Mexican Chicken Chilli in Slow Cooker

So Halloween weekend!  I've never been 'gung ho' Halloween.  I mean I love candy and parties...But dressing up is just a pain for the most part and it stresses me out!  We are going to a Halloween party tomorrow and I do have my "costume", except for my wig  If it's not in the mail tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to do.  Also, my costume is kinda silly and people (except for the people at this party) won't even know who I am until they see me with John, and even then, it's very much a 2011 costume.  I'm doing it for John though based on his "favorite" song (Don't ever say I'm not a good wife :P).  Maybe I'll post a picture later if it all works out.  Are you dressing up for Halloween this year?  If so, what are you being?

I totally failed in posting this on Wednesday like I had planned. Oh well, regardless of when I posted it, it is still delicious!  This is modified from a Weight Watchers recipe that I found on Photo a Day, so that goes to show that it is low in calories too!  But still so hearty and fulfilling!

Mexican Chicken Chili in Slow Cooker

-1/2 c onion
-1 16 oz. can black beans (drained and rinsed)
-1 16 oz. can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
-1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
-1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
-3/4 c chicken or vegetable broth
-2 c frozen corn
-2 chicken breasts
-1 packet taco seasoning (If you have an ethnic aisle in your grocery store, there are so many options)
-1 tbsp cumin
-1 tbsp chili powder
-a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook for about 5 hours on High, or 8 hours on low.  Shred chicken, then cook for an additional 15 minutes or so.

Butternut Squash soup

This is my all time favorite comfort food.  I could eat it everyday.  I love that it is sweet, yet also spicy and so creamy (without adding cream).

Butternut Squash Soup

1 Butternut Squash peeled and chopped (about 4 cups)
3 peeled and chopped whole carrots (about 1 cup)
1 medium white or sweet potato peeled and chopped
1 small chopped onion (about 1 cup)
3 tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
2 c vegetable broth (or more, use your best judgement)
1/2 to 1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss squash, carrots, potato, and onion in a baking pan with olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper (use as much spices as you think are needed.  I use about equal parts salt, pepper, and cinnamon, but less nutmeg.)

Bake for 45 min-1 hour

When squash is soft, transfer everything in baking pan to a soup pot, add vegetable broth and simmer for 1 minute.

Use an immersion blender (or regular blender if you don't have an immersion) and blend until smooth.

Add milk to desired thickness and stir.  Add more salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg to desired taste.

I serve this with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, but you can use sour cream as well!


Part 1 of 3 in The Perfect Fall Food for a Lazy Fall Night

Pumpkin Peanut Soup

Yesterday John and I did the Step Trek in the South Side slopes of Pittsburgh.  It was a walk that explored a lot of the different stairs around the area.  It was fun because we were able to explore an area of Pittsburgh that we otherwise wouldn't have, we saw some pretty cool views of the city, and of course we got exercise (1,322 steps..not counting the thousands of steps we took just walking to the different stairs).  Needless to say my calves are pretty sore.  After that we went to my favorite place, The Milk Shake Factory.  They not only have 55 milkshake variations, you can also come up with your own flavor. AND they have sundaes, plain old ice cream cones with probably about 12 ice cream flavors, and homemade fancy chocolates.

After we got home we relaxed for about a half hour then went on a bike ride at the North Shore.  We were hoping to see some filming of 'One Shot' so we could see Tom Cruise but they weren't there.  But it was still a nice ride because of the insanely beautiful weather.  We just had to take advantage of it!  And I think we did a good job.

Anyway, I thought this soup would be a good idea for a relaxing night after our busy day.  I've been loving cooking with pumpkin and squash and all of the delicious tastes that fall brings.  I may be overdoing it just a tad, but there are so many recipes and options that it's hard to not take advantage.  John hasn't complained yet...but we'll see what December brings after his 15th bowl of some variation of pumpkin or butternut squash soup.  This recipe was especially delicious because it had the peanut taste to compliment the pumpkin.  I got the recipe from the October 2011 issue of Women's Health.

Pumpkin Peanut Soup

-2 tsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
-1 small onion (about 1 c)
-3 cloves garlic
-1/2 tsp paprika
-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
-1 can pure pumpkin puree (15 oz.)
-1 1/2 c vegetable broth
-1 jar drained roasted red peppers (7 oz.)
-1/3 c smooth peanut butter
-1 tsp sugar
-1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
-salt and pepper

Heat oil and onion and cook until onion is slightly browned.  Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add paprika and crushed red pepper, pumpkin puree, broth, peppers, and peanut butter. Stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Blend until smooth.  Serve and enjoy!

Corn soup with Jalapeno Puree

I have declared Mondays as meatless.  But let's be honest, there will be more than one meatless day in my house.  I could definitely be a vegetarian.  As it is now I only make and mostly only eat chicken and turkey.  I will eat other meats though if I am eating at someone's house.  I never want to inconvenience anyone so I just eat what they prepare.  I make beef maybe once a year, for Johns birthday.  Meatloaf...he loves it.  I told him I would make a turkey meatloaf and he didn't really like that idea.  Every time I buy beef though I just feel gross...and it looks gross and ya know, it's just not appealing to me in the least.  But have me over for dinner, and I will eat your bloody steak without one complaint.

Anyway, meatless Mondays are a good idea because you never know what we ate over the weekend.  For some reason I really don't want or like to cook on Saturdays or Sundays (unless it's breakfast) so we normally go out to eat, or have a frozen pizza.  But it's good to start the week off healthy.  And of course continue to eat healthy throughout the week, and then splurge on the weekends.  That's my mentality...probably not the best one but I like it.

As I was going through old magazines ripping out recipes, I came across one for Corn Soup in the July 2010 issue of Real Simple (I love this magazine!)  So this recipe is modified from that.

Corn Soup with Jalapeno Puree

Jalapeno Puree

2 jalapeno peppers with seeds removed
a quarter of a green bell pepper chopped (about 1/4 cup) I used the frozen bell pepper mix from Trader Joe's
2 tbsp chicken or vegetable broth

Put peppers on baking sheet and broil for about 10 minutes until slightly charred.  Let cool for a little then blend in blender with 2 tbsp broth.  Pour into a small bowl, clean out blender, and set aside for later.

Corn Soup

2 tbsp butter
1 small onion chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
5 cups white corn kernels (Ok so I have to be honest here, I was to lazy to chop the corn off of about 10 ears of corn so I just used the frozen white corn from Trader Joes)
salt and pepper (about 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper)
plain yogurt
cilantro leaves

Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onions and cook until soft but not browned.

Add corn, broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Blend soup in blender (or with your immersion blender if you are so lucky) until smooth.

Serve the soup with a spoonful of plain yogurt in it and the jalapeno puree on top.  Garnish with fresh cilantro.

I am so happy to soup season is here!

Coconut Curry Soup

I have discovered the wonderful world of food blogs!  How wonderful they are!

This one was recommended to me by several people:

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

And from that blog I made Coconut Curry Soup.  I love Curry, and Coconut.  So it was definitely the perfect choice and super delicious served over rice.  Follow this link for the recipe:

Coconut Curry Soup