I received a copy of My Little Pony Baking Book for review. There are affiliate links in this post.

You NEED to make this rainbow bundt cake. I mean it. It's the best bundt cake I have ever made! And if you're looking for a cake to make for a party, you can't beat this one. Everyone will ooh and ahh when you cut into the cake to reveal the rainbow swirls.

Look how pretty this rainbow bundt cake is!

(And if you totally love it, you should check out my rainbow birthday cake recipe too.)

I first made this rainbow bundt cake recipe for a friend who was moving away, for our goodbye gathering. Everyone LOVED the cake.

We were at a restaurant and I offered a slice to our server and she declared it the best cake she had ever had!

The rainbow bundt cake is pretty simple to put together; it just takes a few extra bowls than usual but I know you'll love it! This cake is moist and delicious and with a simple vanilla glaze and a scattering of rainbow sprinkles, it's the best!

As a child of the 80s–and as someone who loves all things rainbow–I just adore this cookbook. The My Little Pony Baking Book has 50 fun recipes that both kids and adults will love. Although this rainbow bundt cake is my fave, there are recipes for cupcakes, cookies, brownies and more.

Want to win a copy of My Little Pony Baking Book for yourself? Go enter my giveaway!

How to make Rainbow Cake in a Bundt Pan

I show you how to make a rainbow cake in a bundt pan below with step by step photos.

Christi's recipe uses a cake mix that's doctored up with more ingredients like instant pudding, sour cream, vegetable oil and more water than the box calls for. This makes the cake super moist.

Gather six small bowls and the food coloring and let's go. (I love Americolor food coloring, this set has 8 colors in it though! I love that all six colors you need for the rainbow bundt cake is in this set.)

I know what you're thinking: this rainbow bundt cake looks complicated to make. I promise, it's not! Let me show you how it's done, step-by-step.

Quick tip! First thing, I actually put the water in my measuring cup first if I'm baking with water and oil.

Then, measure the oil out. That way the oil sticks to the measuring cup A LOT less.

First, combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

How to mix bundt cake

Next, use a stand or hand mixer to combine all of the ingredients. You want to make sure that the dry and wet ingredients are well-combined, while also being careful not to over-mix.

Here's where the fun starts! Divide the cake batter evenly between six bowls.

For each bowl of batter, add 1-2 drops of food coloring and stir well. If more color is desired, add additional drops of food coloring until desired color is reached. Repeat with each bowl. I just adore this rainbow bundt cake, but you can also switch things up by trying different colors or adding a little bit less food coloring for muted pastel layers.

How to keep cake from sticking to the bundt pan

Is there anything more frustrating than having your bundt cake stick to the pan? To keep that from happening, generously spray a standard sized Bundt cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Generously generously. Like more than you think.

How to fill bundt cake

Usually if your cake batter is all one color, you would just pour the batter in and use a rubber spatula to smooth out the top of the batter.

To make this rainbow bundt cake, we're layering the colors in order.

Now it's time to make our pretty rainbow layers. Starting with red, spoon the bundt cake batter into bottom of the pan.

The cake batter should go around the bottom of the pan in a complete circle. (I use an angled spatula to smooth out each layer so it's even across the bottom.)

Carefully spoon the orange cake batter into pan, placing it in an even layer over the red cake batter, making sure the red layer is completely covered.

Try not to mix the different colored cake batters or the rainbow layers will bleed together; simply spoon one color on top of the other.

So fun, right?! Repeat the rainbow bundt cake layers with all of the remaining colors.

There's green. I love how bright it is!

Blue…

then purple!

Place your bundt cake in the oven at 350ºF and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

When to flip bundt cake

The trick to knowing when to flip a bundt cake? Patience, my friends. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in pan, on a wire rack, for 10-15 minutes. If you try to flip the bundt cake too soon, you risk it falling apart. Don't do it!

I put a paper towel on the wire rack and then put that on top of the bundt cake pan, then flip over…

just like that.

Allow the cake to cool completely prior to adding glaze.

