Southwestern Chicken Soup

Yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground. It only lasted long enough to have me craving comfort food. Something cooked low & slow in the crock pot. Something like this...

Southerwestern Chicken Soup

4 cups chicken broth (homemade from the freezer)
1 12 oz pkg frozen corn
2 10 oz cans of Rotel
1 15 oz can pinto beans
2 cups green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1.5lb chicken sliced into thin strips
.5 tsp garlic pepper
2  tsp cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients except the garlic pepper & cumin in a 4 quart crock pot. Cook on high for 1 hour and then on low for 6-7 hours. Add garlic pepper and cumin during the last few minutes.

Note: This is an adapted version of a recipe I found in the newspaper.  The original version called for a 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes and a 4oz can of green chilies, but as you can see the recipe is extremely adaptable to whatever you have on hand. 

I served it with cheese quesadillas made with homemade tortillas. And though there wasn't one snow flake left on the ground by the time we ate, it was delicious & filling.

More Cheesy Goodness

I know I just posted a recipe for Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes but I just can't resist sharing this recipe too.*

Recently I stumbled across a site by the name of Southern Plate and then proceeded to spend hours reading through the recipes & family antedotes. Warning: If you are trying to lose weight do NOT go to this blog. It is full of comfort food. Down home, simple, delicious, comfort food like the Cheesy Chicken & Corn Casserole I made last night.

Oh my.

Everything you need should already be in your kitchen because again these are simple recipes. Not like that crazy stuff that Top Chef contestants** come up with, but real food that real people (like me) can make and enjoy.



You'll need:

1 box/packet of saffron rice (or Zatarain's as SP uses)
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked chicken, diced/shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can corn, drained
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp butter (see note)

Cook rice according to directions. Reserving 1/2 cup of cheese, mix everything else together including the cooked rice. (That means only 1 1/2 cups goes in now for the directionally challenged.)



After it's well mixed, put the remaining cheese on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until everything is nice and bubbly.



Note:
-SP's original recipe called for a WHOLE stick of butter. I thought uh, no, and used 1/2 stick. Even that could be cut back without affecting the recipe I think. Next time I may even omit the butter all together.

-You'll notice that I just mixed everything up in my casserole dish. I mean why dirty a bowl for nothing right?

-As displayed by the previous statement I am lazy so I typically cook & freeze chopped chicken and ground hamburger. That way I only make one mess but I have cooked meat ready for me whenever I need it. Obviously if you don't do that you will have the extra step of cooking and chopping your chicken.



It may not be the prettiest dish to hit our plates but this casserole was delicious. I see lots of Cheesy Chicken & Corn Casseroles in my future!


*I swear we eat food that is not covered with cheese. Sometimes.

**I love watching Top Chef but know that I will never, ever make one darn thing they do on there.

***I'm not a brand name whore as that picture implies. I buy whatever is cheapest.

Scalloped Potatoes (aka Cheesy Layers of Goodness)

All summer I had been avoiding adding any unnecessary heat to the kitchen by using my crock pot, microwave, toaster oven, pressure cooker and of course the grill. The summer's unbearable heat was finally replaced with cooler temperatures when it rained last week. That meant I could pull out the dutch ovens and turn on the stove again.

Can you say happy?

Even though I've gotten quite creative with the toaster oven (meatloaf, muffins & chicken tenders respectively) I was dying for a real meal with something that had been baked low and slow to get the flavors just right. After a quick scan of the fridge & google I found the perfect side dish solution.

Scalloped Potatoes using PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread.

To die for.

I omitted the bacon* and cut the recipe in half because hello it was only 4 of us eating dinner and we did not need 18 servings. Anyway, I put it all together and stuck it in oven. I *wish* I had taken a picture. The cheese was ooey, gooey right on top and the onions had literally melted into the potato layers while the Philly cream cheese gave it an oomph of flavor.

It was YUMMY good. So good in fact it's going to be the first thing I make next time the temps decide to dip back down.

*No bacon just because I was too lazy to fry any but I'm certain it would have been even more delicious with a little salty pork. Salty pork makes everything better right?

Cherry-o!

This weekend I channeled my inner Martha Stewart & worked it in the kitchen. Not only did I make strawberry freezer jam (YUM!!) but I made an awesome fresh cherry cobbler for dessert last night.

I'm posting the recipe today...far, far away from Trim the Fat Thursday cause I don't want to sabotage anyone.

Except for myself apparently.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and modified it a little based on some of the reviews. The original recipe can be found HERE.

Here's what you'll need:


1/2 cup butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk (I used skim & it worked fine.)

3 cups pitted cherries (I used Bing since they were on sale last week; that's why I decreased the amount of sugar.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice (Guesstimate since I just squirted directly in the bowl.)

