Pumpkin Bread Pudding w/ Caramel Pecan Sauce

After trying and trying to get a good picture of this recipe, I've decided bread pudding is one of those things that tastes better than it looks!  We had this recipe while we watched conference this year and it was delicious.  We usually have monkey bread and my kids were pretty nervous about the change but they all loved it (because both recipes are basically bread soaked in sugar).  It would be great for a party or brunch.  It served a lot of people because you can eat about two bites before you're full. It would also make a nice tradition for Christmas morning or another holiday because once you see how much butter goes in it you probably won't want to eat it more than once a year! 

I found the recipe at Flavor Mosaic. Her pictures look amazing too. So if you're not already sold on making this, go give it a look and you'll be craving it. I basically left the recipe as is except to add more cinnamon and to decrease the sauce ingredients a little...to let the pumpkin flavor shine through! I love pumpkin season!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding w/ Caramel Pecan Sauce
1 loaf french bread (day old works well)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (not pie mix)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 T. butter (melted)
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 T. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Sauce:
3/4 cup butter (unsalted)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

Breakfast Burritos

One of my favorite things about living in New Mexico is the green chile! Many of you might have only tried chilies in their canned variety but that's hardly living! ;) Here you can get them canned, frozen or fresh!  In the fall you can buy a giant 20 lb. box and have it roasted outside...which I think smells amazing!

The breakfast burrito is one of the most common recipes made here featuring green chile.  You can make these with canned but seriously double check your store for frozen chilies! They are much better. If you can't find them, come visit me and I'll make you one.  If you love food...put fresh green chilies on you bucket list of things to try! The recipe below calls for 1 cup green chilies for 8 burritos but honestly Alex and I probably eat about that much green chili just between the two of us. You can't have too much ;)

Breakfast burritos are seriously one of my family's favorite breakfasts. Fast, handheld,  great for a large crowd, kids like them.  Their list of attributes goes on and on.  We make these at girls camp every year, we make them when company comes to town, we buy them if we go out for breakfast. They have all your favorites wrapped up in one yummy recipe.  Hashbrowns, eggs, cheese, bacon, and of course green chili.  Some people also add onion or salsa. Although bacon is most common you can add any meat you want.  Some favorites are ham, sausage, and chorizo. Try your own combos and see what your favorite is!

Breakfast Burritos (serves 8)
1 bag of shredded hashbrowns
2 T. butter
10 large eggs, scrambled
16 pieces of cooked bacon
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup green chile
salt and pepper to taste
8 large flour tortillas

In a large frying pan melt half the butter.  Place hashbrowns in pan and top with the rest of the butter.  Cover and cook until browned.  Meanwhile cook bacon and eggs.  Heat green chile.  Fill each tortilla with hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, cheese and chile. Add salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy!

Cheesy Potato, Sausage and Veggie Bake

I inherited some potatoes from someone going out of town this week and needed something to do with them! So I pulled out some different ingredients I had and started cooking and this recipe was born.  It came together fast and has all your comfort food favorites...potatoes, cheese, turkey sausage.  Okay, so turkey sausage isn't really a comfort food but you know what I'm saying :) I can see this being perfect for a really cold day this winter.

It's also made from scratch, so no cream of anything in it.  You probably have a lot of the ingredients on hand already!  Give it a try.

Cheesy Sausage, Potato and Veggie Bake
4 large baking potatoes
1 turkey smoked sausage ring
1/2 cup salted butter
1 orange bell pepper chopped (any color is fine)
1/2 med. onion, chopped
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/4 cup chopped green chilies (I used frozen, but canned would work)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (plus some for sprinkling on top)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (plus some for sprinkling on top)

Chop baking potatoes into inch sized pieces.  In a large pot, parboil potatoes for about 30 min.  Meanwhile in large saucepan, melt butter.  Saute bell pepper, onion, and broccoli in butter until tender.  Add green chilies and cook for 1 min. more.  Whisk milk and flour together in a small bowl and add to veggies. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened (about 5min) Add onion powder, salt and pepper, and both cheeses.  Stir until cheese is completely melted.  Place potatoes and sausages in a 9x13 baking dish.  Pour cheese and veggie sauce over top.  (I mixed mine around just a little to make sure everything got covered).  Top with extra shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. 

Cheesy Ranch Chicken (Freezer Meal Friendly!)

My sister Christina used to make this all the time growing up.  It was one of our favorites!  I don't think I'd made it since college and then one day whilst planning my menu I remembered it and that it was pretty easy and that the kids would like it.  And they did! True story...the end.

Cheesy Ranch Chicken
6 chicken breasts (cut into large strips)
1 cup ranch dressing
2 T. flour
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut up chicken into strips (this helps it cook faster and gets more cheesy goodness on each piece of chicken!).  In a medium bowl combine ranch and flour.  Dredge each piece of chicken in ranch mixture and place in a 9x13 baking dish.  Cover with cheeses.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

For a crispier topping I like to broil on high for 5 minutes at the end.  Give it a try!