How to frost bundt cake

The easiest way to frost this rainbow bundt cake is to make a glaze. No muss, no fuss, just spoon the glaze over your bundt cake and add some sprinkles if you want. (To me, sprinkles are never not an option. Always use ALL THE SPRINKLES.)

Or you can use store bought frosting and microwave and pour it. I learned this from my friend Courtney who shows you the easiest way to frost a cake. I used her technique the first time I made this cake for friends.

Pictured in the photos, I used store bought cream cheese frosting and I frosted it with my angled spatula. Any way you do it, it's super simple! I know you can do it!

Print

Rainbow Bundt Cake Recipe

Prep Time 50 minutes minutes

Resting Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 standard size box white or vanilla cake mix
• 1 3.4-oz pkg vanilla instant pudding (dry mix, unprepared)
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• Food coloring -- red orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple

Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine all cake ingredients and mix with a mixer until combined. Do not overmix, but make sure all dry ingredients and wet ingredients are well-combined.
• Divide cake batter evenly between six bowls.
• For each bowl, add 1-2 drops of food coloring and mix. If more color is desired, add additional drops of food coloring until desired color is reached. Repeat with each bowl.
• Generously spray a standard sized Bundt cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Starting with the red batter, spoon cake batter into bottom of pan. The cake batter should go around the bottom of the pan in a complete circle.
• Carefully spoon the orange cake batter into pan, placing it directly on the red cake batter, once again making sure it goes completely around the red cake batter. Try not to mix the different colored cake batters; simply spoon one on top of the other. Repeat with remaining colors in the following order: yellow, green, blue, purple.
• Place in oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan, on a wire rack, for 10-15 minutes.
• Tap the pan firmly a few times on the countertop, gently shaking it to help loosen the cake. Carefully invert the pan onto a cake plate and lift the pan off of the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely prior to adding glaze.
• To make glaze, place powdered sugar and milk into a bowl and stir well to combine. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Glaze should be thin enough to spoon over cake, but not runny. If glaze is too thick, add additional milk, one teaspoon at a time, until a spoonable consistency is reached.
• Spoon glaze over the top of cake.
• If desired, garnish with rainbow sprinkles.

Other Rainbow Foods

Now that you've got your rainbow bundt cake which is such a colorful cake! Let's make it a whole rainbow party with these recipes:

Rainbow Birthday Cake

Pastel Deviled Eggs

Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies

The post How to Make a Rainbow Bundt Cake appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by Cabot.

I have been a huge fan of Cabot Cheese and I'm thrilled to be working with them this year to create a couple of recipes to share with you!

First things first, I'm obsessed with cooking with just one pan or one pot. One pot dishes are where it's at! And sooo are sheet pan dinners! And I have been wanting to make a chicken nachos recipes for ages now! Well, guess what? This dish is a one sheet pan dish! You bake the chicken in the oven and then you heat the tortilla chips with the chicken, and the Cabot cheese on top and you're done. It only takes 45 minutes to make too!

This cheesy goodness is amazing!

First, off the Cabot cheese I used are:

• yellow Vermont Extra Sharp
• white Vermont Sharp (it's hard to say which one is your favorite, right? This one might be in the top five!)
• Pepper Jack (this one is so nice and has a kick from the peppers, it's perfect for these nachos!)

Did you know that all Cabot Cheddars are naturally lactose-free? This is awesome for me because I'm becoming more lactose intolerant. I love that I still get to enjoy Cabot Cheddar cheese!

I grated half of each block for this recipe!

A note though, you can totally use the leftover chicken from this crockpot whole chicken recipe!

I used a half a pound of tenderloins, they cook nicely in the oven with olive oil…

and some taco seasoning.

Ready for the oven!

After they are baked, they are so good!

I cut them up with a fork and knife right on my sheet pan.

Add the tortilla chips along with the chicken and black beans…

and the cheese!

It's that simple…and you get the cheesy goodness! This has fast become a new favorite of mine for snacking or even for a quick lunch! It's so so good!

If you make if your family, they will love you for it!

