Pulled Barbecue Chicken Tacos (in the slowwwcooker!)

I love this recipe because it's for the stupendously lazy. There are some days where you just don't want to chop, prep or cook. This is a meal for one of those days. This is virtually a 5-minute fix it and forget it recipe, and you will laugh when people take a bit and simultaneously trip over their words, complimenting this easy and yet somehow delicious meal. It's fool-proof. I'm serious.

Ingredients:
- 1.5 lbs. of chicken breasts or chicken thighs (or a mix of both!)
- 1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (I love Annie's Organic Original BBQ Sauce.)
- 1 chopped white onion (or if you're uber lazy, you can just quarter it and call it a day.)
- 1-2 tsp. minced garlic (I buy the jar of minced garlic, because I can't be bothered with the press anymore - who has the time??)
- tortillas (or if you're on the Whole30 train, you could swap these for lettuce wraps)
- salt and pepper to taste

Add-ons:
- Cole slaw
- sliced radishes (so peppery and crunchy!)
- sliced avocado (so creamy. so right.)

Method:
1. Dump your chicken into the crockpot.

2. Generously salt and pepper the meat.

3. Add the chopped onion, minced garlic and entire bottle of bbq sauce.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4. I find that this chicken pulls apart easier if its cooked on low, but its still delicious either way.

5. Once it's ready, just shred with a fork (it should come apart easily) and dress atop a tortilla with assorted toppings. Enjoy!

I love this meal because it usually lasts us a few days (and a few meals!) and tastes better with each passing day. I also love that it can be easily converted into a Whole30-compliant dish with a few minor switches (swap the tortillas for lettuce wraps and make sure the bbq sauce you choose doesn't have any sugar in the ingredients), and I mostly love that it's just so easy and yet tastes indulgent. I love it so much that I'm making this for my people on Easter Sunday. Seriously. The Easter Bunny eats barbecue in the South, yall.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.

I have been searching high and low for my favorite chicken enchilada recipe. I've tried everyone's - Giada's, Ree Drummond's, Jessica Alba's, a zillion people on Epicurious and Allrecipes.com. But I haven't found THE ONE. Until now, that is. This recipe is a blend of trial and error (a lot of error - there have been batches lost to too much spice, too much cheese, too much sauce, too little sauce, etc.) I am excited to share this with you! I hope you love it as much as my family does :)

Ingredients:
- 3-4 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts
- 4 32-oz. boxes of chicken stock
- 1-2 package tortillas (I prefer flour)
- 2 15-oz. cans red enchilada sauce
- 1 can green chilies
- 1 can diced black olives, drained
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 24 oz. Mexican-style cheese, shredded (this could be 3-4 packages)
- 1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup, plus 1/2 cup more, cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 tbsp. diced garlic
- salt & pepper, to taste
- paprika

Method:
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place the chicken and 1 tbsp. diced garlic in a large stockpot and cover with the chicken stock. Toss in a bit of salt and pepper for good measure. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and let the chicken cook for about 20 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. It should be white and easy to slice through (that's how you will know it's done!)

3. While the chicken is cooking, you can prep everything else. In a smaller stockpot, pour the 2 cans of enchilada sauce and the 1 can of green chilies in and heat over medium-low. Let it slowly heat up. Make sure to stir every few minutes.

4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine 18 oz. of the shredded cheese, the drained black olives, and the chopped cilantro. Mix well. Set aside.

5. Go ahead and de-seed and dice up the green pepper. Dice the yellow onion.

6. Once the chicken is finished cooking, remove from heat and drain out the broth. Move to a large plate or cutting board and shred the chicken meat.

7. Heat a large deep skillet over medium. Add some olive oil to the pan and allow 1-2 minutes to heat. Add in the diced onion and green pepper. Toss in a bit of salt and pepper, for funsies. After 3-4 minutes, when things are getting soft and slightly browned, toss in the shredded chicken. Then add the magic ingredient: the cream cheese. Allow the cheese to melt over the chicken, and mix everything well, so the chicken, cheese, onion and green pepper make a creamy situation. Yum. Yum yum yum. Lower the heat. 

