Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

So my friend Micaela of Striving Bean made these once for a treat day back when I was in corporate world.  Ever since that day I have wanted these bars/cake again.  I finally made them the other day... and made only one mistake, but, it was still delicious!

Ingredients
Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. NOTE: When sifting flour measure first, then sift.  Not the other way around (which, yes, is what I did... duh!).

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined.

 

Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

 

See how thin my "cake" is... well that's because of the sifting of the flour and then measuring!  

This should be more like a cake than like a bar.

Crockpot Pot Roast

Ingredients:1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut in half
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup beef broth
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 medium onions (about 3/4 pound), quartered
1 (16-ounce) package baby carrots
2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons water

Place roast, soy sauce, and garlic in a large ziplock plastic bag. Marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Boil beef broth in a small saucepan; add mushrooms. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Drain mushrooms through a colander over a bowl, saving broth mixture.

Remove roast from bag, saving marinade. Sprinkle roast with pepper, gently pressing pepper into roast. Combine reserved marinade, mushroom broth mixture, and tomato paste; stir well, and set aside.

Place mushrooms, onion, carrot and potato in a 6-quart crockpot; toss gently.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add roast, browing well on all sides. Place roast over vegetables in crockpot.

Pour tomato paste mixture into skillet, scraping to loosen browned bits. Pour tomato paste mixture over roast and vegetables.

Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low-heat setting, and cook 8 hours or until roast is tender. 

Place roast and vegetables on a serving platter; keep warm. Reserve liquid in crockpot; increase to high-heat setting.

Place flour in a small bowl. Gradually add water, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add flour mixture to liquid in crockpot. Cook, uncovered, 15 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring frequently.

Serve gravy with roast and vegetables.

Mexican Chicken Soup, White Chicken Chili and Grandpa's Chili

Hey everyone!

I'm Melba, Kim's sous chef this week! Since the cool weather is coming whether we like it or not, I've decided to get ready by making some soups to freeze. For me it's easier to do all the prep work once, and cook it all in one day. Call me crazy, but it works! I now have enough soup for 9 dinners for my family of 3, and 2 lunches for myself :)

If you're not into this all day soup-making-affair, just skip ahead to the recipes you want to make! I have them individually listed.

Prep work:

Chop/dice 4-5 stalks of celery
3 peeled carrots
4 onions
1 green pepper
cilantro (you'll need about 1/2 cup)

Cook chicken - I cooked 4 breasts. Put them in a large skillet with 2-3 cups of chicken broth, cook on medium for about 12 minutes (until no longer pink in the middle).

Cool them slightly, pull them out of the skillet, and shred it with a fork. (I used 2 cups for the Mexican chicken soup, and the rest went into the white chicken chili). Discard broth. You could also use a rotisserie chicken shredded.

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Mexican Chicken Soup (makes about 11 cups)

2 tbsp EVOO

1 medium onion chopped (1 cup)

1 stalk of celery chopped (1 cup)

2 minced garlic cloves

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

6 cups chicken broth

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

1 15oz can corn

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15oz can mexican style diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

juice of 1 lime (1 tsp from the plastic lime)

salt
pepper

Heat the oil in a stockpot. Add the onion, celery, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Cook about 5 mins until veggies soften.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Add the chilies, corn, tomatoes, beans, and oregano and cook another 5 minutes.

Add chicken, cilantro and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste.

*note: if it seems to thick to your liking, add some more chicken broth.

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White Chicken Chili (makes about 12 cups)

2-3 tbsp EVOO

1 small chopped onion (3/4 cup)

1 medium carrot finely diced (1 cup)

1 talk of celery chopped (1 cup)

1 1/2 cups chopped green chilies

1 clove of garlic minced

1/2 stick of butter

4 cans of Great Northern beans or Navy beans (I used a combination) - drained and rinsed

6 cups chicken broth

1 lb shredded cooked chicken

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Heat the oil in a stock pot. Add the onion, celery, carrots, cumin, oregano and white pepper.

Cook until the veggies are soft, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small sauce pan.

Add garlic and chilies and cook 5 minutes.

Add 1/3 - 1/2 of the beans to the stock pot, and mash them up using a potato masher.

Then add the rest of the beans, the chili-butter mixture, cilantro and the chicken. Stir really well, and let simmer for 10-15 mins until slightly thickened.

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Grandpa's Chili (makes about 17 cups)

1lb of ground beef

1 sweet green pepper diced

1 onion, diced

1 stalk of celery chopped (1 cup)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 can of condensed tomato soup + 1 can of water

2 cans of mild chili beans (use spicier ones if you like!)

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 15oz can of diced tomatoes (chili seasoned)

2 tsp brown sugar

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp dried basil

1 cup dried elbow noodles

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef along with the onion, pepper, garlic and celery till beef is cooked and veggies are soft.

Drain fat.

Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato soup, and can of water, and stir till combined. Add chili beans (undrained) chili powder, basil and brown sugar.

Bring to a simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. (If it seems too thick add another can of water)

Add noodles and cook about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

*note - this is a very thick chili. If you like thinner chili, add more water or beef broth.

And there you have it! 3 hearty soups in just a few hours time. It's so easy to throw one in the fridge to thaw the night before, cook up a pan of corn bread, or dinner rolls and voilla!