Print

Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound chicken tenderloins
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons homemade taco seasoning
• 1/2 to 1/3 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
• tortilla chips
• 4 ounces Cabot Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese grated
• 4 ounces Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese grated
• 4 ounces Cabot Pepper Jack Cheese grated

To Serve:

• 1 tomato diced
• 1 jalapeno cut in half and sliced thinly
• 1 green onion sliced thin
• homemade guacamole (or it can be store-bought)
• Cabot Sour Cream
• homemade salsa (or it can be store-bought)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove chicken from packaging and drizzle olive oil on top. Add taco seasoning on both sides of chicken. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes (flipping chicken over halfway). Remove baking sheet and allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
• While the chicken is cooking, grate the cheese and prep the tomatoes, jalapeño, green onion, guacamole and salsa.
• Lower the oven to 375 degrees F. Add tortilla chips to the same baking sheet and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Sprinkle chicken and black beans over the tortilla chips and add the remaining cheese. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes at 375 degrees F.
• Remove the baking sheet from oven and top with diced tomatoes, sliced jalapeños and green onions. Serve with guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

Notes

Notes: If preparing ahead of time, you can cook the chicken in the oven a few days in advance and cut it up. Store in a sealed container and when you’re ready to make the nachos, remove from the fridge and follow the rest of the recipe!

Other recipes you might want to try! These beef and spinach tosadas, cheesy corn stuffed jalapenos and these breakfast nachos.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Cabot. I only work with brands that I love and I always share with you my own opinions.

The post Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I'm excited to share this recipe with you and an event that I have been organizing behind the scenes.

Let's first talk about the event. I organized a bunch of food bloggers together to share Valentine's Day inspired recipes to help raise funds for pediatric cancer. For an organization called Cookies for Kids' Cancer, a nonprofit that is on the front lines of that fight.

For the last few years, I have helped organized a food blogger cookie swap and while we decided to discontinue that event, I felt a strong feeling that I wanted to continue my support of C4KC and rally my food blogger friends to help bring awareness to what this amazing organization does for pediatric cancer research.

We are doing this event because we want to make a difference in the fight against pediatric cancer.

Did you know that cancer is the #1 cause of death of children by disease in the U.S.? There are 40,000 U.S. children actively battling cancer right now. With less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute's budget going to all childhood cancer combined, I knew it was important for me to get involved.

Help us make a difference by donating to Cookies for Kids' Cancer! Our goal is to raise at least $3000. Because these three companies: Dixie Crystals, Land O’Lakes and Mediavine have each pledged to match our donations raised through this campaign up to $3000!!!

Currently, we have raised: $1,515 we are a little over HALF WAY towards our $3000 goal, will you help us with a donation today? Every little bit helps! (Click the Donate Now button to get to our fundraising page and donate today!)

Donate Now

We have until February 28th to raise $3000! So please donate today!

Let's get to this recipe. I love using a box mix and adding things to it to make it even better!

I was in the store the other day and came upon this heart-shaped bundt cake pan and I had to get it!

Spray it generously with baking spray. Don't miss any nook or cranny!

Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula.

Bake in the oven for about 33 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees F.

While that's baking, make the cream cheese frosting. This is my absolute favorite cream cheese frosting recipe!

I made it with Dixie Crystals powdered sugar and Land O'Lakes unsalted butter!

Sift the powdered sugar.

After mixing the cream cheese and butter together, add the powdered sugar in batches and keep mixing!

I just used a coupler (without the ring) instead of a tip with a decorating bag to pipe the cream cheese frosting on!

And now let me give you a piece of my heart!

This cake is so easy to make and sooooo good!

Don't forget to tell the ones you love that you love them every day and if you're so inclined, make a donation today!

