Recipe {Chicken and Kale ::two way::}

The other night I made braised chicken and kale for dinner. After dinner we had chicken left over as well as some of the kale so I grabbed a can of white beans out of the pantry and more chicken stock and made it into a quick soup for lunches. I love when we eat something for dinner and I can quickly turn it into a new dish. Helps make leftovers more interesting and not feel like leftovers. 

Chicken and Kale {two ways}

Recipe {braised chicken and kale}

4 chicken leg quarters

1/4 cup flour

4-5 garlic cloves 

1/2 onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups of kale

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp. poultry seasoning 

In a Dutch oven or heavy pan add olive oil and heat pan on medium high heat. Preheat oven to 325*. Once the pan is hot dread the chicken in flour (seasoned with poultry seasoning salt and pepper) and then place in pan. Cook on each side for 2-4 minutes (you just want to brown the chicken) remove chicken from pan. Add in the garlic and onions until softened. Then throw in the kale. Once the kale begins to soften add in the can of tomatoes and cup of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken back in the pan and cover with a lid. Transfer the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and let bake for 1.5-2 hours. (I baked it for 1 hour then turned my oven down to 225* and baked for another 2 hours) Serve the chicken on top of the kale mixture. 

Recipe {chicken and kale soup}

Leftover braised chicken and kale along with the pan drippings

1 can white beans (drained)

1-2 cups chicken broth 

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 tsp thyme 

Use the recipe above for braised chicken and kale. Remove chicken from pan and shred it. (Discard skin and bone) Add the can of beans and chicken stock to the pan (with whatever leftover kale and tomatoes are in the pan) and bring to a simmer. Stir in the chicken, thyme, and cheese. Remove from heat. Cool slightly then put in containers for lunches or save for another meal later in the week.

Recipe {chicken wild rice and butternut squash soup}

I am still in the process of freezer and pantry clean out. Which means last night's dinner was a result of that. I was nervous the boys wouldn't like it because it had butternut squash in it but I put it in anyway since its such a delicious squash, and they loved it. I also am obsessed with Penzeys spices. I'm in the process of changing out all my spices in favor of theirs. Feel free to season the chicken with your favorite fall seasoning if you don't have Penzeys

Chicken wild rice and butternut squash soup:

2 lbs chicken breast baked with penzeys old world seasoning, cubed
4 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 lb. butternut squash, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 box chicken stock
1 cup wild rice

Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sauté carrots, celery, onion, and butternut squash in a Dutch oven until softened. Salt and pepper to taste.

Purée half of mixture with 1 cup stock.

Return to pan add remaining stock and chicken bring to simmer then add wild rice. Cook for 25 minutes or until rice is done.

I'm almost embarrassed posting this recipe because it was so easy to make. But it would be great with leftover turkey instead of the chicken and who doesn't need a quick and easy soup recipe this time of year? Hope y'all enjoy!

Recipe {Pumpkin Banana Bread}

A few weeks ago we went to a pumpkin patch. I love pumpkin patches and hay rides and hanging out as a family with good friends. On our way out of the pumpkin patch they had some weird looking pumpkins, I am a sucker for weird looking pumpkins. This one was all bumpy and an ashy orange color so of course I was sold! Come to find out it is the perfect pumpkin for baking with.
Well last week I needed an indoor project to do with LB and this pumpkin came to mind. So we cut it and pulled all the seeds and gunk out. I got busy roasting the pumpkin and LB got busy stirring the gunk and throwing seeds everywhere. Ends up this pumpkin made 12 cups of purée. Which means I had to think of delicious ways to use all this pumpkin.
I began searching for a pumpkin bread recipe but none of them struck my fancy so I searched pumpkin banana breads and still none of them were quite what I wanted. So I figured I bake enough and had read enough recipes that I could come up with a good one myself and so here you have it, Pumpkin Banana Bread with a maple glaze, not the healthiest recipe but it sure is tasty!

