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?

A delicious ending

Yesterday I bought some strawberries at the grocery store without a clue what to do with them. A total spur-of-the-moment-purchase that I typically try to stay away from but they were on sale so it makes it okay right?!

After bringing them home I searched the web for a recipe using items that I had on hand. I found a million recipes calling for stuff I didn't have like graham cracker crusts or powdered sugar.

Since I'm a frugalnista I wasn't having any of that. No sir. I was determined to use what I had in my pantry.

Finally, I found this Simple Pound Cake recipe that begins with a yellow cake mix. Eureka! Strawberry shortcake it was...



Normally there are only three parts to a shortcake - the cake, the fruit and whipped cream - but my beloved doesn't like whipped cream.* So I threw together a sweetened cream cheese mixture so that he would have a little something to go with his strawberries.

I whipped up a package of cream cheese, a little sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a splash of milk.** It was downright heavenly. There was plenty of sweetness from the cake and whipped cream and just a little hint of tartness from the cream cheese layer.

A delicious ending. Otherwise known as dessert. Enjoy!

*Yes, I think it's shameful too. But it leaves more for me.

**The cream cheese mixture would be perfect just for dipping. Or if you like things a little sweeter, like I do, then mix equal parts cream cheese & marshmallow cream. It's the best tasting fruit dip I've ever made in less than a minute.

Brownies & Bows {A giveaway for you!}

On Monday my 'awesome news' were these brownies:


I should have linked the recipe then. Duh. After looking at that picture is there any doubt you would want to make your own.

I didn't think so.

Good news is that it all starts with a Betty Crocker brownie mix & the even BETTER news is that you can win a Betty Crocker Prize pack from me by entering HERE.

As requested here is the recipe link - Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Nom. Nom. Nom.

The BOWS portion of this post is brought to you by Brandy @ Made Just 4 You!

During one of Made Just 4 You's FB 'Deal of the Day' offers I snatched up 4 medium sized bows - 2 for Lil J, my granddaughter and 2 for Miss Blue Eyes, my niece. Little did I know but Lil J's mother (aka my stepdaughter) also spied this special and ordered two herself.

Thankfully MJ4Y has LOTS of ribbon choices so there weren't any duplicates in our orders.

I picked out these four:


And let me tell you, this picture does not do them justice. They are so cute! I actually considered keeping one for myself.

Here's how to enter:

1. Go to Made Just 4 You & leave me a comment telling me which ribbon you would choose.

2. Become a fan of Made Just 4 You on Facebook. Brandy posts new products, daily deals and contests there all the time! {leave me a comment}

3. If you follow me then I deem you worthy of another entry. {leave me a comment}

The giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents and will end at Noon EST on Monday March 29. A winner will be chosen using random.org and have 48 hours to respond.

Congrats Katie!

*The bows & shipping are being provided by Made Just 4 You. All opinions are mine & I actually paid for the bows I received so don't be hating on me. Thank you Brandy!**

**Brandy as in Brandy R. I am not Brandy R. In fact we don't even live in the same state just in case you were confused. I do however think her name is cool as hell.

Nothing Says Lovin' like Something from the Oven

Especially when you share!

















*Click on the recipe to enlarge & print.

What I did on my Winter vacation...

This is what I did on my Winter vacation, aka the two weekends I was forced indoors because of snow, ice, sleet and other crappy conditions:

I watched movies. Most notably Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, which was good right up until the last 10 minutes. Then not so much.

I also watched the newest flick in the American Pie series. Sucked. Skip it.

We caught up on the DVR, watching episodes of Burn Notice, Human Target and Wendy Williams*. I also watched and re-watched several episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County cause I'm a glutton for punishment.

In between that, they shoveled while I took pictures.



We napped. And it was glorious.

Then I channeled The Pioneer Woman and baked.

Cinnamon rolls in the morning.


Apple dumplings in the evening.


So to sum it up, I gained 10 pounds on my Winter vacation.

*I'm forced to DVR Wendy because the asshats at our CW removed her from their line up in lieu of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which btw, I hate. Now I can only find her on BET. At midnight.

Hot buttered rolls anyone?

A bunch of you were surprised to learn about my couponing blog Craving Savings. I guess I'm a closeted couponer...sorta. I mean I do have that public blog & all, but I rarely talk about it over here.

So it seems to reason that you might not know that I'm pretty domesticated too. Granted S does the laundry but I do most of the cooking at our house. Otherwise we would eat a lot of Luck's pinto beans**. Trust me it's better that I do the cooking.

And I enjoy it. Minus the clean up part.

But baking is my real passion. Creating something out of flour & water and watching it become something amazing is a complete rush for me.

These are just two of the character cakes I've made over the years. My family still talks about the year I made a race car track for my two oldest nephews complete with jello cars. And about the Sponge Bob cake I free handed.





Cookies, pies, sweet breads and cakes...all good stuff, but nothing compares to fresh yeast bread. I really love making a fresh loaf of bread. This No-Fail French Bread has been in my rotation for the last few weeks.

Then I stumbled across this recipe for Bread Machine Buttery Rolls.

They say a picture is worth a million words...get a load of this:



Pass the butter please NOW.

