kim, Author at Lovin' From the Oven

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli

October 23, 2013 by kim 3 Comments

Sometimes when my DF and I talk, I have no idea how we get along so well. I mean, half the time, he’s babbling on about some political issue, a world event, or something lawyer-y. Me, on the other hand, talk to him about fonts for the wedding, what I should bake for the day, and our grocery list.

We’ve been together for almost five and a half years now, yet our conversations never get old. We never run out of things to talk about (or maybe it’s just because he does a lot of talking). Isn’t that funny how life works out? I really think that opposites attract.

My parents are a perfect example of that. Growing up, my mom was very patient, sympathetic, and caring. My dad was more adventurous, strict, and hands on. My mom was the one you’d run to if you did something wrong and needed to confess. My dad was the one you’d run to if you wanted to go to the park and play. They had the perfect balance of fun and discipline.

This dish has the same balance that relationships do. It’s hearty without being too heavy and it’s healthy without feeling like you’re eating a plate of chia seeds. Another plus is that it’s made in the crockpot! I’m telling you guys, the crockpot is my best friend. I don’t know how I’d live without it.

I’m sure my DF agrees since half of his meals are made with it. I’m seriously such a novice cook. Any tips? Maybe I should start taking cooking lessons somewhere.

Recipe from Clipping Money

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
1 10oz can cream of chicken soup
1 10 oz can cheddar soup
1 14 oz can chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup sour cream
6 cups broccoli florets, just fork tender (I cooked it in boiling water for 3-4 minutes)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Mix together the soups, chicken broth, salt, and garlic seasoning. Place in a crock-pot.
Add the chicken and cover lid. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
When chicken is cooked, use 2 forks to shred into bite size pieces. Stir in sour cream and broccoli.

https://lovintheoven.com/crockpot-cheesy-chicken-and-broccoli/

Banana Nutella Granola

October 18, 2013 by kim 3 Comments

I had my first “Jackie Brown” moment at work the other day. You see, there was a Niners game on Sunday, causing an obscene amount of traffic hours before the game even started. Who knew that tailgaters started so early?

I left the apartment the same time I normally do for work, at least 1.5-2 hours early even though I live less than 30 miles away from the airport. I even checked Google Maps to make sure that there wouldn’t be any crazy traffic. Google Maps told me it’s take me 46 minutes as opposed to my usual 30 minutes, meaning a little traffic was to be expected.

Little is an understatement. I knew the moment I got to the curve to the toll bridge I was screwed. Cars were backed up around the bend and moving less than a mile per hour, if that. Getting to the toll bridge was going to be the journey.

I immediately called my DF to find out what was going on with the traffic. Would I make it in time to work? Because of the industry that I work in, being late isn’t acceptable and they’re pretty strict with the rules in that regard. The last time I checked in late, I was on reserve and got rear ended on the Bay Bridge. He told me that it was indeed all red before the toll bridge for no reason. There wasn’t any accident, no police cars, nothing. It was just a huge hot mess of cars.

That really is the worst kind of traffic: traffic for no reason. Why is there traffic when you don’t have an excuse for it? It drives me insane. The LA part of me will always have that inner road rage goddess that comes out during traffic. I can’t help it.

Apparently, the bridge was mostly red, but after it should be fine with the exception of a little spot of yellow on the traffic map. Okay, I can deal with that. The estimated arrival time on my nearly ten year old GPS keeps pushing back closer to my check in time, but it’s not that close yet. I still have time to park the car, take the air train, and then walk over to our check in computers.

With every minute that I lost, I’m pretty sure another hair of mine turned grey. Finally, after 40 minutes waiting, I get to the toll bridge and pay my dues. I put up with the traffic going across the bridge and my handy dandy GPS says that I’ll be there twenty minutes prior to check in time. Not bad… until I see that patch of yellow that my DF was talking about. It’s really more of a red.

Seeing as how I have twenty minutes from parking to checking in now, I think I’m screwed. Do I call scheduling and let them know? Or try to make it so I don’t get penalized?

As I pass the Candlestick park exit, I realize that all the traffic was headed there and I’m officially in the green. I can do it.

I book my little Cameron the Camry and finally make it to the parking lot at 12:16 PM. I now have fourteen minutes to park my car, get out my luggage, sprint to the air train, wait for it to go three stops, get out, take the escalator down, sprint to the terminal, go through security, take an elevator to our office, log on a computer, open the website, and check in…. all of this while in heels because apparently I didn’t think of changing into my flats.

I can do it.

I kid you not, I’ve never sprinted so hard in my life. I was terrified for my ankles giving out or even worse, my heel getting stuck in a crack and going face first into the floor with my roller board luggage and carry on.

