Tonight's Chili (one of many variations)

Turkey Quinoa Zucchini Chili

4 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans corn (do not drain) (plus the liquid and remaining corn from the corn bread, if you make that)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1-1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 large onion, diced
3 tbs taco seasoning
1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
1 cup water or chicken broths
1 large zucchini, rinsed, cored (cut out seeds) and diced.
1/2 cup Lawry's Signature Steakhouse marinade
1 tsp minced garlic
Agave to taste


1. Put canned ingredients in a large cooking pot and heat on medium low.
2. Brown turkey with onion and taco seasoning.
3. Cook quinoa and water/ broth on medium heat until water is fully absorbed.
4. Sauté zucchini with garlic and marinade until marinade thickens.
5. Add turkey, quinoa and zucchini to chili pot.
6. Add agave and/ or additional steakhouse marinade to taste.
7. Let simmer on low heat until ready to serve (30 minutes to 2 hours- whatever fit your schedule). :)
8. Serve with shredded cheese and plain Greek yogurt/ sour cream.

This batch fed 8 hungry adults, two picky kids and still had a little leftover.

Whole Wheat Flax Buttermilk Cornbread

So currently in my cupboard, where there once was found cornmeal, there is now a bag of Quaker Masa "Harina de Maiz."  I bought it by accident when I got all excited about this magical bag of "cornmeal" that was significantly cheaper per ounce than the other options and failed to look closely (ie read the translation at the bottom which reads, "Corn Tortilla Mix").  Turns out it makes for some pretty delicious cornbread (it's much smoother than American corn meal and tastes a bit stronger), and since it's also cheaper, I'm stickin' with it.  Anyway, this the most recent corn bread I made with the aforementioned ingredient and it turned out AWESOME.  Super moist and yummy (I prefer corn bread on the sweet, but not too sweet side, loaded with honey butter).  I'm sure this recipe would work just as well with regular cornmeal, but if you, like me, have this corn tortilla mix on hand, it works beautifully.

Whole Wheat Flax Buttermilk Cornbread

1 cup butter

1 cup agave
3 tbs ground flax seed
2 eggs
3 tbs water
2 cups buttermilk (or plain Greek yogurt mixed in milk)
1 cup canned corn, drained
Dash of vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups Quaker Masa Harina de Maiz (corn tortilla mix)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium to large saucepan, turn off heat and mix in agave, flax seed and water.

3. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and corn and stir until fully combined.

4. Add remaining ingredients to sauce pan and mix until only a few small lumps remain.

5. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Let cool before serving.  Enjoy with heaps of honey butter, if that's your thing. :)