Droplets

 

Finally.  Finally.  It is actually cold enough outside right now to claim Fall.  This weather makes me so happy.  I love the rain.  Usually October is fire season ‘round these parts but hopefully we will escape it this year. 

We drank hot cocoa and inhaled the delicious scent of wet earth.  I adore this time of year, especially since last year during Thanksgiving and Christmas I was sick as.a.dog with a pregnancy that didn’t exactly work out according to plan.  Now I can enjoy the little boy kicking and pushing and poking around without the “IfIsmellthelaundrydetergent/soap/perfume/oldfood/anythinglivingIamgoingtopukemygutsout” woes of the first (and often second) trimester. It’s much more enjoyable, let me tell you.

Today called for a Chili day.  The recipe I cooked up (credit to my older sister for showing it to me!) adapted from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweet-potato-chili-vegan-crockpot.html.

Sweet Potato Chili

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and in 2-inch chunks
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or 2/3 cup dried beans, soaked overnight and boiled briskly for 10 minutes because of the freaky red bean toxin thing)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomatoes 1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup orange juice

1 pckg ground turkey

The Directions.
Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker. This is enough food to feed a family of 4 regular-sized, or 6 smallish people. Peel and chunk the sweet potato and add to the pot. Add diced onion. Follow with the red bell pepper, can of tomatoes, the beans, garlic, and seasonings and ground turkey. Pour in OJ and chicken broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the onion is translucent and the sweet potato is fork-tender (if you want the sweet potato to get really squishy and disappear when stirred, cook longer).