Loving Fall

Today is very much a Fall day around here. It is cool and cloudy and makes me only think about staying inside warm and cozy with a good cup of cider. Mmmm. People have been so kind to bring us meals over the past several weeks but they are starting to slow down. So, this morning I ran to the store to get the ingredients for one of Marc's favorites, turkey chili. When I was about to start cooking around lunch Marc called and said we had a meal coming for dinner. So, I am GLADLY staying out of the kitchen for another night and will put the chili off until next week. But, I thought I would go ahead and share this recipe with you in case you are feeling in a Fall mood and decide to try a new chili recipe. This recipe is SO easy you can do it all in less than 30 minutes.

Santa Fe Skillet Chili
1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic (or two cloves)
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1 can chili beans in spicy sauce, undrained (I use mild sauce and it is plenty potent still for me)
1 can Mexican stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (4 oz.) of chopped green chilies, undrained

Spray large deep skillet with cooking spray. Cook turkey, onion, and garlic over medium high heat, breaking meat apart with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle chili powder, cumin, and red pepper evenly over turkey mixture. Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until turkey is cooked and no longer pink. Stir in beans with sauce, tomatoes with juice, and chilies with liquid. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

I put our stewed tomatoes in the food processor first to chop them up a bit but some people like them chunky. I serve this with cornbread and it is a great dish!

Hailey is 4 weeks old today. The month has gone by so quickly and she is changing each and every week. Just this past week she started smiling at me. I love it and have pulled out the baby talk in full force to squeeze every smile I can out of her. Ha! She is starting to get newborn acne and losing her hair just like Eli did. Eli had the WORST case of newborn acne ever. Seriously, he could have had his picture in a dermatology textbook. Hailey's isn't as bad yet and it certainly doesn't bother her a bit. She is sleeping so well at night. She is feeding usually between 9 and 10 and then doesn't wake me up again until about 3am. I would love to know how much she weighs right now but our doctor said she didn't need to see us back until 2 months since she was doing so well at 2 weeks so we will have to wait another month to see. I played dress up today with my doll...

 

 Poor girl was not a fan of this headband and bow so I swapped it out and she was much happier.

Eli is still a great big brother. We went to a friend's house last weekend for a get together and took Hailey and Eli with us. They have a little girl, Emma, who is almost two and is the cutest thing ever. She has blond curly hair that is to die for! At one point, Emma was peeking in the car seat at Hailey and Eli came running from across the room and pushed her back, stretched his arms out across the car seat, and told her "No!" He is very protective of Hailey which is sweet. She is kind of like his favorite toy right now and he is not too inclined to share her with other kids. Ha! I think they are going to be so close and good playmates when they get a little bigger. Fun times are ahead. :)