8. Now it's time to dress your tortillas! Lay your tortilla flat and add some of the chicken mixture down the middle. Then top with the cheese, olive + cilantro mixture. Roll the tortilla up and place seam-side down in a large glass oven-safe pan. Repeat this with all the tortillas until your pan is full. Note: I had enough ingredients to make 1 large 9x13 pan and another 8x8 pan.

9. Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of all the tortillas in the pan, making sure to completely saturate the tortillas.

10. Top the tortillas with another 8 oz. of shredded cheese.

11. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

12. Top enchiladas with 1/2 cup of cilantro. Dress with sour cream, black beans or green onions - or nothing at all! These enchiladas can stand alone and stand proud.

Serves 6-8.

I really really REALLY love this recipe. It's taken me a good bit of trial and error to get here, so I am proud to share this with you. I hope it warms up your home on these days that are getting chillier and chillier :) Happy yummy dinner to you and your family!

My Favorite Fall Recipes Roundup.

Eyes aren't even open. But that scent. An early morning waft of warm cinnamon, meandering with hints of tart apple and dancing in aroma land with roasty pumpkin. So roasty. That steamy earthy bid, "Good morning, Kristen! You made me!" That's what I woke up to this morning.

That.

It's my pumpkin apple butter, crockpotting happily for me.

SO HAPPY.

Truth be told, cooking and baking in Autumn is my favorite. It's just the best time of year to create something warm and hearty and savory. Something to be shared. Something to bite into and experience that sense of, "yessssss." I mean, Christmas cookies are fun to bake, don't get me wrong. But don't you always feel so busy at Christmastime? I don't like being rushed when I create. Which is why I love cooking and baking in the fall. You sort of just lazily slide into it. I like that.

I love that.

I love that pumpkin apple butter. It's kind of making me swoon.

My new kitchen has been hard at work lately. I've been making bread, stew, tangine, BUTTER, and a whole bunch of other odds and ends. I like to test things really well before I share them here on the blog. I don't want to share the "okay", I want to share the things that I would earnestly go back and make over and over again. Things that I would consider seasonal staples. So here you are, my friends! Only my very favorite - the fall recipes I make over and over again.

My Grandma Soup - Literally, my grandmother's recipe. I never knew her, but when I make this soup, I feel more connected to who she was. I know that sounds soooooo weird and cheesy. But I don't care. Make a pot of this soup and you will immediately feel all heirloom-y and laced with some kind of kitchen legacy. I promise it.

Goat Cheese & Pistachio-Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates - Run, don't walk, to the nearest store and pick up these EASY four ingredients. And you will be the appetizer queen of whatever fall festival party you're attending this weekend.

Lemon & Olive Chicken - Inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe in It's All Good (which I whole-heartedly recommend), we literally make this recipe at least once a month. It's so delicious and a super clean, healthy meal.

Turkey & Kale Chili - My new strategy with Everett is tell him that everything is Chili. Because once he ate this chili, he never wanted anything else. And again, super healthy and hearty! Great for when a zillion guys are coming over to your house for a football game. Or when you live with a zillion guys who EAT.

Pumpkin & Cream Tartlets - I have made these everything Thanksgiving for about 8 years now. They're my non-pie contribution to the Thanksgiving dessert table and they. Are. BAD. So bad, in fact, that you can just pass the tray to me. The whole tray. K thanks.

Pumpkin Beer Bread - Ate a loaf of this last night. Can't even talk about it. SO GOOD I COULD CRY. Wait, is it weird to talk about your own cooking like this? Am I inappropriate? Don't got time to care. MUST MAKE MORE BREAD.

Banana Oat & Date Muffins - Again, a healthy take on a warm morning muffin. Make ahead and freeze, then take out when you want them and heat up in the toaster oven. Instant, healthy, hot breakfast!

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies - These are like cookie pie. Or pie cookies. Or something. I created this cookie in partnership with Epicurious last year and I am still so proud of this one. I MADE THIS TASTE. Try it! You are sure to love it.

I bet you're wondering where that a fore-mentioned pumpkin butter recipe is, huh? Muahahhahaa. Check back here next week friends. I've got a wedding to attend this weekend. MY SISTER'S!!!!!!!