Pumpkin Banana Bread
2 1/2 cups flour (I did half whole wheat/half all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup pumpkin
2 ripe bananas, smashed

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a large loaf pan. (I use Pam for baking and love it)
Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a mixer cream the butter, eggs, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Then mix in the pumpkin and bananas. Slowly add in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Pour the mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle come out clean. Cool slightly then remove from loaf pan and set on a wire rack. Then pour glaze (below) over top, and try not to devour the whole thing in one sitting.
Glaze:
1/4 cups maple syrup
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1-2 Tablespoons milk
Combine maple syrup, powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste. Whisk in milk until desired consistency.

Pure fall deliciousness.

Recipe {crockpot chicken and spinach enchiladas}

This month I have been cleaning out our pantry and freezer. I noticed a lot of things in there are a few months old and its time for a fresh start. I also want to make room to stock up on homemade freezer meals so I don't have to think every night about dinner. So last nights dinner was created by what I had on hand and it was delicious! I should note that just the filling is made in the crock pot so it does take a few minutes of work but totally manageable.
Chicken Spinach Enchiladas
Filling:
4 frozen chicken breast (about 1 lb.)
1/2 jar salsa
1 teaspoon cumin
1 container reduced fat cream cheese
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup cheese
Add the first 3 ingredients to your crockpot set on low for 8 hours or high for 5. Stir in the cream cheese and spinach the last 30 minutes. Then turn off the crock pot and stir in a the cheese.
Enchiladas:
Package of tortillas
1 cup of cheese
Preheat oven to 350*. Grab a 9x11 pan Fill each tortilla with a few scoops of the chicken and spinach mixture then roll them up tucking the ends in and lay in the pan. You should be able to fit 10 enchiladas in the pan if you smush them a little. Once you have all your tortillas in the pan top with the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.
They were a big hit over here and super simple to make. Hope y'all enjoy :)

Pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

If you haven't gathered by now I am a huge fan of pumpkin. Once the first taste of fall hits I am at the store buying up all the cans of pumpkin I can find. There is just something so wonderful about this sweet vegetable that I can't get enough of.
Being pregnant last fall was really hard on me because even the smell of pumpkin made me sick. So I am very happy that this aversion is gone an I can now enjoy this fall to the fullest.
I have a few pumpkin recipes to share with you all. First up, whole wheat pumpkin pancakes. A friend gave me this recipe and I just adjusted it a little to suit our needs.

Pumpkin pancakes
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 egg, beaten well
2 tablespoons melted butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined.
Makes about 15 pancakes depending on how large you make them.

Of course not much goes better with breakfast than a latte. So here is my homemade version of Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. Nothing can really beat their recipe but this one is a healthier and delicious substitute.

PSL recipe {this recipe makes 1 16oz latte or 2 8 oz ones}
1 cup pumpkin
2 cups milk (I use 2%)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 packet instant coffee (or 2 oz. espresso)
Add the first 4 ingredients together in a pot whisking until steaming. Then take a fine strainer and pour the hot liquid over it. (You want to make sure to do this step or your latte will have pumpkin pie consistency). Add strained milk to instant coffee, i buy the starbucks via packets and use them for this when i dont want to get the espresso machine out, and stir well. If you want to feel extra special top with whipped cream :)
If you want to make this ahead you can the night before and then just heat the milk in the microwave and add your coffee in the morning.

I did find one thing in the store the other day that is also a great way to enjoy pumpkin spice coffee for those days I'm really lazy and want a super quick latte. They are quite delicious and you can add more milk than it calls for and still get the pumpkin spice latte taste. Have you guys seen these in your store yet? Instant deliciousness:

Recipe {homemade meat sauce}

I made this for supper last night and it turned out wonderfully so I figured I should get the recipe wrote down before I forget.
It started when I looked thru the fridge last night and saw that we had 2 quarts of roma tomatoes from our garden about to go bad along with a pound of ground beef...thus came homemade meat sauce.

