Leftovers: Crunchy Turkey Quesadilla

With the massive amounts of turkey left over (three Tupperware containers full, to be exact), I knew getting creative was necessary. Originally I was planning to make a simple turkey and cheese quesadilla on Sunday night, but decided to take it a step further. For anyone that’s ever been to Taco Bell, you know about the “Crunch Wrap Supreme,” which is folded over into itself in the middle, and has a nice crunch in addition to your typical quesadilla/burrito ingredients. I actually came across the original recipe from Hungry Girl awhile back, and decided to make it my own this time around.

In addition to the turkey and shredded pepper jack cheese (yum!) I sautéed some yellow onion with a chipotle in adobo. Once the onion was sautéed and the turkey was warm enough, I piled it into the middle of the tortilla, topping it with cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and a few pieces of corn tortilla chips. You then have to get your fold-on, folding from the outside in, making about 4-5 folds. You then just throw it on a pan (that you’ve already sprayed, of course) so the tortilla becomes golden brown, and each of the sides you’ve folded stick to one another. The entire meal took about 15 minutes to prepare, and when paired with a salad was perfect for dinner!

Prior to our lovely Sunday night dinner, after our 8 mile run, fiancé and I each devoured an ice cream float. During the entire second half of the run, all I could think about was food. Jamba Juice, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milkshakes, etc. So on the very last leg of our run I announced my plan (albeit out of breath) – “I’m making an ice cream float!” to which my fiancé loudly responded “Oh $*%! Yes!” and immediately followed it with a “That was kind of loud… SORRY!” to anyone listening. As soon as we got inside I scooped some leftover ice cream into plastic cups, and topped it off with some soda left over from Thanksgiving. Oh it was heaven. My stomach didn’t appreciate it much later, and would have rather enjoyed a piece of bread and water, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Maybe next Saturday’s 10 miler will be followed up similarly.

Crunchy Turkey Quesadilla
– Serves 1 –
[Adapted from HungryGirl]

Ingredients:
1 flour tortilla (warmed about 10 seconds in the microwave)
½ cup shredded cheese
½ cup shredded cooked turkey
¼ onion
¼ cup shredded lettuce (iceberg works nicely for crunch)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 chipotle in adobo
1 Tbsp sour cream
2-3 corn tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Sautee onion in oil until almost translucent, add chipotle and turkey when almost done just to warm.
2. Once cooked, add onion and turkey mixture to middle of tortilla, topping with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and tortilla chips.
3. Fold tortilla inwards towards the middle, in about 4-5 sections.
4. Spray and re-heat skillet on medium heat, and add the quesadilla folded side down, cooking until slightly golden brown (about 2 minutes), flip and cook other side until also golden brown. Serve immediately.

Our Second Thanksgiving

This was the second year in a row that my fiancé and I decided to host Thanksgiving for both our families. We figured it was the easiest way to make sure we could see everyone, and also avoid the whole traveling thing. Plus, since I like cooking, I certainly don’t mind! Last year I enlisted the help of my mom to prepare the turkey and stuffing the day before. This year, though, I decided to be a big girl and do it all on my own.

Our menu was as follows:
– Bruschetta
– Cheese & crackers
– Shrimp Cocktail
– Turkey
– Stuffing with sausage, onion, and celery
– Broccoli casserole
– Cornbread
– Mashed Potatoes
– Mashed Turnips
– Corn
– Cranberry sauce
– Pumpkin Pie
– Apple Pie

Our original plan was to have everyone over around 2pm, with a 3pm eat time. Well, I underestimated the time Ralph (what we named our Turkey – last year it was Charlie) took to cook, so we didn’t eat until about 4:30/5pm. Since we had plenty to munch on and a plethora of beers and wine to chose from, no one seemed to mind. Everything was absolutely delicious, but without the help of both my mom and my fiancé’s mom, it would have been much more stressful.

