Chicken Tortilla Soup

Being pregnant has made it extremely hard for me to be in the kitchen, the smells and some sights will send me running to the toilet. So I have been trying to make the things that I crave which is not always easy, cause when you have a pregnancy craving for a McDonald's hamburger, you gotta have a MACDONALD'S HAMBURGER no other hamburger will do!!! :) Mexican, Thai, and anything salt and vinegar are on my craving list ALL the time, unfortunately for my baking blog, sweets are not something I love right now :( So for now, I will post anything outta of the ordinary that I cook!

2 Tbls. flour

3 Tbls. oil

3 corn cobs

1 red pepper

1 lbs. chicken breast or tenders, diced, or cubed

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp. ground cumin

salt & pepper

1 small zucchini, diced

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced

(you can find these in the mexican food aisle)

1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 (8oz) can tomato sauce

1 small can diced green chilies

3 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup heavy cream

Char corn and red pepper in broiler, or over a gas stove. Remove skin from pepper, and dice. Cut kernels off corn cobs, set both aside. In a soup pot, over medium/high heat add oil, and brown chicken for two minutes, then add poultry seasoning, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook chicken another two minutes, then add zucchini, onion, garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook another 2-3 minutes, then add in flour cook another 4-5 min. Add diced tomatoes with juice, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, chicken stock, and cream. Stir well and bring to a boil. Then add green chilies, red pepper, and corn. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat to low cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, avocado, Frito's, tortilla chips, ect...

*I forgot in the original post that I added about 3 Tbls of white sugar, you can leave this out. I just thought it needed a little sweet balance :)

Septembers Theme

I have to apologize for my absence lately. I have not been in the kitchen as much as I would like, with me being pregnant and sick, cooking is not exactly soothing on my stomach :) But the baking group is still going strong!! This months theme APPLES!! If you would like to join please let me know at ajkeala@yahoo.com

August's Theme

If you can't tell by the pictures, August's Theme is ICE CREAM DESSERTS!!! I know a lot of you are thinking there is no way!! But its desserts, not just ice cream. I am not expecting everyone to bring a big bucket of hand churned ice cream (although if you want to that is amazing!) There are a lot of creative things you can do with store bought ice cream. I think it is a great way to end our summer! We will be meeting the last wednesday of August, which I believe is the 26th. If you are interested in joining in on the fun please email me at ajkeala@yahoo.com

July Baking Group

July's baking theme was APPETIZERS! It was a lot easier to stuff ourselves sick with real food rather than sweets. We had a great turn out this time and everybody made amazing food! Thank you ladies (and Joey) for your yummy food and helping out!!

My son Kaluna enjoying a fruit kabob from our 5yr old chef Lucky :) After all the food was gone we could not move :)

Kelly playing babysitter! And this is not even half the kids that come!!

This months list:

Myself: Chili chicken lettuce wraps

Bre: Spicy stuffed mushrooms

Flo: Spinach roll ups

Lacie: Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon

Cassie: Easy marinade meatballs &

Guri Guri (maui style ice cream)

Kelly: Avocado mango cream dip

Lori: Watermelon slushies

Lucky: Fruit Kabobs

Dream...

This was my first 'official job.' I had so much fun making these, even though this was the largest amount of decorated cupcakes I've ever made (50!!). These cute little cupcakes were for a 'dream' themed baby shower. Thank you Melissa for giving me this opportunity :)

Jaeden's Birthday

My best friend Lacie's son Jaeden turned 5 on Monday, and she asked me to make some sport themed cupcakes and a cake. I had a lot of fun making these. Happy Birthday Jaeden, we love you! :)

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th! I know we did :) These are the fun patriotic treats I made for the family BBQ.

July's Theme

Okay, I know this is supposed to be a "baking" group but the girls who have been participating are tired of the sweet treats. So we are gonna try something different and see how it works. APPETIZERS! Yum, right? We will be meeting the last Wednesday of this month, July 29th at 4pm. If you would like to participate please email me at ajkeala@yahoo.com

June Baking Group

I am sorry it has taken me SO long to get this up. Summer always seems to be crazy busy. But here it is our bread baking group, and I must say this one was YUMMY! We ate carbs till we were sick :)

We had a delicious list this time:

Cinnamon Rolls

Zucchini Bread

Orange Rolls

Chicken Stuffed Dinner Rolls

Yogurt Bread

Sweet Bread w/ strawberry cream spread

Scones w/ honey butter

If you would like any of these recipes please just drop me a note :)

Vacation!