Ingredients:
2 quarts Roma tomatoes
1 pound ground beef
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 small onion
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and pepper to taste

To get started cut the tops off your tomatoes and throw them into a casserole dish drizzle some olive oil on them throw in a few cloves of garlic and some coarse sea salt then stick them in a 400* oven. Let them bake until the tomatoes blister and burst apart.
While the tomatoes bake brown up the ground beef with a clove of garlic and half and onion, drain the fat off and add the smashed tomatoes to it.
{When you take the tomatoes out of the oven let them cool slightly then take a potato masher to the pan until the tomatoes are crushed to your liking}
Now that the tomatoes and meat are combined let it simmer in the pan until thickened, about 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and stir in your basil.
Toss with a pound of pasta and top with Parmesan cheese.
So yummy and a great way to use up those garden fresh tomatoes and herbs laying around. Enjoy :)

Recipe {Strawberry White Chocolate Bundt Cake}

As you may have guessed I had an overflow of strawberries in our garden. After canning enough strawberry jam for the year and gifts I still had more coming. So naturally I decided to bake with them. I recently inherited a bundt pan so figured I should get to using it. I searched the internet for some bundt cake recipes adjusted a few here and there and came up with this delicious cake. Seriously y'all it was fabulous! I ate it for snack and breakfast and before I knew it the cake was gone and I failed to take one single picture. But just so you know this is definitely a strawberry cake you should make!

Strawberry White Chocolate Bundt Cake

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

zest of one lemon

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon lemon juice (about the juice of 1 lemon)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces greek yogurt (I used greek goddess strawberry honey but you could do plain)

2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325* and grease bundt pan. In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. 

Cream butter and sugar in mixer. Then add eggs one at a time. Once those are creamed together add lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Alternate beating the flour mixture and yogurt until just blended. Gently stir in strawberries and white chocolate chips. 

Pour into bundt pan and bake for about 70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Let cool for 30 minutes before flipping out onto wire rack and then try to let it cool completely before digging in.

Let me know if you try it! It really was delicious. I also experimented with strawberry banana bread, also delicious, strawberry shortcake, and strawberry muffins. I really do love having fresh strawberries right out my door and am a little sad strawberry picking has come to an end. But with the end of strawberry season comes the beginning tomato and pepper season...can't wait to start cooking with those beauties!

what are you all doing with the abundance from your garden?

Recipe {Black bean Enchiladas}

I have seriously had a craving for mexican this whole pregnancy but couldn't justify going out every week for it...not just the cost but also all the fat and calories in take-out mexican. So I decided to start playing around with mexican food at home. The first thing I started making was home-made black beans in the crock pot. Once I got the beans down I decided to make up some enchiladas with the left overs. Y'all it is so easy to make them and saves so much money. Plus, they are delicious and have the perfect balance of spicy-ness and creaminess. Here is the recipe for the crock-pot black beans followed by the enchiladas.

Crock-pot Black Beans

1 lb of black beans (or however big a bag you get), rinsed and sorted

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons minced garlic (I use the jarred seasoning stuff)

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 shredded medium onion

Throw the above ingredients in a crock-pot and cover with water to 2 inches above the beans. Turn the crock pot on low and let cook for 4-6 hours. Or on high for 2-3 hours.

When the beans are tender take them out of the crock pot and add a tablespoon of butter. And now you have about 8 cups of perfectly cooked black beans.

Black Bean Enchiladas

2 cups home-made black beans 

1 can rotel, drained

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon chile con carne spice (I get mine at penzeys but I'm sure you could make it yourself) 

 salt and pepper, to your liking

2 cups of monterrey jack cheese

1 cup green chile salsa (my favorite one to use is trader joe's)

1 package soft tortilla shells

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x11 baking pan and set aside.

In a bowl mix beans, rotel, sour cream, spices, and 1/2 cup of cheese.

Roll 2 big spoonfuls of bean mixture into each tortilla and line in baking pan. Once you have all the tortillas smooched in the pan top with salsa and the rest of the cheese.

Cover the pan and pop in oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and back for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is all melted and bubbly.

I usually make up 2 pans at once. One for dinner that night and another to freeze for the future. I don't freeze the whole pan but instead cool one pan completely and individually roll the enchiladas in foil to freeze. That way we can pop them out one at a time when we want them.

