Crock Pot Mexican Quinoa

I was thinking that I hadn't done a crock pot meal in a bit, and truly what is more post baby cooking-friendly than a crock pot meal?!  We hadn't had Mexican in awhile and I had a recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Quinoa from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen and thought why not give it a try?

I stayed pretty true to her recipe, with the exception of the quantity of  dry spices I added, which I decreased.  a huge perk of this particular Crock Pot recipe, is that it cooks in just a few hours, versus the ones that take all day to build their flavor.  Below is the recipe I used, and here is the link to the original from Bobbi.

Ingredients:
1 package (~1 pound) ground chicken breast
1.5 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1, 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1, 15oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes (these were tricky to find, but Hunts does make them)
1.5 cups frozen corn
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup water
1, 10oz can mild enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon Mexican chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend
4 green onions, diced


Directions:
1) Cook chicken in a large skillet, until no longer pink.  Place chicken in crock pot.

2) Add quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, corn, garlic, onion, jalapeno, water, enchilada sauce, chili, cumin, and coriander to crock pot.  Stir to combine all ingredients.

3) Place cover on crock pot and cook on high, 3 hours.  Next time, I may do a bit less time in the crock pot, perhaps 2.5 hours as it came out a bit dry.  Cooking times may vary depending on your crock pot.

4) Remove lid and stir whole dish.  Stir in half of the cheese.  Top with green onions and remainder of cheese, then cover and allow cheese to melt and green onions to wilt.

5) Enjoy!!  We really loved this dish, it made plenty for my husband and I for dinner and 2 additional meals each.

Turkey Stuffed Pepper Soup

I found this Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe on Pinterest and given that it was a weekend and it seemed pretty baby feeding/time management friendly I gave it a shot-figured I can't go wrong turning one of our favorite meals into a soup!! It was absolutely delicious!! The original  recipe is from Cooking Classy, which is a new site to me.  There are some fantastic looking recipes on there that I cannot wait to try!!  I tweaked the recipe just a bit to suit our needs, substituting ground turkey for ground beef, and a couple of other minor changes.  I also tend to add water to most of my soups, as I like them to have a lot of liquid.  I have found that as long as I add it prior to the simmering process, the soups turns out just as flavorful and never tastes watered down or bland.

The following is the recipe I used to make the Stuffed Pepper Soup, with the original being available here on Cooking Classy.


Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey, 93% lean

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14.5 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes (I use products that state No Salt Added, or Low Sodium as much as possible for all canned goods)

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (14.5) can beef broth

2 cups water

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese for topping finished soup

2 cups cooked white long grain rice (cook as directed)

 

Directions:

 

1)  In a large Dutch oven heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat.

 

2) Add turkey and cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.  Remove turkey from pot and set aside.

 

3) Heat remaining olive oil.  Add onions, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.

 

4) Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, water, basil, oregano and cooked turkey.  Season with black pepper to taste.  (With all of the canned goods in this soup, I did not add any salt and it was still quite flavorful)

 

5) Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 

6) Serve over cooked rice and Enjoy!  I was restaurant fancy and used an ice cream scooper to put the cooked rice in the bowl, then poured the soup over it.  Needless to say, my husband was pretty impressed :-)

 

*Next time I will probably try brown rice, just to make it a bit healthier, but white was all I had on hand this time.

 

Yummy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Happy Halloween!!! My husband decided to hollow out a huge pumpkin to put our 10 week old in for Halloween photos, and I have to admit they came out adorable!!  With all of those pumpkin seeds just sitting around, I got to work making a delicious batch of roasted pumpkin seeds.  Every year I forget just how easy and delicious these are to make!! 

Ingredients:
Pumpkin seeds (we just throw them all in a bowl as we clean out the pumpkin)
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Garlic Powder

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2) Rinse the seeds in warm water, just to remove the big pieces of .

3) Pat dry with paper towels, the seeds do not need to be completely dry, the oven will dry them out.

4) Toss seeds with olive oil in a large bowl to lightly coat.

5) Lay seeds out on baking sheet.  I tried for a nice even layer, easier said than done for sure-No worries, they cook just the same!

6) Sprinkle with sea salt and garlic powder.

7) Roast for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.

8) Allow to cool and Enjoy! 
*Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature to enjoy later-they are just as delicious the next day!

Cooking after baby

Well it certainly has been awhile since I posted-Yikes!  We now have a 6 week old baby girl who is absolutely amazing. Between being at the end of my pregnancy in the summer heat and having a baby who keeps us very busy, I truly had not cooked in forever!  We were also lucky enough to have tons of meals cooked and delivered by our wonderful family and friends, so I didn't even need to cook 😊

This weekend I decided it was time to get back in the kitchen!  I was debating throwing a crock pot meal together, but my husband was off and home to help with the baby so I figured I'd do something a little more involved,.  I still needed a recipe that allowed for plenty of downtime to feed our little one, etc. 

I chose to make my Beef Barley Soup and it was the perfect choice!  
 

This recipe allowed me to cut and prep my "mirepoix" of carrots, celery and onion when I had a chance during the early afternoon.  After a feed, about 2.5 hours before we planned to eat, I jumped in and seared the beef, garlic and veggies.  The next step was to simmer for 1.5 hours- plenty of time for some laundry and another feed or two!  The final piece was to add in the barley, salt and pepper that I had measured out beforehand so my husband could add it, as I was mid feed.  Finally we just let it simmer for another 40 minutes- you guessed it more feeding for my hungry chick!  An added bonus with this recipe is that when it's done it stays hot for quite some time, in case you also have a little one who senses it's time for mom and dad to eat and loses her mind!! 
 

I'm excited to be getting back in the Kunkel Kitchen, it feels great to be up and cooking again!