Tip: Wear gloves & old clothes to pit your cherries. Cherry juice WILL stain your hands & it's quite messy.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter into a 9x13 pan and insert in oven to melt. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder & milk. In a separate bowl mix the cherries, sugar, flour & cinnamon. Remove the pan from oven and add the batter. DO NOT STIR. Then add the cherries evenly over the batter. Again DO NOT STIR.

It will look a little like this.


Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

I realize that nothing about this picture says "golden brown" but the crowd was anxious for dessert so I didn't take any pictures before serving.



I'm one of those weird people that like crisp edges so I loved the corners where the butter almost fried the dough, however I would have liked a little more "cobbler" to go with the cherries.

Next time I might divide the recipe into two smaller pans, increasing both the cherries and the batter a little. And I would also cut my cherries in half. They didn't cook as much as I would have liked because they were so big. That's what she said.

Cherry cobbler & True Blood = The perfect way to end my Sunday

Pig Pickin' Cake

A few weeks ago we rode our motorcycle to the lake and ate at a little BBQ place up there. I had something called "pig pickin'" cake while I was there and LOVED it.

Knowing that I would want to recreate it at home, I tried to figure out all the ingredients as I was eating. I assumed that the restaurant had given it the cutesy name because they served BBQ, never thinking that I could find the recipe online.

I really wanted to make it for our cookout on Sunday so I decided to try Google. And thousands of recipes with that name popped up. I choose this one from allrecipes.com but made it in a 13x9 inside of layers since I was transporting it.

On Monday S was bragging about my cake so last night I made another three (one recipe, smaller pans) for his co-workers and THIS time I took pictures to share.

Pig Pickin' Cake

For the cake batter you'll need:



1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
11 oz can mandarin oranges

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease & flour your pan(s). Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl for 3 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (It was closer to 35-40 minutes baking time in a 13x9 pan) Allow the cakes cool completely before icing.



For the icing you'll need:



1 3.4 oz package of instant vanilla pudding
15 oz can of crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1 8 oz cool whip, thawed

Mix the pudding and pineapple; add pecans & coconut. Then carefully fold the cool whip into the pudding mixture. Spread onto layers and refrigerate.



Since my oven was already on and I knew that these cakes were meant for someone else, I went ahead and made a Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler too.



Damn. What a consolation prize.

Dinner is served! With a Giveaway...

EDIT: Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to...

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

6
7
Timestamp: 2009-05-04 16:09:17 UTC


According to my handy dandy spreadsheet (in order to make sure everyone got their extra entries) the winners would be my partners in crime this week - Denise and Brandy! OMG!

________________________________________________

Last week I was complaining about my lack of a meal plan and how quickly we went to "Plan B" everyday - eating out.

Not exactly what I had in mind for "Plan B".

I asked for inspiration and found it. Not only did you guys share with me, but I received a package in the meal guaranteed to get the juices flowing.

Literally.

Country Bob's sent me two bottles of their signature All Purpose sauce to review. Immediately I read through the recipe book, then hopped online to check out even more recipes.

Let me tell you, when they say "all purpose" they really mean it! You can use this sauce on beef, pork, chicken, soups, stews and even snacks.

Since I had over 12 pounds of ground beef in my fridge (Props to Kroger!) I decided to try their Meatball recipe. Now, I DO have a standby recipe for meatballs that involves chopping fresh garlic and onions, that's good. Very good in fact, but it's also a little time consuming because of the preparation.

Let me introduce you to Country Bob's (easy, no chopping) Meatball recipe:

Here's what you need:


3 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup Country Bob's All Purpose sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
Spaghetti sauce

Mix all ingredients together. Form into golf ball sized balls. Brown in pan. Add Spaghetti sauce and simmer under done.


I served mine over whole wheat spaghetti noodles with a healthy green salad. It was delicious! And way cheaper than going out to eat.

From start to finish it only took me 30 minutes to put dinner on the table. I can honestly say I was very impressed with the overall flavor of the meatballs. Combined with the ease of the recipe, I'm putting this one at the top of my list.

Onto the giveaway portion of this post...

Country Bob's has offered to give two bottles of their All Purpose sauce to TWO of my readers. That's right, not one but TWO readers will receive their very own Country Bob package.

For your first entry all you have to do is leave a comment sharing your favorite summer food/recipe with me. (This is required!)

For a second entry, follow me and leave me a comment to let me know you are stalking following me.

For THREE extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to my post, and then leave me a comment to let me know you did.

Now for the fine print:

This giveaway ends on Monday May 4th @ 12 PM EST. I must have a way to contact you (blog, or email) or your entry will be deleted. The winners have 48 hours from the end of the giveaway to contact me with their mailing address.

