KT Cooked It: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Since starting my new full-time job three weeks ago, I have been faced with a dilemma that many a working parent encounters: limited time to make dinner. So, after a pizza (or two) and rotisserie chickens from the grocery store, I pulled out the crock pot and decided to make some soup that would last us a few days for lunches and dinners.

Last week I made a delicious chicken tortilla soup, which is a variation of this recipe from Betty Crocker. Hubby really enjoyed it too, which means it will go in the cookbook for future reference!

What you need:

1lb chicken breast
1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
15 oz can of roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
15 oz can of whole kernel corn, red and green peppers, undrained
10 oz can mild enchilada sauce
1/2 large onion, chopped
15 oz can black beans, drained
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder










Place all of the ingredients into your crock pot. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours or until the chicken is very tender.
















Remove the chicken breast. Using two forks, shred the chicken and place back into the slow cooker. Cook for 30 minutes longer. Garnish your soup with cheese, sour cream and pieces of tortilla chips.

It's THAT easy!

KT Baked It: Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

It's officially fall - the leaves are changing color, sweaters and puffy vests have been pulled out of storage, and everything now comes in a pumpkin spice flavor. With holiday baking season upon us, I decided this weekend was as good of a time as ever to kick off the baking fun. This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law, Sandi. It comes from the Bakeaholic Mama...and it is SO yummy! 

What you need:

For the cookies...

3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling...

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the coating...

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Start by mixing the dry ingredients for the cookies in a mixing bowl - flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

Next, cream the butter and sugars using a handheld mixer or Kitchenaid mixer. 

Add the pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugars.
 

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture to finish the cookie dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. I left mine refrigerate overnight...

Next, make the cream cheese filling by combining the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with a handheld mixer. Also allow this to refrigerate at least an hour. 

When you are ready to make your cookies, mix the cinnamon-sugar coating together by combining the sugar and spices. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball and then flatten into a pancake.

  

Take 1 teaspoon of filling and place it in the middle of the flattened cookie dough.

Take a second tablespoon scoop of dough as before - roll into a ball and flatten - then place on top of the filling. Pinch the sides together and then roll the dough ball in the cinnamon sugar.

Place the cookies about 2" apart on your cookie sheet, then flatten the cookie dough balls with the bottom of a glass. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until the top of the cookie cracks.

I will absolutely make these again, they are delicious!

KT Made It: Baby Closet Dividers

It's hard to think of an introduction for this blog post when I have been absent for so long from sharing all the did-it's I have been doing. Perhaps it's best to state the truth: the did-it's that I have been doing are mommy duties to our beautiful (and very active) almost-4-month-old baby girl! I have even considered evolving my blog to reflect my adventures (misadventures?) in parenting an infant, as it would certainly make for comical reflection and perhaps might even be informative or maybe even comforting for other new mommies who, like me, are trying to figure out this thing called parenthood! 

While there may certainly come a time when parenting stories and struggles could become the norm, today I am excited to share a project that I have been slowly working on for Rachel's nursery: closet dividers! In the many hours I spent on Pinterest while holding her at night as a newborn when she would not sleep anywhere but in our arms, I came across many cute ideas for these dividers to organize the sizes of baby's clothes. 

I made my dividers using 89cent wooden door hangers from Michaels craft store, acrylic paint and ribbon. 

I made four different dividers: 3months, 6months, 9months, and 12months. I made a different pattern for each divider using two or three of the colors of the nursery (purple, turquoise, gray, white). Here are some pictures of my work, which I accomplished little by little over the last week while Rachel sat contently for various lengths of time (usually very short moments in fact) in her Bumpo seat or vibrating chair next to me listening to me sing her Disney songs or tunes from Toddler Radio on Pandora. 

 And here are the finished dividers! 