Happy Friday to you! And happy Halloween weekend! xox.

Roasted Tomato Soup

I went to an afternoon class at Williams-Sonoma a few weeks ago with my dear friend Liz. We were learning how to use our high-powered blenders to make some autumn recipes. Side note - did you know that Williams-Sonoma offers free technique classes every Sunday at 1pm? I am overjoyed! You know where I will be on Sundays from now on. That store is my happy place. My Christmas list is already brimming with kitchen must-haves. Okay, enough crushing on WS. The point is, at the class I learned how to make a roasted tomato soup. Then I went home and played around with the recipe a bit. And I'm not going to say I'm happy - I'm thrilled. This soup is divine. Skip your way over to the grocery store and snatch up these ingredients. You are going to want to make this tonight.

Ingredients:
- 3 lb. Roma tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp. minced garlic
- 5 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 1 bunch of fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
- fresh grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice the tomatoes in half and place in a large glass baking dish, insides facing up.
3. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp. olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and whisk together until well mixed.
4. Carefully drizzle the glaze over the open-faced tomatoes.
5. Place tomatoes in the oven and roast for 1 hour.

6. Heat a dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Add remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
7. Add the onion, saute for 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring so the onion doesn't burn.
8. Add 1 cup of the white wine and bring to a simmer.
9. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock to the dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
10. In batches, puree the mixture until smooth. I used a Vitamix, but you can use any high-powered blender.
11. Return the pureed soup back to the dutch oven, heating over low. Add the parsley, making sure to mix well.
12. Ladle into bowls, top with a bit more parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve immediately.

Seriously, this soupppppp. It's just so incredible and autumnal and just what the doctor ordered. And if you want to get fancy, this would be simply perfect if served with a side salad, grilled cheese or toast points. Bon Appetit, friends!

Soda & Sugar Pulled Pork.

Soda & Sugar Pulled Pork.
It was a Friday night. I was walking around Williams Sonoma, dreaming of taking home all the Staub cookware and copper saucepans that could fit in my Nissan Leaf. Yes, obviously I was on a date. And my man is a good one, so he followed me around the store and let me have my moment in the sun. Or rather, in the Nespresso section. I got to talking to the lovely WS employee, since I like to ask a zillion questions and make friends, and after I professed my love for French cookware, she offered an olive branch - a new recipe! A new recipe for my Le Creuset! And I tried it out and it's friggin awsome, so here I am to share it with you. Incidentally, this recipe is dangerously similar to The Pioneer Woman's, so you know it's going to be good. Nay, GREAT!

Ingredients:
- 1 5-8 lb. Pork Shoulder (also called pork butt, hehe. BUTT.)
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cans Dr. Pepper
- 1 can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
- 2-3 tbsp. Brown Sugar
- Salt and Pepper (a lot of it)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Quarter the yellow onion and spread the slices on the bottom of a large dutch oven. This is when my Le Creuset gets to come out and play :)
3. Generously salt and pepper both sides of the pork and lay it on top of the sliced onions. I had to really shove it in there to actually fit. It was cozy.
4. Pour the chipotle peppers (and the sauce) over the pork. Pour the 2 cans of Dr. Pepper over the pork, as well, and then top it all off with 2-3 tbsp. of brown sugar. I know it seems weird to put soda in here as a marinade, but it does a beautiful job tenderizing the meat.
5. Cover the dutch oven and place in the oven. Check the meat and turn it every two hours, finally removing it from the oven after 6 hours total.
6. Transfer the meat to a large plate or cutting board. The meat should easily shred with a fork. You can separate the fatty parts from the rest of the meat, although some people claim that it is the tastiest part of the meat. Like my husband. Totally your choice.

I personally like to use this pulled pork to make sandwiches, which I dress with muenster cheese, coleslaw and a pickle. Sweet or dill, I don't discriminate. However, you can also serve this on soft tortillas with some diced tomatoes, shredded cheese and coleslaw. It's all pretty ridiculously delicious. But make sure to invite some pals over - this meal makes a zillion servings. Bon Appetit, friends!