Southwestern Turkey Soup

Hubby and I hosted Thanksgiving this year - we had 12 people over and really enjoyed the day with both sides of our family. Some of the highlights from the day include seeing my grandmother, my sister-in-law's green bean casserole made from scratch and the cute comments from my nieces and nephews. Oh, and how can I forget the fact that hubby and I were moving furniture out of the living room and back into the guest bedroom and nursery one hour before everyone arrived. Kelly was in a MAD RUSH to install, sand and finish new hardwood floors in our bedrooms and he finished in the nick of time. I am very much thankful for my husband's handiness and hardwork and grateful for his willingness to help get everything ready for Thanksgiving including cleaning the house and helping prepare food.

My favorite moment though was when we revealed baby Wright's gender to our family - I really wanted it to be a surprise because we called everyone to share the news that I was pregnant back in August. When I got done with school Wednesday last week, Kelly and I went for my first ultrasound. I picked up an outfit at Wal-Mart that evening and wrapped it up. Once everyone had arrived on Thanksgiving day, my youngest nephew opened the gift to reveal an orange and blue (Go Gators!) outfit for a little BOY!! He won't be able to wear the outfit until the Gator's 2013 season when he is a year and a half, but at least we're prepared! It was so fun to see everyone's faces when we revealed the news - I will try to remember to post a picture when my dad's gives me a CD of pictures from the day.

In the spirit of abundant leftovers, I wanted to share a delightful recipe that I tried last night. It was published in Cooking Light and chicken was the original protein featured in this recipe. Hubby acquired a 4x4x4 cement vault and installed it in the ground as our new pit barbecue; we inaugurated it by cooking two turkeys, some lamb and pork for Thanksgiving. The turkey had a wonderfully smoky flavor infused from the mesquite wood which blended really well with the cumin and lime juice in the recipe. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoy this recipe!

Southwestern Turkey Soup
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves minced (I love garlic so I always had a couple more for good measure!)
6 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
1 (16-ounce) can Great Northern beans (aka canellini), rinsed and drained
3 cups chopped turkey
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped seeded tomato
3/4 cup diced peeled avocado (I just used 1 whole avocado.)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
6 lime wedges

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray or olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute three minutes. Add broth, rice, cumin and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes. Stir in chicken, cilantro pepper and salt; simmer five minutes or until turkey is thoroughly eated.

2. Remove from heat, and stir in tomato, avocado, and lime juice. Serve with lime wedges.