Salsa Chicken & Black Bean Soup

This is a favorite around my dorm! It's easy, cheap and pretty healthy. Thanks to 365 Days of Crockpotting for this recipe! 

Ingredients:

--1 pound chicken (can still be frozen)
--1 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
--4 cups chicken broth
--1 cup sliced mushrooms ( I used canned ones)
--1 cup frozen corn
--1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
--1 1/2 tsp cumin
--1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
-- avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)

Get cookin'

Throw everything except the sour cream, avocado and cilantro into the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. If you'd like to thicken the broth use an immersible blender to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with cilantro and avocado slices.

PHX restaurants to try

I've had a Microsoft Word document on my desktop for a while where I'd add new restaurants I want to try. But, I keep telling people about the list, but then don't think to email it to them (who'd want to read it via email, anyways!). So, here's my incomplete list of must-try PHX eateries.

If you've got another great restaurant in PHX, especially on the light rail, send it my way!

Switch Wine Bar

Hula's Modern Tiki


Postinos Wine Cafe

Hanny's

Blue Nile Cafe 

Luci's Healthy Cafe

Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe

Sidebar

Ticoz Resto-Bar

Verde 12/30/2010 update: Sadly, Verde went out of business before I was able to try it. Open less than a year, they closed due to a slow dinner crowd. :(

Pumpkin Recipes

I wish the window for cooking pumpkin was bigger! Trying to fit in all the yummy pumpkin recipes I've found across the web it tricky. Here's an on-going list of new pumpkin recipes to try!

photo from here 

Pumpkin Pancakes
Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils
Pumpkin Party Mix
Pumpkin Bean Soup 
Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
Gingered Pumpkin Soup
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Pumpkin-Bourbon Pudding
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake (no-bake!)

Chocolate, Pumpkin Shortbread Bites

I'm so excited it's finally fall (and the weather is in double, not triple, digits)! To celebrate,  next weekend my family is having a pumpkin bake fest. Can't wait. Pumpkin pie milkshakes, caramel pumpkin cupcakes, this recipe...our friends and family are going to love us!


This recipe is from Picky Palate, which always has the cutest holiday snack and dessert ideas. Hope you'll be able to get all your favorite pumpkin recipes cooked before the end of November!


Ingredients

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup granulated sugar

1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Cups canned pumpkin

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 Cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Sprinkles of choice if desired

Get Cookin'

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Use an electric mixer cream the butter and sugars until well combined.  Slowly add in flour and salt until dough forms. 

2.    Press into the bottom of an 8×8 inch baking dish, lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

3.    Next, for the pumpkin layer,mix pumpkin sugar, cream, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixing bowl until well combined. 

4.    Pour over shortbread layer. 

5.     Bake for 45 minutes or until pumpkin layer is golden brown.

6.    Let cool for 30 minutes then cut into bars. 

7.    Melt chocolate over a double broiler or in microwave until smooth then spread over bars. 

8.    Sprinkle with white sprinkles if desired and serve room temperature or chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate Kaula trifle

Instead of a birthday cake this year, my mum made me a chocolate, Kaula trifle. We'd talked about Kaula a few weeks before my birthday and I said I wanted to try it. What better way than to try it in my birthday cake!

This was amazing-everybody loved it. It actually isn't too sweet, Jesse's mom doesn't like sugary-sweet things and she enjoyed it. We will be making this before my next birthday!

This is another recipe that's better to make the day before so the flavors have time to come together.

My birthday trifle and me!

Ingredients
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
2 pkgs. (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk (only) for pudding mix
2/3 c. Kahlua
1 pt whipping cream, whipped
6 Heath bars, crushed in food processor

Get Cookin'
Mix cake mix as directed on package and bake in 13 x 9 inch pan.   Let cool (can do this the day before).

Make chocolate pudding using only 3 cups of milk instead of 4.  Set aside to cool.

Cut cake into 1" x 1" chunks. Put half of them into glass serving bowl.

Sprinkle with half the Kahlua.

Spread half the pudding over cake and sprinkle with half the Heath bars.
Repeat all layers.  Refrigerate

Top with homemade whipped cream to serve.
We served them in wine glasses, but you could serve them in bowls, too.

Barley and Black Bean Salad

I'm in recovery mode from a wonderful birthday weekend! My two close friends, Kristen and Sarah, from my days at Starbucks took me out on Friday night for drinks and dinner--we started at Oreganos, a fun, vintage themed Italian restaurant. They've got locations across Arizona--make sure to save room for their famous pazookies: warm cookie dough with ice cream on top. They've also got some spectacular drinks, too.

On my actual birthday, my parents and Jesse took me to RA Sushi! I loved it. I think I was the only one that did, though. We all had fun, but I don't think any of them will want to go there for their birthday dinners!

On Sunday the rest of our family came over for cake and ice cream. Actually, we made a kalua chocolate trifle. It was to die for. I'll post the recipe later this week.

For now, it's back on the band wagon with a good lunch salad: barley and black bean salad. This makes a lot, so plan to bring it to work all week. This recipe is from: Real Age.

photo from here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup barley, cooked according to package directions
• 1 cup black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup corn (thawed if frozen)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 avocado, sliced
• cayenne pepper
• Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Get Cookin'

Combine cooked barley, beans, corn, cilantro, lime juice, oil, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Immediately before eating, slice avocado to put on top.

It's better if you make it the day before to help the flavors mix together. 

Let me Eat Cake!

This weekend is my birthday--anticlimactic 22 year birthday. But, I'm still excited. See, I adore celebrating birthdays (not just my own, everyone's)! Have you ever visited Birthday Girl? Her blog has the best of the best birthday parties- I love seeing the beautiful decorations and fun themes featured on her blog.

I'm most excited for birthday cake. JRM loves white on white cake, but I love double chocolate. Can't wait for a beautiful, chocolate cake! This one-bowl chocolate cake recipe from Martha Stewart looks amazing. Saturday can't come soon enough!

Photograph: Dennis Gottlieb/Getty Images/StockFood

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter, softened, for pans

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder, plus more for pans

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

3/4 cup warm water

3 tablespoons safflower oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



Get Cookin'

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa.

Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low speed until just combined. Raise speed to medium, and add eggs, buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Divide batter between pans. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out from pans. Transfer, faceup, to wire racks. Let cool completely.

Spread 2 cups chocolate frosting onto top of 1 cooled layer. Top with remaining layer; frost top and sides with remaining 2 cups frosting.