Crock Pot: White Chicken Chili

This was an amazing easy recipe, and perfect for the rainy crappy weather we have been having. I adapted this recipe from a blog I follow. A mom and her twin little girls, and she understands the need to make quick and yummy recipes!

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

3 (15oz) cans white northern beans (drained and rinsed)
1 (15oz) can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
1 lb chicken (fresh or frozen)
2 (4oz) cans mild green diced chilies
1 (15oz) can chicken stock
2-3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 packet dry ranch seasoning
3-4 cloves garlic minced

Throw all in crock pot, stir, cook on low for 7-8 hours. Come home, stir and shred chicken. Serve with sour cream, cheese and/or avocado.

Side note: Make sure the crock pot is plugged IN before leaving the house!!! This was not my day.
Thankfully I have an amazing husband who came back home (on bicycle) to plug it in.

My adaptations: I like a variety of beans, you can probably even use white kidney beans or cannellini beans. I used only 2 teaspoons of the ranch packet, but I figured next time I will dump the whole packet in. I also added the chicken stock. If you are like me and buy the giant stock cartons when they are BOGO just fill an empty bean can with stock and dump in. I eyeballed it this time, because I only had a little left in the carton and dumped it all in.

Pumpkin Chili

I had made a pumpkin chili last year, that was amazing! But sadly it is lost in my pintrest archives. So I made this one, that was equally as good. So to make sure I don't lose this one, I need to document it. :)
I adapted my on flair from this basic recipe: Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients:
       

3 tablespoons olive oil    

1 pound ground turkey                        

1 small onion, chopped     

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped                                         

1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped     

2 cloves garlic, minced      

1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin   

2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, un drained     

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth          

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder        

1 tablespoon cumin                 

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz. can white great northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

 

Preparation:

 

1. Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook turkey, stirring, until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeño and garlic. 

 

2. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, broth, chili powder, cumin, pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in all beans. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chili thickens slightly, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

 

3. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, and green onion garnishes.

 

We like ours a little bit spicier, so going forward I may not deseed the whole pepper, or add another small one. Also you do not get an intense pumpkin flavor, we may also go with another 1/2 a can on pumpkin.
 And of course add any beer with meal!!
Cheers! Happy fall!

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Josh's Birthday

I threw my 26 year old boyfriend a Star Wars theme birthday party this year. Now if you follow this blog, or my other one: ktjazz.blogspot.com you know that I make him a Star Wars birthday cake every year, usually trying to top the one from the previous year. I kind of screws myself this year, and peaked a little too early. I have NO IDEA how I am going to top this cake next year!!!

Here are some pictures on the cake assembly this year. I made a Death Star cake. I got the original idea from pintrest via here, although I simplified my process a little bit.

My mom and I did a trail run of making a 1/2 sphere cake last weekend and it turned out a lot better than predicted.

Each of the cake halves consisted of 1 and 1/2 box cake mix. The whole box was a yellow cake mix and 1/2 was chocolate swirled in. And baked in a medium pyrex bowl. It took a lot longer to bake than a normal cake, and we also had to adjust the temperature of the oven so not to burn the top, while the inside still cooked. (Again, trial and error)

To hold the 2 halved together I had thick (boba tea) straws- 4 of them stick in the middle of the bottom cake, a little bit of icing glue and shoved the top cake on top of the straws sticking out from the bottom. The middle section is (another cake) that was crumbled and mixed with icing so I could fill the little gap between the 2 to make a perfect globe.

If you know anything about the Death Star you know it has a "satalittlite" disk on the side that concave in a little. At this point of putting the 2 cakes together waiting for the middle "glue"and also being close to midnight, I forgot the hole. Screw it! I let the cake set over night in the fridge.

Next day I cut the hole. And I think it worked a little better than how I originally planned. The cake was cold and solid so it cam out in 1 perfect piece, and barely any crumbs. (You can see the marbling in the cake) For the icing I used regular canned Betty Crocker butter cream frosting, and dyed it with wilton black (sparkle) gel coloring.

The finished product! The "panel" pieces were from wilton sugar sheets, black, and we (my friend and I) piped on royal icing (also dyed the grey-ish color) to make the patterns. I then used Duff's edible food spray silver to give all the black pieces a little sheen. Note to self: sugar sheets bend, royal icing not so much. So when adhering the panels, some of the royal icing fell off, but I like the black color underneath so I kept some like that and re-piped some others.

Needless to say boyfriend was totally awe struck by his cake. We blindfolded him before it came out and, started signing "happy birthday" while the blindfold came off. I told him his cakes from now on are going to be publix cakes with "happy birthday" written on. I don't think he took that seriously! I guess I have a few more Star Wars characters to go through.

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

I found this recipe by the wonderful site pintrest. It was so good, there were a few adjustments made, but over all Josh is begging for it again!



Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

1 lb boneless pork loin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup water

Glaze

1/2 brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 balsamic vinegar
1/2 water
2 Tbsp soy sauce (or 2 of those Chinese food packets you have lying around)


Combine the salt, pepper, and garlic to rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1 cup of water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About an hour before roast is done combine ingredients for glaze. Heat and stir mixture in saucepan until slightly thickened. Pour small amounts over roast 2-3 times during last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.





Enjoy!!

My recipe differs from the original post by:

• I did not use sage, simply because I didn't have it.




• I used a 1 lb roast which worked great for 2 people (my boyfriend and I). 2 lbs would probably be better for a family of 4, and/or left overs.




• I used the recommended amount of water (1/2 cup) this time, but it all cooked up and I was left with a burnt bottom of a slow cooker




• I cooked it for about 9 hours (work day + travel time)




• Because I had burnt bottom slow cooker I did the glaze in a Pyrex dish and in the oven at 350 (until my rice and broccoli was done)

With all my "modifications" it still came out amazing!! As I said I served with broccoli and rice.

YUM!!!!

Rum Cupcakes

First let me apologize for being MIA, but I have been cooking/baking up a storm. My latest ventures have been in boozy baked goods. So with out anymore verbiage getting in the way here are the amazing rum cupcakes!

Rum Cupcakes

1 box yellow cake mix (& cake mix ingredients. Depending on which brand you get)

We used Pillsbury this time so it calls for:
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup water/dark rum

Make the mix according to the box. For the water/rum part you can add as little or much as you want. I go with a full cup usually.

When the cake is done and cooling make the glaze.

Glaze

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

In saucepan, combine butter, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat after 5 minutes are up and add rum. whisk well. Let cool for a few minutes.

While the glaze cools, take wooden skewers and poke multiple holes in cupcakes. Once all are poked, I dipped the cupcakes into the glaze just the baring top part. You can brush on if you like. I dipped them 3 times, letting them soak 15-20 minutes in between dips.

I was planning on making a rum frosting also, but that would have pushed it overboard! So I selected plain vanilla frosting in the can. (Which was most defiantly the right choice).
The glaze recipe is also for an entire bundt cake and I have almost half left over, so I might suggest halving the recipe above or doubling the cupcakes.

Enjoy responsibly!! These are NOT kid friendly cakes.