More often than not I am rushing around the house in the morning getting ready for work.  The morning routine includes all the normal things one normally does plus walking the dog and making lunches for me and the hubby.  Despite being in the kitchen doing the lunches I often forget to take meat out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator.  Does that ever happen to you?  Forget to take the chicken, beef, pork or fish out of the freezer to properly prepare for dinner that evening?  Since I make this mistake often I will sometimes go to the store on the way home from work and purchase what I need.  Other times I get home and slap the meat on the counter and pray it defrosts quickly so I won’t have to nuke it.  For some reason defrosting in the microwave seems to always “pre”cook the meat, which I don’t find appealing.

Recently my mother-in-law taught me a great tip for defrosting meat quickly …. place the meat on a metal cookie sheet.

Source

I’m not really sure why this works, but it does so I’m not going to fight it!  Next time you forget to take dinner out of the freezer in the morning to thaw go ahead and slap it on a metal sheet pan.  Wait a little while and flip the meat.  The quick defrosting time will definitely not disappoint.  What’s your tip for defrosting meat quickly?

Happy Cooking!

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Brrrrr it’s cold out there and today was the first snow fall of the year!!!

Cold weather = chili night at our house and to be specific turkey chili!  My husband swears he’s going to be made of turkey, because of how many turkey based meals I make. LOL. He cracks me up.

Now I’m not saying by any means that I don’t like beef, but in things like chili using turkey or beef doesn’t make a difference to me.  Turkey is lower in fat so I often use it instead of beef.  You can totally use beef if that’s your preference with this recipe.  Either way it will taste great … in my humble opinion. :)

**This recipe was updated on November 4, 2014**

Ingredients:

1.25 pounds ground turkey
1 can chili beans in medium spicy sauce (not drained)
1 can dark red kidney beans (drained)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 can tomato paste
1 large onion (chopped)
1 red bell peppers (seeded  &  chopped)
⅓ jalapeno pepper (seeded & minced – use less if you don’t like things spicy)
4-6 cloves or 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
½ cup beer (or substitute in water)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less to taste)
½ teaspoon paprika

Chop the red pepper and drop it into a big enough pot to hold all of chili.   I like to add a little vegetable oil to make the veges soften quicker.  Then chop your jalapeno, garlic and onion and drop those in as well.  Saute until they are tender.

In a pan over medium-high heat ground turkey.  Break into small pieces and cook until browned. Drain off any excess fat.

Once the vegetables are cooked add the turkey (or beef) to the big pot.  Next, add in Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and beer (I usually use water and to me it tastes the same).  Then add chili beans (with the sauce), kidney beans, fire roasted tomatoes and tomato paste.

Season with chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour stirring occasionally.

Makes 6 servings.  If you have left overs it makes for a fabulous lunch the next day or later in the week!

I served it with homemade corn bread and it was YUMMY!

Happy Eating!

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