Crockpot Tortilla Soup

This is another recipe I received at my bridal shower in 2004.  The first time I made this I accidentally used black beans instead of the ranch style beans that it calls for, but it was so delicious that I never went back to the original recipe.  This is my favorite soup and not only because it's so delicious!!  It's also a cinch to make!!!  I make this throughout the fall and winter and almost every year on Christmas Eve!  Serve with shredded cheese (I like the Mexican blend!), sour cream, and tortilla chips!!!  I get lots of requests for this recipe!

 This is such a yummy soup!!!!

 Here's what you'll need!  Yes, that's it!!  If you know how to use a can opener, you can make this one!!

 Place 3-4 chicken breasts in crockpot.   I like to spray my crockpot with a nonstick spray.  Also, I like to season the chicken with salt and pepper.

 Add 2 cans of Rotel.  I use the original flavor.  I think it's important to put the Ro-Tel on the chicken first to give it great flavor!

 Drain and rinse black beans.

 Add black beans over Ro-Tel.

 Add 1 can corn undrained.

 Add 2 cans chicken broth.  Cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 10-12 hours.

 At the end of cooking time, remove chicken and shred.  This won't take much effort.  That chicken will be fork tender!!!  Return shredded chicken to crockpot.

 Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips!!

This recipe always gets rave reviews!!!!  Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Join Aggie’s Kitchen and Real Mom Kitchen to share a family favorite Winter Comfort Food recipe for the Bush’s Beans Recipe Exchange!” 

Crockpot Tortilla Soup
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 small cans Ro-Tel (I use the Original flavor.)
1 15 oz. can Bush's Beans black beans, (*drained and rinsed*)
1 can corn
2 cans chicken broth

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add  Ro-Tel, beans, corn, and chicken broth.  Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours or on High for 6 hours.  Shred chicken and return to crockpot!  Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips!!

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Peanut Butter Brownie Cups with Peanut Butter Frosting

If you haven't had the chance to visit Hugs & CookiesXOXO , then you need to get on over there and check out all the decadent desserts she's whipping up!  She is known for her weekly bake alongs where she bakes up some tasty cookie, brownie, cake, etc. and readers are invited to bake the same recipe and share their photos on her Facebook page.  I participated in one of the bake alongs back in July and made red velvet brownies with white chocolate frosting!  They were absolutely yummy!!!!!!!!!!  It was about time to try another one, so I chose a peanut butter brownie this time.  I will be honest with you here- I'm not one of those people who LOVES peanut butter.   I like it, but I don't love it!  Chocolate is my passion!  After viewing some of the photos on the Hugs & CookiesXOXO Facebook page, I noticed some of her readers had added chocolate.  I started to get excited about a brownie with both chocolate and peanut butter. That was when I knew I'd be adding peanut butter cups into the recipe.  The same day I bought my peanut butter cups, I found the cutest cupcake liners that I couldn't wait to use!  That's how these became brownie cups!!  The original recipe is baked in a 9x13 pan and you can go here to see the recipe and some yummy photos!!

Note:  I followed the brownie recipe to the letter!!  To the frosting, I did one thing differently-added 2 T. heavy cream.

This is one amazing peanut butter brownie recipe!!!  Thanks Hugs & CookiesXOXO !



 Start by melting 1 stick of butter and 1/2 c. of peanut butter in the microwave.  Allow to cool.

 Add in 1 tsp. vanilla and 3 eggs and mix well.  I was getting a little impatient at the thought of waiting so I tempered the eggs with a little of the warm butter and peanut butter.  Just add some of the butter mixture to the eggs and stir and add back to the butter/peanut butter mixture.

 Add in flour mixture (1 c. flour, 1 tsp.baking powder, 1 1/2 cups sugar) and mix well!

 Here's what the batter will look like. . .

 Use a medium cookie scoop to distribute batter into cupcake liners- about 1/2 full.  Place a mini peanut butter cup over batter and press it into the batter.

 I used  my smaller cookie scoop and placed another tablespoon of batter over the cups.  I didn't want to be able to see the peanut butter cup.  It's a surprise!   I used a spatula to distribute the batter evenly over the cups.

 Bake @ 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Cool completely.  This recipe yielded 15 brownie cups.

 Time for the frosting!  Start with 1/2 c. of peanut butter and 1 T. butter.  Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

 Gradually incorporate 2 c. powdered sugar and enough milk (I added 2 T. heavy cream) to get the frosting to the desired consistency.  I used about 3-4 T. total. 

 I used my trusty 1M swirl tip to pipe the frosting on these babies and topped them with a halved mini peanut butter cup!!!!!!!!!!!!  This frosting is so creamy that it was a little difficult to pipe, but I still think these are adorable and that frosting is SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yummy!!!

Peanut Butter Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe Source:   http://cookiesxo.blogspot.com/

Melt 1 stick butter and 1/2c. peanut butter in the microwave. Cool a little and stir in 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla. Add 1c. flour, 1 1/2c. sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder. If you want, you can also add 1/2c. chocolate chips. Mix well and pour into a 9x13 pan lined with nonstick foil. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely and frost!

Frosting:
Beat 1/2c. peanut butter, 1T. soft butter, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 2c. powdered sugar. SLOWLY add milk until the desired consistency to spread on. Usually around 2T of milk but add slowly.

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Tomato Pie

Yes, that's right!  TOMATO PIE!!  I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but trust me, it's delicious!!  My cousin sent a recipe for tomato pie to all of our family a few years ago.  I don't follow it exactly.  The original recipe calls for fresh basil and I usually don't have any on hand when I'm ready for tomato pie!! I use an Italian seasoning blend instead, and it's delicious. I also reduced the amount of garlic.  One of these days I'll grow some basil and try it her way! 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Mix together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 grated Parmesan, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp. Italian seasoning blend. 