Print

Heart-Shaped Pink Velvet Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Pink Velvet Cake

• 1 package pink velvet cake mix 16.5 ounces
• 3.4- ounce package of vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 large eggs
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 cups 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup + 1/2 Tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Using a large spatula, mix ingredients until combined, don’t over mix.
• Spray a heart-shaped bundt cake pan generously with baking spray. Pour batter into the the bundt cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake for 33 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in several places in the bundt cake comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then, carefully (pan will still be hot), flip the cake onto the cooling rake and allow the cake to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Make while cake is baking)

• In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Mix together with an electric hand mixer, thoroughly, for at least 90 seconds to a minute. Add the sugar in batches and mix thoroughly. Mix until perfectly smooth and shiny, another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Refrigerate until use. If refrigerating, leave the frosting on the counter for at least 30 minutes and then mix with spatula, thoroughly, before frosting the cake with it. Makes 5 cups of frosting.

Here are some more wonderful recipes you should check out!! Bloggers who are also sharing a recipe and supporting Cookies for Kids' Cancer!

Melt In Your Mouth Sugar Cookie Bars from Julie of Julie Blanner
Frosted Sugar Cookies from Becca of The Salted Cookie
Triple Chocolate Cherry Cookies from Sue of It's Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Fudgy Chocolate Mug Cake from Gwynn of Swirls of Flavor
Cannoli {in support of Cookies for Kids' Cancer} from Sheila of Life, Love, and Good Food
Red Velvet Pizzelle from Liren of Kitchen Confidante
Microwave Chocolate Ganache from Melanie of Melanie Makes
Brownie Ice Cream Valentines from TammyJo of The Chocolate Cult
Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Deborah of Taste and Tell
Soft Sprinkle Sugar Cookies from Lisa of Blogghetti
Rice Crispy Treat Hearts from Heather of Totally Tailgates
Vegan Banana Chia Pudding with Blackberry Sauce from Marly of Namely Marly
Spicy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from Becca of Two Places at Once
Coconut Almond Biscotti from Kathleen of Fearlessly Creative Mammas
Strawberry Valentine Marshmallows from Serena of SerenaLissy
Strawberry Sugar Cookies from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Fudge Cookies from Jessica of A Kitchen Addiction
Double Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies from Natalie of The Devil Wears Parsley
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Macaroons from Ashley of Spoonful of Flavor
Salted Chocolste Caramel Chip Bars from Emily of It Bakes Me Happy
Red Wine Brownies from Nicole of For the Love of Food
Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies from Denise of Chez Us
Easy As Pie Cookies from Ashley of A Cup of Charming
Skinny Gluten-Free VDay Cookies from Jessica of Pensive Paleo
Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies from Carolann of Apron Warrior
Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies from Jessica of My Baking Heart
Peppermint Brownie Cookies from Aimee of Aimee Broussard & Co.
love bug cookies from Meaghan of the decorated cookie
Helping Hand Cookies from Sara of My Imperfect Kitchen
Potato Roses from Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Black-Outlined Ombre Hearts from Bridget Edwards of Bake at 350

Donate Here

Just a note that I volunteered my time to organize this event and I'm not receiving any money from sponsors or anyone for organizing this event. All money raised is going to directly to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a nonprofit organization. CK4C is a 501(3)(c) charity and your donation is tax deductible.

**There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Heart-Shaped Pink Velvet Bundt Cake + Cookies for Kids’ Cancer appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Recently, we were invited by Princess Cruises on an Alaskan Cruise and I'm so excited to share with you, our adventures!

We had a blast, it was our first cruise. We met some wonderful people, saw some great sights and had a trip of a lifetime!

Quite literally, all of our surroundings in Alaska looked like a postcard…pictures took themselves. I remember, quite fondly, at our first port, in Ketchikan telling our tour guide that I was taking pictures of postcards. In awe, I'm so happy we got to go on this cruise to Inside Passage Alaska…making memories we will cherish for a lifetime.

We both absolutely loved this cheesecake…I ordered it every night we could in the dining room. I was so excited when I found it in the cookbook that they gave us, called Courses: A Culinary Journey. And I'm so happy we get to make it at home now!

I'm going to share with you five things I loved about our Alaskan Cruise…

1) The Desserts

They were amazing. Love love loved our desserts! This one was the Princess Love Boat Dream (chocolate mousse on a brownie!) and it was heart-shaped!

The wonderful cheesecake!

