Chicken Chile Verde

I got this idea from my brother's friend. The same friend who inspired me to start my food blog. It takes a while to make, but it's so worth it. The picture is a bit ghetto because my camera broke so I had to take it with my phone.

3 pounds skinless boneless chicken- You can get this a few ways, Personally, I like to buy it already cooked. Trader Joe's has packages of cooked chicken and they also have whole roasted chickens. Or you can buy it raw and cook it yourself. Whatever you prefer.
olive oil
3 cups chopped onions- To make it easier, I like to buy the already chopped onions from the store. I hate chopping onions and its definitely a time saver.
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
5 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 jar Trader Joe's salsa verde
2 4oz cans of fire roasted diced green chiles
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cinnamon sticks
corn tortillas

Saute the onions and garlic in a large skillet with about 2 tbs of olive oil. Once it is done, transfer to a big pot and add the chopped or shredded chicken, corn, oregano, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, chile verde salsa and chicken broth. After the concoction comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for about 2 hours or until thick. As with any recipe, you can add or remove any ingredients you want. If you don't like cumin, don't add it. If you like cayenne pepper, throw it on in there. Be your own boss with this one folks.
Once the verde is done, spoon as much as you want onto corn tortillas and enjoy! You can throw some shredded cheese on there to doll it up but it's just as delicious without.

Moist and Delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Did I get your attention with the word "moist?" Here's a tasty fall dessert that people will be asking you to make year round. The good thing about this recipe is you can do pretty much anything you want with the batter... make a bundt cake, a normal cake, cupcakes, a BLT- hahaha tricked you with that one.

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
16 oz. canned pumpkin
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the sugar and oil. Add eggs (beaten). Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin and chocolate chips. Spray a cake pan or put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and filler up. For cakes, it should bake about an hour (keep an eye on it) and for cupcakes it will take about 25-30 minutes. Once done, take out the goodness and let cool completely. I frosted the cupcakes with chocolate frosting, but you can frost them with the flavor of your choice or leave them plain. You will want to poke your own eyes out after you take your first bite, that's how good it is.

Chili Chili Bang Bang

I always thought chili was something that took hours to make, but a coworker of mine gave me a delicious chili recipe that took maybe 20 minutes and it tastes fantastic.

1 can of kidney beans (red or white- I used white)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of pinto beans
1 chopped onion
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp red chile pepper
1 can fire-roasted diced green chiles
1 package of ground beef
1 packet of chili seasoning

Brown ground beef and onions in a skillet (drain fat).
In a large pot, combine remaining ingredients (including the liquid in the tomatoes and beans). Add beef and onions to mixture and let simmer on low heat til warmed through. Scoop yourself a heaping bowl, top with raw onions and cheese and enjoy! And also, maybe sleep alone that evening.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars With Coconut and Walnuts

Here's a sweet lil treat that I can't get enough of. The picture doesn't do this gooey deliciousness justice.

3/4 cup butter melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 jar of caramel sauce/topping
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, butter, 1/2 cup choc. chips, 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup walnuts.
Press the mixture into a greased 11x17 inch pan.
Pour the jar of caramel sauce over the mixture (you may want to warm it up Kris first so it's easy to pour) and sprinkle the remaining nuts, coconut and chocolate chips on top.
You can also put half the mixture on the bottom, add the caramel, remaining nuts, coconut and chocolate chips and then put the other half of the mixture on top to make the bars a bit thicker.
Bake for 20 mins, let cool completely and enjoy.

No need to thank me, just pay it forward.

A Salad So Easy, A Caveman Could Make It

I don't have a picture for this one, but I made a fresh and easy salad for our Halloween potluck today and it was a huge hit so I thought I'd share the wealth.
Sooooo simple. Corn kernels, cherry tomatoes cut in half, chopped scallions, diced avocados, a pinch of salt and pepper, olive oil to coat the ingredients and fresh squeezed lime juice from one lime. Just mix all the ingredients together and ta-da, you are done. I didn't put measurements (cups, tablespoons, etc) because you can make as little or as much as you want. It's very light and super tasty. Here's the crazy part...I kinda made up this recipe because they were flavors/ingredients I thought would taste good together. I was perusing the recipe section of the Martha Stewart website (so?) and pretty much that exact recipe was on there!!!! I felt so smart, and extremely pretty for some reason.
Have a happy Halloween boys and ghouls!

It's The Great Pumpkin Empanada, Charlie Brown!

I really put my foot in it this time guys. I don't wanna toot my own horn, but beep beep. As I said in yesterday's post, we are having a Halloween potluck at work tomorrow and I decided to make a few dishes. I came across this diamond in the rough while Googling pumpkin recipes and it's a keeper. I added my own touch to it, obvy.

Here are the players:
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tbs cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice (my own addition)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (my own addition)
2 15-ounce packages of refrigerated pie pastry (4 rounds total- I use Pillsbury)
2 tbs granulated sugar
2 tbs milk, cream or evaporated milk
flour for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the pumpkin, brown sugar, 2 tbs of cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Unroll 1 pie crust at a time on a lightly floured surface. Take a 4-inch round cookie cutter (I actually used a martini glass) and start cutting out circles. You can re-roll the dough scraps to get the most circles possible out of it. Nothing goes to waste! Put a tablespoon of the pumpkin filling in the center of each circle and fold the circles in half over the filling. Press down the edges of the empanada with a fork and put on a baking sheet. With your finger, moisten the top of the empanadas with the milk and then sprinkle with a mixture of the granulated sugar and the remaining 2 tbs of cinnamon. Throw those bad boys in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown. Like Katy Perry said, you can eat 'em hot or cold.

Corn Muffins With Rosemary

We are having a lil potluck lunch at work Friday for Halloween. I thought this would be a good idea to try some new fall recipes. Here's a fun semi-made one I conjured up.
Buy your favorite cornbread mix. Combine the ingredients together in a bowl as directed. Add about half a cup of frozen corn kernels (thawed of course or you can add fresh corn kernels if you want to scrape them off the cob yourself) and about 2 tablespoons of fresh or dried rosemary leaves. Really, you can eyeball the corn and rosemary and add as much or as little as you like. It's not rocket science.
Spray the muffin tin with cooking spray or use baking cups (whatever your preference is). Spoon them almost to the top of a mini-muffin tin or a regular size muffin tin (I used a mini-muffin tin). Then sprinkle a tiny bit of the rosemary on top so people know it's in the muffins.
Throw them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they are just starting to get golden on the sides.
Let em cool and enjoy!