On Wednesday night we took the time to clean and prepare Ralph, and also make the stuffing. Our turkey was 18.5lbs, so in order to make the stuffing with some left over, I did the following:

Semi-homemade Stuffing
– enough to fill an 18+ lb turkey –

Ingredients:
2 bags Arnold’s herb seasoned cubed dry stuffing
1 onion
3 stalks of celery
1 roll of pork sausage
water (according to Arnold package)
butter (according to Arnold package)

Directions:
1. Chop onions and celery, sautée until almost translucent with about 1 tbsp of butter. Then add sausage, cook until browned.
2. Slowly add stuffing mix, butter, and water, combining along the way until moist and all combined (about 15-20 minutes).
3. If making day-of, once cooled, stuff turkey. If making ahead of time, set in refrigerator until cooled, then stuff accordingly.

I also made the broccoli casserole ahead of time, with the exception of the crust. This recipe actually came from a co-worker who made it during our company Thanksgiving a week earlier. It was so simple and delicious, I thought it would be a nice trade for the typical green bean casserole (though I love that as well). It isn’t the healthiest, but boy is it good.

Broccoli Casserole
– Serves 8-10 –

Ingredients:
1 package Velveta
4 boxes of frozen chopped broccoli (or 2 bags)
40 Salteen crackers (non-salted)
1 stick of butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cook broccoli according to package, saving water when done.
4. Melt 3/4 stick of butter (reserve remaining 1/4 stick for topping)
5. In sauce pot, melt cheese with already melted butter, adding 1/2 cup of leftover broccoli water. Stir constantly until melted.
6. Pour cheese mixture over broccoli, mixing well, add to greased casserole dish.
7. Crumble crackers, melt remaining butter in small sauce pan, adding crumbled crackers. Sauté until butter has coated crackers – be sure not to burn. Sprinkle on top of casserole.
8. Bake 30 minutes, let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Thursday morning involved last minute cleaning, and general preparations. We had to make sure the cheese and crackers (with Hormel pepperoni!) was out, our Magic Hat, Dogfish Head, and Saranac beers were cool, and our Cupcake Vineyards wine was ready to go.

My fiancé’s mom was kind enough to make us her amazing bruschetta (it has huge chunks of tomato and garlic – yum!). She also prepared a huge shrimp cocktail, corn, made delicious corn bread, and gave us the ingredients for making mashed potatoes. My mom took care of her favorites – mashed turnips and delicious cranberry sauce. She also made an apple and pumpkin pie, which at quick glance looked store-bought! We certainly ate well on Thursday, that’s for sure.

Friday evening was Thanksgiving round 2 at my parent’s house. Any year that my family doesn’t have Thanksgiving at home, my mom insists on making her own turkey with all the fixings so she can have leftovers herself. So, we headed over to assist in the devouring of their “measly” 12 pound turkey. After having a Thanksgiving dinner two days in a row, I was unsure how I’d manage to finish the 5 mile Turkey Trot I was signed up for on Saturday.

While it was beautiful outside when looking out the window, gusty winds and a cool temperature made standing around pre-race no fun. Since the race started at 11am, I was thankful the sun was shining. However, I didn’t hand over my jacket until the last possible moment. Unlike your typical Turkey Trots, this particular race was a 5-miler in my hometown that both starts and ends at a nearby park. Once we got started I didn’t mind the cold, but there were points where the wind was blowing directly in my face, making it difficult to breathe. I’ve found that the hardest part about cold weather running, for me, is breathing through all the mucus (gross, I know). I spent a decent part of this race trying to prevent myself from choking. At any rate, I finished in 39:40, a solid 7:56 minute/mile pace (fastest race pace ever!) and was 6th in my age group, 43rd woman, and 206 overall! There were a total of 843 runners. My wonderful fiancé came in 3rd in his age group, 46th man, and 53rd overall. A friend of mine from high school also ran, who is super fast (hello 3:08 marathon!) and was the 2nd female overall, and of course the winner of our age group! Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with bagels, and had Thai for dinner – an overall successful day!

I think it’s safe to say my mini-four day vacation was a complete success. We finished everything off on Sunday with another chilly 8-miler, and some leftover turkey and cheese quesadillas. I’m looking forward to whipping up some interesting recipes with the leftovers throughout the week!

Gluttony: Brownie Peanut Butter Parfait

Happy Thanksgiving! As everyone is preparing to get their eat-on, here’s some additional gluttony for you to enjoy!

