Crockpot Chicken Chili

So, I've been trying to get better at actually using my crockpot. I still kind of miss the whole point of using it as a "one pot dish" maker, but I'm slowly coming around.

Jon and I went to Ruby Tuesday's a few weeks ago for lunch and he got their White Bean Chicken Chili. Jon enjoyed it, and I thought it was alright in terms of taste. My main issue with it was the color. Just because its white bean and chicken doesn't mean we can't make it colorful! So, I went home after picking up four different colored bell peppers and threw this together. Definitely more appealing to the eyes and it was quite tasty too!

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 bell peppers, assorted colors, diced

1 serrano pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

15 oz can corn

15 oz can garbanzo beans

15 oz can diced tomatoes

32 ounces chicken stock

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup parsley, diced

2-3 cups shredded chicken (fully cooked)

1/2 cup greek yogurt

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded cheese for topping, optional

Heat olive oil in skillet. Cook onion, bell peppers, serrano pepper and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken stock to crockpot. Add all ingredients to crockpot, including onion, peppers and garlic, and stir until combined. Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours or high heat for 2-3, stirring occasionally.



Chicken Enchiladas

So in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to make some yummy chicken enchiladas. I pretty much look for any excuse to combine cream cheese, Mexican cheese and salsa together so I figured that it would make a great filling for enchiladas. I used a combination of Emeril Lagasse's and Rachael Ray's enchilada sauce recipes, with a couple of my own additions. The result was delicious!



Enchilada Sauce:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic

1 serrano pepper

12 oz tomato paste

1 tsp hot sauce (or more to taste)

1/4 cup chili powder

3 cups chicken stock

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cumin

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz shredded Mexican cheese

8 oz salsa

4 cups shredded chicken, fully cooked

10-12 corn tortillas

Additional 1 cup shredded cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, cook garlic and serrano in vegetable oil for about 2 minutes on medium-high heat. Add in tomato paste, hot sauce and chili powder. Allow to cook just for a minute and then add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to low-medium and allow to simmer together for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, Mexican cheese, salsa and chicken in mixing bowl.

Once sauce is fully combined and seasonings are to your liking, spread about a 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Next, place a couple spoonfuls of the filling in each of the tortillas and place seam side down in baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce (you will have leftover sauce for later) and then additional shredded cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Grilled Ribeye Steak

Sorry there isn't a picture for this one guys! I had some friends over a few weeks back and decided I'd make a grilled steak. I used a ribeye but this marinade would work for any style steak.

I know this isn't my most exciting or creative post. I just figured everyone could use a good go-to steak recipe. Hope you all don't mind. :)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

3 lbs ribeye steak

Combine all ingredients for marinade in large mixing bowl. Add steaks into bowl and cover. Allow to marinate in refrigerator for 4-5 hours. Grill 4-5 minutes per side, depending on preference (medium, medium well, etc...)

Baked Ham and Cheese Spaghetti

First of all, I hope you all had an amazing Easter! Jon and I cooked a ham yesterday using this recipe. Yes, I said Jon AND I. He actually helped me in the kitchen guys! He put the cloves in the diamonds and helped me dress it with the pineapple and cherries. Win!

We actually got the ham for free! How awesome is that? Foodland (our grocery store) always has a deal around holidays where if you have 2 of their reward certificates you can get an item for free. For Easter it was a ham! I got a 12 lb beast of a ham. Hi, there are only two of us. So we had some yesterday for Easter dinner then I packed the rest away in EIGHT gladware containers.

I was driving home today and trying to think of ideas of how I could use this ham. I remembered I watched Paula Deen the other day and she made a baked spaghetti and I thought I would give it a try with my favorite cheese sauce. It worked out wonderfully! So, if you guys ended up with lots of leftover ham, give this a try!

1/2 lb fully cooked spaghetti
1 serving Cheese Sauce
3-4 cups fully cooked ham, chopped into cubes or shredded
4 slices American Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray casserole dish. Spread a little cheese sauce on the bottom of baking dish. Layer spaghetti, ham then cheese sauce twice. Top with slices of American cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, just to heat through together.