As I’m bustling past everyone in the airport, I can vaguely hear TSA yelling at me to be careful and “not to worry, [I’ll] make it on time.” It’s amazing how the crowd parts when they hear someone running in heels. I’ve never felt so many piercing eyes on me, but I didn’t care that my hair was half up and half down. I didn’t care that I was breathing uncontrollably. I didn’t care that I may or may not have had little droplets on my forehead. There was a chance that I could still make it and I wasn’t going to slow down.

I promptly checked in at 12:26 PM. Can you believe it? I had four minutes to spare. Never mind that I was heaving and sucking in all the air in the room— I made it on time! Never again will I let this happen to me. Running a marathon in three inch heels is not something I want to do ever again.

I also kind of failed at the granola. Apparently, I like to burn it whenever I make it. Mixing the granola every couple of minutes while baking in the oven is a lot of work! While the taste was there, it would have been better without the smoky/burnt flavor that I added. I’m going to stick to buying granola for now, unless someone has a fail-proof recipe out there. I’d love to try it! From Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Banana Nutella Granola

Yield: 5 cups granola

Ingredients

3 and 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flax
1 cup sliced almonds (or any nut)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup mashed banana (1 very large banana)
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey; if you prefer sugar-free maple syrup, that would work as well)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup banana chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheet with silpat.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, flax, almonds, and cinnamon.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt together the mashed banana, Nutella, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt. Allow to bubble for about 1 minute.
Remove mixture from heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed.
Evenly spread the mix on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring at the 15 minute mark.
Top the granola with chocolate chips and banana chips. Gently stir. The chocolate will melt, creating larger chunks of granola.
Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

https://lovintheoven.com/banana-nutella-granola/

Betty Crocker Smash Cakes

October 17, 2013 by kim 1 Comment

Remember that one smash cake I made two years ago for my niece’s birthday? Well, I was brave and decided to make another one with a little nudge by Betty Crocker.

Although I am a terrible cake decorator and have never taken any formal cake decorating classes, a smash cake is a great place to start because:

It’s smaller. It’s a lot easier to start off with something small than something big.
Since it’s going to be “smashed,” you don’t need perfection.
The one who’s going to get a close up of the cake (the baby turning 1) is too fascinated by the colors and icing to notice the lopsided top.
You can save money with a homemade smash cake by making it yourself. Most of it will end up on the floor or in the dog’s mouth, anyways.
Who doesn’t want your child to have something made with love?

Truly, it’s easy. This is all you have to do:

Infographic from Betty Crocker

I followed those directions and came up with this!

All you need is a box of cake mix (plus the necessary ingredients to make the cake, obviously), a can of frosting, and whatever decorations that your heart desires.

Without fail, the cake rose beautifully in both nine inch cake pans. Would it be so bad if we just stuck a pan of cooled cake in front of the birthday boy/girl? It’s just as pretty.

I let the cakes cool completely before even trying to cut out smaller circles. Want a tip? Freeze your cakes prior to cutting into them! It’ll help the cake keep its shape and prevent crumbling. The freezer was my best friend when I made this little cake. I stuck it in the freezer before cutting, after cutting, and after putting the first layer of frosting on. That really helped the cake keep its shape and become more sturdy for decorating.

In my opinion, there can never be enough sprinkles. Throwing some hot pink nonpareils on the side of the cake not only makes it festive, but it covers up any imperfections that you might not like. Since I was using a regular butter knife to frost my cake, I had quite a bit to cover up.

I think the sprinkles worked its magic, don’t you?

Betty Crocker Smash Cakes

Recipe from Betty Crocker. Can also be found here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/confetti-cake-stack/b4705a4e-38c8-492a-9585-7de7412198ab

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cake mix (any flavor*)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
1 container Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting
Assorted Betty Crocker® candy sprinkles

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease bottom only of 8x4-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray, and place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until smooth. Place 1 3/4 cups batter into loaf pan. Spoon remaining batter into muffin cups.
Bake loaf cake 35 to 40 minutes and cupcakes 18 to 23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. For easier handling, refrigerate or freeze loaf cake 30 to 60 minutes or until firm.
Trim rounded top off loaf cake. Using 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut 2 rounds from loaf cake. Place one round cake cut side up on plate. Spread cut side with frosting. Top with remaining round cake, cut side down.
Frost side and top of cake with frosting. Arrange sprinkles over top of cake. Place candle in top center of cake. Use remaining frosting to frost cupcakes.

https://lovintheoven.com/betty-crocker-smash-cakes/

Betty Crocker has a ton of other smash cake and first birthday cake ideas, so be sure to check them out!.

peas & carrots smash cake // watercolor cake // confetti cake stack // first birthday lion cake

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

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