I will not be posting for a couple weeks, we are leaving for Hawaii!! I will be back just in time for the baking group. So for those of you who are still debating on whether your ready to tackle bread baking its not too late! Email me at ajkeala@yahoo.com I will be checking my email while away!

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

These fun cookies are this months recipe for the Cookie Carnival. I have never had actual strawberries in a cookie so I was a little nervous, but they turned out pretty good! My brother LOVED them. I did add a little more sugar to the last batch cause when you bake strawberries they get a little tart.

2 cups strawberries diced 1/4 inch
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup + 1 tbls. sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbls. cold butter, diced
2/3 cup heavy cream
sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the diced strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 Tbls. of the sugar, set aside. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining sugar, cut in the cold butter or just use your hands. Slowly add in the heavy cream until a dough forms. stir in your strawberry mixture. Drop by the tablespoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with sanding sugar and bake for 20-23 minutes. These cookies are best when eaten shortly after baking.

Sesame Street

I had so much fun making these! They were for a sesame street themed baby shower!

June's Baking Theme

So with Cupcakes done we move onto our next 'challenge' which was decided by all the ladies who participated in May's baking group. Drum roll please....BREAD!! Yes, I know I have stated many times how bad I am at baking bread, but all the more reason to do it right?? Hopefully I don't poison anyone!! Don't let it scare you too much, it's not just yeast breads, but quick breads, fruit breads, rolls, etc. We will meet June 24th. If you would like to join please just leave me your email and I will send you more info!! :)

May Baking Group

So our May baking group has come and gone, and I think we all gained ten pounds!! It turned out great for our very first meeting. I know I enjoyed every ones cupcakes and their company. We had quite the list of yummy treats:

Lacie-Devils food with dark chocolate frosting

Lori-S'more cupcakes

Kelly-Devils food with italian sweet cream frosting

Bre-Chocolate banana with cherry filling and cream topping

Natalie-Cranberry orange cupcakes

Myself-Cantaloupe vanilla cupcakes

Thanks ladies for your baked creations!!

And this is all that was left by the end....

If you would like any of these recipes please let me know and I will post them, or better yet join our baking group :)

Umm...

What do these look like to you?? Maybe some yummy snickerdoodle cookies? Ya, maybe not! Every once in a while my hair brain ideas and creations don't quite go as planned. Still not sure what they are? Well, they are SUPPOSED to be cupcakes! I know, I know! What in the heck happened? I'm not sure either. But I will say this, they tasted good :) I am going to give these another whirl, and hopefully will leave you a recipe, cause you don't want this mess of a recipe!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommy's out there! Hope your enjoying your day! I know I am, my great husband got me a gift I have been longing for! TA-DA! Yes, I finally got one! I am really gonna be a bakin' machine now :)

Coconut Creme Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes VERY quick for a few of my co workers and a dinner later that night, so I did cheat and used a cake mix, but I dressed them up :)

For Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. coconut extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and beat for two minutes. Pour batter into cupcake pan with liners and bake 18-20 min, or until inserted tooth pick comes out clean. Make sure your cupcakes have completely cooled before you continue.

For Filling:

8oz. (half a can) sweetened condensed milk

8oz. coconut milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk, set aside. Whip heavy cream till stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the coconut mixture. Fill a piping bag set with a large piping tip (I used #12) with your creme filling. Insert the tip into the middle of the cupcake and gently squeeze, making sure not to over fill your cupcakes. I did a test one and cut it in half just to check. Chill cupcakes for at least 30 minutes.

For Frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Shaved coconut

Whisk cream till soft peaks form, then add extract and powdered sugar and continue to whisk till stiff peaks are made. Frost each cupcake then dip the tops into a bowl with the shaved coconut. Store cupcakes in the fridge.

It's set

The baking group is set! The first meeting will be May 27th, if your interested in joining please leave me your email and I will add you to the list and send you more info! :)

Cupcakes anyone?

I have been thinking a lot about baking and how to get other friends and family involved. Because we bake (or at least I do) to share it with others, a dessert always brings a smile to someones face! I want to start a club, but not just one where you bake and tell, but bake and EAT! I'll set a date, and a theme once a month. Lets say cupcakes this month, you'll bake a new creation make copies of your recipe and come to my place, and we eat cupcakes, share stories, and recipes. So not only do we get together to have a good time, but we get new recipes!! I need feed back though, cause I want this to be big! The more the merrier, right? I want to meet new people, so drop me a note, and leave me your email. Let me know if your interested, any ideas, days that would work best to do this.