Easy as...cake?

When Mama Kat asked for a favorite recipe it was really hard to narrow it down to just one. Ya'll know I heart food. But after a lot of consideration I decided on dessert.

This cake is so worth all the effort you put into it. It's worth all the time you'll spend making it. It's worth every calorie when you finally get to eat it.

Promise.

First take any cake mix. I heart chocolate so that's what I used, but any ole' cake mix will do. You see how hard this is? Decisions, decisions.


Then take any soda, even diet soda, especially diet soda, and mix 12 ounces into the cake mix.

Ta-da! You're done!

Well...not really since you will need to bake it. Or not. I can testify that the batter is pretty tasty.

If you decide to bake it, then heat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes for cupcakes. Maybe a little longer if you are actually making a cake.


Make sure to let it cool completely before trying to eat it, otherwise it will fall apart. Or so I heard.

Easy peasy, chicken greasy. You got cake!

Home Ec wasn't the only class in session this week - go HERE to see what other homework was turned in this week.

It's really THAT easy...

It's been a while since I posted any new recipes. Sunday I spent most of the day with my trusty laptop and while I was jumping around I found a recipe for "mix in the pan" cakes that claimed to be as good as a boxed cake mix AND as easy.

That's a claim I wanted to put to the test.

Since I still had applesauce in my freezer I decided on the applesauce version, leaving the chocolate one for another day.

"Mix in the Pan" Applesauce Cake

Here's what you need:


1 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice I used a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves since I didn't have any allspice.
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vinegar I used apple cider vinegar cause it's what I had.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Measure all the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, baking soda, spice(s), and salt) into the 8-inch UNGREASED square pan. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients (water, applesauce, oil, and vinegar) into the flour mixture and stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, but do not beat or over-mix.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (It was 40 minutes in my oven.) Serve plain or dust with powdered sugar.


I couldn't wait to cut into it so it was still hot when I did. It crumbled a bit because I didn't let it cool properly. Didn't bother me a bit. The cake still tasted good and I'm not above eating crumbs.

The only I might change next time is to add more applesauce and less oil. And I might add some raisins. Or walnuts. Or raisins and walnuts. Or chopped apples. Or...well as you can see I could do a million things with it but the basic recipe is good and just as easy as it said.

Wondering what I had for dinner? Check this out. Let's just say my kitchen smelled delicious yesterday.

Preacher Cookies

You could say I was inspired by your responses to my GIVEAWAY. Or that I just wanted to do something nice for S, who commented yesterday that I "rocked his world" - oh yes it's true. I do rock his world.

Either way I went home Friday and made Preacher cookies. It's one of the easiest cookies ever made but they are delicious.

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.


Add the cocoa powder, sugar and milk to the melted butter. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.


Add vanilla, salt and peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter is combined. Then add the oats.


If you eat a big spoonful I will not judge you. I promise. Just let it cool a little bit first.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. I like to spread mine a little to make them look more like an actual cookie but it's your choice.

Allow them to cool and then try to only eat one. It's impossible.


And look how pretty PW's rum cake turned out. Trust me when I say it tasted as good as it looks. This is HIGHLY recommended for any holiday party.


I also recommend that you enter my GIVEAWAY if you haven't already. Today is the last day...the winner will be announced tomorrow!

Local video...

I'm feeling quite lazy today. After darts last night...where I managed to close out not one, but TWO amazing wins...I went home and made PW's rum cake. OMGosh this cake smells as good as it looks but it's for a party tonight so I haven't cut into it's buttery goodness yet.

It was well after midnight before I my head hit the pillow. Needless to say, I'm tired and my brain isn't quite functioning yet. Please excuse my laziness, but I'm leaving you with two videos from my hometown.

The first is a local DJ that lost a weight loss competition. This was his punishment - public humiliation.




The second video is an awesome Christmas lights show that I cannot figure how to embed on my page since it's from the local news station and not youtube. ~sigh~ Youtube makes everything so easy. So I apologize that you will have to click the link and suffer through a few seconds of advertising but it's worth it. Promise.

**EDIT** My sis is so smart she found the code to embed. Thanks Sis!

**EDIT EDITED** I can't stand that the video starts on it's own so I have removed it. Please click THIS link if you want to see it.

Don't forget to leave me a comment - maybe it will pep me up a bit. And if you haven't entered my first ever GIVEAWAY yet be sure to do that too.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Hot Pockets from home

This is one of the recipes on my sidebar that I've wanted to make since forever. I had some a lot of deli ham sitting in my fridge so I decided to make ham and cheese pockets. Now that I know how easy it is I regret not doing it earlier.