Finished enchiladas. Or as my hubby calls them heaven in a tortilla ;)

This has definitely become one of our favorite meals! Not only is it delicious but if you make the beans yourself each enchilada comes in at about .25 cents and that's without couponing! Definitely worthy making the homemade version versus the take-out kind. 

Let me know if you give them a try and what you think.

Recipe {Meyer Lemon Blueberry Bread}

Sorry to be such a blog slacker but we just returned from vacation and I am in the middle of a mountain of laundry. It is also quite dreary out which means I have no motivation. But luckily when we returned I did have motivation to make a new dessert. See LB eats blueberries like they are going out of style AND we had bought him a big bag of frozen ones for traveling, he only likes them frozen, but we didn't really think through the logistics of messy blueberries in a hotel room. In any case we came home with a bag of thawed blueberries which means they needed used. So I searched our fridge and cabinet and came up with enough ingredients to make a bread, we just so happened to have 5 meyer lemons left that needed used so I thought why not throw them in. And oh my goodness it is so delicious. We finished off the loaf in less than 12 hours. So be warned this loaf will not last long.

{Try not to drool on your screen}

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons grated meyer lemon peel 

1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups blueberries (if frozen, thaw completely)

Glaze

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice (about 5 lemons)

Preheat oven to 325*. Pam the heck out of a loaf pan and set aside.

Stir flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl and set to the side. 

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time until creamy. Then mix in lemon zest.

Gradually add in flour mixture and milk, alternatively, beginning and ending with flour.

Fold in blueberries and pour into pan. 

Bake for about an hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

While it bakes bring the sugar and lemon juice to a simmer, until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Now take the bread out and poke small holes throughout the bread, I just used a toothpick, and pour the glaze over top. 

Let cool for 30 minutes or however long your will-power last (I think mine was 15)

And there you have it. Meyer lemon blueberry bread. Delicious. I can't wait to make it with fresh blueberries from our bushes this summer. If you give it a try let me know.

Now off to find my motivation for laundry and grocery shopping.

Menu Planning {#3 of 2012} and a recipe

My menu may be starting to reflect that I'm pregnant. I definitely am having more cravings now. Second trimester is always a hard one for me because I want to eat everything and have a really hard time practicing self control. I have stocked our fridge with pineapple and yogurt and try to snack on those often. But baking has always been one of my favorite things to do and let's just say it has kicked in full force this month. I have only been leaving a dozen in the house and then sending the rest out the door. At least a dozen can't do too much damage to me. Or at least I tell myself that. ;) Okay enough chatting here is our menu. I ended up spending $76 for 2 weeks and 10 of that was on an awesome 3 lb roast from my favorite grocer. (Note: our night outs are not included in that amount... they come out of a different fund so I don't include them in grocery bill)

Day 1: Fried Chicken and corn

Day 2: Shredded beef tacos with avocado, corn, and black bean salad

Day 3: Saffron rice and chicken

Day 4: Spaghetti and salad

Day 5: Night out at whole foods

Day 6: Leftovers

Day 7: Super Bowl Party (I ended up making some buffalo chicken bites, fruit pizza, and cheesy toast)

Day 8: Stir-fry chicken and veggies with brown rice

Day 9: Spaghetti and pesto meatballs

Day 10: Breakfast for dinner (Steel-cut banana bread oatmeal and fruit)

Day 11: Baked chicken, garlic smashed red potatoes, and asparagus

Day 12: Cabbage rolls

Day 13: Cilantro lime chicken fajitas (recipe to follow) with smashed pinto beans

Day 14: Roast with leftover garlic smashed potatoes (we actual went on a date this night so we left this for our awesome friends who watched LB, we ate the leftovers a few days later giving me a night off cooking)

The day I made the cilantro lime fajitas I posted this picture on facebook:

Quite a few people commented or texted me for the recipe so i figured I'd post it on here. Now I really don't know exact amount on anything but I did my best to guess. I have been making this for years and each time I throw things in and taste it until its right. Play around with it to get the spices how you like them. 