I also had desserts for breakfast every day…we loved the croissants. Curtis' favorite were the chocolate croissants while mine were the almond ones!

And this dreamy dessert was a chocolate raspberry mousse with vanilla creme brulee and crunchy shortbread.

And gelato 24/7!

Gelato makes me smile and reminds me of Italy!

2) Riding a Helicopter and Landing on a Glacier

Look at Curtis' face. Our first time on a helicopter and I just had to take a selfie!

Seriously, we rode a helicopter onto the Mendenhall glacier. What an amazing experience.

It was really cold. That's all I remember. I also remember being in awe of the young women who work on the glacier 12 hours a day, welcoming tour group after tour group and enthusiastically sharing all about the glacier.

And then we got to dine on amazing Alaskan salmon at the Salmon Bake!

3) Seeing a Glacier at Tracy Arm & a Blue Iceberg!

We were one of 170 who got to take part in the Tracy Arm Fjord cruising. Early early early in the morning, we piled on much smaller boats (than our cruise ship) and got to cruise up really close to the Sawyer Glacier.

I got to enjoy the cruise with these lovely ladies and their husbands!

And then we saw a blue iceberg. Our cruise boat captain commented on how she has lived Alaska all her life and this was the most beautiful iceberg she had seen in her life.

It looks like blue icy hot doesn't it? I know it looks almost unreal. It was beautiful seeing it in person.

We learned that the blue ice is the oldest, when it snows and gets cold, the ice compacts and when it's robbed of oxygen, it compacts even more and turns blue.

Seriously, glorious.

4) Ice Cream and Mini Golfing!

I know it was cold but it's never too cold for soft serve ice cream and sprinkles!

And mini gold…with Alaska in our sights…what a fun time and a beautiful sight!

5) Chef's Table Experience

Depending on the number of days, there might be only 1 or 2 chef's table experiences available. You have to book it as soon as you get on board otherwise it books up quickly.

The executive chef and the maitre'd treated us very well to many courses…

A beautiful roasted filet and in the background are mushroom-shapped potatoes. We loved this meal!

And the dessert was a hazelnut chocolate mousse with caramel on top with hazelnut macarons. Dreamyyyy!

And now I must turn your attention back to the cheesecake!

In the world of cheesecakes, it's a really easy recipe…it does take some time in between where you have to allow the cake to cool to room temperature (twice) so it's best to make this during the weekend.

I put the graham crackers in a zippered plastic bag and turn them into crumbs using a rolling pin.

I created a sling with the parchment paper in my 9-inch square baking dish.

All set!

Mix in the ground cinnamon and then the powdered sugar.

Add the melted butter and mix together.

Put into the bottom of the baking dish and use your fingers to pat down the crust.

I love that you don't have to bake this crust…it's much better this way!

Mix the filling.

And then pour over the crust.

And smooth the filling out with a spatula.

Mix the sour cream topping ingredients together.

Nice and smooth.

Smooth it out after pouring over the baked cheesecake filling.

Wash, hull and slice the strawberries.

Marinate the strawberries before blending in a blender.

Every time we make this cheesecake, we'll remember our Alaskan Cruise aboard the Princess Ruby!

And of course Alaska!

I know you'll love this cheesecake recipe! Excuse me while I go cut off another piece and have it for dinner!

Print

Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Coulis Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

Servings 1 9-inch square or round cheesecake

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs about 13 graham crackers
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 powdered sugar
• 7 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Cheesecake Filling

• 4 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• pinch of salt

Sour Cream Topping

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Strawberry Coulis

• 2 cups fresh sliced strawberries
• 3 Tablespoons orange liqueur
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeeze orange juice
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• fresh strawberries

