Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

4 chicken breast halves (mine were frozen)
1 can corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can chicken broth
1 cup salsa

Place ingredients into crock pot cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Verdict: This has GREAT flavor. I am not a salsa or spicy fan at all. I even kept the salsa out for awhile debating on whether or not to put it in. I decided to include it after all and I was so glad I did. This was not spicy at all but had great flavor and spices to it. I shredded the chicken during the last hour. This has a lot of liquid and makes a great soup or you can do what I did as I was running out the door to class and I just pulled out some chicken and corn and beans and wrapped it in a tortilla with sour cream and cheese. It was so good! My kids ate it as a soup with Frito's, sour cream, and shredded cheese. The chicken and corn and beans would also be good over a salad. The flavor they get from cooking all day is really good.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chicken

I found this recipe here and tried it out last Tuesday. Tuesday has become my crockpot day because I have class that night so dinner is done before I have to leave.
-12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves
--1 cup brown sugar (it's okay. you can brush your teeth after.)
--1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (stay with me...)
--2/3 cup vinegar
--3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
--2 T soy sauce
--1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 5-6 quart crock pot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crock pot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

Verdict: This chicken was SO tender. It had a really good flavor. I was expecting super sweet like candied yams and it wasn't that sweet so I was very pleasantly surprised. It made great leftovers.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Best Chocolate Cake Ever!

So I'm pretty sure a lot of people have this recipe but I stumbled across it on this site.
I will type out the directions here but if you want yummy photos that will make your mouth water click on over. This cake was really easy and so good! Come to think of it I think this is my first ever cake from scratch and it was still easy. I'm not sure I will ever want the box again.

Cake
Two sticks butter
1 cup water
4 heaping TBS cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Melt 2 sticks butter in pan. Boil 1 cup water (I did this in the microwave)
After the butter is melted add the 4 heaping TBS cocoa powder and mix thoroughly.
Pour in boiling water and allow mixture to bubble for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

In large mixing bowl mix
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Pour hot butter/chocolate mixture over flour/sugar mixture and stir together.

In a small mixing bowl (I just used my measuring cup) mix
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Add to chocolate mixture and stir together well.

Pour into ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking (I started this with about 5 minutes left and it ended up working perfectly. You don't want your frosting to set up while you are waiting for the cake)

Frosting
1 1/4 cup butter (= 1 stick and 3/4 of another)
4 heaping TBS cocoa powder
6 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar (I did a little over 2 cups and it seemed perfect. You want it dark brown and runny but frosting consistency if that makes sense.)

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Once melted add cocoa powder. Stir together and allow to bubble for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
Add 6 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar
Stir together well and pour over warm cake and spread quickly. It sets up fast.

I couldn't resist and cut a little corner while it was still warm and oh my! It tasted like the chocolate molten cake you get at restaurants. All I needed was a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it would have been heavenly.
The real recipe calls for chopped nuts in the icing but seeing how my mouth swells up all funny and I get sores for days and not to mention that I don't like the taste of nuts anyway I left them out. For any pecan lovers add 1/2 cup chopped pecans after the powdered sugar.