Ashley's Best Turkey Chile Chili

Yesterday I was in the mood for chili so I decided to whip up a batch from some things I had lying around the house. It turned out to be wonderful!! The best chili I have ever made. Here is what I did. Enjoy!!

Ashley's Best Turkey Chile Chili

Fire Level: yellow - red

Ingredients (for orange)

• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 hatch chiles
• 1 can diced zesty tomatoes (drained)
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (drained and tomatoes torn into pieces)
• 1 can whole kernel sweet corn (drained)
• 1 can red kidney beans (drained)
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 packet chili seasoning mix
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• **For yellow, remove the chiles and used regular diced tomatoes rather than the zesty.
• **For red, add a tablespoon of red chile peppers, or add in some diced jalepeno

Step 1: Roast the chiles

Cut the chiles in half lengthwise, deseed and destem. Put them on a baking sheet, skinside up, and into the oven on broil. Once the skins have turned black, peel the skins off the chiles and cut the roasted chiles into pieces.

Step 2: Cook Turkey

While the chiles are roasting, cook the ground turkey until no longer pink.

Step 3: Saute

In a large pot, saute the onion and celery with a little bit of olive oil until softened.

Step 4: Simmer

Turn the burner down to Medium Low. Add the tomatoes, diced chiles, corn, and chili seasoning mix into the onion and celery mixture and let the whole batch simmer for about five minutes.

Step 5: Add it all In

Add in the beans, sauce, and turkey. Let the whole batch of chili simmer on Medium Low for about an hour, letting all of the flavors mix together.

Add-In Options:

Mix up a batch of corn bread to go with the chili. An easy and cheap mix is made by Jiffy.

You can also sprinkle with some cheddar cheese to add some creaminess.

A Sweet Treat on a Snowy Day

So, what are you all doing on this snowy evening? If you are like me, you are getting a little cabin fever. When I get that way I like to whip up some cookies. Here is a great go to recipe that takes ingredients often found around the house. Enjoy!

Fire Level: yellow

Almond Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Step 1: Preheat the Oven

Duh! For any baking recipe the first step is always to preheat the oven. In this case it's to 375 degrees.

Step 2: Mix up the "wet" ingredients

Mix the sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and egg until creamy

Step 3: Mix the "dry" ingredients

Mix the flour, powder, and salt together

Step 4: Combine

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue to beat until well blended.

Step 5: Choose your baking method

Choose whether you want to make almond bars or cookies. Either spread the dough onto a greased cookie sheet for bars or place teaspoon full amounts of dough onto the cookie sheet to make individual cookies.

Step 6: Bake

Bake 'em up! cook 7-9 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

Step 7: Serve

If you are making bars, cut the cookie sheet into strips. Let cool and serve!

Step 8: Frost

If you'd like, you can frost the cookies. Simply mix some powdered sugar and milk together until the frosting is the right thickness.