Recipes, Slow Cookin

Slow Cooker Sundays: Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili

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Happy Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  This football season, we have purposely and sincerely dedicated Sundays to slooooow cookin.  This week my crockpot was graced to the brim with Cheesy Sausage and White Bean Chili (adapted from Sandra Lee’s Cheesy Chorizo Chili Recipe).

Isn’t it pretty???

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Despite how beautiful the final product might appear, the process of slow cooking usually results in some sort of mess in the kitchen.  Well, actually it’s all cooking.  Me merely stepping a foot into the kitchen should serve as fair warning of impending disasters.  One dish usually results in a few sauce splatters on the wall, some chopped onions on the floor, no less than 7 dirtied utensils, a burner or two accidentally left on, and every inch of counter littered with various cooking debris.  So, I’m not exactly organized in the kitchen… What can I say?  I like to become one with my food Smile

The key to any successful slow cooked meal is a few glasses of wine to pass the time.  You might suggest that I use all that waiting time to clean the mess I’ve created in the kitchen.  To that I say, “I cook, you clean.  So quit your yapping and get to scrubbing.”

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To assemble this chili, you’ll first want to brown your sausage in a skillet.  Any turkey or chicken sausage will do—I prefer a spicy variety like Harris Teeter Hot Chicken Sausage or Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage.

Next gather up your ingredients:

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Don’t mind the Limited bag in the background… I partook in a bit of retail therapy this weekend.  I scored a few sale items and am feeling MUCH better, thank you.

Toss all your canned goods, spices, and cooked sausage into the crockpot and mix to combine.  Then, let the chili cook for 6 hours on low.  When it’s time to chow, I like to top my chili with a dollop of Trader Joes fat free Greek yogurt, some sliced green onions, and a few corn tortilla chips:

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This chili is a beautiful rust orange color, pretty darn thick, and extremely tasty.  Even though this chili doesn’t have the standard tomato sauce chili base, it hit all the right notes on the seasoning scale.  Jarrod and I both gave this chili two thumbs up… We had some for lunch… and then some for dinner… and between the two of us devoured the entire batch in a period of six and half hours.  Don’t judge.

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Total cheesy comfort in a bowl.

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Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili Ingredients List (serves 5)

  • 5 links hot chicken or turkey sausage (such as Harris Teeter brand)
  • 3 15 ounce cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 10.75 ounce can condensed cheddar cheese soup
  • 1 can mild Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 can diced green chilis
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp burrito seasoning (McCormicks)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Chopped green onions

Stats on one serving:   366 calories, 49g carbs, 7g fat, 35g protein, 14g fiber

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Recipes

Three Cheese Sausage Pasta Bake

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This is one of my favorite weekend treats to throw together.  Pasta, sausage, cheese, cheese, and mo’ cheese.  It ain’t much of a recipe, but sometimes the simplest of concoctions put the biggest smile on my face.  You know what I mean?

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients List for Three Cheese Sausage Pasta Bake (serves 5)

  • 8 ounces pasta of choice, cooked al dente
  • 3 cups pasta sauce of choice (such as Prego Heart Smart)
  • 4 links cooked chicken or turkey sausage (such as Harris Teeter Hot Chicken Sausage)
  • 4 slices mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup fat-free ricotta
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
  • Italian herbs of choice

I like to start off with some sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Prego is (and always has been) my go-to standard store pasta sauce.  It tastes delicious, it’s super cheap, and you can buy it in a ginormous jar.  What more could you want?

1/3 of the sauce goes into the casserole:

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Then I toss on half of my pasta:

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Plus two tablespoons of shredded parmesan and 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta:

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Then I add the sliced sausages and sprinkle with my favorite Italian herb combo:  oregano, basil, S&P, and a touch of red pepper flakes.

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Add another cup of sauce, followed by the remaining pasta, then the last cup of sauce, 1/4 cup of ricotta, 2 tbsp parmesan, and 4 slices of mozzarella:

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Cover with foil (careful that it doesn’t touch the cheese!!!).  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes.

Dinner is served!

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Stats on 1 serving:  422 calories, 52g carbs, 11g fat, 30g protein, 5g fiber

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What I ate

Breakfast on the Balcony

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If only breakfast could start with this EVERY day:

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Mmmmm veggies! 

I’m heading to Dallas for training this week, so the BF and I decided to cook up a special “last” breakfast… Oh, and by “we” I mean ME, of course.  There’s only one morning person in this relationship.  There’s also only one pants wearer.  I’ll let you guess who that might be 😉

It was a crazy bright and sunny morning, perfect for enjoying a little grub on the balcony.  Check out that beautiful tablescape!

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Clearly getting food in our bellies ASAP was at the top of the priority list.

I was especially excited to make breakfast this morning because I’ve been dying to try out my new Oxo Eggbeaters that came in my Food Blog Forum swag bag!

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YES!  I love gadgets!!!  And how cool are these eggbeaters?  The beater section pops off the handle and is dishwasher safe.  Honestly, I’ve never beaten eggs with egg beaters before–I usually just opt for a fork and whisk with all my might til my arm falls off.  Holy cow did these beaters make life a heck of a lot easier.  It was like the parting of the Red Sea…. the breakfast edition.  I swear I could hear angels singing as I beat those eggs to perfection. 

Using my beaten-to-perfection bowl o’ eggs, I made up a big batch of Mary’s special eggs (a list of the goodies I tossed in is at the bottom of the post).DSCF8125

Each serving went onto a low carb tortilla:

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Topped with some low-fat pepper jack cheese and a bit of Frank’s Red Hot:

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I also cooked up a pumpkin waffle using my Trader Joe’s Pumpkin pancake and waffle mix:

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The waffle was good but not fall out of your chair delicious.  Apparently, if you don’t fall out of your chair the recipe is crap in my book.  I’m going to give the mix another shot in pancake form and see if it’s any tastier.