Easy enough right? Here's some pictures I took yesterday from our walk with the dogs :)

S'Mores Pie

I finally got a new plate to display food on for here. Oh, I'm fancy!

I have been doing SO good recently with eating right and going to the gym. I have been eating salads 6 days a week, working out 2-3 hours 4-5 days a week and cut out a lot of the processed foods I used to eat daily. You don't need to pat me on the back for it, I clearly am doing that myself. Ha!

Thennnnnn, I had my friends come over about a week ago. The variety of delicious foods we had was ridiculous. We had kalbi, steak, chicken, my famous dip, hot dogs and S'MORES. For some reason, we managed to not eat all of the supplies we had bought to make s'mores.

So the other day, as I'm eating my carrots like a champ, I look around my kitchen and see the workings of a s'mores pie. I decided that nutella, aka my BFF, would be my stand in for the chocolate. Mainly because I'm looking to get rid of the jar of Nutella so I don't wake up at 2 am one of these days getting chocolate wasted and needing an intervention. It doesn't hurt that Nutella is delicious and also easier than having to melt down chocolate.

Crust:
1 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers (1 honey maid packet)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:
10 oz bag marshmallows
4 tbsp water
1 cup nutella
2 cups whipped cream

Mix together crushed graham crackers, sugar and melted butter. Press into pie dish.

Melt marshmallows and water in microwave on high for 30-45 seconds. Stir together until smooth. Mix in nutella until smooth. Fold in whipped cream a little at a time until fully incorporated. Pour over pie crust.

Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until set. Enjoy!

Individual Meatloaves

So, I know I only recently shared with you guys Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs made with Italian Sausage. And yes, these are also stuffed with mozzarella cheese and made with Italian Sausage. Maybe there is some etiquette to spacing out similar recipes you share, but I've never been the type to have manners. And I have a feeling you'll all forgive me. These were ridiculously delicious, just like the meatballs.

This recipe was actually inspired by a recipe I found in the magazine Anyone Can Cook. I got it at a Borders out here that is closing so it was 40% off. Best $6 I ever spent! There are a ton of good recipes in there for me to experiment with. The first recipe I just had to try was their Sicilian Individual Meatloaves. The recipe called for ground beef and didn't follow my usual meatloaf formula. So I went ahead and took their idea for the mozzarella and ham stuffed inside, and then ran with the rest on my own. I served mine with some marinara sauce. I wanted to make a roasted red pepper sauce for it, but my grocery store had no red peppers (jerks!). Its probably for the best anyways because it tasted so good with a simple red sauce. I hope you guys like it. Send me your feedback or questions: cookingwithcait@gmail.com.

2.5 lbs Italian Sausage, casing removed
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or hand grated
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup warm water
2 eggs, beaten

Stuffing:

5 2oz portions of mozzarella cheese (or you could use string cheese)

10 slices thinly sliced deli ham

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat baking sheet or shallow baking dish with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine all meatloaf ingredients until spices are evenly distributed throughout. Divide meat mixture into 5 even portions to ensure they are finished at the same time.

Wrap mozzarella sticks with two slices of ham. Wrap ham/mozzarella with meatloaf mixture until fully sealed in. Place on baking sheet/dish and cook for 35-40 minutes until internal temperature of meat reaches 160 degrees.

Lazy Eggs Benedict

I have never poached an egg. It is something I am extremely intimidated by. Also, I am not the hugest fan of hollandaise sauce. Therefore, I've never had a good relationship with Eggs Benedict. My mom started making these amazing breakfast thingamabobbers which I will now title as Lazy Eggs Benedict. Its along the same concept, without the intimidation factor. The cheese sauce will make more sauce than you need. Use it on your pasta for dinner, or to make my yummy Philly Cheesesteaks. Or just make like 16 of these bad larrys and share them, or just eat them all yourself. Judge free zone.

4 eggs

4 slices of bread

Cheese Sauce

4 tbsp butter

Using a cup or biscuit cutter, make a hole in bread. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet on medium-high heat. Lay slice of bread in skillet. Crack the egg directly into hole. Cook both sides to desired style (over-easy, over-medium,etc...). Repeat with all pieces of bread and eggs. Serve on plate with cheese sauce poured over top. Enjoy!