Three Bean Turkey Chili

I've never been good at following directions when it comes to recipes, I prefer to deviate from what is outlined and experimenting with different ingredients or cooking methods. If you were to ask Levi he would say that often times I end up making something entirely different from the recipe I started with. But it's the experimenting that makes cooking exciting, and the more I try out new ideas the easier it is to create a new recipe all on my own. (Wow! I am such a big girl!) Anyways today I wanted to share one of my own recipes that I made for the second time last week. It's incredibly easy, takes little prep/cook time, and is low-fat and full of protein.

Three Bean Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

- 1 can Black Beans
- 1 can Pinto Beans
- 1 can Kidney Beans

Or white beans, garbanzo beans, red beans, etc.

- 1 lb. Ground Turkey

- 2-3 Garlic Cloves
- 1/2 Onion
- 1 Green Bell Pepper or 2 Small Jalapeno Peppers
- 2 tsp. Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Spaghetti Sauce

- 1/2 pack of Taco Bell Seasoning
- 1/2 pack of Chili Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Powder
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2/3 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth

**The nice thing about this recipe like many other soups or stews is that you can omit or add more/less of any ingredient to reach your desired outcome. If you want the chili very chunky use less chicken broth and more spaghetti sauce or omit both and use stewed tomatoes instead, etc.

Directions:

Stove Top: MEDIUM HEAT
Begin cooking the fresh or defrosted ground turkey in a medium sized stock pot stirring occasional.
Tip: (Levi taught me this one) don't cook the meat on medium high or high for a faster result it will make the texture tougher or "bouncy" as we like to say. Meanwhile chop up the garlic, onion, and peppers as fine or as coarsely as you like and begin to saute them in a separate pan with the olive oil. Once the meat is cooked all the way through add in the sauteed veggies along with both seasoning packs, the cumin, cayenne, and sea salt. Next open each can of beans and make sure to drain the juices before adding them into the stock pot. Finally mix in the spaghetti sauce and chicken broth, cook for another 5-8 minutes and your done.

Yields: 8-12 servings.

The first time we enjoyed this with a side of cornbread and honey butter and the next we just topped it with tortilla chips.

-Deidre