The Best Cornbread Ever

I love this recipe.  My husband loves this recipe even more.  The other day I made chili and I was going to try something new and alter the recipe a bit.  However, my husband was insistent that I not change something that is already perfect.  Seriously, my husband insists that this Cornbread recipe is absolutely perfect.  You have to make this!

With that in mind, I have not changed the recipe, but I have added some of my own thoughts.  The original recipe, with some Honey Butter if you so desire is found at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Cornbread
Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cornmeal
• 1 ½ cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 ¼ cup milk

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Add dry ingredients and stir to mix them.  Then, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny). Bake in an 8” square pan for 30-35 minutes.  The cornbread is amazing warm and the first day.  The amazingness goes down with each day, so try and eat as much as you can the first day.   

This doubles for a 9X13-inch pan, though you need to watch the time.  It's longer than 35 minutes, and in my oven the edges were done but the middle wasn't.  I'll probably lower the temperature and try again in the future.  

Anyway, this cornbread is amazing!  Enjoy!

Apple Pie Oatmeal

Now that it is the fall and finally apple season again, I have been cooking a lot! One of the first Pinterest recipes I wanted to make was this one. I already love oatmeal and who doesn't love hot apple pie?! This recipe is one of those that perfectly combines two things that I already loved: you get the comfort factor of the oatmeal combined with the hot apples and syrup that make apple pie so yummy. I also love that since this is oatmeal, I don't get hungry before lunch like I do when I eat cereal. Although this was originally a Pinterest recipe, I have changed it here because the original recipe cooked the apples and oatmeal together, but I couldn't get them cooked right at the same time so I make the two parts separately here.

Here's how I make it:

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup water
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP butter

I bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the apples, spices and sugar.  Saute everything over medium-low until the apples are soft but still have a little bite. Add your oat to the water. Add more or less water depending on the consistency that you prefer. Top with apples and syrup.
 That's all there is to it. Serve it with a splash of milk if desired.

Note: Ethan and I both liked this with lots of apples, so I make one apple for the two of us. This recipe also duplicates really easily, so I like to make two apples worth and then store the leftovers for later in the week.

Hamilton Chili

Sorry, that it has been so long since I have posted, but we are back from vacation, and back in the swing of making new recipes. Before I jump into the recipe I wanted to give Christina a shout out and thank her for being an amazing friend and letting us come to visit them in SF. Hopefully someday we will be back close again. We miss you guys already!

Now, for the Chili!! It is fall so, even here in Texas, we can finally start making some of our favorite comfort foods. We originally got this recipe from a book called "Come Home to dinner", but since then we have made a lot of little changes to make it our own. One of the changes that we have made is to add the kidney and black beans. Ethan and I love lots of different beans, so we added them, but feel free to take them back out if you don't like either kind. Finally, sorry for forgetting to take a pic, but it pretty much looks like every other chili.

Chili

1 lb. Ground Beef
1lb. Sausage, Mild or Spicy both work
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-28 oz can Diced Tomatos, undrained
1-15 oz can Tomato Sauce
1-15oz can Black Beans, rinsed
1-15 oz can Kidney Beans, rinsed
1-32 oz can Chili/ Pinto Beans, rinsed
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos
Corn Bread
This chili is also yum served over rice.

Brown the ground beef and sausage in a skillet, drain grease and add to slow cooker. Rinse all beans and then add to cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let cook for 6-8 hours, on low. As with most chilis, feel free to let this simmer away on low all day!

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Okay, this is one of the recipes from the recipe party I hosted the other day. Thanks you Amber for bringing these super yummy pockets! Also, I made a huge mistake at the grocery store and accidentally  bought country biscuits instead of the crescent rolls. Although the biscuits turned out a lot thicker, they still made good pockets. So, if you get home and realize you have the wrong canister for this recipe, still give it a try. 

Yield: 24 pockets
4 TB olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced (8 tenders or 2 big cans of canned chicken)
1 cup minced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 TB butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
4 tablespoons milk
3 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls/ or 3 pastry sheets (each cut into 8 squares)
2 TB butter, melted
Bread crumbs (Italian seasoned or Panko)
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken with the onions and garlic.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons melted butter until smooth. Stir in the cooked chicken, onions and garlic. Add the salts, pepper and milk. Mix well.
Separate the crescent roll dough into the eight triangles or cut into eight squares. Dollop a tablespoon of filling into the center of each triangle and fold the corners up to seal. Press and seal firmly. Place on ungreased baking sheet or stone and repeat with the remaining dough and filling OR use greased cupcake pans. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs (optional).
Bake for 11 – 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipe Note: To heat up leftovers, bake in a preheated 350˚F oven for 10 minutes.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

This isn't an amazing picture but I promise it tastes SUPER good :)

4 Chicken Breasts
1/3 cup butter
1 package Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup water

1 8oz package cream cheese
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

Add first four ingredients into Crock Pot and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. (Perfect to have cooking during church!)
When chicken is done, take it out and shred it. Put aside.
Add cream cheese and cream of chicken in the Crock Pot and mix well.
Add the chicken and then eat up! I like to eat it on top of rice but you can do mashed potatoes or any sort of pasta as well.

Thank you Bingham family for the yummy recipe!!!

