Jennie-O Turkey Chili with Bush’s Beans

I wish I could tell you I am feeling 100% better, but not yet.  I take that back – I feel fine, but the cough continues.  My nose is less stuffy, so I am taking that sign that I am making progress.  I was happy that while my workday yesterday was steady busy, it wasn’t crazy busy.  Whew!

Breakfast was two of my breakfast biscuits and fresh fruit.  I didn’t really realize that this was only a 4 point breakfast, but it was surprisingly filling.  Still no walking at lunch, so I hit up the tenant lounge in my building.  Sadly there were only tables on the opposite side of the windows, so it kind of looks like I am eating lunch in a cave.  I had a buffalo turkey wrap, leftover garlic green beans and half an apple.  Again, lunch only came in at 4 smart points!  (1 Ole wrap =1, 2 ounces deli turkey = 1, 1 ounce reduced fat Swiss Lorraine = 1) and 1 point for the green beans because they were cooked in a bit of olive oil.

So I basically had 22 points going into dinner – so crazy!  So, I did what any person would do who wanted to make sure she got her blue dot in – I got Garrett’s popcorn and a Venti tea from Starbucks for my train ride treat home.

I ate 3 cups of the buttered popcorn (7) – the last cup was basically crumbs so I just threw it out.  Not bad though – only $2.89 for that bag!  The Starbuck’s was free thanks to a gift card.

While I showed you guys my meal plan for the week yesterday, I didn’t take into account that I wouldn’t be meal prepping over the weekend like I normally do.  Last Saturday I just felt sick and didn’t do much and Sunday my Mom was over.   And I also didn’t take into account that I am working a double today – my day job and at The Chopping Block for a private event.  So I decided to make a turkey chili last night to have for not only dinner last night, but for lunch possibly one or two times later this week.

I actually contemplated on the train ride home to make my award winning Buffalo Chicken Chili except with ground turkey, but that is just so good with the ground chicken, that I didn’t want to mess with that recipe.  So I took a combination of ideas from a bunch of my other chili recipes, and came up with this one.  After making it, measuring out that it made 10 one cup portions, I was thrilled that it came in at only 3 smart points per cup!  And even if you double it or triple it, it still is only 3 points per cup! 

I always use the chili beans in sauce – when I combined those two cans, I got 3 cups of beans, so that’s what I added to the recipe builder.  Oh, and Jenn, do you see the Veggetti?!  I stole it (aka bribed) Nana for it with some beef!   I was basically plotting how I was going to get it from her after you gave it to her for Christmas.  Hannah has already used it three times! 

Since I had so many points going into dinner, I served mine over a cup of leftover spaghetti (5) and some cheese (2).

This was delicious.  Such an interesting combination of flavors! Although when Hannah and Jacob walked in the door, they asked if there was a man with sweaty balls in the house, because that’s what the chili smelled like.  It was probably because I had just added the vinegar when they walked in.  But having a stuffed up nose, I didn’t smell anything.

Later in the evening I ate 5 smart points of granola which brought me up to 30 points for the day so I could get my blue dot for the day.  Sadly, it doesn’t take much granola to eat 5 points!

I envision another nap on the train ride into work today – nothing like a 45 minute nap on your way to work to get a second wind!

Before I leave, I’ll leave you with a Tuesday Tip!  Make it a great day!