30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Two: Crockpot Chili

There's no better way to start your October weekends off than with a big bowl of chili.  Crockpot Pumpkin Chili from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice is a great way to put a new spin on a classic meal.  Adding pumpkin to your chili is a great way to sneak in an extra veggie in an already rich veggie dish. 

I suppose you could make this chili with ground beef, but that would make the dish a lot more complicated since it is prepared in the crockpot.  If you use chicken you can stick the meat in the crockpot frozen.  Using ground beef will require you to brown the meat in a skillet first.  We used chicken cause it is a leaner meat, and I'm lazy.

The chili is supposed to have corn in it.  I forgot!  As it is, the recipe made 9 servings for us!  The original says it only makes 6.  Those must have been some HUGE serving sizes.  Even if your family is a bunch of hearty eaters this batch of chili still feeds a goodly amount of hungry folks.

Crockpot Pumpkin Chicken Chili from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
14 oz diced tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) pumpkin puree
2 c chicken broth
1 lg onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, mince
1 T chile powder
1 t cumin
1 heaping t dried oregano,
1/2 t black pepper
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeds removed, minced, (we used 1 with the seeds)
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts or cutlets, skin and visible fat removed (this is about 3-4 breasts)
2 cans (14 ounce each) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used 1.5c each cooked pinto and black beans)
1 c corn kernels, if frozen, thawed
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped (I used 2t dried)
sour cream, shredded cheddar, guacamole/avocado, green onions and/or tortilla chips, for serving

To a 4-5 qt crockpot add tomatoes, broth and pumpkin. Stir til combined; add onion, garlic, chile powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and chipotles; combine well. Add chicken, beans and corn. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 on low. When ready to serve remove chicken and chop into bite-size pieces or shred with two forks. (we shredded ours) Add back to pot, stir in cilantro and serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions, guacamole and/or tortilla chips.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day One: Pumpkin Cookie Dough

These pumpkin cookie dough balls from Foods for the Soul are a great fall mid morning snack!  I like to pretend they are healthy cause they contain a veggie.  I also like to pretend that I'm the queen of everything.  Bubbles are great until someone goes and burst them so ....   shhhhh!

These pumpkin dough balls are slightly different from the ones I made back in Dec'12.  These don't contain any oats, and twice as much sugar.  Remember what I said about healthy?  Uh scratch that.  The Oat cookie dough balls are probably better for you.  These cookie dough balls are pure smooth pumpkin dough, which there is a time and a place for.  That time is now, and the place is in your belly.

Pumpkin Dough Balls adapted from Foods for the Soul
1 c flour
heaping 1/2 t cinnamon
heaping 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice blend
1 T butter or margarine, melted
1/4c + 1T canned pumpkin
1/2 t vanilla
1/2c brown sugar

In a small bowl mix flour and spices, in another bowl mix remaining ingredients.  Add dry to wet.  Roll into 32 balls.  Chill on parchment or wax paper covered cookie sheet in freezer.  Once solid, store in airtight container in freezer.  Keep cold until served.  Will be extremely mushy at room temp.

1 c all-purpose flour (measured correctly)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

¼ c + 2 tsp pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c brown sugar

- See more at: http://foodsforthesoul.net/2013/09/23/pumpkin-cookie-dough-bites/#sthash.I2PuXYT3.dpuf

1 c all-purpose flour (measured correctly)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

¼ c + 2 tsp pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c brown sugar

See Kid-Friendly Halloween Treats

1. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, pumpkin, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in the brown sugar, smearing any clumps along the side of the bowl. Add in the dry flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
2. Line a baking sheet or large plate with wax paper. Roll the cookie dough into 32 little balls, using between 1 – 1½ teaspoons of dough in each ball. Place on the wax paper and refrigerate until ready to serve.