Fruit Pie Bars

Have you ever gone through your mom's or grandma's old recipe box? Well I have and this is just one of the MANY recipes. I hope to make all of them, then I'll really be bakin' just like mom used too :)

Crust & topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup cold butter

Filling:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup flour

pinch of salt

16 0z. blackberries

(Any type of berry will work, I just used what I had on hand. You could also used frozen berries just make sure you defrost them and they are not the ones soaking in juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8" pan. Combine flour, sugar, and salt and cut your cold butter into the flour mixture to create a crumb topping. (now you can do this is a food processor but I do not own one :( so I just use a good old fork and my hands) Reserve half of the mixture for the topping and press the remaining into the bottom of your pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile whisk eggs and sugar until combined, then add sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in your berries, and spoon the mixture over your crust. Sprinkle on the rest of your crumb topping. Bake for 45-55 minutes, remove and let cool for at least 30 minutes before you cut it.

Round up!

The cookie carnival round up is complete!! Check out http://phemomenon.blogspot.com to see all the yummy lemon bars :)

Shirley's

I drive by this bakery almost every day and finally got the chance to stop by. The very first thing I saw was a sweet looking old couple, holding hands, sipping on coffee and pastries on the table waiting to be eaten. I was surprised to see that this little bakery was all OPEN, you see the pans, the ovens, rising dough, the bakers baking, frosting, and decorating. It would be great if all bakeries were like this, just to take a peak at the pros. Now Shirley's is not like a lot of these new cupcake and specialty cake bakeries, this is old school style; dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, donuts, danishes, every type of cookie you could imagine. But they had something I have never come across, you can choose what type of frosting you want on your rolls, from cream cheese, vanilla, cinnamon, to the tempting raspberry cream cheese!! I got six orange rolls with cream cheese frosting, and they were yummy! Inside the roll wasn't just orange glaze, but tiny chunks of candied orange! So if your looking for the traditional bakery swing on by Shirley on Freedom Blvd. in Provo you won't be disappointed. (Sorry for not having pictures I did not have my camera with me)

This little piggy...

First off I have to give props to Bakerella, she makes cake pops like nobodies business. I had KNOW idea how much work they are. From start to finish it took me about four hours to make them!! Well worth it though, it is my grandma's birthday and she loves pigs! I originally was going to make a cake, but we are all just going out for her bday so I thought I'd give cake pops a whirl! Not too bad for my first time, I'm definitely no Bakerella though! :)

Sprinkles

I apologize for the lack of posts but there was an unexpected death, my hand mixer passed away!! We have had a lot of great memories. But out with the old and in with the new! No, I did not get a kitchenaid stand mixer (someday). I also found sprinkles, and lots of them! Thank you to all of you who dropped me a note :)

Black n' White Cookies

I have seen these cookies made a million different ways, I love them all! But this creation was an attempt to use up what ingredients I had in my pantry. I am really bad when it comes to buying ingredients to bake something but not using it all up.

1 cup butter softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

1 bag white chocolate chips, or baking bark.

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl sift together the baking soda and flour. In a separate bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamed together and fluffy. Add both vanilla and almond extract, then beat in eggs adding only one at a time. Add in sifted cocoa powder, making sure it is completely combined. Slowly add your flour mixture. Drop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 14-15 minutes. When done remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile melt your white chocolate (I just melt mine in the microwave.) Make sure your cookies have completely cooled, then dip half of your cookie into the chocolate and place onto a cookie sheet line with parchment paper to set up.

Cookie Carnival

I have joined the Cookie Carnival, which was created by Kate at The Clean Plate Club. Every month she will send you a new cookie recipe, you make it, then email them back pictures and any comments you have about the recipe. It is great cause who doesn't love getting new recipes? Plus it's a great excuse to bake! This months recipe was Toasted Almond Lemon Bars from 'The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.' I love, love anything baked with citrus, it reminds me of warm spring days and picnics. This one was a winner!

For Crust:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 tsp. salt
20 Tbls. softened butter (2 1/2 sticks)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spread almonds onto a cookie sheet and bake 10-15 min. Until lightly toasted. (I only baked mine 8 min. but every ones oven is different, just watch them closely so they don't burn) Remove and place on a wire rack to cool. Spray 9x13" pan with vegetable oil. Make a sling with parchment paper, so you can easily remove the bars and cut them. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until balled. ( I am not lucky enough to own a food processor YET! So I just placed the almonds in a ziploc and rolled over them with a wooden rolling pin till they were finely crushed and just did the rest by hand.) Press into pan and 1 1/4 inches up the sides, making sure there are no cracks. Cover with foil and pie weights (Once again, I do not own pie weights, but dried rice or beans will do the trick.) Bake 25 min, remove foil and pie weights, bake another 10 min. until golden brown.

