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jalapeno peppers

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

August 27, 2016 by Dana

*This Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is a fall favorite that is packed with nutrition and so delicious! With fall right around the corner you need this in your life! Throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker, and have a fantastic dinner waiting for you at the end of the day. P.S. It’s also a great way to hide extra nutrition in chili for kids who are skeptical of sweet potatoes! 
Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

I’m just going to come right out and say this….. I put sweet potatoes in chili way before it was cool on Pinterest. Like, years ago! I didn’t do it on purpose the first time, it went down like this:


I bought the expensive pre-cubed butternut squash at the grocery store and I never used it. My husband nagged me about it until one day I was like FINE I’LL PUT IT IN THE CHILI now shut up about me buying random stuff at the grocery store and let’s move on (the man has a point here though I must admit).  So I threw the squash in my regular chili recipe and it was fantastic! How exciting it was when he arrived home after work and I had a new creation to share that made me look like a culinary genius. 🙂 Sweet and spicy for the win!

After the squash I gave sweet potatoes a go because we always have them on hand for making the kids sweet potato fries. I actually loved sweet potatoes even more, and the rest was history! That is until the Pinterest Pinnies were all like:

“Sweet potatoes in everything, all day everyday!”

“Sweet potatoes on fleek!” (still have no idea what that one means)

“Sweet potatoes all up in my chili!”

“Put sweet potatoes in your chili because it is cool now!”

You get the point. Everyone else figured out it was a rockin’ combo and then all of a sudden I was just a  regular person again.  *sigh*

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Back before my culinary genius bubble burst I was actually using a stovetop chili recipe, however for my birthday last year my I received a brand new slow cooker from my mom! If you have followed other slow cooker recipes here, you might remember I had an ancient slow cooker that my mom was gifted for her bridal shower in the 80’s. No clue who bought that for her or why they thought she would ever use it (girl doesn’t cook) but it got me through a few babies and my first apartment. Shout out to the random relative who made that purchase and RIP awful baby poop colored slow cooker! With my shiny new slow cooker I realized how much tastier chili was in the slow cooker vs. on the stove top and I don’t think I will be looking back anytime soon! Shiny new slow cooker for another win!

Recipe Tips

  • I cut my sweet potatoes in small cubes (pictured below), however when the chili was done they were pretty well cooked. So much so that they disappeared into the chili a bit. I found this really awesome, however if you are looking for a chunkier finish I would cut them a tad bigger then what is pictured below.
  • I added 2 jalapeños and it was bit spicy for us. The spiciness was muted in the leftovers though and that is when it was just right! If you are not into spiciness at all, of course just omit the jalapeño all together.
  • As mentioned above, this chili gets better and better everyday in leftovers! It is a great meal to make at the beginning of the week to have a healthy lunch for the next few days.
  • I tend to keep chili simple because a speech professor once told me the acronym K.I.S.S. or keep it simple stupid! This sticks to me with chili because when folks are looking for good chili recipes they don’t want to have to go to the grocery store and buy ingredients that they will use 1 tablespoon of and never see again because it is so far back in the pantry.
  • I have found (thanks to the back of a Goya bean can) that 2 Tablespoons of cumin, 2 Tablespoons of chili powder, and 2 teaspoons of adobo seasoning are the PERFECT spice combo for chili. This is my go-to amount of spices and it has never failed me. You can certainly play around with it but that combo will give you just enough flavor without being overpowering.

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Then we have this close up shot that is so detailed you can literally see that I cut the avocado with a butter knife. Sheesh that expensive macro lens was worth it!

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

And then there was this cutie…. 🙂 Hi Sammy!

Sammy eats Turkey Chili

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili || www.3boysunprocessed.com

Filed Under: Entrees, Recipes

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Popper Mac

October 16, 2014 by Dana

buffalochix3 (1 of 1)

Ever want to just throw your hand up in the air and say “I GIVE UP!!!”


That was me, this week. All week it has been raining here. Rain, rain, more rain. No sun, none. Not even a little. Now if you know anything about taking pictures of food you might know that natural light = better pictures. I can’t take pictures of food with a flash, or a light in a room. It HAS to be natural. Hence, my frustration when the sun decided to go away for the past 4 days. Somehow, it peeked out just for a minute for me to snap these pictures. Now it’s gone again and I’m back to wondering if I’ll be able to take any pictures tomorrow, or if the sun will be hiding again. Please come back sun!! 🙂

Remember when I confessed that throughout my life I’ve kind of had an obsession with all foods that involve hot sauce? If you haven’t seen my Buffalo Chicken with Creamy Ranch Slaw post, I explain it there! I’m pretty sure I lived on hot sauce dumped on everything for a good portion of my teenage years. I can’t for the life of me figure out why, but for some reason it was the cool thing to do! Then again, teenagers are really awkward and they do lots of weird, unexplainable things.

