monday meals: pumpkin turkey chili

yeah. kind of weird. that's what i thought when i first saw this recipe over at allrecipes.com but i love everything about fall, including both pumpkin and chili, and i'm pretty brave when it comes to trying food, so i figured worst case scenario, it would be disgusting and i'd make something else for dinner. well, it was far from disgusting. the first thing you taste is sweet, and then the heat from the spices. a very interesting combination indeed, i was pleasantly surprised. i will be making this again. i also made some jiffy cornbread in the cast iron skillet - another fall favorite, and i paired it with some winzerwald schweizer spice wine, or as they refer to it, "liquid pumpkin pie". unfortunately for me, this wine is not available in nashville. i have one bottle to last me through the fall, and i will treasure it.

i adapted the original recipe (linked above). this is my version:

ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 large can of libby's pumpkin pie mix

seasonings (i didn't measure these, but let's just say that i like it hot) :
chili powder
salt
ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
ground cumin
allspice

directions:
heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute onions and peppers until onions are near-translucent. add the ground turkey and brown evenly. drain the excess grease. add the tomatoes (drained) and pumpkin, as well as the seasonings. stir and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

easy, quick, delicious, and definitely unique. and all things autumn. :)

friday photos: week 1

last week i mentioned that i'm trying to start taking at least one picture, every day, for a year. well, i already forgot two days, but that's okay. here's what i have from this past week:

friday 10.1.10

friday after work i traveled up to indiana to attend my college homecoming. one of my favorite parts of the drive up north is the massive amount of rock face in kentucky. as a kid (living in michigan), we often traveled south for vacation. i remember fighting to have the backseat with my brother - the backseat was easier to nap in. i remember at one point i wised up and realized if i got the backseat first, i could nap through the corn and soybean fields of indiana, and then be awake in the middle seats for the pretty rocky hills of kentucky.

saturday 10.2.10

saturday was homecoming. this is the on-campus coffee shop. i basically lived here my senior year, and it was in this room i decided to move to nashville. many haikus were written here, as well as crosswords completed, and i consumed many free lattes courtesy of my good friend sara.

sunday 10.3.10

this is the mercy house, which i blogged about tuesday. they meet in an old elementary school building. and that's my friend matt speaking.

tuesday 10.5.10

i joined some friends at fido for some coffee and journal-making. a simple moment. those are my favorites.

thursday 10.7.10

my roommates, karissa lacour and stacy lantz, sang some songs while i sold journals at the hillsboro village art walk. thanks to cori at social graces for the opportunity!

i left a piece of my heart where i've never been.

that might sound weird. but it's true. for years now, i've felt like a part of me is in portland, oregon. but i've never even been there. while it is at the top of my list of u.s. cities to visit, part of me is afraid.

afraid that if i visit, i'll want to move there. but i don't want to move. i love nashville. maybe the two cities are playing tug of war with my heart.

maybe i'm full of crap. maybe if i visit i'll hate it. that scares me too. i don't know why. i don't even know anyone who lives there.

but everyone who has visited has told me i would love it.

i've always said the world is too big to stay in one place for too long. i used to think that meant i wanted to move a lot. that was before i fell in love with nashville. i just need a job with lots of vacation time. :)

wednesday wisdom: #1

"the one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world." - ammon hennacy

tuesday talk: homecoming 2010

this past weekend was homecoming weekend at anderson university. after just recently coming out of 90+ degree weather here in nashville, i really enjoyed the rainy 50's in indiana.

i was pleasantly surprised at the number of old friends i was able to see over the weekend. and i was able to attend my old church (which i've been lucky to do several times this year). it's funny how, recognizing only a handful of faces, i can still feel right at home. and a lot has changed over the past six years.

SIX years. that's when the church (the mercy house) started. the first time i attended church there was the second week it existed. which was exactly six years prior to this past weekend. and then that following summer i was one of several interns. our primary focus was on the new building we had acquired, and how we could use that building to strengthen community - both amongst ourselves and with our literal neighbors in the area.

five years since that internship, it's happening. it's amazing to see all the ways the church has grown there and the creative ways they are reaching out to their community.

monday meals: sausage risotto

this recipe is so yum. so so yum. f'real. (bed intruder reference, anyone?)

and not only is it yum, it's easy. so here you go.

ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 ounces of sausage (my favorite is trader joe's chicken sausage)
1 clove of garlic
1 1/4 cup of arborio rice (risotto)
1 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup parmasan cheese


directions:

-heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. add sausage (sliced or diced) and cook for about 3 minutes. add the garlic clove and sautee for about 1 minute.
-add the rice and the wine and heat until the wine is absorbed, stirring occasionally.
-add the water and simmer until it's absorbed, about 10-15 mintues, stirring occasionally.
-add peas and cheese, heat for about 2 more minutes
-add seasonings to taste and enjoy.

i didn't list seasonings in the ingredients, because i feel like you can be creative here. my favorite to add to this is salt, pepper, and tony's.

myka's toms, tulsa 2009

taken may 2009 with a canon rebel 2000 eos on expired 35mm film. unedited.