For the Filling:
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6-7 lemons)
1/4 powdered sugar

Whisk eggs and sugar until smooth, and almond extract. Slowly add flour while still whisking to not create lumps. Add lemon juice, and pour into baked crust. Reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake 30 min. or until golden and firm. Remove with sling when cool, slice into bars and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Lime Cupcakes

Spring was here, it felt AMAZING! Until I woke up to six inches of snow the next day!! Spring always seems short lived in Utah. So while I've been staying warm inside I decided to bring back a little bit of my sweet spring with lime cupcakes!

Note: My pictures are slowly improving!! Yaa!

I made this recipe with a yellow cake base, but I think when I make them again I will use a white cake base. I also used my mini cupcake pan for the first time, I ruined the first batch cause I over cooked them. But the rest turned out pretty good.

For Cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbls. lime zest

Juice from one lime

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

In separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. Combine butter and sugar, and beat until smooth, slowly add eggs one at a time. Add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla. Add half of the flour mixture, make sure it is fully combined then add half of the milk. Repeat until flour mixture and milk are gone. If baking in a mini cupcake pan preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake for 8-10 minutes. For regular size preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 18-20 min.

For frosting:

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter

8 oz. softened cream cheese

zest from one lime

juice from two limes

3 1/2-4 cups powdered sugar

Beat together butter and cream cheese, then add lime zest and juice. Beat until fully combined. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.

Rice Pudding Again!

I figured that since I ate SO much over the holiday weekend I will keep ruining my diet and eat some more!! Rice pudding again, but a different recipe. I had better luck this time with it thickening up, but I think the taste of the previous recipe was better, still very good though :)

I got this recipe from www.maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com which she got from March 09' issue of Bon Appetit.

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup Basmati rice

1/4 tsp. salt

3 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split

Bring water, rice and salt to a simmer in a large heavy saucepan, over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer till water is absorbed, about 10 min. Add milk, cream, and sugar. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, add seeds and bean. Increase heat to medium, cook uncovered till rice is tender and mixture thickens, about 35-40 min. Serve warm or cold.

Help...

I need help finding a few things, I have searched every place in Utah county I know that sells baking supplies. I'm looking for sprinkles! Sugar pearls in all sizes, and mini candy coated chips! Why are they so hard to find? Is there a secret spot that I have not been informed of?? I know I can buy them online, but I am a procrastinator!! And need them soon! So if you know of a few places that might have them or any other baking supplies please drop me a note!! Thanks :)

Baby Shower Cupcakes

I have been busy baking away this month! I made these for a baby shower. You can't tell in my amazing picture but I used (for the first time) edible shimmer dust, I was surprised how much of a difference it made!

Easter Cupcakes

I whipped these tiny nests up for a bunch of young girls for a church activity. Quick and easy, especially since I have a TON of Easter candy laying around. I did run into one problem, I've never toasted coconut and I burned half the bag of coconut before I got it right :)

Thai Turkey Burgers

I know this is not a sweet dessert, but this was to yummy to keep to myself. I love, love Thai food and I will admit I am not the best cook. But every once in awhile I whip up something that is surprisingly good!!

Sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 Tbls. sugar

1/2 garlic clove

1/4 tsp grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp. corn starch

1/4 cup cold water

Combine soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger in small sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat. Combine corn starch and water, slowly stir into sauce just to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside for burgers.

Burgers:

1 lbs. ground turkey

2 Tbls. finely chopped cilantro

2 tsp. creamy peanut butter

2 tsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. sriracha chili sauce

1/4 tsp. lime zest

1 tsp. lime juice

1 small garlic glove

1/2 tsp. grated ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and divide to make four burger patties. Grill on the bbq or broil in oven. Garnish with tomatoes, sprouts, green onion, ect..

Tartlets

I previously posted this recipe but I wanted to make finger food for a party, and since I enjoy this recipe SO much I played around and instead of using a large tart pan I used a mini cupcake pan, they turned out to be a hit. I will say it was a little time consuming to make them all but worth it!

I put the filling into a large ziploc bag and just cut off the tip, it made it very easy to fill the little tart crusts.

The sweet end... These would be great for a baby or bridal shower, so yummy!