Cilantro-lime fajitas

Marinade/sauce:

1 large lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)

1 bunch of fresh cilantro, ends snipped off then roughly chop the rest

2-3 cloves garlic 

1 jalapeno (now if you have little ones I recommend leaving this out unless they can handle the heat, LB can't so we leave it out if he is eating with us then add chipotle tabasco to our plate)  

1 tablespoon olive oil (this amount depends on how powerful your blender is if you have a great one you won't need as much)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Puree everything together to make a nice smooth sauce.

Then take:

1 lb. chicken, cut into strips

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 poblano peppers , thinly sliced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

In one container throw the chicken and about 1/2 the marinade. Add a little olive oil and mix to coat. Let marinade for at least 1 hour, overnight is the best if you can wait.

In another container throw the veggies and about 1/2 the remaining marinade. Let sit.

When your ready to make dinner heat up a large skillet with some oil. Let it get nice and hot then throw your chicken in. Take the chicken out when it is no longer pink and throw your veggies in. Once the veggies are soft throw your chicken back in to finish cooking.

Serve with tortillas, cheese, sour cream, avocados, and beans. Use the rest of the marinade as a drizzle over top the finished fajitas. Or mix it with sour cream (W hates sour cream so I just mix a little with mine and he throws the rest on his).

Hope you all enjoy :) Also, if you have never made beans in the crock pot, do it! They are so easy and come out perfect. All you have to do is take a bag of beans rinsed and sorted, throw them in the crock pot cover with water plus an inch or two more. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. They turn out perfect. I took about 2 cups out and smashed them with some cumin, salt, tabasco, and cheese. They were great on the side of these fajitas.

Recipe {Winter Vegetable Soup}

I know there are lots of recipes around for vegetable soup and I know lots of you make it already. I have even previously posted a recipe for it using my garden overflow. I am also aware that it is a very easy soup to make. BUT this last batch I made was so good. So good that even my husband who demands meat often ate it up and took it for lunch for days. So I figured I should post it. Plus, I took pictures of it with my IPhone. And you know a recipe is better with pictures. 

Here is the beginnings of the soup sauteing away.

Winter Vegetable Soup

1 medium onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, diced

3 bell peppers, diced (I used a red, orange, and yellow one)

6 stalks of celery, diced

5 carrots, diced

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 head of cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (I use our homemade canned sauce)

2 cups of white beans

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 box of stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 rind of parmesan cheese (do you all do this? buy a chunk of parmesan cheese and then freeze the rind to throw in soups later. Seriously adds so much flavor and is a great way to not waste that expensive block of cheese)

1 Tablespoon italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Grab a large dutch oven and add olive oil and butter. Bring it to medium heat. Add your diced onion and garlic and allow to soften. Once those are soft add in your chopped carrots, celery, and peppers. When they begin to soften add in your tomatoes. Let those simmer for 5 minutes or so then add in your cabbage. Once the cabbage is soft add in your seasonings, cheese, tomato sauce, beans, and stock. Let that simmer for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and your ready to eat. 

 Finished soup

We ended up freezing half the soup and still had plenty to eat. If you want to make it stretch even further add you favorite small pasta to it once it comes to a simmer, keep an eye on it because you may need to add more stock to it. 

Hope you all enjoy this as much as we did!

Recipes {Crock-pot Potato Soup and Green Smoothie}

The other night I was really in the mood for baked potato soup but not so much in the mood for bacon. I polled facebook to get the best potato soup recipe out there but still none of them were exactly what I wanted. So I waited a day or two. And finally felt like I could handle cooking up bacon...okay, scratch that felt like I could handle the smell of bacon being cooked. {This pregnancy has caused a strong aversion to all things pork including bacon}So since I could muster up the strength for that I wanted to make a baked potato soup in my crock-pot. Don't ask me why I wanted to do it in the crock pot but I did. So I got to creating. I searched the web for a crock-pot recipe but none of them seemed exactly right so I pulled bits and pieces from a few added my own touches and it was delicious. And I found out in the process that I can in fact enjoy bacon as long as it has already been cooked and the grease smell has long left my kitchen. So here is the best baked potato soup I have ever had crock-pot style.

