Butternut Chicken Stew

Butternut squash, chicken, kidney beans, red bell pepper, tomatoes and corn make up this simple hearty stew.

This recipe is similar to the Butternut Squash Chili recipe I posted last January.  Only this time, I added a couple of roasted chicken breast I had stored in the freezer, a red bell pepper, and made it with half beef broth and half chicken broth.  I don't know if that sounds strange to you, but it was delicious to us.  I was glad that I made a large batch and have plenty to keep us full for a couple of days.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES TO PUT IT TOGETHER

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoon canola oil

Cook in a large pot over medium heat until onion has soften.

• 1 (14.5oz) can tomatoes with garlic & onions
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• 2 cups cooked kidney beans or 1 (14oz) can
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled & cubed to make 1 1/2 cups
• 1 1/2 cups approx. beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups approx. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoon New Mexico Chili pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Simmer the next ingredients from above together for 15 minutes.  First bring it to a boil, then LOWER heat to a simmer.

• 1 cup frozen corn

Add the frozen corn last and cook another 15 minutes.  YOU'RE READY TO EAT!

I JUST WANT TO SAY OUT LOUD:

If you don't have cooked chicken already on hand.  No biggy.  Just do a little rearranging.

Go ahead and chop up two uncooked, skinless, boneless, chicken boobs into 1 1/2 inch pieces and put them in when you add the tomatoes.  Stop there and allow the chicken to cook through until all the pink is gone.  It won't take but 7 to 10 minutes?, depending on how small or large, you cut up the chicken.  Once the chicken is cooked, move on with the rest of the recipe as follows.

Another thing.
About the broths, I said 1 1/2 cups, but I'm really guessimating that number.  I poured them out evenly until there was enough liquid to call it 'stew.' I can tell you that I have two half cartons of each in the frig right now.  So you won't need more than a couple of cans or one carton of each broth.

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

These Cranberry Pumpkin muffins are moist and delicious.  There's no worries or guilt here, because I converted this recipe to be HEALTHY enough to eat for Breakfast!
And they still turned out yummy & addictive. YEAH!!!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED

dry ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old fashion oats
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup sweetened dried, cranberries
• 1/4 cup golden raisins

wet ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup healthy egg substitute or 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all natural applesauce or canola oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice or water

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Grease and flour 12 count muffin pan.

FIRST! Baking tip for the dried cranberries & raisins.
Place the cranberries and raisins in a microwave safe bowl and cover with warm water.  Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.  This is a speedy way to rehydrate the dried fruit. Drain off the water from the dried fruit.  The rehydrated fruit won't burn when it's exposed at the top of the baked item.

Now back to mixing it up.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, including the pecans, rehydated cranberries and raisins.  Mix well.

In a small bowl, stir together all the wet ingredients.

Always adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, use a rubber spatula and fold the wet into the dry ingredients.  Do not over mix here.  Go slowly allowing the flour a chance to absorb the moisture. Make sure all the flour is moisten.

Use either a 2 inch scooper or a large spoon to fill the muffin pan.  I filled each muffin cup to the top.  These are dense muffins so you can sorta heap the batter.

BAKE for 18-20 minutes.

Store the muffins just like you would Banana Bread, on a plate wrapped with cellophane,  or in a resealable storage bag.  They will keep well out on the counter in cool temperatures for at least three days.  That's how long they lasted at my house.  I had the last one for breakfast this morning and it was better than the first day.

Moist Cornbread Muffins

This was the BEST CORNBREAD MUFFIN THAT EVER LIVED.

It's gone now, but it's left behind a memorable experience that my family will not let me forget.

This is a simple cornbread muffin recipe that can easily be sweetened up or made spicy.  From here it can go either direction.  Since I wanted them for their simple corn flavor in chili, this recipe is perfect.

The original recipe called for buttermilk, which I ALWAYS have on hand...NOT!  I Googled for a substitution and found sour cream to be a reliable solution.

BUTTERMILK SUBSTITUTION - Use the same amount of sour cream as it calls for buttermilk in the recipe.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO DO

Heat oven  450ºF degrees. Oil 12 muffin cups/pan.

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter or bacon fat, melted & cooled
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs, beaten

ANOTHER HANDY  TIP

Put all the ingredients in a one gallon freezer bag. Be careful not to add hot butter or bacon fat, you may cook the eggs.  Close the bag up, pushing out the air and close seal well.  Knead the bag until all the dry ingredients are moist, check the corners.

Prepare the bag so you can pipe the batter into the muffin cups.  Keep the bag closed. Use a spatula to scrap the batter to one bottom corner.  Twist the top of the batter to create pressure and cut a small snip off the piping corner.  Cut small and go larger if necessary.  Now, squeeze batter into muffin cup, swirling the dough around.  You want to fill the cup 3/4 of batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

OR You can mix all the ingredients into a medium bowl.  Transfer batter into a greased 8-inch by 8-inch pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Either way works.