Pumpkin Turkey Chili? YES PLEASE!

I want to thank you all so much for chiming in yesterday to answer the question I had about your favorite local festival! It was so fun to hear all of your experiences! This foodie festival certainly got me in the spirit for the seasons best ingredients like apples, pumpkin and chili! (hint hint for what's a-comin')

I Woke up today and knew what was going to take place when I got home from work and after the gym....yes my friends, it was a perfect day for Pumpkin Chili! I have made regular turkey chili before, but I was browsing some recipes on the web and saw a few for  Turkey pumpkin chili! I was so excited to make my own version of this comforting stew!

I started my morning off with a 4.10 mile run on the treadmill. I changed up the speeds and inclines ranging from speeds of 6.2-8.3 and inclines from 0%-6% grade. This was an awesome workout, especially since I took the weekend off from exercise was was much needed for my body!

After my run I remembered I had this!

It was time for OIAJ (Oats in a Jar!) This was the last of my TJ's Valencia flax PB

I would like to call this PIAJ (Perfection In a Jar)

1/2 Cup oats, chia, 1/2 banana, blueberries, strawberries, Truvia packet

'twas delicious. I was actually sad when it was over and licked the jar a little bit :) 

Lunch time was an awesome Wrap. So many of you commented that I do love my wraps, and its true! I LOVE wraps, something about them makes them more exciting than eating normal  sandwich on bread. The ingredients taste better and it stays together perfectly in its little diaper (thats what my friend called the ends of a wrap!) anyways, I digress...Here is what I had

Cooking up in the pan!

• lavash wrap
• lettuce
• tomato
• laughing cow
• honey mustard
• sliced turkey
• sprouts
• red onion

star of the show: Annies  Organic Honey Mustard. This is by far the best honey mustard I have ever had. You can acutally taste the honey in it! It isn't overly sweet and its creamy and makes for a delicious wrap!

Final product with the Annie's to dip! SOO good!!

I had this small salad on the side with romaine, yellow pepper, tomatoes, cuke, balsamic glaze

After lunch I headed to the gym for a full body workout. Usually I see my trainer on mondays but he has the day off from work today, so he took the day off from training as well! I used some of his workouts and kicked my own tush! I really wanted to hit a lot of body parts so I kept the workout fast paced, plyometric style and made sure my heart rate stayed up for the majority! I felt super strong today from taking 2 days off!

New least favorite exercise: Triceps Bench dips with my feet on a bosu ball

New most favorite exercise: Stationary Lunges with my back foot on the bosu ball, holding 15 lb dumbbell

**what is your favorite and least favorite exercise??*

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Now it was pumpkin Chili time! I made my way to Whole Foods to get some ingredients! Now let me just say that my WF has been out of Canned pumpkin for I can't even remember how long...THEY HAD IT IN TODAY! I bought 3 cans, came home, unpacked and realized I bought 2 pumpkins and 1 canned butternut squash-oops! I am sure I won't have a problem finding a way to use the canned squash soon!

The star ingredient: Handsome Mr. Pumpkin Himself!

The rest of the goodies!

Turkey Chili Recipe

• 1-1.25 lb lean ground turkey
  
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can canneli beans
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 C diced yellow onion
• 1 diced green pepper
• 1 diced red pepper
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 healthy shakes of cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 can pumpkin
• 3 cloves garlic

Directions

• Sautee onions, peppers and garlic in olive oil until they brown up (about 10 minutes)
• Add in the ground turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon and let it cook (about 5 minutes)
• Add in the diced tomatoes, pumpkin, beans and spices ( I also added some water to the pot)
• Cover and let simmer up to 5 hours! (Mine sat for about an hour an a half)
• The more it sits, the better it tastes!! Leftovers anyone??

diced onion

diced peppers

Onion and peppers in the pot

after they are golden and delicious!

The ground turkey addition to the pot (as you can see it is in a big glob, really work your spoon around to break it up into bite size pieces!)

Fully cooked peppers, onions and ground turkey! Ready for the juices!

After the addition of the pumpkin, spices and diced tomatoes

FINAL PRODUCT!

Note: I topped this with a dollop of Oikos greek yogurt, at which point my camera died!

This recipe was SO easy and SO full of flavor, I highly recommend it! It will surly warm up your chilly night!

Have any of you modified a recipe to make it more seasonal, such as this take on Turkey Chili with the addition of pumpkin??

check out this vega giveaway  over at the fitnessista!!