I’ve always been a fan of a good parfait. Not only does the word amuse me, but I’m yet to meet a parfait I didn’t like. Sure, granola and yogurt parfaits are good, but we all know that those with whipped cream, pudding, and anything else remotely unhealthy tastes even better! My boss actually made this when she had us over for dinner a few weeks ago, and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. She got the recipe from a friend, and it’s so decadent and easy to make I just had to share it with you. I mean, if you’re not running to the store to make this after reading the ingredients and seeing the picture, I question your sanity (no offense).

This particular recipe makes A LOT, so it’s best used for a party or big group of people. You can make it the night before, too, so everything really settles together for maximum flavor potential. If you’re looking for a quick and easy non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert, this comes highly recommended. If my mom wasn’t bringing both an apple and pumpkin pie already, this would definitely be a part of our Thanksgiving. Maybe next year!

I warn you, though. This is seriously addictive despite how heavy it is, so pace yourself!

Brownie Peanut Butter Parfait

Ingredients:
2 boxes of brownie mix
½ cup peanut butter
2 boxes of instant vanilla pudding
2 16 oz containers of Cool Whip (you’ll have a little left over)
1 bag of mini Reese’s peanut butter cups

Directions:
1. Prepare brownies per the box instructions, set aside to cool.
2. Prepare vanilla pudding per the box instructions.
3. Melt peanut butter in the microwave till it has a slightly liquid consistency. Slowly pour peanut butter into pudding, while stirring. *You can add more peanut butter to up the pb flavor
4. Chop Reese’s peanut butter cups
5. Layer – brownies, pudding, cool whip, a few peanut butter cups. Repeat until all ingredients have been used (top with peanut butter cups).

Parfait

Delicious Fridays

Friday afternoon, my company had it’s third annual Thanksgiving feast during lunch. Everyone brought in a recipe, and at the end we voted for winners. I decided to make Not Your Grandma’s Sweet Potato Pie. While I had lots of compliments, I didn’t win. That’s okay, though, because I devoured a whole lot of deliciousness; broccoli casserole, stuffing, corn salad, pumpkin dumplings, cumin and cayenne mashed potatoes with caramelized onion, and topped it off with some peanut butter brownie mousse parfait. I scored the recipes of almost everything I liked, and can’t wait to make it!

Needless to say, I was stuffed (and lethargic) all afternoon. So when I got home, for one of the first times, I wasn’t ravenous for dinner. Eventually, though, I was hungry enough to make something. Having one sweet potato left over from making the pie as well as an avocado and typical Mexican fare (cilantro, tortillas, cheese), I racked my brain for a solid 20 minutes. Eventually I went with a chili cheese burrito and a side of spicy sweet potato fries. It was quick to make and really delicious. A perfect simple Friday night dinner to accompany watching Millionaire Matchmaker and What Not to Wear… guilty pleasures for a Friday night home alone!

Chili Cheese Burrito
– Serves 1 –

Ingredients:
½ can of your favorite chili (I used Amy’s Organic Spicy Veggie Chili)
1 flour tortilla
½ cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
½ avocado, sliced
¼ cup scallions, diced
¼ cup cilantro
2 tbsp sour cream

Directions:
1. Heat chili over medium heat until bubbly, remove from heat
2. Place sliced avocado, diced scallions, and half of the cheese on the tortilla, followed by chili, sour cream, and remaining cheese
3. Roll and enjoy!

Spicy Sweet Potato Oven Fries
– Serves 1-2 –

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 tsp Adobo seasoning
½ tsp cumin seeds

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Peel and slice potato long ways, coat in olive oil then sprinkle with spices
3. Spray a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, flip, then bake an additional 10 minutes
4. Enjoy!

More Pumpkin

Even though pumpkin beer has made its way off the shelves already this season, I refuse to accept that pumpkin season is over. So, I’ve continued to scour the internet for anything and everything pumpkin. This particular recipe comes from HangryPants, by way of And Her Little Dog Too. I know that Heather over at HangryPants loves pumpkin just as much as my fiancé and I do based on the number of recipes she’s posted in the past few months, but I didn’t actually come across this particular one until Leslie of And Her Little Dog Too made it and posted about it. As soon as I saw it, per the usual I fired it off via e-mail (I love the e-mail feature in Google Reader) to my fiancé and he responded with the typical “MAKE.”