**My husband is partial to Luck's pinto beans. And by partial I mean these are the ONLY kind of canned pinto beans that he will eat. Whenever it's his turn to make dinner I can guarantee Luck's will be part of the menu. It's a small price to pay for a husband that does the laundry. That ALWAYS does the laundry. Jealous much?

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.

First Class Happiness...

I didn't blog very much yesterday because my Stepmother's mother passed away on Sunday so I was trying to pitch in and help where needed. After being out in the rain yesterday, the THIRD full day of rain I was tired, gloomy and more than ready for Spring.

Then I got home. When I saw my kitchen table the clouds parted, sunshine rained down on me and blue birds sang in my ears.

THERE WERE PRESENTS!!

First one I opened was a birthday gift from my WV pals...BumpIts! Huh? "Bump whats" you may be saying?

These are BumpIts...



They are described as "hair volumizing inserts". I'm happy to say they really work. In fact I'm wearing a small bumpit today and looking cute if I do say so myself.

Then the next package was from Jen @ My Life with the Crazies.

Cause I won TWO different giveaways during SITS Spring Fling, one of which was a Vera Bradley purse with matching wallet from Jen.



Love, love, love it! Green IS my favorite color...

I also won Sunday at Tiffany's by James Patterson from Tiffany @ Poetry and Hums AND Eat at Home.

The same Tiffany that was trading comments for donations to the Global Food Crisis Fund. The same Tiffany that posted a Depression Era bread recipe yesterday that I promptly went home and made.

Yes sirree, after I opened all my gifts I made 6 loaves of bread, a chocolate loaded cake, a huge bowl of baked beans AND dinner AFTER work.

And I even cleaned up my mess. Can you say Superwoman?

Happy St. Paddy's day ya'll!

I shoveled my way out...

...and just made it to work. Or more specifically S shoveled the driveway and front area yesterday after he cleaned off mine & SS's car.

I think I'll keep him.

So yesterday while I was lounging working from home I saw this Honey Bun Cake recipe posted by Shannon. Hmmmmmmmmmm...I had the time and the ingredients so I went and whipped one up.

I got the stuff together.


Mixed it together and then spread half in a greased 9x13 pan. Then I topped it with the cinnamon & sugar mixture.


Then the other half of the batter...


While it's baking I whipped up the glaze using these ingredients:


After 35 minutes I took it out of the oven and spread the glaze on it.



It was delicious! The only thing I might change next time, is that I would add a little more cinnamon.

Oh what?! You thought I was going to post the recipe for you? Nope. You gotta go visit Shannon to find out the details.

While you're there take a look at the Sloppy Joe recipe...I've made that one too and it was fab!

Then pop over to TMM's first ever giveaway. She's got goodies from Eden Fantasy's so if you didn't win my contest here's your second chance! Or hell, even if you did win two others MARIAH! *ahem* go enter anyway.

And then go to Lizzy's house and enter her giveaway too. Cause you cannot have too many toys. Trust me on this.

Plus Dipaola Momma, my fellow Welcomista, is giving away a WOOHOO! box full of great goodies so go visit her and enter to win before March 9th otherwise known as the day I graced the world with my presence.

Mama Kat is giving away another apron this week. This is the fourth week in a row that I've lost. If I lose again then I will...I will...well, I guess I'll have to buy one but I would much rather win. And see my name in sparkly lights on her page.

Last but not least Tiffany of the SITS fame is giving away TWO $100 Target gift cards to kick off her Fishful Thinking Intiative journey. Woah. On second thought, don't enter this one. It makes it easier for me to win.

~sigh~

A girl can dream can't she?!

Oh and if you want an inside look at the stuff in my crib go visit me at Craving Savings. Then tell me how great I am.

I really like when people do that.

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.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

I worked on a few more things yesterday evening. Here's what I've made so far:

Eggnog Bread
Preacher Cookies
Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
Sour Cream Pound Cake
Peanut Butter Balls
Snowball Cookies
Sausage Balls
Reindeer Noses

I still need to make:

Mexican Pinwheels (not a cookie)
Potato Chip cookies (I'm still looking for a good recipe so they are on the back burner for now.)
Fudge
Peanut Butter Balls (My first batch won't be enough to last through Christmas)

Featured today is my Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe. I don't remember where I got this recipe but I've been making it for the last 11 years.

Here's what you need:



1 cup butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.



Mix baking soda and vanilla with sour cream; add alternately with flour and mix well.



Pour into a greased & floured 10" tube pan. (I used 4 mini loaf pans plus one regular loaf pan.)



Bake @ 325 for 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.



If you are interested in any of the other recipes that I don't have a link for just let me know!

Sorry for the late post but I had a small scare last night. I woke up around 5 because my heart felt like it was literally beating out of my chest...it was very quick and erratic. I got up, moved around and thought it would go away. It didn't subside until after 7:30 this morning so I thought it was best to go to the doctor this morning. She said my EKG looks good and if it happens again she will monitor it with one of those 24 hours devices.

For those wondering, I didn't go to the emergency room because I didn't have any other issues. No pain, no shortness of breath or nausea. Just the erratic heartbeat. So I'm okay now and I just hope it was a fluke. I am prone to weird ailments so hopefully I can add this to that list.