Black bean crock pot chicken

I love crock pot recipes, and this one is so simple. I got this recipe from Ashley, my sister-in-law. She made this for my 20th birthday, and I thought it was so delicious. I just had to have the recipe. So far, everyone who has tried it has loved it.

Ingredients:

4 to 5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (thawed)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can corn (drained)

1 15 oz. jar of salsa (it doesn't matter if it's mild, medium or hot — your choice!)

1 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese

1. Thaw the chicken.

2. Put the thawed chicken, black beans, corn and salsa in the crock pot.

3. Let that cook for 4 to 5 hours

4. Put the cream cheese in 30 to 45 minutes before it's done.

5. Once it's done, serve over rice.

Side notes: I used 2 cans of black beans. I also like to put the mixture in tortillas. It's a little runny, so tortillas may not be the best choice for everyone.

chocolate-mint truffle cookies

After many weeks (or months) of saying I was going to make the chocolate-mint truffle cookies, I finally made them. They actually weren't too hard to make. I learned a few things, and I think the next time I make the whole process will go a lot smoother. But I didn't light anything on fire so I'd say it already went really smooth.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 tsp. peppermint extract (I just used mint extract)

1 cup flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (4.6 oz) mint Andes candies, chopped, divided

2 tsp. shortening, divided

1/2 cup vanilla or white chips

1. Over low heat, melt butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

2. Stir in the egg, sugars and extracts.

3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture.

4. Fold 3/4 cup Andes candies.

5. Roll dough into balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

6. Bake at 350˚ for 8-10 minutes or until tops appear slightly dry.

7. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely. (I forgot to do this with one of the little cookies, and it tore off the bottom. So I highly recommend the wire racks.)

8. In a microwave, melt 1 tsp. shortening and remaining chocolate chips and Andes candies; stir until smooth. Melt vanilla chips and remaining shortening; stir until smooth.

9. Dip half of the cookies in melted chocolate mixture; dip remaining cookies in melted vanilla mixture. Immediately sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Let stand until set.

Yields about 2-1/2 dozen.

OK. So I mostly followed the recipe. I actually forgot to put in the salt, so I guess it doesn't fall apart without that 1/8 tsp. I would probably make the little chocolate balls a little smaller. Oh, we didn't make any vanilla topping — why make vanilla when you have chocolate? Also, I would dip the cookies once. Wait, then dip them again. I think it would have a better coating with two dips. For toppings, I favored the chopped almond.

This recipe is from the November/December 2009 Taste of Home.

banana bread

When it comes to baking, most everyone has something that they feel like is their "thing." Banana bread is my thing. I really like making it, and a lot of people really like eating it. :) Hopefully, you will too. It's not too hard to make — come on, if I can do it, you can too.

Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar

half a tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of baking soda

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 cube of butter

2 eggs

4 mashed bananas

1 cup of chocolate chips

generous splash of cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

generous splash of vanilla

dash of brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together first.

3. Add the eggs, butter, mashed bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and chocolate chips. (side note: mix the bananas in one or two at a time.)

4. Put the mixture in a bread pan or muffin tins.

5. If you want to, sprinkle sugar on top — gives a little sparkle. :)

6. If your baking in a bread pan, it'll take about an hour. If you using muffin tins, 30 to 35 minutes.