Winter cooking, part 1

Long time, no blog! no hobby-related blogs, anyway. I guess i haven't felt like anything i've been doing was worthy to post. but this weekend, i've found my inspiration in the things i'm cooking and baking.
Tonight for supper I made Goulash based on this recipe. But I had to make my own modifications, of course. I think it turned out very good! So here it is.

Michelle's Goulash
20 oz. lean ground turkey

2 large yellow onions, chopped (I used about 1/3 of a very large purple onion)

1 green bell pepper (I only used half)
3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup water

46 oz. bottle of V8 tomato juice

2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 7-oz can of mushrooms
1 15-oz can corn kernels

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dried Italian herb seasoning (you might want to try less...it ended up very herby)

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon salt, or to taste

3 cups uncooked whole wheat rotini pasta (I had it left over from another recipe and wanted to use it up!)

1. In a large skillet, cook and stir the ground turkey over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown, about 10 minutes. Skim off excess fat, and stir in the onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook and stir the meat mixture until the onions are translucent, about 10 more minutes.
2. Pre-heat a large crock pot to high. (line it with a slow cooker liner, if you've got one.) Place the ground turkey mixture into the preheated crock pot. Stir in water, V8, diced tomatoes, corn, mushrooms, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, salt, and pasta until thoroughly combined. Cook on High for 1 hour (or longer).


The whole wheat pasta was...interesting. kind of chewy. maybe it wasn't cooked enough (which is why i recommend cooking more than an hour, if you've got time). but the rest of the flavors were really yummy.

My dinner (i was not monitoring the toast; it burnt while i was taking pictures of something else!):

Plenty of leftovers!
Tomorrow i'm going to make Hungry Girl Artichoke Hummus to take to a Super Bowl Party, and maybe peanut butter cookies (which also use garbanzo beans/chickpeas; i bought a 29 oz can). I'll post those pictures in Part 2!

I also will do a post soon on my recent knitting and crocheting projects! and maybe someday the ski trip scrapbook i'm working on. and on Valentine's day, my original valentine cards! see, i really have been busy.