The Cold and a bit of a cold

On top of having a 48 hour period of below zero temperatures (not wind chills….brr) in the middle of the week, I am also fighting off a bit of a cold and dealing with 2 separate foot issues.  Needless to say, I haven’t been doing much interesting cooking this week.  Dave and I enjoyed some of the leftover beef stew during one of the arctic nights.  Instead of cooking, I have been slowly making it through the stack of magazines that piled up during finals.

Much more enjoyable than casebooks

 I haven’t set up a good system short of little stickies marking pages of interesting recipes or starring and tagging posts in my reader.  Any suggestions of how to organize my “To Cook List”?  Excel sheet? Long written list?  I am open to suggestions.  

Gourmet’s January issue is particularly wonderful because it is focused on Italian food.  The recipes for Sunday Ragu and the Spaghetti and Meatballs on the cover look amazing.

 I think I am going to try out the first batch of homemade pasta next weekend to test out the new KitchenAid Attachment I treated myself to (yay 25% rebate)  I just ordered a pasta blend from King Arthur (along with a few other fun things (yeast, sugar, cake pans)..for the free shipping of course)

Unfortunately my two cortisone shots to the heels on Monday (for Plantar Fasciitis) and my foot procedure yesterday (laser zapping of some annoying plantar warts) have hurt my workout schedule this week.  I did do a little run/walk on the treadmill on Wednesday but it might be a few days still until I will be able to do that this week 😦 I am hoping that I can get in a really good habit of planning workouts like a work shift or class in my schedule this semester.  I am only taking 2 classes and working at the IRS and I am done by 5 every day!  It will be amazing to have so much free time, hopefully I can make the best of it and drop the 10 pounds by May 🙂

I am currently simmering a big pot of 13 Bean Soup that I will tell you about later tonight or tomorrow.

I am off to watch the Eagles hopefully beat the Cardinals.

Turkey Leftovers: Two Wonderful Ways

One of the perks of being in charge of the turkey this year, is all the leftover meat! On Friday night, I was browsing Tastespotting as a break from my advanced tax transactions take home and found a recipe for some yummy Creamy Mexican Turkey Soup.

It was easy to make and allowed me to use up some leftover broth and whole milk from other Thanksgiving recipes (I mixed in skim to make the “1% milk” the recipe calls for). I also doubled the amount of corn because I love corn. It was mellow with a hint of spice. Throw in some more peppers if you can handle it.

Since I still had a TON of turkey left after making (and finishing all the leftovers) of the Creamy soup, I thought I should make some turkey chili. I had tagged a recipe in Nov’s Gourmet that just looked perfect for leftovers. Indeed it was. The recipe calls for two kinds of chili powder, including chipotle chile power which lends a hit of smokiness.

I added a jalapeno since I had one on hand and chopped up a few cloves of garlic to saute with the onions and the peppers.

It was perfect for this snowy/sleety Sunday night. This will be a keeper since it could be easily made with leftover chicken. I ate mine with a dollop of creamy sour cream to mellow a little of the spice.

Now it is time for me to hunker down for finals since I will be done in 12 days!?!…and I have barely begun to outline-no joke 😦 I get my 2nd take home (yes-I have two this semester and I HATE them) on Tuesday, then I have two real finals to study for which come up the following Thursday and Friday and then I am DONE until 2009! Can you tell that I am a bit burned out from school? 😛

Try both of these recipes if you still are eating away at leftover turkey. I’m not sure which is my favorite! Head over to Recipe Girl to see Lori make her creamy style soup.

Turkey Chili
Adapted from Gourmet-Nov. 2008 p. 10
* 1 large white onion, coarsely chopped
* 2 bell peppers (any color**), cut into 1-inch pieces
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
* 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
* 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice
* 1 (19-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1-inch pieces
Cook onion and peppers in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Add spices and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking them up with back of a spoon, then add beans, water, and 1 tsp salt and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Stir in turkey and let stand, covered, until heated through, 5 minutes.

**I used green because that was the only kind that Treasure Island had in stock that weren’t from Latin America and were actually grown in the US….I am going to miss farmer’s market season…