Monthly Archives: October 2011

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

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I busted out the Christmas music a few days ago.  Okay, I’m lying, it was weeks ago, but at least it was in October and not September like last year.  I think being far away from family in Indiana made me tip a little early.  I needed some love an’ comfort, and aren’t Christmas songs like musical hugs?  I know not everyone likes to listen to Christmas music this early, (please, no angry words about hurting Thanksgiving’s feelings. I think he has accepted his fate.) but whenever you do get started I recommend making a Sufjan Steven’s holiday station on Pandora.  Awesome stuff.

I love these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars because they are so fast.  There’s no fuss, just mix it all up, dump it in a pan, and throw it in the oven.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. With a stand or electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. The mixture will look somewhat curdled. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake bars for 35-40 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

4. Cool bars completely in pan. (yeah right.) Cut into squares and serve.  Or just eat it from the pan with a fork, like I did.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

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I dropped Charlotte on her head last week.  No joke.  Okay so I didn’t actually drop her, she fell, but it was definitely my fault.

We were in the Walmart parking lot.  I had her all dressed up in this cute outfit (you know your life is boring when the biggest events of your week are Walmart and church) but she had a massive explosion on the way there, and of course I had forgotten to pack extra clothes.  So I took her out of her car seat and stripped her down, using every single wipe I had.  She was sitting up on the seat in nothing but a diaper (not the car seat, the window seat, with the door open). I was standing right there so I thought there was no way she could fall.  I bent down to gather up her clothes that I had thrown on the ground…and looked up just in time to see her fall directly on her head.

The weird part is that she only cried for about 30 seconds.  I’m pretty sure that if I fell on my head I would cry longer than that. I called my brother, who’s an ER doctor, and he said if she’s acting normal then there’s nothing to worry about.  Great.  Now all I have to worry about is what kind of mother I am. I’m sure everyone else in Walmart was having that exact thought as I carted my baby through the store in nothing but a diaper, avoiding eye contact.  Why do they always put the baby clothes all the way in the back?  I was a little comforted when a lady walked by and, seeing me as I dressed my naked baby in clothes with the tags still on them that I had just taken off the rack, said, Yep, been there before.

Even if you are now questioning my mothering skills, do not question my crock pot skills.  I am so good at throwing stuff in a pot and letting it sit.  There are a lot of good Americanized Mexican soups out there, but so far this one is my favorite.  You have to try this recipe.  Maybe before you call child protective services.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
Source: Allrecipes.com

1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (however much you like, I actually didn’t measure)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used 2 that were completely frozen and it was fine)
fresh lime juice
shredded Cheddar cheese or Pepper Jack Cheese
sour cream
crushed tortilla chips
cilantro

Drain and rinse the beans. Place the onion, beans, corn, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add spices, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, allow to cool long enough to be handled, and shred or chop. Stir the chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese (or pepper jack if you like a little more heat), a dollop of sour cream, a few squirts of lime juice, chopped cilantro, and crushed tortilla chips.


Pumpkin Cinnamon Steusel Pancakes

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My husband has a slight obsession with waffles.  I think that man could eat waffles 3 times a day and be happy.  I didn’t grow up eating waffles, so while I certainly like them, they don’t have the same nostalgic feel for me.  I really like pancakes, but whenever I suggest that we make them instead of waffles I get this look, like, Are you crazy?

But when I found this recipe I knew even Eric wouldn’t be able to complain.  I mean, pancakes are already a pretty decadent breakfast, with all the butter and syrup.  But pancakes with cinnamon streusel??  Why didn’t I think of that?  I shouldn’t need to tell you this, but these are pretty rich. After I took this picture I started digging in and managed to finish half.  I gave the rest to Eric and he couldn’t even get through all of it.

This recipe has pumpkin in it but the original doesn’t.  So you could slowly clog your arteries all year long!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes

Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

Pancakes:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used white wheat flour)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar (I used dark)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Make the cinnamon streusel. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Mix together with your hands or a fork, until you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until combined.

Heat a griddle or pan to medium low. Coat with cooking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon streusel. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip pancake over and cover very generously with cinnamon streusel. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Continue this process to make the rest of the pancakes.