about the recipe and used less chili powder because I'm a chili newbie and didn't want to set my mouth on fire, but it's all about personal preference. It's safe to say after devouring a bowl of chili, which was perfect because it's FREEZING outside, I will most definitely be making chili again in the future!

Crockpot Turkey Chili 

• 1.6 pounds lean ground turkey
• 15 oz. organic dark red kidney beans
• 15 oz. organic pinto beans
• 15 oz. chili beans with sauce- I chose mild sauce
• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 3 oz. water- I filled the tomato paste can 1/2 way
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 6 tomatoes, cut into chunks
• pinch of ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1.5 teaspoons chili powder- use more or less to your preference 

Place diced onion and ground turkey in the crockpot.

Drain and rinse the dark red kidney beans and pinto beans and add them into the crockpot.

Add in chili beans without draining them. 

Add in tomato paste, water, tomatoes and seasonings. 

Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. Stir the chili before serving. 

Keep leftovers in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for later use. 

Nutrition Information (1 serving is 1 cup, makes about 9 servings):
Calories: 288
Carbs: 30 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Fiber: 9 grams
Protein: 26 grams
Sodium: 356 mg
Sugar: 5 grams

2014 In Review

I know it's already four days into 2015, but I wanted to take a minute to reflect on 2014. 2014 was an incredible year and largely what made my year so incredible is all of YOU, my readers. Words cannot begin to express how thankful I am for each and every one of you. The comments, emails, sharing my recipes, pins, etc. literally flood my heart with so much joy and thankfulness! Thank you so much for venturing on this crazy journey with me. Here are some of my favorite moments from 2014: 

January: So. Much. Granola. The chocolate cherry and Nutella granola is my mom's favorite but she won't let me make it for her because she devours the entire batch in like four days. My favorite is the basic healthy homemade granola. Homemade is ALWAYS better than the store bought stuff. Let's not forget the homemade healthy cinnamon rolls.

February: All dolled up for a formal dance on campus with one of my best friends. Only she can make my hair look that good curly and it stays curly! 

March: Rediscovered my love of all things oatmeal. And shout out to the those who doubted the combo of greek yogurt and oatmeal, but tried it and got hooked- I wouldn't lead you astray! 

April: I am a breakfast food addict. Blueberries and pancakes are so hard to resist, but put together one of the best combos. 

May: I shot my first stand up as a reporter (ok I was just the intern, but still!!) Now I just pray no one ever finds that footage when I am applying for jobs...

June: You guys gave me the BEST birthday month EVER! I was featured on Simply Taralynn (my favorite blog), which was seriously such an amazing gift in itself! Birthday celebrations are always in order, so I celebrated with a healthy banana split. And I tried Quest Bars for the first time, thus this healthy cookie dough parfait happened. 

July: Fireworks are one of my favorite things <3

August: I ran my first 5K since being diagnosed with lupus (you can read about that here) and I ate THE BEST SALAD EVER, no joke. I'm craving it just thinking about it. 

September: Dinosaur sprinkles make everything better, including college. Ok, so do my mom's no bake energy balls. 

October: Literally one of my favorite baking months because PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! October was full of this pumpkin bread and crockpot turkey meatballs. I also got the wonderful joy of experiencing my first flat tire on one of the coldest days of the year. Thank the Lord for AAA! 

November: Summer is by far my favorite season, but nothings beats a gorgeous fall drive (this the beginning of the month before we got pooped on with a ton of snow).

December: I survived the semester (barely). Statistics almost killed me, but I fought hard! Christmas break was filled with so. much. food. The new s'mores Quest Bar and the absolute best desert ever- healthy no bake peanut butter pie among the deliciousness. Fat pants anyone? Basically I ate, spent a lot amount of time at the gym and spoiled my dog. I cannot resist a face like that!

Thank you for making 2014 such a memorable year! I had so much fun cooking, baking and sharing bits of my life with you. I cannot wait to see everything 2015 has in store! And of course I can't wait to share lots of yummy recipes with you, Happy 2015!

Gluten Free Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins

Happy New Year! I hope the New Year is off to a great start for everyone, it's a fresh start so make the most of it! Many people make New Year's resolutions. I'm not a big believer in resolutions because it's extremely rare that they are kept. Anyway I know many people are going try to lose weight this year, get in shape and cut back on calories. When embarking on a new lifestyle finding healthy foods that taste good can be hard (especially with food allergies or intolerances). 

I spent part of my New Year's Eve baking muffins. These are one of my favorite muffins because they do not taste healthy. They taste like cake! Seriously though they are so moist and gooey inside it's practically criminal. The recipe is very basic and easy to follow and there are no crazy ingredients. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Gluten Free Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins

• 1.5 cups gluten free all purpose flour, you can substitute regular all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mashed banana, about 1 banana
• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• 2/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit vanilla greek yogurt, you can use plain
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries
• 1 cup fresh (or frozen) strawberries, diced

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

Add in wet ingredients: egg, vanilla extract, mashed banana, applesauce, greek yogurt and almond milk. Stir until everything is combined and batter is formed. 

Add in strawberries and blueberries. Fold them into the batter and avoid over stirring.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Line muffin tins with liners or spray nonstick cook spray or coconut oil in tins to avoid sticking. 

Fill muffin tins 1/2 to 3/4 full. I filled my tins 3/4 full and got 18 larger muffins. You can fill them less and get 24 muffins.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check for doneness. If the toothpick is clean the muffins are done, if not allow them to bake for 5 minutes and check again. 

When muffins are done turn off the oven and leave the door closed (this is not mandatory but I found it makes the muffins firm up faster). The muffins will brown in the oven. Remove the muffins after 5-10 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool before removing from tins.

Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or the freezer for up to six months.

Nutrition information (for 1 muffin):

Calories: 51

Fat: 1 gram

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 296 mg

Carbs: 10 grams

Fiber: 2 grams

Sugar: 2 grams

Protein: 2 grams