Crock-pot Potato Soup

3 lbs. potatoes (I used russet) peeled and diced into about 2 in. cubes

1 small onion, diced

4 gloves garlic, diced

1 quart chicken broth (you may want to have some extra on hand for later in case it gets too thick for your liking)

1 package chive and onion cream cheese, room temperature, I used the reduced fat kind and you couldn't even tell (shhh...hubs still doesn't know)  

Salt and pepper to taste 

Throw potatoes, onion, and garlic in the bottom of your crock-pot. Season with salt and pepper and cover with broth. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.  Check the potatoes and if they are tender you are good to go. Now at this point I grabbed our potato masher and went to town. You could also use a hand-mixer and mash up your potatoes. I found out potato masher worked perfect and left it just the right consistency. After you get your potatoes all mashed mix in your package of cream cheese and leave on high for 30 minutes. Then mash again to make sure all the cream cheese is mixed in well. 

Now it's time to eat. I served ours with sharp cheddar cheese and diced bacon. I'm sure it would be good without those things but we love cheese around here and hubs loves bacon so I knew it had to be added. Let me know what you think if you get around to trying it.

One more recipe to share with you all today.  We have been enjoying green smoothies over here every morning. LB loves them. In fact, every morning while I am getting breakfast ready he asks so sweetly for a soothie and points at the blender. I can't resist. Especially because I know it is packed full of good things for him. 

Green Smoothie: (makes 2 8 oz or 1 16 oz serving)

1 Cup milk

1 Cup yogurt (I usually use plain but sometimes I'll do low-fat vanilla)

1/2 banana

1 Cup pineapple

1 Cup fresh baby spinach

Blend up until everything is well mixed then serve. So easy and so good. Some mornings I swap out the milk and yogurt for 100% apple juice. Or I add in a tablespoon of wheat germ. It really just depends on what fruit I have on hand and what I am in the mood for that morning. Some days I use only frozen fruits and sometimes its all fresh, we aren't picky about smoothie consistency here. 

My favorite part about these smoothies is you can't even taste the spinach. I was so skeptical of adding it but once I did I was converted. Not only is it so good for you it makes the smoothie a really pretty shade of green.

So what is your feelings on adding spinach to smoothies? One time I was told you could add frozen broccoli and not even taste it. That was a lie. It was the only thing I could taste and forced myself to drink it because I didn't want to waste all the delicious fruit I had added. But I promise with the spinach it is true you really can't taste it. Promise.

Recipe {Cranberry Orange Muffins}

As I mentioned in my last post this weekend I had a big cook ahead day. One of the things I made were these muffins.

Seriously, so good. Filled with big plump cranberries and dotted with pretty orange zest. Oh and topped with crunchy raw sugar. I planned on making them up then wrapping and freezing them individually to pop out for a quick breakfast but really I have just been eating them all day long. Don't worry, I've shared a few with LB and W. :) I found the recipe for these beauties here. The only thing I did different was added 1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries (instead of 1 cup) and used fresh orange juice. I also sprinkled raw sugar on the top to give it an extra crunch. They are great not too sweet but not too tart either. We've been enjoying them in the mornings with a tall glass of green smoothie and some hot tea. Even LB drinks up his green smoothie and asks for more.

Recipe {Crock-pot White Chili}

Made this recipe the other day and W was a huge fan so figured it was time I shared it with you all. It was super simple to make and throw together. Great for days when you won't be home much but want a nice warm dish to enjoy when you do get home.

White Chili

1 lb ground chicken (or ground turkey)

1 med. onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

1 red pepper (I love adding extra crunch and color to everything but if you don't have one leave it out)

2 cans green chiles

3 cans white beans, drained and rinsed

1 box chicken stock

2 tsp. chile powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like spice)

Saute onions, garlic, and red pepper. Add to bottom of crock-pot. Brown ground chicken and throw in crock-pot. Now add all the other ingredients and set your crock-pot on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Top with fresh cilantro, sour cream, and pepper-jack cheese. Or whatever toppings you like on chili.

