Vegetable Bean Turkey Chili & Turkey Noodle Soup

After dozens of creations these soups are Fam favorites.  Use the Basic Soup Starter recipe to begin both of these recipes.  Also, use it to create your own and share it with me!

Vegetable Bean Turkey Chili

{Add the following to the Basic Soup Starter for the ultimate chili}

1 can corn
1 can black beans*
1 can white beans*
1 can pinto beans*
1 24 oz jar of marinara sauce
Pinch more cumin
Ground Red Pepper to desired heat
(I also throw in a bag of frozen veggies because we tend to do vegetable overload to make sure the meal is super healthy for the kiddos...but that would be optional!)

After you add all of these ingredients to the Basic Soup Starter turn the stove to high and briefly bring it all to a boil, then turn it down to simmer until dinner.  The longer it simmers the better it will taste.  My kiddos and hubby eat several servings.  It does my heart good to see them scooping spoonfuls of vegetables into their mouths!

Turkey Noodle Soup

{Add the following to the Basic Soup Starter for a quick, filling family soup}

1/2 cup more celery, chopped
1/2 cup more carrots, chopped
16 ounces of your choice of pasta (I use Trader Joe's quinoa and brown rice gluten free)

Add the celery and carrots to the Basic Soup Starter while still on medium heat.  While that is cooking, boil your pasta until just before al dente. Drain pasta and add into dutch oven.  Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. That is it! It is ready to serve.  This soup is simple but has such rich ingredients in the Starter Soup that it is irresistible!

Please share any variations you make!

*I have used a multitude of different beans and they all taste fantastic.  Don't be afraid to get creative!  Also, if you have the time, rinse and soak your own beans if you want to get away from the canned goods.

Basic Soup Starter

As of late I have been rocking a variety of soups.  The very cool thing about this is that they all tend to start the very same way.  The initial ingredients are the same and then I add to them to cater to the particular soup.

Fam favorites are the Vegetable Bean Turkey Chili and Turkey Noodle Soup!  I will give you the directions for the soup starter and then give you the additional ingredients for the other two in the next post!

As I type this California is officially in a drought BUT we are in the middle of a three day rain storm... basically, it is perfect chili weather!  Also, I pump up the raw garlic, ginger and cumin during cold and flu
season.  Serve it up.

Basic Soup Starter    (Four Servings)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 pound ground meat (I usually use high quality turkey)*
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons 21 Seasoning Salute (from Trader Joe's but any all purpose salt-free seasoning will work)
1 1/2 cups of chopped celery
1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots
16 ounces broth {gluten free} * **

Directions
On medium heat add olive oil, garlic, ginger and onion to a dutch oven. Saute ingredients until onions are starting to get translucent.  Add turkey, salt, and seasoning and mix all together until meat is no longer pink. Add carrots and celery when meat is almost done. Add broth.

At this point you can diverge to create any soup that can dream up!  See the next post for Vegetable Bean Turkey Chili and Turkey Noodle Soup!

*Leave meat out and use vegetable broth for vegetarian option!

**If you want to make a larger soup, increase broth amount and add additional veggies and spices to taste.

No-Bake Granola Bars {Gluten Free}

After watching the Bear and the Bird chow down on a prepackaged granola bar in Target and THEN looking at the ingredients I thought there has got to be a better way! The ingredients were unacceptable for a healthy snack.  

I am all about splurging on a fun/unhealthy snack on occasion but I can't stand when a snack masquerades as "healthy." Looking at labels is a must for me since I can't tolerate gluten and we generally do most of our shopping at stores that don't intentionally trick you into buying something "all-natural," "healthy" and so on.

When the kiddos and I arrived home we lively chatted about what ingredients we would need to create a delicious and slightly naughty granola bar.  A granola bar whose healthy ingredients trump the naughty ingredients. See what we came up with recipe below:

No-Bake Granola Bar {Gluten Free}

3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to a liquid)
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2 tablespoon sweetener (I used honey) 

Mix all ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Spoon into a muffin tin cups and flatten down with the bottom of the spoon until the cups are half filled.  Refrigerate for an hour and they are ready to eat!  Keep them refrigerated until you are ready to eat!

The fiber in the oats and the benefits of the coconut definitely outweigh the minimal chocolate and sweetener. Half of a bar is a perfect late night snack and also a post-nap treat!