Chicken-Apple Chili

I think I might enter this Chicken-Apple Chili in my department's chili cookoff next week. I really liked how unique it is. Just like me. :) Kidding.

It's creamy and the apple are sweet but not over-powering. The only problem I had with it (besides the fact it called for WAY more oil and cheese than it really needed), was that it lacked the "kick" that many chili has behind it. It was plenty smokey with the cumin. But it needed heat.

So before I enter it, I'm tweaking it just a bit. I'm going to add some ground red pepper and instead of monterey jack I may take the leap and use pepper jack. Here, I also used cilantro on top, which was a nice addition. I did so mainly because I ran out of green onions. But I liked the swap.

My "lighter" tweaks were using 4 tsp of oil rather than the 4 tablespoons it called for. I have a non-stick stock pot I sometimes use, so there's not need to use that much oil. Also, I cut back on the cheese. I used 1/2 cup of cheese. I should also note I cut the entire recipe in two to make four servings. I left the 2 tbsp butter and flour so it would thicken up properly but used skim milk rather than 2 percent or whole. Worked wonderfully.

Southwestern Turkey Burger with Chili Oven Fries

Do you have extra points to spend? I don’t this week. I gobbled up my flex points and then some at the beginning of the week. Stress eating got the better of me. I’ll spare you the drama but I got into a minor fender bender with an uninsured driver (they’re at fault) and the boyfriend may lose his job.

There has been more, but I think even those two instances might drive a normal person toward a snacking binge. I probably won’t show a loss on the scale this week, but I’m fine with that. I’m proud of myself for salvaging the week as best I could.

Last week, though, I had plenty of time to work out and for some reason I ended up with a bunch of flex points toward the end of the week. Wasn’t I lucky?

So I used them to make a burger I had on my list for a while – the southwestern turkey burger. And because I had so many points, I could make chili fries that are baked in a little more oil than I typically use. And — this was possibly the best part — I could wash it down with my most favorite beer. Octoberfest.

The boyfriend complained about the burgers falling apart a little on the grill. Maybe because they didn’t have much of a binder? But they were delicious anyhow. And those chili fries never disappoint. I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe yet.

The burger, with a “typical” generic wheat hamburger bun was 11 points and the fries are 3 points per serving. More than many oven fries, but totally worth the extra point in my opinion. My mouth is watering just thinking about how good they were.

Chili Oven Fries
Adapted from Everyday Food

1 ½ pounds russet potatoes
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut potatoes into wedges.

In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper. Add the potatoes and toss to coat.

Put the potato wedges cut sides down on a baking sheet coated in cooking spray. Bake, turning potatoes halfway through, until they are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Today's a grey, yucky day. And it's these kinds of morning where I really crave a hot breakfast. I often will settle for a bowl of cold cereal and milk on most days, but sometimes there's nothing more comforting than a big bowl of oats.

I could buy the flavored instant oatmeal from the grocery store. They sell all kinds including reduced sugar, but I really to make my own. It's about 100 times more satisfying. Here, I made Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal I adapted from Clean Eating magazine, but I have made a bunch of different combinations. This one has been one of my favorites. At first, I was weary of the protein powder, but it turned out much tastier than I expected. Points will vary depending on how much sweetener and what kind you use, but my recipe comes out to 5 points per bowl. It's a small bowl...but has more staying power than I expected.

If you make a bowl of oats in the morning, what's your typical recipe?

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
1/4 cup light vanilla soymilk (you could use regular milk if you prefer)
6 tbsp water
1/4 cup quick oats (old-fashioned is fine)
A pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
sweetener to taste
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder dissolved in 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp chopped nuts

Bring the water and milk to a boil over medium heat. Add the oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until oatmeal has thickened, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the sweetener (I use 1/2 tbsp agave syrup), pumpkin, and dissolved protein powder. Add chopped nuts such as walnuts, almonds or pecans and serve.