Recipes

After falling in love with the Campbells Homestyle Tortilla Soup I wanted to try my hand at a recipe that would feed the entire family. This fast and easy meal cooked up in about 30 minutes and serves 6.

Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken breast
1 package fajita mix
1 can (16 oz) corn
1 can (16 oz) black beans
1 can (16 oz) hot rotel tomatos
2 cans (16 oz) diced tomatos
1 cup rice (I used steam fresh pre-cooked rice but you could use whatever is in your pantry)
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups water

Start by browning the ground chicken in a large pot. Once the chicken is browned, add the entire package of fajita mix with one cup of water.

Allow the fajita mix to reduce into the meat. This is what provides the most flavor. After most of the water had been cooked out, drain the liquid from the corn and black beans and add both to the pot.

Add the Rotel and both cans of tomatos into the mix. Allow the pot to simmer on med for 5 – 10 mins.

Add in the chicken stock / broth and remaining water. Bring the complete pot to a boil. Once boiling, add the rice. Allow the pot to cook for another 15 minutes or until the rice is soft.

Serve hot with shredded cheese and sour cream.

I came across a tutorial for home made marshmallows around Christmas time but didn’t get around to actually completing the recipe until last week.

While making your own marshmallows sounds completely strange and unnecessary I can assure you that it was well worth the effort and the resulting product tasted 100X better then store bought options. In addition, I’ve never seen booze enhanced marshmallows at my grocery store – I’m sure there’s a re       ason for that.

Delicious, extra boozy, very sticky and wonderful. If you have an hour or two and a craving for sweets you should definitely give this a try.

Bailey’s Marshmallows
Recipe adapted from Confessions of a Foodie Bride.

Ingredients
1/2 cup baileys Irish cream
3 packets unflavored gelatin
1 cup corn syrup
1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup water
Powdered sugar

**Note: You NEED a candy thermometer to make this recipe.**

1. In a large bowl, combine the Baileys with the packets of gelatin. The recipe I used assured me that the gelatin would absorb. In my rendition it became more of a lumpy hard solid but that did not seem to affect the end result.
2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a sauce pan or pot. Mix constantly until the contents reaches 240 degrees or the soft ball stage on your thermometer.  This will take forever…. Be aware.

   Side note: Use a wooden spoon to stir. I used what I thought was a high temperature spatula and this is what happened.

   

3. Once the sugar has reached the necessary temperature, transfer into the bowl with the Baileys. Try not to spill anywhere as this is now molten LAVA and will be difficult to peel off your stove / counter / etc.
4. Beat the concoction with a hand mixer for 15 minutes – you will have the consistency of marshmallow fluff.
5. Quickly coat a baking dish with baking spray or cooking oil. I used Crisco but that probably wasn’t the best choice as mine left weird oils in my coffee the next day.
6. Pour the mixture into the pan and leave to set overnight.
7. The next morning or 8 hours later run a knife under hot water and scrape along the edge of the pan to loosen the marshmallows. Flip onto a cutting board.
8. Cut into appropriate marshmallow sized pieces using a hot knife.
9. Roll each piece in powdered sugar (to avoid sticking) and store in a zip lock bag.
10. Make a pot of coffee and enjoy!

Long overdue recipe post. I made these cupcakes for a girls night earlier this month as a tribute to the arrival of Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks.

While I love making cupcakes from scratch, I was in a time crunch and decided to take a doctored cake mix approach instead.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

2 tbs cinnamon

1 tbs nutmeg

1/2 cup vegetable oil (not pictured)

Cream Cheese Frosting (not pictured)

1 package cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 375

1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, vegetable oil and eggs. Mix together until even.
2. Add in the pumpkin puree, nutmeg and cinnamon.
3. Scoop into cupcake wrappers and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
4. While cupcakes are baking, use a new bowl to mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar using a hand mixer.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool before frosting. Most cream cheese frosting is placed using a knife instead of a piping bag but you can decorate the cupcakes however you prefer. After frosting, sprinkle cinnamon on top to complete the look.