After last week’s meat fest, it felt good to stick to non-meat meals for this week. Since we really haven’t been eating much meat these days, last week was like an overload for me. I’m certainly not complaining since I made up the week’s menu and everything was delicious, but it’s amazing how different you feel when you include or exclude things in your diet. That’s neither here nor there, though!

Since it was a pasta dish, it was a perfect dose of carbs for Thursday morning’s pre-work 6 miler. When my alarm goes off at 5:30am I really question my sanity. I question it even more when my head starts to bobble at my desk around 2pm. I decided to start Thursday off post-run with a Green Monster, which I haven’t had in quite awhile. I think I need to get myself some fresh spinach though, because the frozen stuff doesn’t really break down that well. I tried to make a pumpkin pie version with the leftover canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, plain Greek yogurt, and a splash of Almond Breeze (full-on vanilla flavor, of course). It wasn’t bad! I need to stock up on the more typical Green Monster ingredients though so I can experiment.

But yes, the pumpkin penne. YUM. I don’t have garlic gold (sounds fancy, though) so I stuck with regular garlic powder, and I didn’t know what I was missing. It was super creamy which was awesome, and there was a bit of a pumpkin pie flavor, unlike the pumpkin mac ‘n cheese I made a few weeks ago. My fiancé and I did make the mistake of putting two drops of MadDog 375 sauce, which is one of the hot sauces we got last week, on our plates. This sauce is 600,000 Scoville units. A jalapeño is 2,500 – 8,000. So yes, this was A LOT of burn. They aren’t kidding when they tell you to only use a drop in an entire meal, or to water it down. My entire mouth and lips were burning in a way that I could only imagine the next closest thing would be to light them on fire. I doused my lips and mouth in milk for a solid 5 minutes, and had to dump out what was on plate and get a new serving. I learned my lesson, I promise.

So before all the pure pumpkin disappears from the shelves at the grocery store, make this!

Pumpkin Penne
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1/2 box whole wheat pasta (*save 1/4 cup of pasta water)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare pasta according to directions, slightly undercooking (it will finish cooking once all mixed)
3. At the same time, sauté chopped onion in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Combine mozzarella, pumpkin, ricotta, followed by spices in a large bowl.
5. Add sauteed onions to cheese mixture and 1/4 cup water from the pasta to thicken, then add pasta.
6. Spread pasta mixture in a greased casserole dish, and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Curried Eggplant with Tomato and Basil

When I was in college, I made sure to hit up the salad bar every night. After swim practice, we all loaded up our trays and on my tray at least one corner had a little plastic bowl full of salad in it. The lettuce, though, was usually buried underneath a pile of chickpeas. Teammates and friends used to joke that I was having a little salad with my chickpeas, but I just couldn’t help it – they’re so good! So whenever I find a recipe that has chickpeas in them, I do my best to make it.

This recipe came from Real Simple magazine, which always seems to have such great (and usually pretty easy) recipes. Hmm, maybe the title of the magazine lends to the easy, or should I say, simple recipes. I was lucky enough to score a subscription to the magazine after my friend got me the bridal edition. I look forward to each issue!

It wasn’t until a few months ago that I began cooking with curry, and I LOVE it. Now that we don’t have any neighbors upstairs, downstairs, etc. we don’t have to worry about “stinking” up the place with our cooking. I think all aromas coming from the kitchen are great, aside from the garbage of course. Now that I have curry powder, Thai red curry, and a big bag of garam masala, I have every intention of adding to that collection and making more curry-based dishes.

I was able to put this all together post-gym since I didn’t get up early enough to run Tuesday morning (but I did Monday!). Being able to have the rice cook while taking care of everything else was definitely helpful. In addition to the regular recipe, I added some dried red chilis to the mix. My fiancé decided to throw some hot sauce we recently got from Serial Baker during her trip to California, and he over did it. I stuck to a squirt of Sriracha and was fine, while he was guzzling water. Oops!

Next on my chickpea to make list is RhodeyGirl’s Chickpea fries. I just need to figure out how to prevent oil from flying all over the counters as well as my arms.