Instructions

• Place graham cracker crumbs and ground cinnamon in a medium sized mixing bowl and mix together thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Add melted butter and mix well.  Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan by cutting a round piece of parchment paper, grease the bottom of the pan and the sides with a nonstick baking spray. Place the parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. If using a 9-inch square pan, cut two long strips of parchment paper and place them in the bottom of the pan, creating a sling.
• Add the graham crack crumb crust to the bottom of the pan (over the parchment paper), use your fingers creating an even layer of crust across the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
• Heat the oven to 370 degrees F. Add cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and mix until smooth. Add sugar, lemon juice and salt and mix until well combined. Pour the cream cheese filling over the crust in to the pan. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes at 370 degrees F. The cheesecake will be slightly soft in the middle and should be hot all the way through. (If the cake splits, it is over baked).
• Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least one hour.
• Add sour cream, sugar and lemon juice to a small glass mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly with a spoon. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spread the sour cream topping on top of the cheesecake and smooth with a spatula. Bake the cheesecake for another 6 to 8 minutes, just to set the sour cream topping. The cake should not brown at all.
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature, at least one hour and 15 to 30 minutes. Once it's room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least 2 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator.
• Mix sliced strawberries, orange liqueur, orange juice and lemon juice in a glass bowl. Allow to marinate for 5 minutes and then add to a blender.
• Serve cheesecake sliced with the strawberry coulis and fresh strawberries.

Be sure to check out my five tips for cruising!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Princess Cruises. I only share with you brands that I love and share with you my own opinions. There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Classic Cheesecake Recipe & 5 Things I loved about our Alaskan Cruise appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

A little over a week ago, Charley's (our 10 year old Shepherd mix canine) MRI showed a pinched nerve in his lower back where he has a bulging disc. The recommendation by the surgeons is to do surgery to relieve the pressure and compression on the nerves. The scary part is if we do nothing, it can lead to paralysis of his hind legs and other not so fun stuff. We know that rest and meds won't work because he's been on so many meds for months now for other pain problems associated with hip dysplasia. The operation to fix his bulging disc is scheduled for tomorrow and since I have not been thinking about it too much, I haven't been too worried. But it's TOMORROW MORNING…it's getting closer and I'm getting more and more nervous. We're anxious to know if this is the right decision (who doesn't second guess themselves?) and at the same time are ready for him to be done with it and get to rehab and to healing. Please cross your fingers for us. I'm going to be a big ball of tense tomorrow.

In comes this soup, I'm going to be making another pot of this chicken tortilla soup this week. It's a big pot of comfort. I love soup because it's warm and comforting. I made this the week of my birthday and had it for leftovers for 4 or 5 days afterwards. It's really nice and easy and I love the addition of zucchini. I add the zucchini at the end so it doesn't overcook. Top this soup with tortilla chips, sour cream and sharp cheddar…all a must!

Chop the veggies.

Then chop the canned tomatoes. I love canned whole plum tomatoes so I use a 28 ounce can of those and chop up the tomatoes. Don't get rid of the tomato juice. That will add flavor to the soup!

Butter…everything with butter is better, right? I use butter and olive oil to start with in this soup and add the vegetables (but not the zucchini) and garlic along with my homemade taco seasoning all into my French oven. I have used other chicken tortilla soup recipes that are quick and easy but they didn't have the depth of flavor I was looking for. This one does…the taco seasoning has so many levels of flavor from the paprika to the chili powder and cumin that adds so much flavor along with the chicken and the vegetables.

This is after I add the drained and rinsed black beans, tomatoes and chicken broth.

After you bring it to a boil and allow to simmer, add the cooked chicken and zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes.

It's done and ready to serve.

The toppings are a must. And the next time I make this soup, I'm going to freeze some so if the craving hits me…even if it's in the middle of hot hot Florida summer, I can have a bowl. Make this…you'll thank me for it! Soup under 40 minutes, yay!

Check out the video I made for this recipe too!

Print

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon salted butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon homemade taco seasoning
• 1 jalapeño ribs and seeds removed, diced
• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 1 large garlic clove chopped
• 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, chopped (keep tomato juice)
• 1 14.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 14.5-ounce cans low sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups diced zucchini about one
• 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh corn
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken cubed (see Note)
• crushed tortilla chips cheddar cheese and sour cream for serving (optional)

Instructions

• In a French oven or a large heavy bottom pot, melt butter and heat olive oil on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add taco seasoning, jalapeño, onion and garlic. Sauté for about 3 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, black beans and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add zucchini, corn and chicken and heat for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Serve in bowls topped with crushed tortilla chips, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Note:

• You can use leftover cooked chicken or if you don't have any. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a boneless skinless chicken breast. Boil for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from pot and place on a clean cutting board. Cut into cubes.

