Easy meal - Crockpot Turkey Chili and Wheat-free Cornbread Muffins

School returned with avengence. Ugh. I feel like that fish from the Faith No More "Epic" video, flapping furiously out of water (ok, I probably just dated myself). So while trying to get the grips on my new life schedule which consists of classes, reading, clinicals, reading, studying, reading..., I've been bad and haven't been cooking much lately. Lots of take-out and fattening comfort food. Then I realized the other day, five minutes before I had to leave for my first exam, that I had all the makings for turkey chili so I ran around madly and threw it all together in those last few moments. That tells you how fast this dish can come together! I ended up not having time to chop any onions so I just left them out entirely (which is normally blasphemous in my book, but I was under a time crunch).

The corn muffins I baked up when I returned from my exam later that night. Oh, it was so exciting to come down the stairs to my apartment to smell spicy simmering chili awaiting me! I do love my crockpot!


Crockpot Turkey Chili

• 1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 can chopped tomatoes with chili
  
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 dash allspice
• salt to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown; drain.
Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomato soup, tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, and onion. Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, allspice, and salt.

Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.

Wheat-free Corn Muffins

• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup spelt flour or rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs (or egg substitute)
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup water, milk or milk substitute
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen

Pre-heat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Add in egg or replacer, oil, vinegar, and cranberries. Mix and add in water or milk until desired consistancy is reached. You want it to be smooth not too runny. Spoon mixture into lightly oiled muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 mins until you can place a toothpick in the center and no goo comes off on your toothpick. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.