Curried Eggplant with Tomato and Basil
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 cup white basmati rice
kosher salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1 eggplant (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt (preferably Greek), optional

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the rice, 1 ½ cups water, and ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Stir the rice once, cover, and reduce heat to low.
2. Simmer for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
5. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until eggplant is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
6. Stir in the chickpeas and cook just until heated through, about 3 minutes.
7. Remove the vegetables from heat and stir in the basil. Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve the vegetables over the rice with yogurt, if using.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

This particular recipe came to fruition by accident. On Saturday my fiancé and I headed to my boss’ house for a lovely evening of eating and playing Just Dance on Wii (which rules, by the way) as a celebration for successfully getting through our conference in October. Since she was doing all the cooking, I knew I needed to bring something along. After finishing my longest run post-injury (oh hey 6 miles!) I didn’t have much time to whip up anything fancy, so I fell back on PBFingers‘ two ingredient pumpkin cake cookies.

There were a few left over, and I was forced to take them home with me. Since we still have a ton of Halloween candy laying around, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. On Sunday, though, I awoke with a genius idea – whoopie pie! And let me tell you, this will be the easiest whoopie pies you will ever make in your life – trust me. Since the cookies themselves are literally two ingredients, adding some cream cheese frosting in between was perfect. They were a great morning treat, and would translate well any time of the day.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
– makes 6 –

Cake Ingredients:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 can pure pumpkin

Frosting Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine cake mix and pumpkin until completely mixed and fluffy
3. Bake 10-12 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean
4. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.
5. Liberally spread frosting mixture on each side of the cookie, and press together

Not Your Typical Burger ‘n Fries

Sometimes you just need some less-than-super-healthy-for-you food. This week’s dinners involved a lot of meat, which has been different for us since we really don’t eat meat much these days. There were quite a few yummy recipes in my queue that involved meat, and I didn’t feel like trying to find substitutes, so I went with it and I’m glad I did!

I had been all set to whip up Mexican Stuffed Shells (numero dos) for Thursday night’s dinner, until the crafty Katie of You Are What You Eat or Reheat posted yet another mouth watering, less-than-good-for-you dish. Seriously reading her blog makes me feel like we’re food twins. Mexican Stuffed shells? Fiesta in my mouth. Pepperoni and cheese puff balls? Classless deliciousness. Tater tot casserole? Been there, loved that. So, when she posted her latest weekly installment of “White Trash Wednesday,” I knew I needed to make it immediately. Enter the Burger and Fries Pot Pie.

There’s been a trend in most of my dishes recently; casseroles, soups, chili, and savory pies have definitely become the front runners for weeknight dinners. I think the big reason why I enjoy them so much is because they make a lot, and this leaves my fiancé and I enough for leftovers either the next day for lunch, or even the next night for dinner. So when I realized that I could have a burger and fries in a casserole dish with likely leftovers, I was all about it.

Since I hadn’t planned on making this at the beginning of the week, we had to stop on our way home to grab a can of diced tomatoes and frozen French fries. Luckily there’s a pretty stocked Target on our way home, but that often times results in me spending more money than I should. Seriously, is there anyone out there that can go into Target and actually leave with just what they went there for?

Other than browning the meat and onions (and some habaneros for good measure), all that’s required of you is to layer everything into a baking dish. As much as I love cooking and making extravagant and delicious meals, sometimes it’s just as enjoyable to throw a few things together, put it in the oven, and be done with it. Yep, despite my façade of running, cooking & baking, working, going to school, and trying to have a smidgen of a social life, I’m a lazy girl at heart. And to be honest, as Katie says, we all have a little white trash in us.

Burger ‘n Fries Pot Pie
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 1/2lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
2 cups frozen crispy French-fried potatoes (from 20-oz bag)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 450°F. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain well. Sprinkle flour over beef mixture. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes; heat to boiling. Remove from heat.
2. In ungreased 1 1/2-quart casserole, spread beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange frozen potatoes evenly in single layer on top.
3. Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

After watching the NYC Marathon on Sunday I was inspired to head out for 5 miles of my own (after all it was World Run Day!). Somehow, I’ve managed to drop my per-mile pace each run I’ve been on post-injury. I suppose my two month break was like an extended taper. If that’s the case, I’ll take it!

