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Um... hello! What to say... I turned 40 this year - argh! I'm sure that can't be quite right, I thought 40 was like, responsible adult age. Hey ho I was ill this time last year with pneumonia, and accidentally lost a couple of stone I'd been stressing about for years. Which is great! I wish someone had suggested that I be hospitalised sooner... So yeah, smaller than I was but still overweight, none of my bloody clothes fit, and now I want to get fit, and toned, and lose the last couple of stone that are hanging on in there. I live somewhere in the Mediterranean, bit of a macho culture and there would certainly be raised eyebrows if I went in the local gym on my own so, I turned to the t'interwebnet and found you lovely lot - I've read a lot of your posts and everyone seems lovely and welcoming and inspiring, so I'm going to go look at that "Challenge" tab now, and get myself going! Cheers! Mabs x

MON MOTHRA'S TURKEY CHILI Makes 6 Servings Ingredients 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds ground turkey 4 medium carrots, diced 2 small yellow onions, chopped 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped 1 red bell pepper chopped 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes w/ liquid 2 15 oz cans red beans, rinsed 2 tbsp. chili powder 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour* 1 tbsp. ground cumin; 1/2 tbsp. dried hot red pepper flakes 1 tbsp. dried oregano 1 cup chicken stock or broth Olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste *may be substituted one-to-one with arrowroot flour for the gluten-free people Preparation In a dutch oven, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil into pot over medium-high heat. Brown turkey meat, salting and peppering and cook for about 10 minutes, breaking up meat into small chunks along the way. While the meat is cooking, whisk together the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Remove cooked turkey from pot and reserve on a plate to the side. Using same dutch oven placed over a medium-high heat, pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and scrape off some of the brown from the turkey meat at the bottom. Add the flour mixture to the oil and whisk together into a paste. Allow to sit for 30s, or until aromatic. Add two more tablespoons olive oil followed by the onions, bell peppers, garlic and carrots. Coat the vegetables until well coated. Cook until the onions are soft (about 5 minutes). Add the diced and chopped tomatoes, chicken stock, kidney beans, cooked turkey meat and give a thorough stir. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer, mostly covered (leave a crack open on lid, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.

I made some meatballs for my lunch to go with some Spaghetti Squash and I thought I'd share. 1 lb Ground Turkey Breast 1 egg 1/2 a medium onion 3 jalepenos 1 lime 1/2 C Cilantro 1 T Garlic Powder 1 tsp Paprika 1 T salt 1 T pepper For anyone who doesn't know, handling fresh jalepenos is a bit hazardous. You can get capsaicin in your skin that burns and accidentally spread it to an eye, nose, ear or mouth. I reccommend wearing latex gloves while handling jalepenos. You can also keep them on if you find mashing ground turkey and eggs with your fingers gross. Preheat an oven to 350* F Clean your jalepenos. I like to cut the stems off, split them lengthwise and then scrape out the placenta and seeds with a teaspoon. If you want to skyrocket the heat, just leave the placenta and seeds in there. Mince. Cut the rind off the lime and chop it up. You don't have to worry about properly mincing lime since the soft fleshy material will break up as you make meatballs Peel and mince your onion as finely as possible. Mix all your ingredients in a bowl and be sure to mash them together as much as possible with your fingers. Divide the meat into 6 portions and place in a 9" diameter round pan. I used a cake round. Bake at 350* for ~45 minutes. To test if your meatballs are done poke them with a toothpick and see if any pink liquid comes out of the hole. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes before serving/packing your lunches for the week.

Simple Turkey Chili 1 lb ground turkey 1 onion, chopped 1 cup water and 6 ounces (1/2 can or bottle) of beer **can use 2 cups water if prefer not to use beer 1 28 ounce can diced (or crushed) tomatoes 1 16 ounce can reduced salt red kidney beans, drained, rinsed and mashed 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 1 & 1/2 tablespoons chili powder 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin Heat a large pot over medium head. Place turkey in the pot and cook until evenly brown, draining fat as you go. Stir in onion and cook until tender. Pour water and beer into the pot. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, and garlic. Season with chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce head to low, cover and simmer 30-35 minutes. Personal Notes This is the most recent version of the recipe that I've made (and did it as a double batch). The end product is still a little brothy at the end so you may want to either drain some of the liquid out of the diced tomatoes or reduce the water/beer amount by 25% (1 & 1/2 cups total instead of 2 cups). The chili ends up warm in the mouth with a little tingling burn on the lips and back of the throat. If you want more of a punch up the chili powder to 2 tablespoons or just add Tabasco sauce to your liking in the end. This will sure to be a favorite recipe of mine so I will add noted updates as they are discovered.