Here are some other recipes for you to try:

Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup from Aggie's Kitchen
Chicken Tortilla Soup from The Lemon Bowl
Chicken Tortilla Soup from PW

The post Chicken Tortilla Soup with Black Beans and Zucchini appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

A couple of months ago, I received an invitation to travel to Idaho to witness the Idaho potato harvest. I jumped at the chance…potatoes? Little ol' me has had an obsession with potatoes as long as I can remember. I cook with potatoes all the time and I love to consume them…so this was a perfect fit.

Little did I know, this trip would change my life. I'm serious. Dead serious.

I met 3rd generation potato farmers like Jim Tiede (pictured here with his son, Alex), who are proud of what they do and at the same time are humble. They work incredibly hard and were so excited to show us their farms. We often forget the hard work and sacrifice farmers make in this country…I only wish all of you could have gone on this trip with me.

I just love this photo on Jim's farm because it seems so serene to me. Jim's farm harvests 2.7 million pounds of potatoes a day during the harvest which lasts 10 days. I'll bet you didn't know that the potatoes from Idaho are harvested only once a year…and yet they last us all year long. And Idaho is 1/3 of the total potato supply in this country. I found all of that pretty amazing. And the care that goes into the harvest as well as the storage of the potatoes year-round is astounding.

Potatoes are living organisms – don't store them in the fridge or under fluorescent lighting, the best thing to do is to store them in a humid space and store them in the dark.

I also learned that Idaho is gorgeous. Completely gorgeous. The last night we were in Idaho, we made the drive to Teton Springs and I rode a horse for the very first time in my life! It was completely amazing and scary all at the same time.

And about this recipe…it's going into the regular rotation, folks. Curtis absolutely loves it. To be honest, I was going to make a salad and baked potatoes with some of the huge russets I took home with me from Idaho. Curtis insisted that I make a soup. I said how about potato leek soup (which I love) and then he said how about a baked potato soup?

I love the depth of flavor this soup has from actually baking the potatoes to adding sour cream to the soup. Be sure to temper the cream and the sour cream so it doesn't curdle. Instructions on how to do that in the recipe.

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Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

This soup is called loaded because it includes the regular fixins' for a baked potato but also sour cream and broccoli! A warm and comforting soup for those fall and winter months.

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Servings 10 -12 servings

Ingredients

• 3 to 3.25 pounds Idaho Russet potatoes scrubbed and washed
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 green onions sliced and divided in half
• 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup sharp cheddar grated (and more for topping)
• 2 heads of broccoli florets cut
• cooked bacon for topping optional

Instructions

• Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil. Place potatoes on cookie sheet and bake for 60 minutes. After baking, allow potatoes to cool for 20 to 30 minutes or cool enough for you to handle. Remove the potato peels and chop into 1 to 1.5 inch cubes.
• Melt butter on medium heat in a large heavy bottom French oven, I used my 5.5 quart Le Creuset. Add half of the green onions and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add chicken broth and turn heat to high and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, turn heat back down to medium or medium low and allow to simmer for about 5 to 6 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes in the broth, about 5 to 6 times.

How to temper cream and sour cream

• Add cream and sour cream by tempering. Do not add both directly to the pot, first take a measuring cup and remove about 1-2 cups of potato soup mixture into a bowl. Add half of the cream and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Pour cream-potato soup mixture back into the pot and repeat for the remaining cream and sour cream. By tempering, you ensure the cream and sour cream doesn't curdle in the soup.
• Add the 1 cup of cheddar cheese and all of the broccoli to the soup and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes on low to medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with cheese, bacon and green onion as toppings.

Disclosure: I'm proud to be sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission, who made these experiences possible. I only share with you my favorite brands and all opinions expressed are always my own.

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