Spicy Turkey Chili

I know when you think of chili it is usually on a cold, winter night when you can sit by the fire and enjoy a hot bowl of chili...but this recipe is a great summertime take on a typical heavy beef chili.


Start with 1 diced white onion.  Saute for about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent.

Then add 4 cloves garlic, and 1 Serrano Pepper finely diced.  Saute another 5 minutes.

Next add your ground turkey and brown the meat until there is no more pink.  *Note - if you want to add 1 lb. of ground turkey here, just omit one can of beans.  I prefer less meat and more beans, thats why I use a half pound!

Now add the remaining 14 ingredients: Chili Powder, Paprika, Cumin, Red Pepper flakes, Dried Oregano, freshly ground Black Pepper, Salt, Worcestershire, Bittersweet Chocolate, Rotel, Tomato Sauce, Dark Red Kidney beans, Black Beans, Beer and Water.  Stir together and simmer for 45 minutes.

Taste the chili before you serve, you may want to add salt, pepper, or more water!  Every batch will be a little different!

Top with anything you like: cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion, a squeeze of lime and serve!

Disclaimer - You are probably thinking, why is there corn in here?  There is no corn in the recipe??  I had an extra corn on the cob on hand, so I threw it in!  I actually prefer chili without the corn...It's up to you!  If you do put it in, do it about 15 minutes before your chili is done so the corn won't overcook.

Spicy Turkey Chili

1 Diced White Onion
4 Cloves Garlic, Diced
1 Serrano Pepper, Diced
1/2 Lb. Ground Turkey
2 Tbl. Chili Powder
1Tbl. Paprika
1 Tbl. Cumin
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbl. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbl. Worcestershire
1 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate
1 Can Rotel - Hot
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Black Beans
1/2 Cup Dark Beer
1 Cup Water


Warning - We LOVE Spicy food.  If you like your food a little less spicy, use half the Serrano, half the red pepper flakes, and mild Rotel instead of hot!

Easiest Chicken Marinade

I didn't realize until about a year ago how important a marinade is to cooking meats.  I would just cook the meat and open a can or jar of sauce and pour it over the meat.  Most marinades will add enough flavor to your meats that you do not even need a sauce!


The one I am about to share is our FAVORITE!!  Plus, most of the ingredients you will already have around the house!  

Start with a Medium size bowl and add 1/3 C vegetable oil.  Then add 3 Tbl. Soy Sauce, 2 Tbl. Worcestershire, and 2 Tbl. Red Wine Vinegar.  

Then add the juice from 1 lime (lemon is fine too).

Next add 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard (this ingredient is random, but it really makes this marinade).  Then add 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper and a few shakes of cayenne pepper.  

Next add about 1/4 C coarsely chopped cilantro or parsley.  This is a great way to get rid of the stems that you wouldn't use otherwise.  The stems have a lot of flavor and because you won't be eating them, they are fine to include in the marinade. 

That's it!  It's that simple.

Whisk everything together and add 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cover and put in the refrigerator.  I like to marinate it for about 8 hours, but I have done it for as little as an hour and it still comes out great! 

Grill over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes on each side.  


Final Product:  Grilled Chicken Tacos with Caramelized onions, Roasted Poblano Sauce, and Warm Corn Salsa...

Easy Chicken Marinade

1/3 C Vegetable Oil
3 Tbl. Soy Sauce
2 Tbl. Worcestershire
2 Tbl. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Lime, Juiced
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
Cayenne Pepper to Taste
1/4 C Chopped Cilantro
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Taco Salad tonight...I'm going to share the dressing recipe.  I love making homemade salad dressings.  They are quick, easy, inexpensive, and much healthier than the bottled kind.

What I love about this is that you can throw all the ingredients into a food processor and you are done.

Here's what you start with:

FIRST, you should know, this recipe can be used as a base to any salad dressing.  You can add anything to the base to customize your dressing:  lemon, parsley, tomato, ginger, any kind of herbs or spices, etc.  If you are just making the base, all you need is the olive oil, mustard, vinegar, and either lemon, lime, or extra vinegar.   Here is the base only:

If you are making the cilantro-lime dressing, don't make the base dressing first.  Blend the jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, lime together first in a food processor.  Then add the vinegar, mustard and honey.  Finally add the olive oil a little at a time.  This way, you can taste as you go and stop when you get the consistency you want.  Add salt and pepper to taste at the end.

This is what the final product will look like.  I like to make extra and use it as a marinade on Chicken or Shrimp.  

Cilantro-Lime Dressing

1 Jalapeno Chopped (seeded if you want it less spicy)
1 Garlic Clove Chopped
1 Cup Cilantro
Juice from 1 Lime
1 tsp. Spicy mustard
1tsp. Honey
1 Tbls. Rice Wine Vinegar (White wine vinegar is fine too)
1/2 C Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Coconut Fried Shrimp

SO, tonight is date night.  I'm making coconut shrimp.  I'll save the healthy eating for the work week.     

Start with 3/4lb. raw shrimp.
I always look for wild caught in the USA.  Always check where they come from.  Thailand, Indonesia, Belize all have much lower health and safety standards for farm raising seafood than the US does.  Also,  the US hardly regulates the seafood coming in from these places...  All this to say, don't mess around with the shrimp.  Spend a few dollars more and buy the best ones.  Whether you buy peeled, de-veined, frozen, it doesn't matter.  Peel, de-vein, and thaw them and we are ready to go!!

I always rinse the shrimp first (especially if I de-veined them) and lay them on a paper towel to dry.  - Oh yea, take the tails off too.  Make sure the shrimp are very dry before you start or the batter will slide off when we start working.

OK, we need 3 bowls, 1 for each part of our batter. 

First Bowl, 1/2 C Flour, 1 tsp Cayenne, 1 tsp. onion Powder, 1 tsp garlic powder
(This is where you can change up this recipe.  Add extra cayenne, or even cumin or paprika.)

Second Bowl, 2 eggs, salt and pepper (however much you want - I did about a tsp of each)

Third bowl, 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs (if yours are too big, put them through a food processor - we want a pretty fine consistency that will stick to the shrimp), and 1/2 C Shredded sweetened coconut

This is how they will look....

Take the dried-off shrimp one at a time and dip into each batter.  Start with flour, then egg, then coconut.  Lay them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  This will allow the batter time to harden a bit and really stick to the shrimp so it won't fall off in the hot oil.

Heat about a 1/2 inch of peanut oil in the bottom of your pan.  I put a wooden spoon in the oil and when it starts to bubble around the spoon, the oil is hot.  Fry them about 3 minutes on each side and place them on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Top with salt, pepper and plenty of lime and serve!

We love this meal with roasted corn and pina coladas!! 

 ENJOY!!

Coconut Shrimp:
3/4 lb. raw shrimp
1/2 C. panko bread crumbs
1/2 C. Shredded Coconut
1/2 C. flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. Cayenne
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Lime for Serving

new blog.

So, I just spent 30 minutes trying to decide which font to use for my blog posts .  That is why I have never wanted to do a blog...  No lie, there was a font called, "Mountains of Christmas"(I don't even know) and "Covered by Grace".  As if there is a type of handwriting that conveys you are "covered by grace".  

Whatever.  Anyway,  I love cooking, I love trying new things, so I decided this blog would be my avenue to share recipes that I have created over the last few years...

That's me and my husband, Kyle.