- See more at: http://foodsforthesoul.net/2013/09/23/pumpkin-cookie-dough-bites/#sthash.I2PuXYT3.dpuf

1 c all-purpose flour (measured correctly)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

¼ c + 2 tsp pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c brown sugar

See Kid-Friendly Halloween Treats

1. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, pumpkin, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in the brown sugar, smearing any clumps along the side of the bowl. Add in the dry flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
2. Line a baking sheet or large plate with wax paper. Roll the cookie dough into 32 little balls, using between 1 – 1½ teaspoons of dough in each ball. Place on the wax paper and refrigerate until ready to serve.

- See more at: http://foodsforthesoul.net/2013/09/23/pumpkin-cookie-dough-bites/#sthash.I2PuXYT3.dpuf

Thirty Days of Pumpkin

Is there such a thing as too much pumpkin?  

No way Josie!  

For the entire month of October, I'll be posting a squash-o-riffic recipe for Thirty Days.  

via

Insane?

Yes.

Glad we cleared that up.

via

Gourds away!

Summer Hiatus

I've decided to take a 

break from blogging over the summer.  

Enjoy yourselves and see you in a few months!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake

This recipe for Chicken Enchilada Bake comes from Gimme Some Oven.  I used leftover chicken that I had cooked up the previous day in the crockpot.

This meal was easy enough for me to prepare after going for a run.  You have no idea how much this is saying for this recipe.  I run slower than a sloth...that's asleep, however, when I've finished I pretty much just want to collapse into a pile of goo on the floor.  Had I really been thinking I would have assembled the casserole BEFORE I went into the great outdoors.  Then again, I've started running so there's something flawed with my thinking in the first place.

I made a few changes to the original recipe amp up the flavor to my families' preferences.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake adapted from Gimme Some Oven
1 lb. dried pasta (I used med shells)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
heaping t cumin
1/2 t pepper
2 cans enchilada sauce
3 c shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 c  cooked black beans
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
2 c shredded Mexican-blend cheese
Toppings: diced avocado, salsa, sour cream

Heat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Meanwhile, heat oil in  lg skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and saute 5 min, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent. Add green chiles, garlic and pepper and saute 2 min. Add spices, cook 1 min. Add Add enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, black beans, and corn, and stir to combine. When pasta done, drain and remove from heat. Add enchilada sauce mix to pasta, and stir to combine. Add 1 c cheese until just combined, then transfer the pasta to a 9x13" greased baking dish. Sprinkle pasta with the remaining 1 c cheese. Bake 15-20 min, or til cheese melt and mixture warmed through. Serve immediately with toppings.

Creole Skillet

I found this recipe for a Creole Rice Skillet over at Oven Love.  I added a whole bunch of extra stuff to make it even more scrumptious!

Creole Rice Skillet adapted from Oven Love
2T evoo
2 medium sweet onion, quartered and sliced
5 links garlic and onion polish sausage links, sliced into half moons
1/2 each red, yellow and orange bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15oz can fire roasted garlic tomatoes
1/2 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
1 T smoked paprika
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
2 c cooked white rice
2 c cooked brown rice
3 c cooked pinto beans

In lg skillet heat oil.  Cook onion until translucent. Add sliced sausage.  Cook until sausage begins to blacken.  Add peppers. Cook 2 min.  Add garlic and tomatoes.  Cook until moisture mostly evaporates. Add all spices and cook 1 min.  Add rice and beans.  Cook til heated through.

Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

I had the biggest hankering for oatmeal raisin cookie dough one afternoon.  I was all sad and lamenting my lack there of to a friend, when I realized I could probably figure out how to whip up a batch myself.

Here's what I came up with:

This is about 1/3 of the recipe.  Gnomes attacked it before I could snap a picture.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough (by me!)
2T Margarine - very soft
2T brown sugar
1/3c whole wheat flour
pinch of baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4-1 t cinnamon
1/8 t vanilla
3T oats (Quick cooking or old fashioned)
1-2 T almond milk
1T raisins
1T cinnamon chips

Combine soft margarine and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Add oats.  Batter will be very stiff and crumbly.  Add Almond milk slowly until mixture resembles uncooked cookie dough.  Fold in chips and raisins.  This makes one giant serving or 2 average servings.

Blockette approved!