 Next, you will need an unbaked pie shell.  I suppose you could use a refrigerated crust but I prefer my own homemade pie crust!

 Set aside another 1/2 c. mozzarella.  Cut 5-6 fresh tomatoes into wedges with seeds removed.  Stir 1 T. minced garlic into the wedged tomatoes.

 Place empty pie shell in the oven.  Bake @450 degrees for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven temp to 375 degrees and bake another 8 minutes.  DO NOT POKE HOLES IN CRUST!  It will puff up and that's okay!!!!

 Remove pie shell from oven and sprinkle the 1/2 c. mozzarella over the hot crust.  Add tomato/garlic mixture.  I use a slotted spoon to add tomatoes in order to drain any excess liquid. 

 Spoon the mayonnaise/cheese mixture over the tomatoes.  Arrange foil around the crust or use a pie shield.  This will keep the crust from getting too overdone.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Yummy!!



Tomato Pie
prepared unbaked pie shell
1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, divided
5-6 fresh tomatoes
1 tsp.  Italian seasoning blend (or you could use fresh basil- about 1 cup)
1 T. minced garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Mix together 1/2 c. mayonnaise, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 c. Parmesan,  1 tsp. Italian seasoning blend and 1/8 tsp.  pepper and set aside.  Bake prepared pie shell at 450 degrees for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven temp to 375 and bake an additional 8 minutes.  While crust is in oven, cut tomatoes in wedges and remove seeds.  Stir minced garlic into tomatoes.  Sprinkle 1/2 mozzarella over the hot pie crust and top with tomato/garlic mixture.  Spoon mayonnaise/cheese mixture over tomato layer.  Arrange foil or pie shield around crust.  Bake another 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees or until cheese begins to bubble.


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Crockpot Pork Chops

I just want to start by saying that this is not one of those crockpot recipes that will cook all day long.  When I was teaching, I usually only made these on the weekend.  Now that I am a stay-at-home mom, I make these often!  I usually put them in the crockpot after lunch and they cook all afternoon.  These would also be great for Sunday dinner.  Just put them in when you get up in the morning and they'll be ready by lunchtime!  Because I make these fairly often, I have also found myself changing the recipe, adding in this or that!  It's a great basic crockpot pork chop recipe.  Feel free to change up the seasonings to your taste!!  The original recipe came from Allrecipes.com and you can find it here.  It had a little too much garlic for me and I also prefer using an Italian seasoning blend over basil and oregano as separate ingredients.  I just don't use the two separately that often so it's more economical for me to buy a blend.  You'll find my version below.

Start with 4 boneless pork chops.

 To a measuring cup, add 1 cup chicken broth and 1/4 c. EVOO.

 Today, I used 1 TBSP minced garlic (= 2 cloves), about 1/2 T. paprika (that's all I had- normally I would use 1 T.-add that to the grocery list), a little less than 1 T. poultry seasoning, 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning blend, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper.

 Add garlic and dry seasonings to the liquid and stir well.

 Pour mixture over the chops. 

 Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours.

These are so easy and delicious!!!

Dinner is served!!!

Crockpot Pork Chops

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. paprika

1 T poultry seasoning

1 1/2 t. Italian seasoning blend

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

4 thick cut boneless pork chops

Place chops in crockpot.  Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chops.  Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cinnamon Buttercream

At my cousin's wedding this summer, we had the most amazing cupcakes!!  One of them appeared to be simply chocolate with chocolate frosting.  There was something special about these cupcakes, though!  A secret ingredient. . . CINNAMON!  They were chocolate cinnamon cupcakes!!!  I knew I had to figure out a way to make that wonderful buttercream frosting.  It's taken me a few tries but I think I finally have it perfected!  I decided to put the frosting onto a vanilla cupcake instead so the star is that delicious frosting!!  You've got to try these!!

The cupcake recipe was found online but I can't remember where because I scribbled the recipe onto a notepad!

 Gather dry ingredients (flour, soda, baking powder, and salt).  You will also need 1 egg at room temperature, 6 T. butter, 1c. sugar, 1 t. vanilla, and 1 c. of buttermilk (sour cream or yogurt would work too).

 Melt the butter.  Add in other wet ingredients.

 Add the dry ingredients.

 Mix with an electric mixer.   Pour batter into muffin pan lined with cupcake liners.  This recipe yielded 15 cupcakes.  The batter is a little on the thin side so I used my large measuring cup to fill the liners 2/3 full.

 Bake @ 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Cool completely.

AND NOW THE FROSTING. . .

 Melt 2 oz. of unsweetened baking chocolate.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

 Beat butter in large bowl on medium speed until fluffy.

 Add in room temperature chocolate and vanilla.

 Add powdered sugar and cinnamon gradually.  Mix well after each addition.  Add 1-2 T. of heavy whipping cream.

 Whip frosting about 2-3 minutes until it is light and creamy! 

 I used a large coupler, 1M Swirl tip, and large disposable decorating bag to create the swirl on top of each cupcake!

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2. salt

6 T. butter, melted

1 c. sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 t. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt

Bake cupcakes @ 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate Cinnamon Buttercream

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

2 t. cinnamon

2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 T. heavy cream

Melt unsweetened chocolate.  Remove from heat and allow cool to room temperature.  Beat butter in large bowl on medium speed until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and room temperature chocolate and mix well.  Add in powdered sugar and cinnamon gradually, mixing well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl.  Beat in whipping cream and whip frosting until light and creamy- about 2-3 minutes.

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