On to this wonderful crockpot creation, because seriously I can’t be the only person who still loves a bit of nostalgia sometimes! It brings me back to those high school pizza shop days, in a creamy and delicious way. Something about the cream cheese, the hot sauce, and the jalapenos make this sooooo good I just can’t stop.

I should also mention that when it comes to hot sauce, I always check ingredients! I’ve found some brands like to sneak in Polysorbate 80. Even Frank’s includes that in their wing sauce version, but not their original hot sauce. Figure that one out?!?! I stick to the basic stuff to eliminate the unnecessary ingredients, and I’ve always liked Frank’s original the most anyway!

buffalochix2 (1 of 1)

The jalapenos in this creamy/spicy madness are completely optional. The first time I made it I used 2, the second time I used 3. Both times had just a bit of spice. Actually, the perfect amount for a family. My kids ate it, and so did my husband and I and nobody complained of too much spiciness. My toddler is notorious for saying “This is too spicy” about foods that have absolutely NO spice in them, and he ate this with no issues. If you really want to bump this baby up, use 1/2 cup of hot sauce instead of 1/4 cup.

buffalochickenpopper1

 

 

 

Filed Under: Entrees, Recipes

Overstuffed Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Peppers

August 19, 2014 by Dana

Embarrassing food geek confession: I was super excited when I saw purple and black bell peppers at a local farmer’s market and endless recipe ideas flooded my head as soon as I saw these beauties. The best part… I filled two grocery bags full of beautiful produce, handed it to the gentleman running the stand, and he said $6 please. $6!!!!! For two heaping bags of produce. Helllllooo Gratz Auction, Thank You for being so awesome (and no I did not get a fish sandwich or pretzel to anyone who knows what I’m talking about). 😉 Another amazing find at the market… Non-GMO sweet corn! I got a dozen ears for $4, and left a happy, happy girl because my hopes of finding sweet corn that I trusted to be Non-GMO this summer were slim. Somehow I missed the yellow watermelons but hey, this girl can’t have everything. Maybe next time!

My husband kept asking why I wasn’t standing the peppers up because according to him “they look better that way.” Ummm… last time I checked you aren’t a food stylist hubby, so maybe you should keep your food styling tips to yourself! 😉 However, I explained the method to my madness and he totally got it. Stuffed peppers are delicious until you hit the bottom and you realize… you are out of stuffing. Now what? Do you eat the soggy bottom? Do you push past the guilt of wasting food and toss it? Problem solved right here folks, lay your peppers down and stuff the heck out of them. Stuff them babies till they are stuffed-out, heaping brown rice and goodies, and there is no way possible you or any army of men will ever run out of stuffing. Ever!


stuffedpeppers3

Sweet corn and jalapenos were truly meant to be friends. They go together so well, especially when mixed with rice and beans. I really wanted to keep these peppers simple so I mixed in other ingredients I felt most people would already have stocked in their pantry. I used black eyed peas, but black beans would also work great in this recipe. I also used homemade chicken stock I had already prepared and froze (speaking of stock I need to go strain my pot on the stove now!) however you could look for a low sodium, boxed stock that doesn’t contain any artificial ingredients or MSG (also look for other forms of MSG such as yeast extract and autolyzed yeast). If you use a boxed stock, you might have to adjust the adobo according to the salt content of the stock.

Filed Under: Entrees, Recipes

Sweet and Spicy Chili

May 7, 2014 by Dana

 

chili4


If you have seen any of my other posts you may have noticed I do serve sweet potatoes often! My kids love to eat them as fries, and I like to put them into many dishes. The hint of sweetness they provide compliment many other ingredients. I started putting sweet potatoes in my chili after my husband bought a butternut squash that I needed to use before it went bad. It worked so well I moved right on to sweet potatoes and now I rarely make chili without them. This is a staple recipe in my kitchen and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

I also serve this with whole wheat cornbread, and you can find that recipe here. I followed this recipe but instead of using cream I used milk and it came out perfect.

Also, here is a link to the tomato product I use. We do stay away from canned tomatoes because of the possibility of chemical leaching into the product.

Filed Under: Entrees, Recipes Tagged With: adobo seasoning, chili, chili powder, cumin, garlic, green pepper, jalapenos, kidney beans, onion, sweet potatoes

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I'm Dana! Foodie + Photographer. Momma of 5. Baby lover. Coffee addict. Cooking through the chaos one recipe at a time! I've built this food blog out of a desire to create and share. My time spend around the table with my family and friends means the world to me. My hope is that you get to feel that too!

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Foodie + Photographer. Momma of 5. I've built this food blog out of a desire to create and share. I feel most alive when I'm talking with family and friends around the table. My hope is that you get to feel that too!

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