Pumpkin Pie Cake

Posted by: Maggie

I made this pumpkin pie cake two Friday nights ago. Jeff was over, and we decided to stay in instead of going to a late movie as planned. He was exhausted, and I was having flashbacks to the two previous, very, very bad times Jeff and I saw a movie together.

Back in April, Jeff and I went to see Scream 4 in Chinatown. You'd think that a rated R movie at dinnertime would be full of other adults, right? Well, you'd be wrong. The theater was full of loud teenagers, and every other seat was illuminated by a cell phone screen. Worst of all, during the pivotal scene of the movie, two young girls "snuck" in (I use quotation marks because the word "snuck" inaccurately implies that they were quiet) and one of them proceeds to call up a friend, and asks the friend to catch her up on the first hour of the movie that she missed.

Well, I was not about to let that happen. I didn't wait 11 years to find out Sidney Prescott's ultimate fate to have it ruined by a cell phone conversation. The girl on the cell phone was probably not even eating solid food when the first Scream movie came out. After politely asking her to hang up the phone twice, a scene similar to this ensued, with me being Dr. Evil, and rude cell phone girl being Scott Evil.



Of course, this was nearly as disruptive as her cell phone conversation. In hindsight, I kind of wish I'd had the cojones to pry her cell phone away and hurl it at the wall.

Nearly six months went by without Jeff and I seeing another movie together. He was probably afraid I'd go ballistic on another rude movie patron.

Last month we decided to see Paranormal Activity 3. We both loved the first two, and were unwilling to wait for the DVD. This time we ventured out to a theater in the 'burbs, where I fully expected a more adult clientele.

I was wrong. There was a group of about 15 teenagers in the front row of the theater, who were talking, texting, and only paying attention to the movie for the purpose of providing loud, inane, commentary throughout the entire thing. It was awful, and it completely ruined the movie. People near them were shushing them the entire time which didn't help. No one seemed to want to go get a theater employee and risk missing part of the movie.

Anyway, as I mentioned before I went on my rambling tangent about rude movie theater patrons, I made this pumpkin pie cake last Friday, in lieu of going to a movie with Jeff. After our lazy night in on Friday, we decided to risk it and head to the movie on Saturday instead. We both wanted to see the Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas movie. I am now sensing that our immature taste in movies may be part of the problem. Anyway...it was glorious. We were two of about 20 people in the entire theater - 20 people who remained silent throughout the entire movie except for laughter.

As happy as I am that our terrible movie going streak is over, I'm even happier that we stayed in Friday night and got to eat this. This is super quick to throw together, thanks to the inclusion of a cake mix, and is extremely delicious warm from the oven, or chilled. To compensate for using a cake mix as the base, I made the whipped cream from scratch. If you want to do the same, just use an electric mixer to beat 1 cup of whipping cream with 2 1/2 tablespoons of granulated sugar for about 3 minutes on medium high, or until stiff peaks form. Easy peasy, and better than Cool Whip!

This recipe is a great Thanksgiving dessert if you want to deviate from the traditional pumpkin pie. It also makes a yummy breakfast. Don't judge, you know you want this for breakfast too.

Unrelated announcement: To celebrate A Bitchin' Kitchen's 2-year blogiversary, we're having our first giveaway here on Thursday! Make sure to come back and enter!

Here's what you'll need:

1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 cup softened butter, divided
4 large eggs
2 15-ounce cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Remove 1 cup of the cake mix from the box, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat remaining cake mix, 1/2 cup of the butter, and 1 egg. Evenly press into the prepared pan. In the same bowl, beat the pumpkin, the 3 remaining eggs, 1 cup of the sugar, the evaporated milk, and cinnamon. Pour mixture over crust. Using the same bowl (wipe it out first if necessary) combine the reserved cake mix, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the pumpkin filling. Sprinkle the pecans on top. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until filling is set. If you want to eat it warm, cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it. Serve with whipped cream!

Printer-friendly
Source: Mom!

Chicken-Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup

Posted by: Annie

Confession: I love casseroles. For some reason, I feel like this is an embarrassing confession. Casseroles seem like one of those foods that are eaten but not spoken about - like EZ Cheese, ramen noodles, and those awesome snowball cupcakes that are seasonally dyed. We all know we eat them, but we would never advertise it. :)

Growing up, my mom made an amazing chicken and rice casserole. I believe I was the only child in the family who liked it. I also loved my mom's chicken divan casserole, and basically any dish that had a can of cream of chicken soup in it, was smothered with cheese, and then baked.

This soup reminds me exactly of my mom's chicken and rice casserole. While it was simmering on the stove, it smelled exactly like it, and I had to stop myself from dumping the soup contents into a casserole dish and baking it. However, once I tasted it I realized it was just as good (if not better than, sorry Ma!) the childhood casserole I was craving. I almost topped it with a little cheese, but decided to try it without and it was delicious. This soup will definitely become a fall staple!

What you will need:

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup water
64 ounces low sodium, low fat chicken broth
1 cup pre-cut matchstick carrots (or if you can't find them, 2 chopped carrots)
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4.5 ounce long grain rice and wild rice combo (I used Rice-a-Roni)
1/2 cup white long grain rice
4 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons light sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute 3-4 minutes until tender. Stir in flour, and saute an additional minute. Pour in water, chicken broth, carrots, celery, garlic, and chicken. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, add both types of rice and mushrooms. Cook for an additional 25 minutes. Remove chicken from the broth and cut into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to the soup. Stir in sour cream, salt and pepper. If too thick, stir in water as needed.

Printer-friendly
Adapted from Skinny Taste

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Posted by: Maggie

Ok, let me start by saying that this macaroni and cheese isn't really spicy at all, unless you're a total sissy. 

I don't use my own sense of taste to determine if something is spicy or not, because I have recently taken to eating sriracha on just about everything, and have burned off most of my taste buds. I'm pretty sure I'd eat a dirty shoe if I could eat it with sriracha. Jeff however, does not enjoy spicy food, and agreed that while very tasty, this macaroni and cheese does not qualify as spicy.

Now that I've made that disclaimer, I'll tell you that this macaroni and cheese is extremely flavorful, cheesy, and delicious, and absolutely worth making. Just be sure to leave in the jalapeño seeds if you want more of a spicy kick! 


Here's what you'll need:

4 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup jarred roasted red pepper, finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, finely minced, seeds optional (wear gloves when cutting these!) 
4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups of shredded cheese - I used a combo of about 2 parts colby jack, to 1 part pepper jack and 1 part sharp cheddar
Plain breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. When the water is boiling, add the macaroni and cook until al dente (the pasta will cook a bit more in the oven.)

While the pasta is cooking, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add in onion, red pepper, and jalapeño, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

At this point your pasta should be done - drain it and set aside.

In a large, deep skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium high heat. When the butter is completely melted, whisk in the flour, and cook for two minutes, whisking constantly, until it turns light brown and starts foaming. Be careful not to burn it. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Cook mixture, whisking frequently for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly and begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the spices.

Gradually add the cheese to the mixture, one handful at a time, stirring constantly until well blended. About four cups in you'll think the sauce can't handle more cheese, but just add it gradually and it will all melt! Remove the mixture from heat.

Add the cooked pasta back into the pot, and add in cheese sauce, and the vegetables. Stir to combine thoroughly. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray, and transfer the macaroni and cheese to the dish. Top with breadcrumbs, and bake for 25 minutes.

Printer-friendly
Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats