I don’t usually cook on Sundays. If I do, it’s nothing major and it’s usually a 50/50 deal between the Mr and me. Slow-cookers make a great Sunday ready-when-you-are meal for minimal fuss. In my opinion, every newlywed household shouldn’t be without at least one good one. We have a couple, but the one we use the most is the Cuisinart 6.5 Quart Programmable Slow-Cooker. It’s heavy-duty, but is a total workhorse. The programmable function automatically switches over to “warm” when the set cooking time has elapsed. It really is great!

Years ago, when we were on a super health kick (inspired by The Biggest Loser episodes we were hooked on), we swapped turkey (or chicken) for every recipe which called for fattier/heavier meats. It was ok for a while, but there’s nothing quite like beef. We are from Texas… So instead of making the switch permanent, we rotate in healthier turkey on occasion.

This past Sunday marked the end of September. We welcomed October with Cuisinart’s recipe for Heart Smart Turkey Chili on World Heart Day! And how did I come across this recipe? You knows those little booklets that come with your appliances? More often than not, they’re just boring ol’ instruction manuals, BUT sometimes you get a neat recipe booklet designed specifically for the individual appliance you received! I mean, why wouldn’t you use these?

This recipe called for an abundance of flavors and colors. The sliced red and yellow peppers were a nice addition. One thing I did alter about this recipe was that I backed off the cinnamon called for by at least a third. We’ve never been crazy about cinnamon in our chili, so I always eliminate or or at the very least diminish when necessary. Keep the cinnamon for your strudel or cinnamon rolls!

Often, slow-cooker meals are just set-it-and-forget, but this one required a little more prep in advance. Of course the meat had to be browned first and the onions softened with seasoning. The final result also wasn’t very “chili-like,” but it was yet nice to have something healthy and a little heart-y (see what I did there?) ready when we got home from church Sunday afternoon.

We finished the chili with heart-healthy diced avocado, lycopene-rich chopped tomatoes, and couldn’t resist a cool dollop of Daisy! One of my favorite non-beef chili recipes is Jillian Michaels’ Black Bean Chili from her Ripped in 30 meal plan. What goes into your favorite chili?

Current Reading: The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business by Christopher Leonard