Are you ready for it??

It’s here!!!  It’s time!!! Are you ready for it???

For what you ask….?

The returnnnnnn of the Spicy Pumpkin Soup! 😀

After spotting this beauty back at World Market for the fall season, I was almosttttt happier than when I found this surprise on our front porch this afternoon!

Thanks friends at Chobani – ya’ll seriously rock my worlddddd! 😀

I definitely ‘might’ have dove right in for a refreshing peach afternoon snack, just sayin’!

Well if you’ve been following the bloggie for a while now, you’re probably pretty familiar with my somewhat neurotic obsession  slight obsession with World Market Spicy Pumpkin Soup.

And may just remember the 4,392 times few times I made it last year 😉

And if you’re a newer reader (heyyyyyyyyyy!) – let me introduce you to delicious!

This time around, instead of the usual half n’ half substitution, I stuck with the heavy cream.  But only used about 3 tblsp instead of the over 1 cup the package calls for…. (I know, crazy, right???)

And ya know what?  Still awesome-tacular! 

It definitely doesn’t need that much heavy cream/half n’ half/etc. in my humble opinion.  The flavor and consistency is so spot-on that just a lil’ goes a long way with this soup 🙂

To go with our soup, of course there were sammies!

Ham & mozzarella sammies to be exact…

P.S.  Obsessed with this mini-bamboo cutting board I scored at Marshalls for a mere $3.00!!!

All roasty toasty for this torrential downpour of a night (please bring the sun back, mmmkay weather man?)

Mmmm-tastic!

Served with a side of Get Him to the Greek and you got yourself a fabulous Thursday evening…

(With some Grey’s Anatomy and Jersey Shore for dessert of course :P)

TGIAF!!!!

Chicken & Plantain Stew

Gloom and doom – that’s what I’m going to call today…

Well, actually… that was before I came home! 😉

After being sick and missing two days of work this week, let’s just say that my work was cut out for me upon arrival today.  Add in a late departure tonight plus a cold & rainy evening… yada yada you get the picture.

But then I walked through the door of our house to scents of apple cinnamon and pumpkin spice, and my oh my was this girl’s frown turned upside down!

Don’t you just love when someone knows the perfect thing to do to cheer you up?  Well today that was The Man, and today that was coming home to a clean house complete with lit candles to warm up the downstairs.

>3 All the troubles of the day just melted away ❤

So. Very. Lucky.

And as they say, no good deed goes unnoticed now does it?  (okay okay, this isn’t exactly that case now is it 😛 )

So you know that I had to whip up something yummy for dinner to say “thank you.”

Inspired by Cooking Light

On a cold and rainy night what is better than a warm bowl of seriously delicious food?  Not much my friends.

So that’s what I was set out to do!  And with some plantains that had hit their perfect stage for this type of dish, I just couldn’t wait to make it happen 😀

I used this recipe as the inspiration, however did modify it quite a bit based on what we like & what I had on hand.

Anyways, who says you can’t make a recipe even if you don’t have all the ingredients?  I say just take it as an opportunity to “make it your own!”

First up, the veg chop:

Onion.  Green Pepper.  Jalapeno Pepper. Garlic.

Sauteed in olive oil until they start to get golden.

Now the tomatoes.

All into the pot!  Veggies plus chicken stock plus spices/S&P.

While this gets happy, cook the chicken and prep the plantains.

I know what you’re going to say, these look like overrrrrr ripe bananas silly Fanatic?!

And yes – you would be right 😛

But friends, bananas they are not.  They are plantains, and the blacker they get the sweeter they become!  So at this stage they were at the perfect stage to add a beautiful sweetness to this savory dish.

If you’ve never seen one, you’ll notice that they deceivingly look like their friend the banana 😉

But these are firmer & lower in sugar, eaten cooked and often used much like a potato.

We love them in this house!

And tonight was no exception.

In went the chicken (which I had shredded once done cooking) plus the liquid used to cook said chicken.  I let this simmer over medium for about 15 minutes.

Then the plantains.  Covered the pot and let simmer for another 20 minutes.

And here you have it!

Top with fresh parsley and hot sauce if desired and you’ll have yourself a pretty fabulous meal!

Hearty chicken + sweet plantain + spicy hot sauce = partayyyyyyyyyyyyyy 😛

Perfect for a cool, rainy night I might add!

Chicken & Plantain Stew

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 small green peppers, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeds & ribs removed, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 chicken breasts, boiled & shredded (reserve 4 cups cooking water)
• 2 cups chicken stock (homemade if you got it!)
• 2 plantains, sliced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• sea salt (to taste)
• black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tblsp olive oil

Saute onion, green pepper & jalapeno over medium heat until they start to turn golden – seasoning with salt & pepper.  Turn heat to low and add garlic, stirring to avoid burning.

Meanwhile, bring about 5 cups water to a boil and add in chicken breasts, cooking until done.  Remove from cooking liquid (save!) and shred using the 2-fork method.

In a large pot, combine the chicken stock, onion/pepper mixture, tomato, cumin and dried oregano.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes while the chicken finishes cooking.

Add in the shredded chicken, 4 cups of the chicken cooking liquid and salt/pepper.  Allow to cook over medium for about 15 minutes (or until it has the consistency you like).

Last go the plantains, into the pot and simmered over medium-low (covered) until they become tender and done — about 20 minutes.

Serve with fresh parsley and hot sauce if you like!

Hope you friends enjoy 🙂