What's your favorite cold weather food? I already feel the pounds packing on from all the heavy dishes I love to make this time of year so I am trying to be better about adding more vegetables to dishes so we get a little more nutritious out of our meals and make the dish more filling. I am also trying to only make sweets once a week but spending days indoors really gives me the itch for baking.

Recipe {Oatmeal choc.chip cranberry Cookies}

It's that time of year folks. When our waistlines expand and we enjoy home baked goodies mixed with conversations with family and friends. I love this time of year! I love warming up in front of a hot stove while I bake and cook until my heart is content. Knowing that my goodies will bring smiles to others faces. This weekend I began trying out some Thanksgiving recipes...I know its less than 2 weeks away but I wanted to test out a few nut-free desserts before I debuted them to a group. This cookie I absolutely loved! It was soft and chewy and loaded with yummy goodness. I think for Thanksgiving I am going to make them into bars with white chocolate chunks. Yum! Okay so here is the recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup PLUS 6 tablespoons unsalted, room temperature, butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups old-fashion oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup craisins

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix until creamy. Mix in flour and baking soda. Stir in the oatmeal, chocolate chips, and craisins.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. I did right at 8 minutes and they were slightly underdone...which in my book is perfect. But if you like them a little more done do 10. This recipe ended up making about 5 dozens, but I make smaller cookies. (That way I don't feel guilty eating 4 or 5 at a time)

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving desserts?

Recipe {Crock-pot Chicken Tortilla Soup}

In the past few weeks my sister has really gotten into crock-pot cooking. Which led me to realize I don't have many of my crock-pot recipes up on the blog. So I decided it was time to share some of the slow-cooking love with you all. 

Crock-pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 boneless skinless chicken breast (you can use the ones you buy frozen in the bag...no need to thaw)

1 box chicken stock (about 32 oz.)

1 can rotel (or diced tomatoes)

1 small onion, finely diced

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

Add the chicken, stock, onion, and rotel to your crock-pot. If you are using frozen chicken cook on high for 6 hours...if not frozen cook on low 6 hours. When the time is up pull your chicken out and shred it. Return it to the pot and add the can of corn and black beans. Cook on low for 1 more hour. 

When you are ready to serve top with:

tortilla strips (you can either use ones you buy or make your own)

shredded cheese

sour cream

Serve and watch your family eat it up.

Note, I add lots of different spices to mine and sometimes even add a chipotle pepper to spice things up. I love this recipe because it is so basic that you can add things to your taste. My sis hates spicy things so she used the recipe as is, but if you like spice I say throw in a chipotle pepper with the chicken. It is so good that way. I also love to add a little lime and cilantro to it in the summer. Brightens the dish up and gives it a nice taste.

Do you all use your crock-pot often? What is your favorite dish to make in it?

Recipe {Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies}

Honestly, I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet. I thought that I had until yesterday when I went to make them for house church and couldn't find the recipe on here. One of the reasons I post so many recipes on this blog is because when I am in the mood for something I can easily pull up my blog on my I-Pod and have it next to me in the kitchen while I cook or bake. I find it much easier than having a cookbook open or a random piece of paper shoved somewhere that I must dig for each time I want to make something. Plus, I like to share great recipes with others. These cookies are so good, especially with dark chocolate chips.  Okay, I'll stop rambling and post the recipe.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 

2 cups dark chocolate chips (or whatever kind you have)

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat butter until creamy add in sugars until well incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. Then add vanilla and pumpkin puree until well mixed. In a bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Incorporate flour mixture into the wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 14 minutes. 

This recipe make a little over 4 dozen, so if you don't want that many half it. Or bake half today and freeze the other half for later. (Scoop onto lined baking sheets freeze for 30 minutes then pop them into freezer-safe container and have perfectly portioned cookies ready to go whenever your sweet tooth hits)

Hope you all enjoy these as much as we did. They are toddler and house church approved ;)

Recipe {Pumpkin Muffins}

As I said in my last post I made up some awesome pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. And what is the fun in having a great pumpkin recipe if its not shared with those you love? Hope you all go and make these yourself. They are really so yummy and go great with pumpkin coffee or a latte or a chai tea or even a glass of milk. 

