Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

Fall is here. Leaves are falling. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back. Pumpkin everything is here! I saw this delicious recipe for banana bread and had just bought my first can o' pumpkin, so I decided to substitute the bananas for pumpkin. I used about 3/4 of the can, but I could have used the entire can. I was afraid my bread loaf pan would overflow, but there was plenty of room.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
*derived from this recipe

Cream Cheese Filling
- 1 large egg
- 6 oz. cream cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp. flour

Bread
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup honey Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 3/4 can of pumpkin
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix your filling ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
3. Beat your egg, brown sugar, Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla in your mixer.
4. Add pumpkin and mix until smooth.
5. In a small bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
6. Slowly add your dry ingredients to your wet until combined.
7. Grease your bread pan and pour 2/3 of your bread mixture into your pan.
8. Pour your cream cheese filling on top and spread evenly on top.
9. Pour the rest of your pumpkin bread batter on top of your cream cheese filling and smooth with a spatula.
10. Bake for 45 minutes.

 Pumpkin bread batter

 Cream Cheese Filling

 2/3 pumpkin batter with cream cheese filling on top

 Pumpkin bread batter smoothed on top

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Enjoy!
Brittney

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is super yummy especially with the recent cooler temps! You throw everything in the crockpot - raw chicken included! My house smelled so good all day and I just chopped up some avocado and put shredded cheese on top of our soup. The boys even had leftovers the next day - winning! (They have been a little picky lately...)

Happy Fall!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can corn
- 1 can red enchilada sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 x 4 oz. can chopped green chilies
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. salt

Toppings: avocado, shredded cheese, diced tomato, cilantro, sour cream, tortilla chips

1. Place all ingredients in your crockpot.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
3. 30 minutes before end of cook time, shred your chicken and allow to cook for 30 more minutes.
4. Serve in bowls with toppings of your choosing.

 Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup

Great to eat on a Fall day!

Enjoy!
Brittney

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Best. Salad. Dressing. Ever.

A few weekends ago we had some friends over for dinner. I made some bruschetta pasta, arugula and spinach salad, and lemon-pepper grilled chicken. Along with fresh baguette bread. I wanted to try making my own salad dressing and came across this amazing recipe I am about to share with you. Please try it out. I used extra olive oil and a little extra soy sauce, salt and pepper, mustard, and garlic to even out the flavors. Yummmmmm. I have made it twice now and store it in our fridge in a mason jar! We are almost out... so I will be making some more this week!

Best Dressing

- 1/3 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1/2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Mix all ingredients together in a sealed jar. Shake well before using!

*Store in the fridge for up to a week.

Best Salad Dressing in a Mason Jar

Delicious!


Enjoy!
Brittney