Wow last week of January already!! This year is flying by already but that just means we are closer to summer and warm weather!

We got quite a bit of snow where I live this week so I really wanted to make some nice comfort food. I also did make some oat bars which were a great snack throughout the week.

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Turkey Chili

This was a pretty basic, use what we have, recipe. I started by sauteeing some onion in oil, added the ground turkey (you could use beef/chicken) then cooked it down until no longer pink. After that, I added chopped zucchini and bell pepper which gave it a little Christmas vibe which was funny. I used a can of garlic and herb pasta sauce which has some of the right spices for chili but I did add some cumin, chili powder, pepper, smoked paprika and a touch of cinnamon. Those warm spices give such good flavour. I also added a little ketchup and sugar to balance out the acidity. For even more protein I stirred in a can of black beans.

This just cooked down for about 30 minutes until all the flavours were cooked down. This was delicious. You would have never guessed that I used pasta sauce to make it. This was the perfect huge pot of comfort.

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Blueberry Oat Bars

These were such an easy one-bowl recipe. I call these bars because the original source of the recipe makes them in a loaf pan (and cuts into servings after) but I thought it would be cute to use a muffin tin instead.

These are a mix of banana, coconut oil, vanilla, protein powder, ground almonds/almond meal, chia seeds, cinnamon, baking powder, water and blueberries. I know it might not sound like this should all come together to make a “batter” but it does. They bake up and held together really well. The only source of sweetness is the fruit so it is a relatively low sugar content.

I really like how these turned out. I think I would add more protein powder to them next time just to really bump up the amount of protein in them.