Freezer Meal Method:
Cut chicken into strips (or at least in half).  In a small bowl combine ranch and flour.  Dredge each piece of chicken in ranch mixture and place in 9x13 freezer pan.  Spread any extra sauce over the top of the chicken.  Top with both cheeses.  Cover with two pieces of aluminum foil and label.  Freeze flat.

Keep frozen until ready to use. Tent foil over pan.  Cook at 350 degrees for 45 min.  Remove foil, gently separate chicken strips so that they cook more evenly and continue cooking for another 50-60 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  (Use a thermometer for best indication-larger pieces may take more time) Turn oven to broil and broil on high for 5 minutes to help the cheese crisp up on top.

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer friendly!)

So as the school year picks up I've been trying out some new recipes in my crock pot.  For this recipe I kind of combined a couple other recipes I had and adapted it for a slow cooker.  It turned out super yummy and my kids even ate it.  It only took about 5 min. to throw together too.  I broiled it at the end just to make it a little crispy.

Teriyaki Chicken (In the crockpot)
1 large package boneless/skinless chicken thighs (about 8-10 thighs)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil (regular sesame oil or even canola oil would work too)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (red wine vinegar works well too)
2 T. water
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 T. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 T. sesame seeds (optional)

Place chicken in the bottom of a large crockpot.  Combine all other ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours (I did 6).  Drain chicken (reserving 1 cup of sauce)

Shred chicken with fork and place in 9x13 in. baking dish.  Cover with reserved sauce from the crockpot.  Broil on high for about 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.


Freezer Meal Instructions: 
Combine all the ingredients the day before, place in a large ziploc bag and freeze it at this point. When you are ready to cook it just dump it in your crockpot and off you go!  The only change would be to add 2 hours to cook time if you cook it from a frozen state. Then shred and broil as indicated above.

 *This is a great freezer meal to take to someone. It transports perfectly in a bag and lets them use it anytime. Double it, keep some for your family and take a busy neighbor a batch just because! What a fun way to make a new friend :)

Cheesy Zucchini and Rice

My friend Juli gave us some of her extra zucchini a little bit ago and they were huge!! I used some of it to make her zucchini soup recipe which is already on my blog and also fantastic. View it here. Then I put the rest in my food processor and split the rest up between some zucchini bread and this yummy rice!

You can't tell from the picture but there is over 3 cups of zucchini in there.  My kids didn't even notice.  Just gobbled it up with no questions.  It took about 5 minutes to throw together once the rice was cooked and it's totally from scratch. No cream soups or anything like that!  Yum :)

Cheesy Zucchini and Rice
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups rice (uncooked)
3 cups grated zucchini (I used a food processor)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar (grated)
1 tsp. garlic powder (or more...I like garlic!)
salt and pepper (to taste)

In a large saucepan add rice to chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and cook rice until most of the liquid is dissolved.  (Check the rice packaging for approximate cook time).

Turn heat to low. Add zucchini, butter and milk. Stir until butter is dissolved.  Slowly stir in cheese. Add garlic, salt and pepper.  Serve warm.

Coconut Banana Upside Down Cake

Yes, this tastes as good as it looks! So delicious.  I made it for a potluck and after trying a piece I was a little sad that I had to share the rest.  The caramel like topping melts down into the cake making it super moist and delicious.  You wont even be able to tell it's a boxed mix. If you like coconut, or cake, or sugar in general, you'll love this recipe.

I found it on the Girl Who Ate Everything Blog! You can click the blog title to view her recipe. I've also copied it below with a few minor changes I made.  Give it a try :)

It was so easy to make and looks pretty fancy.  Full disclosure though, when I turned it out of the pans only about 5 bananas stayed on the cake.  The rest were easy enough to pull out of the pan though and place back on the cake.  The caramel like topping is still creamy enough that the bananas sink back into place and look fab.  So give it a try!

Banana Coconut Upside Down Cake
1 yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 water
small box of instant vanilla pudding mix
6-7 bananas (sliced 1/4 in. thick)
2 cups shredded coconut
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large stand mixer, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, sour cream, water and instant pudding mix.

Grease two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. (She suggests 8 in. but I used 9 and it turned out fine. If you have 8 in. pans it would probably make the topping thicker)  Layer bottom of both pans with sliced bananas. 

In a small saucepan, melt butter and add brown sugar and lemon juice.  Stir until completely melted and combined.  Pour sauce over bananas.  Top each pan with 1 cup of the shredded coconut.

Divide cake batter in half and pour into each pan.  Spread evenly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Let rest 5-10 minutes and invert on serving plate.  As I said above, many of the bananas might stay in the pan simply pull them out and arrange on cake.  Enjoy!