Cookin' Easy

[easycooking]

Easy Pumpkin Bread or Easy Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is a quick little bake for when you’re craving something festive. :)

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix (either spice cake, golden yellow cake, white cake, or maybe this would work with carrot cake?)

1 can of pumpkin pie filling (or one can of pumpkin)

OR (if no pumpkin pie filling)

1 can of pumpkin

and

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

Servings: Not sure, but they last a while if you can pace yourself :)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).

If making pumpkin bread, line a loaf pan with parchment paper (and maybe give a quick grease with butter or oil of the spots the parchment does not cover).

If making pumpkin muffins, grease a muffin tin with butter, margarine, or oil.

Set aside. In a mixing bowl of your choice, combine the ingredients. (of course it focused on the spatula, lol)

Once your pumpkin puree/pumpkin pie filling is combined with the cake mix, transfer it into your baking tin of choice. (why is this picture upside down, hahaha h e l p)

Once the oven is preheated, place your pumpkin goodies into the oven. For pumpkin bread, bake 50-60 minutes until a knife or a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

For pumpkin muffins, bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into a couple of the muffins comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven once done, and carefully transfer out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool.

And done! A tasty pumpkin treat. It goes really well with tea or coffee, or even a glass of your favorite milk. :) Enjoy. :D These muffins can be frozen for easy preservation. Just wrap them individually in parchment paper, place into a zippered bag, and freeze.

[easycooking]

Easy “One Pan” Fajitas

Hello, everyone. This is my first post on this blog, so I wanted to start off with something super easy. Hopefully I can rein in my verbosity and not give you massive walls of text to read before the recipe itself. ;) Here’s an idea for a simple, healthier meal you can make at home!

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, thawed

2-3 bell peppers of your choice

1 onion (optional)

tortillas, warmed (flour or corn - we use flour because of a corn allergy)

cheese, shredded (your choice - we use marbled cheddar here)

sour cream (optional)

lemon or lime juice

cumin

cilantro

chili powder

garlic (powder, flakes, or salt is fine if you don’t have fresh)

onion powder 

red pepper flakes

cayenne

salt

pepper

oregano

paprika (optional - we don’t cook with this because of allergies)

aluminum foil (optional, makes cleanup easy)

large baking sheet

If you do not have all of these ingredients at your disposal, that’s okay. :) You’ll still have some really good tasting foods.

Servings: two (2)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line an oven-safe pan with aluminum foil. This works best if the pan has a rim around the edges.

Grab your veggies of choice and slice thinly, spreading them out evenly on the pan.

If you would rather shred the chicken after it’s cooked, place your chicken breasts on the pan. Otherwise, pre-slice it thinly and add to your pan.

Now’s the time to season. I typically prefer not to measure spices because it’s my belief that you measure spices with your heart (and sometimes with experience). However, for someone just starting out cooking, 1-2 teaspoons of each might do well, depending on your own preferences. :) Add your seasonings to the contents of the entire pan. I usually put more cumin on the chicken than I do on the veggies because it helps add a flavourful crust.

Salt and pepper to taste, if you haven’t already, and go ahead and put the sheet pan in the oven.

Cook between 20-25 minutes until the veggies and chicken are done. If you’re new to baking chicken in the oven, get a meat thermometer and insert the sensor into the center of the thickest part of the chicken. It should read 165 degrees F (about 73-74 degrees C).

While the chicken is cooking, grab your tortillas and wrap them in foil.

These will be placed into the oven after the food is cooked (to warm them).

Shred your cheese.

Take the pan out of the oven once it’s cooked, and shred the chicken using two forks. If you pre-sliced the chicken, skip this step.

Warm the tortillas in the oven.

Add your foods to the warmed tortilla and either fold, roll, or eat it loosely.

If you have chosen to roll or fold your tortilla, you may toast it for extra texture if you so desire.

Otherwise, you are finished!  An easy one-pan meal.

Hope you enjoy! Disclaimer:

I am not of Latin American descent, so I am only using here what I have seen recommended on the internet and what I learned from cooking traditions in South Texas. I do not claim this to be authentic cooking.