Order of Grace with a Side of Sass: Roasted Pumpkin Chicken Chili

Happy December! Time sure does fly when you add a beagle pup in the mix of life! Seems our weeks and days pass quicker and quicker. We're excited for Christmas with our little guy. He sure does test our patience, but we still love him! We do hope that this biting phase passes quickly though! Below is our "family pic" for 2013 :)

So with all of our time being taken up with Christmas shopping, puppy house breaking, as well as work, dinners have been somewhat "on the go" lately. I also decided shopping for presents was more important than fine dining :) With that in mind, I decided to throw together something that I feel turned out "blog-worthy".

A few months back, my mother brought back a jar of Chipolte Pumpkin Roasted Grilling Sauce made by "American Spoon", you know the company with the awesome jams in all the boutique's in every cutesy town across Michigan? I love their products and I think I've found a new favorite. I used a few products in this recipe that may be considered "specialty" but I'm sure there are easy alternatives if you don't have the exact same product for your chili! I'm all about improving a recipe as anyone knows who may check out my blog. Please also notice, it's December and I'm not over my fall pumpkin obsession...it's a delicious problem. Finally, my husband, who HATES pumpkin, had no idea this was pumpkin based or flavored...he loved it.

Below is my adapted recipe - I show the alternatives to the recipe online in ( )'s. Online recipe can be found at: http://www.spoon.com/recipe/?p=1248

What you need....
Large crock pot
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced (I used a yellow cooking onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey (I used chicken diced in 1 inch cubes)
2 (15 oz) cans Great Northern or cannellini beans, drained - ( I used only one!)
1 (28 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 jar of any kind of "sweet" salsa will work - the recipe calls for the cherry salsa from American Spoon
1/2 jar American Spoon® Pumpkin Chipotle Roasting Sauce
4 oz green chilies, chopped (I used a can)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder (instead of this I used a Tbsp of my Tastefully Simple Spicy Four Pepper Dip spice)
1 tsp salt (I used seasoning salt)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I didn't have any so I used a full packet of hot chocolate! It added a sweetness to the flavor.)
I also added in a bag of mixed veggies and about 3/4 cup of chicken broth to the crock pot mix.

Here's a blurry pic of my Pumpkin Sauce. I love this stuff!

I love Tastefully Simple products. If you aren't familiar, check out the website!

https://www.tastefullysimple.com/

Cooking Directions: Heat crockpot to HIGH, add in everything to start simmering except your onion and chicken/turkey. Throw the olive oil in a pan to cook on medium over the stove. Simmer the onions in the oil until soft, add in your poultry and cook until nearly cooked through. Add onion and chicken/turkey to the crockpot. Allow about 3-4 hours until fully cooked on High in the crock pot. Quite delicious served with grilled cheese or I topped mine with mozzarella and Fritos! :)