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 eggs

1 c. sugar

1 and 1/2 c. pumpkin 

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1 and 1/2 c. flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

pinch of salt

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400*. Line or grease 12 muffin tins. 

Beat eggs in bowl then beat in sugar, pumpkin, and vegetable oil.

Combine dry ingredients and mix into the wet ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips. 

Bake for 18 minutes. Cool slightly then place on wire rack. Try not to eat the whole dozen in one sitting.

These are by no means a "healthy" recipe, well except for the pumpkin which is loaded full of good for you things. But you could easily swap out the vegetable oil for applesauce and do a half whole wheat/half all-purpose flour swap and hardly notice a difference.
Give them a try and let me know what you think :)

Recipe {Homemade Wheat Thins}

As you all may have guessed we have lots of homemade jams and jellies in our house. I had a habit of canning everything under the sun this summer. Last I checked we had over 30 jars of some form or another of jam/jelly. I'm not complaining one bit because I love them. They make a great snack and help stretch our grocery budget. The only issue we have is LB's nut allergy. So because of that we cannot eat too many pb&j's. I love me some jelly toast but I need my jelly in other ways too. So low and beyond I went to the internet to find a wheat thin recipe. I found a few but by far my favorite one was found here. Of course, I did a little adjusting of my own but I thought they came out quite wonderfully and W and LB loved them. So they will now become a staple of ours. And with a fraction of the cost of super market ones I would say they are a great budget stretcher too.

Cooling wheat thins and a jar of jalapeno peach jelly...yum 

Homemade wheat thins

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1  tablespoons sugar
1  tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. Add the flour, sugar, and paprika to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl.  Using a pastry blender, mix the butter into the dry ingredients thoroughly.  Combine the water, honey, and vanilla in a small measuring cup or bowl.  Add to the butter/flour mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms. If the dough is still dry, add a little more water.
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, keeping the others covered with a towel so they don't dry out.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Lift the dough and turn it as you roll to ensure it's not sticking.  You want to roll the dough as thin as possible, try to make sure it's 1/16-inch thick at most.  If you want all of your crackers to be perfect, trim the edges of the dough so you have a rectangle with even sides.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle into squares about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.
4. Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheets. You can place them close together because they will not spread.  Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt.  Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.  Save all of your scraps under the towel to keep the dough from drying out; reroll them all at once to create a final batch of crackers.
5. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Check the crackers at 5 minutes, and if some of the thinner ones are browning too quickly, remove them from the oven.  The crackers can burn quickly so you want to keep a close eye on them.  Remove crackers from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Store the crackers in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from Two peas & their pod

Recipe {Roasted tomato pasta}

Summertime in a bowl my friends.

Sorry for the blurry picture, it was taken on my phone moments before I consumed the whole bowl. I was too hungry to get out the real camera to take a good shot. I could eat this every.day. of the summer. And winter too. I am a pasta junkie. Hints why I took up running. Runners need carbs...or so I tell myself that. Recipe?

Roasted tomato and Basil pasta

Grape tomatoes (preferably picked straight from your garden)

Bunch of basil (trimmed from your giant basil bush)

Lots of parmesan cheese

two cloves of garlic diced

Swirl of olive oil

Penne pasta

Preheat your oven to 400*. Cut grape tomatoes in half and place on a foil lined baking sheet (don't forget this foil step or you will have tomato gooey-ness stuck to your baking sheet forever). Once your sheet pan is full of tomatoes add diced garlic and a swirl of olive oil to the pan and toss. Then put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Once the tomatoes start oozing out and the garlic is soft you know its done. In the meantime cook up some penne pasta. Toss the pasta with the roasted tomatoes and garlic, add a little more olive oil and as much parmesan cheese as your heart desires. Top it all with freshly torn basil.

Simple. Delicious. Summer in a bowl. Enjoy bloggy world.