Here's what I did. (Original Pizza Pockets recipe from Happy To Be @ Home)

Step 1 - Make dough

Step 1 1/2 - Buy Kitcheaid mixer. Well, not really but it does make life easier. I've had mine since last Christmas and I'm still completely in love with it.

1 pkg of active dry yeast
1 c warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose flour



I added my yeast right into the dry ingredients because I always purchase INSTANT yeast. This yeast will be your BFF because it enables you to skip the "let soak" phase of yeast. I then added all the wet ingredients and mixed with my beloved kitcheaid.



Once it was mixed I scraped the sides and then proceeded to add an additional 1/2 c all purpose flour until my dough was no longer sticky. (Add in 1/2 c increments if you need additional flour.)

Then turn your fabulous kitchenaid back on and let the dough hook do it's magic for the next two minutes. Or if you really want to, you can knead by hand for two minutes.

Put the dough ball into a greased bowl turning to oil the top. (I used a tablespoon of olive oil.) Cover and let it sit for at least one hour.



This is where it expands like my thighs.

After an hour or so, punch down the dough and divide into 10 balls. Then roll each ball into an 8" circle. Or something that resembles a circle.






Fill one side with whatever you like...I used some sliced deli ham and cheese for 6 of them and then pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese for the last four "circles".





Fold and use a fork to seal. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.



According to the ladies over at Happy To Be @ Home these freeze really well wrapped in foil or a ziplock. I doubt they stick around long enough to find out.

Hello! A teenage boy lives here.

Punkin' Cake - My version

Here is the original recipe. I've changed it to make a *bit* healthier and moist.

Be aware this is how I do it. You are more than welcome to read the original recipe and follow her steps. I just cut a few corners to save time and dishes. :-]

Pumpkin Cake

1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin
2 c sugar
1 c applesauce (instead of oil)
4 eggs
1 c all purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I usually add heaping teaspoons cause I like cinnamon)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)



Preheat oven to 350; grease 13x9 pan. Mix pumpkin, sugar and applesauce. Add one egg at a time and beat well after each egg. Gradually add both cups of flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat well and be sure to scrape the sides of your bowl halfway through. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour batter into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes. (Mine took closer 45 minutes.)



Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened
5 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c confectioners sugar
3 to 4 tsp milk (I've never needed more than 1 tsp)



Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add sugar, mixing well. Add milk to mixture until frosting is the desired consistency. Frost cooled cake.

I've made three in as many weeks and each one has been a little different. The first time was with no chocolate chips. Second one had chocolate chips on top of the frosting as suggested in the original recipe. The last one I put chocolate chips in the batter. It was to die for. I think that chopped walnuts would make a good addition too so I will try that next time.

And there will be a next time. Maybe then I can get a picture of it before we start eating. Or not.

Whats your favorite fall food?

Autumn - The season of awesome...

I can think of hundreds of reasons why I love fall. The trees turning colors, all the "spicy" smells like cinnamon and nutmeg, Friday night football games with the band...all these things are reason enough to love this season more than any other.

But I have to confess the real reason why I love this time of the year is because it's cool enough to bake. And I ♥ to bake.

I've already made two Pumpkin Cakes with plans to make another this weekend. Leigh Anne of Lulaville posted a recipe for Pumpkin Crisp that I'm dying to make. Among these pumpkin treats I will also be trying my hand at crockpot applesauce and a million different bread recipes. I bought more yeast last night so I would be prepared for my bake-a-thon.

Then there's the 10+ recipes on my sidebar that I still want to try and a few of my own "most requested" recipes that I'm expected to make. Sis, is that one or two apple cider cakes this year?

Not to mention that S brags about my treats so then I'm obligated to make even more for everyone to try. Hey, I'm flattered that people like my goodies, but this chick only has so much time in a day ya' know?!

And don't even get me started on Christmas baking.

No, really don't. I haven't even begun narrowing down my list...and it's a long list.

Speaking of Christmas I found this little diddy while googling something else...

The Night Before Christmas for Moms

Meet the band & my punkin' cake

Saturday was our first competition of the season and we placed 2nd overall. Not bad considering we moved up a group and we have a lot of new students this year.

Let me introduce you to the Marching Cavaliers.


Here is our main stand; we also have one on the back side for the 2nd drum major. Notice that nifty keyboard stand in the back. The VP painted our "logo" for the season on it.



Marching in...


...onto the field


Pit and color guard setting up


Second tuba belongs to me-it's SS.


Colorguard getting a little risque with the chairs.


Oh yeah!


Sassy, but classy ladies!


Pit crew loading up; see the design on the back of the shirts...yep it matches.

Oh and I baked this scrumptiouslicious dessert yesterday....Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting so I thought to snap a picture before we ate it all.



Mmmm...it was even better tonight!