Crockpot Turkey Chili

Guess what, I had my first in-person job interview this week!  It was in Boston, which is different from Chicago but definitely a place where I could see myself living/working for the next few years. It was great to have interviewing & job talk experience under my belt since my last round of interviews was for grad school 4 years ago... and the criteria was much different than for postdocs. They're interviewing other candidates though, so we'll see how it goes.

2 notable CrossFit updates... (1) it's Week 1 of the Open! It's where CF athletes all over the world perform a particular set of workouts over 5 weeks and then the top scorers move on to regionals and then to the world championships aka "The CrossFit Games" featured on ESPN. Since I can't Rx most of the skills, I didn't have any expectations for myself except to try my hardest and to push myself beyond my limits. The first workout (13.1) was 4+ rounds of burpees and snatches. The snatch is my weakest of the olympic lifts and the weight for the second round was 10 lbs higher than my 1RM so I knew it would be a struggle... and it was. I got through the first round just fine (100 reps), but then on the second round, for the life of me I just could not get under the bar at 75 lb. Oh well, better luck next time...

(2) Friday's WOD was death by shuttle runs. Turns out I outlasted everyone in the group, including all the boys! Looking over the day's scores (~40 people), I had the top finish for the girls, tied with 2 boys, and got beaten by 2 boys. WOOOO!!  Dissertation or not, it's nice to know that I don't suck at everything at CrossFit lol

Anyway, most of this week (and last week) was spent preparing for my interview, particularly in getting my job talk ready. I cooked really easy meals and ate (leftover) crockpot turkey chili basically everyday... #crockpottime 

Crockpot Turkey Chili

Crockpot chili makes delicious leftovers

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground turkey (I used .5lb 99% lean & .5lb 93% lean)
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes 
1 c chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bell peppers (I used green & orange)
1/2 pack of mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1-2 carrots, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Salt & pepper to taste
A few shakes of red pepper flakes, optional
2 bay leaves, optional

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat skillet to medium and brown ground turkey.
2. Take out your crockpot. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Then add in turkey and the remaining ingredients. Stir until combined.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove bay leaves (if using).
4. Enjoy your hot meal!!!  Savor the leftovers... the flavors continue melding in the fridge :)