The wraps were fabulous.  You really can’t go wrong with the “special” combo!  I like to pop mine on the George Foreman grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

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I mean, really.  REALLY.

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Mary’s Special Breakfast Burrito Wraps (serves 4)

  • 3 large eggs
  • 9 egg whites
  • 3 turkey or chicken sausages (Harris Teeter Hot Chicken Sausage)
  • 1 diced roma tomato
  • 1/4 chopped red onion
  • 4 white mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 cups fresh spinach, thinly sliced
  • S&P
  • Franks Red Hot
  • 4 Low Carb Tortillas (Tumaro’s)
  • 2 slices reduced fat pepper jack cheese (I like Sargento)

Click here to see how I cook these babies up.

Stats on 1 burrito:  285 calories, 15g carbs, 10g fat, 42g protein, 8g fiber

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Recipes

Salted Caramel Brownies

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Let me get you a napkin for that bit of drool you’ve got trailing down from your lower lip…

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These lovely salted caramel brownies are courtesy of a recipe I tagged a few months back in Cooking Light.  I’ve been dying to make them but I had no good reason to… and honestly I was trying to avoid having an entire batch of delicious brownies sitting on my kitchen counter BEGGING me to eat them.  Seriously. I have control when it comes to a lot of things in life.  Chocolate is not one of those things.

Then Jess posted a call-to-action on her blog Stylish, Stealthy & Healthy to join this little thing called the Blogger Sweet Swap.

Eureka!  This was the perfect excuse to make the brownies!!  Just think of the Sweet Swap as an arranged penpal relationship… with benefits.  Sweet benefits.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Combine the following in a big ole bowl:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

Then combine these guys in a little bowl:

  • 6 tbsp melted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the wets into the dries and stir to combine the thickest brownie batter you’ve ever laid eyes on.

The recipe calls for baking these guys in a 9 inch square metal pan coated with cooking spray for 19 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  I baked mine in an 8 inch glass dish for 20 minutes, then 5 more minutes, then 5 MORE minutes.. then got impatient and took them out.  Seriously, every time I bake brownies the darn toothpick NEVER comes out clean.  Anyone else have this issue??

After the brownies cool completely, it’s time to make the caramel deliciousness.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small pot, then whisk in:

  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1.5 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk

Cook for two minutes, then remove from heat and whisk in:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Spread the yum sauce over the brownies:

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Once everything cooled off completely I decided to extract the brownies from the pan….

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Oh dear…

It looks like a Brownie Massacre.

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Then I cut the hunks o’ brownie into tiny little brownie babies.  Why did I think brownies would be a good idea again??

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Next up is the chocolately drizzle. The following go into a microwave safe bowl:

  • 2 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk
  • 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds or until melted, stirring after 20 seconds. I scraped the chocolate into a ziplock baggie, snipped the corner off with scissors, and drizzled it over the brownie squares.

Disaster.

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Then I sprinkled the tops with a bit o’ sea salt, picked the prettiest 12 of the bunch, and tucked them neatly into metal tray:

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They kind of look like the photo… kind of.

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So Molly @ Hungry Hungry Runner, I PROMISE these were edible and pretty and neatly packed when I shipped them.  Whatever happens after this point is on the hands of the USPS.

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I bet you’re wondering what I did with all those leftover brownies, huh?  All I can say is these brownies are seriously delicious.  More like fudge than brownies (probably due to my  aforementioned brownie baking incompetencies).  ABSOLUTELY delicious and seriously sweet.  I stuck a few in the freezer for this weekend too 🙂
 

Ingredients List (makes ~20 brownies)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 tbsp evaporated fat-free milk, divided
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1/8 tsp coarse sea salt

Curious to see how they arrived??? Check out Molly’s post for her recap!

Curious to see what sweets I got?

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Then click here for the pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe!!

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Recipes, Slow Cookin

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

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We’ve started a new (to us) tradition:  Slow Cooker Sundays!  Every Sunday this football season we’re going to bust out the Crockpot (or two) and cook up some comforting treats!  This past Sunday our slow cooked supper was courtesy of Skinny Taste’s Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili recipe!

As you would expect with any slow cooker recipe, this was quite easy to throw together.  I made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe… When do I not?!

All you do is toss the following into the crock:

  • 1 chopped white onion
  • 2 16-oz cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (I used blacks beans)
  • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
  • 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
  • 3 10-oz cans Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder

Give everything a stir to combine:

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Then plop about 30 ounces of raw chicken breasts on top and push them down slightly into the liquid.

We cooked our chili on high for 5.5 hours then pulled out the chicken breasts and gave them a quick shred with two forks.  The chicken literally fell apart as I grabbed it!

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Toss the chicken back in and 30 minutes later it is time to feast!  We served our chili with a 1/2 serving of brown rice, dollop of Fat Free Trader Joe’s Plain Greek Yogurt, and a big ole handful of chopped raw onions.

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There may have also been some Fritos added last minute Smile

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This makes six hearty servings.

Stats on 1 hearty serving (no fixin’s):  347 calories, 44g carbs, 4g fat, 39g protein, 10g fiber

Ingredients List for Crock Pot Chicken Chili (serves 6):

  • 1 chopped white onion
  • 2 16-oz cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (I used blacks beans)
  • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
  • 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
  • 3 10oz cans Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 30 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast
  • Chopped raw onion (optional… really though, raw onions MAKE the chili don’t they?)
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
  • Brown rice (optional)
  • Fritos (strongly encouraged)

What is your favorite slow cooker recipe?  I’m on the lookout for something tasty to make this Sunday, so links would be super!

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