Pumpkin Chili

Whenever I visit my mom, I always walk in her house knowing ill be smelling something homemade cooking.  I also know whatever she is making is probably something I have never heard before, as she often likes to get creative with her recipes.  Last Sunday she told me to stop over for chili, so I did,  When I got there I knew it did not smell like regular chili and of course it wasn't! It was a Turkey Pumpkin Chili.  I love pumpkin and all, but didn't think I would like a pumpkin chili or one that had ground turkey instead of beef.  She had me taste it anyways and believe it or not it was amazing! It had a ton of flavor to it.  I had to ask her for the recipe right away before she forgot what she even put in it, which often happens when she experiments with ingredients.  Today I made it for my husband and when I told him what kind of chili it was his first reaction was the same as mine and surprisingly he loved it! This is a great Fall twist to Chili, so do not be afraid to try it out!
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Ingredients:

* 2 lbs of ground Turkey Meat
* 1 medium Chopped Cooking Onion
* 3 TBP. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 1 cup of Canned Pumpkin
* 1- 28 oz canned of  Petite Diced Tomatoes (I used Hunts brand)
* 1- 16 oz can of Dark Kidney Beans (drained)
* 2 TBSP. of Chili Powder
* 1 TBSP. of Hot Mexican Style Chili Powder (made by McCormick)
* 2 tsp. of Pumpkin Pie Spice
* 1 1/2 cups of water (just fill the bean can with water once its empty)
* 1 tsp. of Dark Brown Sugar
* 1 1/2 tsp. of Salt
* 1 tsp. of Ground Black Pepper

Procedure:

* Chop the Onion

* In a large skillet, brown ground turkey and onions in the olive oil until the ground turkey is fully cooked.

 * Add the Pumpkin, Tomatoes, drained Kidney Beans, and water.  Stir the mixture.

* Next, add the Chili Powder, Hot Mexican Chili Powder, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Dark Brown Sugar, Salt, and Pepper. Mix well again.

* Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cover the top leaving a slight opening. Simmer for 1 hour.  Make you you give it a stir about every 20 minutes. 

* Serve and enjoy! I served mine with toasted Naan bread that I pan fried in butter and Garlic Powder on both sides and then cut into wedges.