For dinner, I decided to make this Turkey Pumpkin Chili recipe from Whole Foods. I think, if I remember correctly, I found it on The Runner’s Kitchen blog, but I can’t be sure. At any rate, it was absolutely delicious. I substituted the jalapeño for habaneros, since the grocery store’s jalapeños were rather wimpy. This of course kicked up the heat a lot, and it was well worth it. Aside from that substitution and an additional tablespoon of chili powder, I followed the rest of the recipe exactly.

There’s really no other way to describe this recipe aside from YUM. It was the perfect consistency. Often times I find that chili is either too soupy, or too thick – this was right in the middle. There was a nice amount of heat, and the beans and puree pumpkin really added a great consistency. Plus, I’d like to think adding the 99% fat-free ground turkey made it healthier than your average chili recipe! Since it serves 6, there’s plenty left for me to enjoy throughout the week.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili
– Serves 6 –

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped (more or less depending on your heat preference!)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground white or dark meat turkey
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 cup water
1-2 tablespoon chili powder (I used 2)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeños and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned.
2. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, water, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add beans. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Candy Stuffed Cupcakes

The idea of putting a little surprise inside a cupcake gets me giddy. Cupcakes are awesome on their own. Throw in something extra in the center, and you have my full and undivided attention. I think that’s why I gravitate towards bakeshops like Crumbs, where most of their cupcakes have some type of delicious filling. Since I don’t [yet] have the proper tools to stuff my cupcakes with ganache, buttercream, or things of that nature, I decided to take it the easier route – shove some Halloween candy into cupcakes!

For whatever reason the trick-or-treaters were sparse this year, especially at our new place. We actually only had two sets of vistors. We did go out to dinner between about 6p and 8p, so I’m assuming we missed some others, but the overall feeling in the office the next day was that there just weren’t a lot of trick-or-treaters out and about. Fiance and I had spent quite some time in the candy asile at Target earlier that week, trying to pick out the perfect combination of candy – we wanted to make sure as the new neighbors the kids were impressed. Now, though, we just have two bowls full of leftovers. We’ve been taking a few pieces to work every day (to have 2-3 each), but at this rate, we’ll have candy until the new year. That’s when I realized I needed to bake with them!

I had found a recipe for deep-fried candy, but unfortunately I just don’t have the proper tools. Since hot oil is seriously dangerous, I figured it’d be best to wait until I have things like a deep fryer [hello wedding registry!] and other important and safety related items. I haven’t baked in awhile because of packing and moving, so I thought that would be a nice treat. Initially I wasn’t sure as to what flavor cake to go with, or even what type of frosting. Since I was using chocolate candy, I decided to go with a simple vanilla cake, and let the candy do the rest of the work. As for the frosting, I still battle with buttercream, and am still slightly afraid of cream cheese frosting. So, sour cream chocolate it was! The cake recipe came from Ming Makes Cupcakes and the frosting recipe came from AllRecipes.

The frosting was okay – It wasn’t nearly as thick as I had hoped the first time around. After eating a cupcake each I put the rest of the frosting in the fridge. When I went back for number two, I added a little more confectioner’s sugar, and since it was cold, the consistency was much better. The cake was delicious, I really enjoyed the surprise center. I would suggest popping any leftovers you have in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up the center, since the melty chocolate was one of the best parts. I stuffed my cupcakes with pieces of Kit-Kat, Twix, Almond Joy, Take 5, and Snickers.

Candy Stuffed Cupcakes
– Makes 12 – 15 cupcakes –

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
5 of your favorite “fun-sized” chocolate candy bars, broken into pieces

Cake Directions:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat in butter gradually. Beat in sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in eggs, then vanilla and milk. Beat till mixed.
2. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Place a piece of the broken candy into the middle of each cupcake, placing it mid-way down in the pan.
3. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out almost clean.

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Frosting Directions:
1. Melt chocolate and the butter together. Let cool and blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt.
2. Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar until the frosting is of spreading consistency, beat well.