A few weeks ago I went to a 1-day conference put on by Ladies Home Journal in New York. I learned some great stuff but, more importantly, I connected with people in person. That’s always the best part of an event! One of those people was Lisa Cain from Snack Girl. Lisa is great – I could talk to her for hours! Her blog is all about eating healthy food and she breaks down the nutritional content of all the recipes on her blog. Since you totally don’t get that from me, I thought it would be fun to share a bit of Lisa with you today with a guest post! Enjoy and be sure to check out her blog!

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Snack Girl posted this chili recipe with pumpkin last year and people are still talking about it. Yes, it was a hit.

Why add pumpkin to your chili?

It’s cheap, easy, and has 763% of your daily value of vitamin A in one cup (and only 83 calories). You can sneak a bunch of nutrition into food by adding pumpkin.

After creating a no-bake pumpkin cookie and a pumpkin smoothie, I decided to try a savory dish. This chili recipe below is the healthiest chili (with meat) that I have ever made. It boasts 28% of your daily value of iron, 45% of your daily value of vitamin C, and 293% of your daily value of vitamin A per serving.

This is like a nutritional “rock star” chili. I used ground turkey breast because it is low in saturated fat, and beans, corn, and tomatoes to up the vegetable content.

I did think the flavor was nice, but missing the depth of a beef chili. I might sneak a wee bit of cheese on top of mine to make it taste a bit more luxurious. The pumpkin made it a great color and added a creaminess to the chili.

As we greet fall, it is time to stock up on cans of nutritious pumpkin.

Pumpkin Chili Recipe from Snack Girl

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Soup

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (such as canola, sunflower, etc.)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground turkey breast meat
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 small can diced green chili peppers
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh
• 1 28 ounce can tomatoes
• 1 can cooked pumpkin
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil and add onion. When onion has softened add turkey and cook until cooked through (should look white). Add the rest of the ingredients and taste to adjust seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes and seve.
2. For one serving = 268 calories, 4.7 g fat, 32 g carbohydrates, 8.7 g sugar, 26.3 g protein, 10.2 g fiber, 399 mg sodium, 6 Points+
3. Points+ values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only.

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