Quite an accomplishment, and pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Farewell friends, until we craft again 😊

KT Cooked It: Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Recently I became motivated to make something more for dinner other than sauteed chicken and a bag of steamed broccoli, which has been a staple of our diet since having our baby (plus or minus the occasional box of Kraft mac n' cheese).

Knowing my limitations, I decided to make something that was not too complicated that I already had the majority of ingredients for. After looking through a few cookbooks for inspiration, I saw a recipe using roasted red peppers. I've always wanted to roast peppers for myself, but have never had an occasion to try it. This seemed as good an opportunity as any! So, with a couple of red peppers and a few groceries from the store, I give you:

What you need:
2 red bell peppers
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup frozen spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
1/2 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
Salt, pepper to taste
2-3 ounces pasta (I used spaghetti noodles, but linguini or angel hair pasta would work well)

First you will need to roast your peppers. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the washed peppers on a roasting pan or baking sheet lined with foil. Roast the peppers for 15 to 20 minutes, then flip them and roast again for 15 minutes. The peppers will be very soft, and the skin will have blackened.

Once cooled, remove the peel. Next, slice open your peppers and remove the seeds. Pulse the peppers in a food processor and set aside.








Sauté the spinach with olive oil and minced garlic.








For the cream sauce, start by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the flour. Next, add half-and-half and the milk. Allow sauce to simmer and stir until flour is completely blended. Add the processed peppers to the sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Once the pasta is cooked and strained, combine pasta with sauce and spinach. I added sautéed shrimp to the pasta, which was delicious!

KT Did It: Happy Independence Day 2015!

Once upon a time there was a blogger who liked to do things and write about them, which she called "did-its." One day, this blogger accomplished the ultimate "did-it" - she and her hubby had a baby! And this baby, a little girl named Rachel, was the joy of her life even in times of sleep deprivation which, let's be real, is most of the time.  And this blogger, who had not blogged for, well, quite some time decided to make a little time to do something to fulfill her crafting/cooking/doing needs ... and to stop referring to herself in the third person...

Today is that day and what better day to celebrate a new did-it than on the Fourth of July - metaphorically a little Independence Day of my own to celebrate the moments over the past week that I had the "freedom" to pamper myself with a shower, a nap and a festive project not so surprisingly made for baby (and when I should probably have been napping again)!

During many early morning hours of baby-snuggling and feeding sessions, I exercised my Pinning muscle and compiled quite the Fourth of July Pinterest Board filled with DIY crafts, food, clothing, and other entertainment inspirations and ideas. See my board and follow me on Pinterest by going here!

Knowing my limitations, I chose to utilize "free" moments over the past week to make baby Rachel a festive outfit for her first Fourth of July - a red, white and blue ruffle bum onesie! This is a very easy, versatile DIY outfit for baby. I'm definitely going to make more of these.

What you need:
Onesie - I used a white NB size
3 rolls of 1 1/2 inch satin ribbon of three colors
Needle and thread
Iron on decal

First, I used my iron to attach the American flag decal to the front of the onesie. You can buy these iron on accessories at any craft store. I got this one at Walmart. You can also use iron on letters to decorate onesies with baby's initials - a great baby shower gift!

For the ruffle bum, I cut two stands of ribbon of each color approximate twice the width of the onesie.

Using a needle and thread (you can also use a sewing machine), knot one end of the thread and sew a running stitch along the length of each of the ribbons. Once you have reached the end, draw up the ribbon to create the ruffle to fit the width of the back of the onesie. Knot the end to secure the ribbon length. Place the bottom ruffle at the level at which you want it to sit on your baby's bum, pin, then sew in place!

 

Follow the same steps for each ruffle, from bottom ruffle to the top. Here is the finished ruffle bum!

You can also make a headband to go with your baby's new outfit, like this one I made with fold over elastic and a rose that I made with satin ribbon.

And here it is, Rachel's first Fourth of July outfit!

I'd also like to share these cute festive desserts made by my friend Katie and her sister Meghan! Love it!