Black Bean Soup

As I previously promised I am here to give y'all the oh so tasty, hearty, and healthy Black Bean Soup recipe.  I wish I had taken a picture of it b/c it looked delicious.  However, it was gobbled up way too fast, and I am a bit of a slacker in the picture taking department.

I actually made this soup last week and it's already been requested again.  Everyone loved it!  I mean absolutely everyone thoroughly enjoyed every bite of this soup.  My husband, my 1 year old, and a family friend ate this soup with gusto.  My little 1 year old (okay 16 months) was kicking her legs with each and every bite; she usually only does that with cookies, brownies, or peas.  Not only is this soup delicious, but it is really healthy.  I love when my family loves a good healthy and vegetarian recipe.  Don't you?

I made the soup as our main dish but we threw in some chips and corn tortillas for a little dipping fun as well as some fruit and we had plenty of tasty goodness.  We had enough soup to last us two days plus an extra small bowl to send home with our friend.  Overall, the soup makes a good amount, but if you have a big family and/or like a lot of leftovers I suggest doubling it.

Black Bean Soup
Slightly adapted from Our Best Bites cookbook

Ingredients:
A little bit of olive oil
1 cup diced or shredded carrots (you can use as many veggies as you want actually)
The recipe calls for 3/4 cup of diced celery but I omitted this due to my husbands anti-celery feelings
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp. of minced garlic
2 cans (15 oz) black beans rinsed and drained
1 can (3.5 oz) diced green chilies
4 cups beef broth (you could use water or vegetable broth if you are super vegetarian)
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 bay leaf (I just recently took to loving the flavor bay leaves can provide, be sure to give this a shot if you've been a bay leaf skeptic like me).
2 Tbsp of lime juice
Toppings of your choice:  tortilla chips, corn tortillas, cheese (we did cheddar and mozzarella), sour cream, green onions, cilantro, etc.

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add carrots, onion, any other veggies you desire, and garlic.  Saute the veggies until the onions are soft, or about 3 mins or so.

Add black beans, green chilies, and beef broth, and stir to mix them all together.  Add salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf to your soup.  I simmered the soup uncovered for approximately 20 minutes, but you can go as long as 30 minutes if you'd like.  Remove the pot from the stove and remove the bay leaf b/c it has now done its job.

If you have an immersion blender you can use that here.  However, if you are ghetto like me then pour the soup contents into your blender.  Now, if you doubled your soup recipe you will need to blend this in 2 batches b/c this one pot filled my entire blender.  Place the lid on your blender but be sure to remove the stopper to allow the heat to escape somewhere.  However, with the stopper removed you could make a large mess if you start to blend it.  Therefore, hold a paper towel over the stopper opening while you are blending the soup.

Blend/puree the soup until you reach a consistency and look that is most appealing to you.  This process took me only a few minutes and I pureed my soup to a good pureed mixture with no bean chunks for me.  Finally, pour your lime juice into the blender with the pureed soup and give it a couple of pulses to mix it in well.

Lastly, enjoy this tasty soup with as many or as few toppings as you want b/c it'll taste good no matter what.

Happy Fall soup eating!

MeganRuth

Sausage and Wild Rice

Hello ladies. Another winner without a picture. You'll just have to trust me. I haven't planned this weeks menu, so I was thrilled to find this recipe in my old ward's cookbook. I had all the ingredients, added a side salad and cooked corn (two veggie sides? I am amazing!). And we had a meal that we all loved. I love when it's quick and easy and doesn't called for canned soup!

Sausage and Wild Rice

1 lb sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth

Brown sausage. Add onion and rice and brown again (rebrown?). Add chicken broth. Cook until ready.

See. So easy! Life is great when cooking is easy. Did I mention this was easy?

Pizza Bites

I found this recipe on Barefoot and Baking (my new favorite recipe blog) and it was amazing! I did mine a little different so if you want her original recipe you can go to barefootandbaking.blogspot.com These little things were soooo tasty, though, and I can't wait for our next pizza night!

I also added my favorite pizza dough recipe or you can use store bought.

Pizza Bites

Pizza dough*

Pizza Sauce

mozzarella cheese, cubed into 1/2 inch cubes

olive oil

Sausage, pepperoni or other pizza toppings

Italian seasoning

garlic powder

Parmesan cheese

*You can use whatever pizza dough is your favorite. I used this one. I doubled the recipe and it made about 24 bites.

Roll out the pizza dough into an rectangle about 18 inches by 6 inches. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 24 squares. In the center of each square put 1 to2 teaspoons of ranch and the same amount of cheese (about 4 cubes). Gather up the edges and seal the dough so none of the innards leak out. Place these seam side down in a greased pie plate or similar dish. Brush the tops with olive oil and then sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden and the dough is cooked. Serve with marinara sauce or ranch dressing for dipping.

You can really fill these bites with anything you would put on a pizza...pepperoni, pineapple, bell peppers, etc.

We even filled a few with a big marshmallow and a few chocolate chips. When they were cooked I drizzled them with some icing, YUM!

Our Favorite Pizza Crust

2 Tbls. yeast

2 1/4 c. water

4 1/2 Tbls. olive oil

1 Tbls. salt

6 3/4 c. flour

Mix all together, knead and place in a well oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled. About 45 min. Spread in pizza pans or cookie sheets and top with pizza sauce. cheese and whatever toppings you want. Bake at 450 for 15 min.