the desires of my heart: Smokin' Turkey Chili

I hosted a small ladies dinner at my house last night with Bridget, Carol, Kim and Callie! We had a great time chatting, laughing, and planning Callie's upcoming baby shower to be held at my house in January. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so blessed with a handful of close girlfriends that I can't imagine life without! I have friends from different areas of my life and it's so amazing to me that they've all blended into one group for the most part - I guess I gravitate towards the same type of girlfriends who can all get along with each other!

I made chili the night before and used my go-to recipe. It's a hearty and relatively low fat recipe that, when made exactly as below, is extremely spicy! I adjusted the heat factor a bit so I didn't burn my friends mouths, but when I make it for myself and Tyge I use full spice.

Smokin' Turkey Chili
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I used OO spray to lighten it up)
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 small green bell peppers, seeded and chopped (I used 1 red and 1 green)
1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped (I used half)
2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (I used a little less)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (1 ounce) envelope instant hot chocolate mix
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained (I used 2 cans of salt-free organic tomatoes and 1 can of green chiles)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained (I also added a can of pinto beans to make it a bit heartier)
1/2 cup cheap beer (We had O'Dells IPA around which isn't cheap, but I think darker beer tastes better than light in this recipe)
1/2 cup canned whole kernel corn (I love corn so used a whole can)
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (I used 1/2 tbsp. of Frank's)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, green peppers and habanero pepper; cook and stir until the onion is transparent. Push these to one side of the pot, and crumble in the ground turkey. Cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the meat is no longer pink. Stir everything together so the garlic doesn't burn.

Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin, oregano, pepper, hot cocoa mix and seasoned salt.

I mixed all the dry ingredients together first to make sure it was evenly seasoned

Stir in Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Crack open a beer, and pour in about 1/2. Drink or discard the rest. (It was O'Dells, so I fed it to Tyge.)

Partially cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in the corn and hot pepper sauce, and simmer for about 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.