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Black Bean & Rice Soup

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Prom was this past weekend, I’ll be sharing more about it soon but I prepared this post ahead of time so I could enjoy the weekend without stressing about the blog!

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

Black bean soup has become one of my more recent absolute favorite soups. I have always been a big fan of soup, but black bean has just become my new bestie, especially since I made the whole vegetarian change in my life a couple months ago.

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Panera’s black bean soup, but never quite realized how easy it is to make my own black bean soup at home.

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

This version is not really exactly like Panera’s because I decided I wanted it to have a bit more body to it. The addition of rice is purely optional, but I think it really adds something! You can enjoy this as a meal by itself or if you’re feeling hungry, some bread or focaccia would be aweee-some.

Black Bean & Rice Soup

2 cans black beans

4 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

3 cups prepared rice

  1. Blend together the black beans with the broths, using an emulsion blender or food processor.
  2. With the black bean mixture in a large pot, add in salt, flour, and seasonings. Cook on medium heat until nice and hot. (You don’t need to bring it to a boil).
  3. Add in rice and keep on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until everything is incorporated. Enjoy!

Random Fact of the Day: The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 ft. (GAGGGG!!)

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Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars

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Eeeek! Prom is tomorrow. I feel like I was seriously just writing the overview of prom weekend from last year, weird how the time flies!!

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

I’ve been my uber busy self this week. It is like everything that I need to do for senior year has been piled into one week. We have AP tests starting this Monday after prom weekend (yeah, our school is that cruel) and then I had senior night for soccer last night, the soccer program pasta dinner Wednesday night, a game Tuesday night, and several tests and practice AP tests throughout the week that the teachers have been throwing at us to be prepared for next week.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Thankfully, my dress was bought and altered with plenty of time before this week and my appointments were scheduled for hair and such pretty far out to be sure I got the time I wanted. Oh and another nice little twist to throw in for my prom weekend?…we have a soccer game. Yep, same thing as last year.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

My coach insists EVERY year to schedule a game on the day of prom, so then we all get to sprint from the game to our appointments with hardly a shower. I guess he likes to keep us busy.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Enough with the prom talk, I’m sure I will have plenty to say after the weekend. Let’s talk about these bars! I have never had a nanaimo bar, but had heard about them and have been intrigued for a while now. This is a peanut butter version, and guys…you NEED these in your life! They are super decadent little bites of a chocolate-coconut graham cracker crust, with a smooth peanut butter filling, topped with a thin shell of chocolate. Yum!

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars

(Makes 36 small bars)

FOR CRUST:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder (I used dark)

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 cups (1 sleeve/9 crackers) graham cracker crumbs

1 cup shredded coconut

FOR MIDDLE LAYER:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

2 Tablespoons vanilla pudding powder

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

FOR TOP LAYER:

4 oz. semisweet chocolate

  1. Melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a double boiler until fully incorporated (don’t let it come to a boil). Add the beaten egg and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the graham cracker crumbs and coconut. Press down firmly into an ungreased 8 x8-inch or 9 x9-inch pan. Let sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes. 
  2. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, instant pudding powder, and powdered sugar, until light and fluffy. Spread filing over crust layer in an even layer. Pop pan in fridge for about 30 minutes to let it firm up a bit.
  3. Melt the chocolate for the top layer, spread over the filling and spread out evenly with a knife or spatula. Let sit in fridge for about 1 hour, then slice into bars and keep in sealed container. I keep them in the fridge to stay firm.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Random Fact of the Day: Only 1 out of 700 identity thieves gets caught

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Best Tomato Soup-SRC Post

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Guys, I am certainly not one who likes to pick “favorites”, but I think this may be my favorite recipe I have ever tried through the Secret Recipe Club.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

This month I was assigned to explore Kirsten’s blog, Loving Life.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

Kirsten is a busy mom who was born in England (that is so cool to me!) but now lives in the grand ‘ol USA, she loves to garden, read, cook, and browse the internet for more time than she considers appropriate (like any awesome blogger), and she has two daughters, who are home-schooled. The older daughter (Kristianna) is super impressive! She is taking Running Start classes at the local community college to try to get her diploma and AA degree by the time she graduates. Her family sounds busy, busy, busy!

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

Let me start out by saying that I am NOT one who is a fan of tomatos. But I am that weird type of person who will choose a tomato-based recipe.. I didn’t really have high hopes for this tomato soup, it looked super simple which appealed to me but then made me think it might lack flavor or pizazz.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

Plus, I really have never even been a fan of tomato soup, only when it is paired with about a 3-1 ratio of grilled cheese to tomato soup. BUT the day I made this, it was super rainy and we actually had a “rain day” and no school because of flooding, so I figured soup was what was going to happen that day.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

Make sure you hop on over to Kirsten’s blog and explore all of her other delectable recipes! Don’t forget about the other SRC members at the bottom of this post, too!! They all work so hard and do a beautiful job, visits and blog love are always appreciated.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters

My three favorite things about this recipe were…This soup took me 10 minutes, tops! All the ingredients were things I commonly have on hand. And this soup tasted ah-mazing. So good that I didn’t even have to make grilled cheese to go with it.

Tomato Soup

(From Loving Life)

(Serves 2-4 people)

2-3 Tablespoons butter

2-3 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk (I used skim)

15 oz. tomato sauce (I used pasta sauce, basically the same thing but with some seasoning already in there)

  1. In a saucepan on medium heat, melt butter, add flour and stir for about 1 minute.
  2. Add milk and salt. Stir until sauce is a medium thickness. Add tomato sauce and if desired diced tomatoes (I left them out). You may also add some water, about 1/2 a can to thin it out a bit (I like mine thicker, so I did not do this). Add your seasonings to taste and serve.

Best Tomato Soup EVER | Beautiful Disasters



Random Fact of the Day: Castor oil is used as a lubricant in jet planes.

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Banana Crumb Cake

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Over this past week I have realized how much I truly appreciate my family.  I love my parents with all my heart but, as I have gotten older, I have grown to be increasingly thankful for my brother and sister.

Banana Crumb Cake | Beautiful Disasters

This past weekend was the last weekend I was able to visit my sister at college (the same college that I will be attending next year). She is graduating in just a couple short weeks and even though I have already visited her twice by myself for “fun visits” (without parents), I wanted to squeeze in one more visit before we both graduate and I head off to the University of Illinois. Brooke is always a great host, she always lets me borrow whatever clothes I want, and  we hardly ever argue anymore like how we did when we were younger. She’s my best friend in the world, who I know I will always be able to trust.  I am super thankful to have a sister. My mom always says, “Friends come and go, but sisters are forever”, and that is certainly something I believe in full-heartedly.

Banana Crumb Cake | Beautiful Disasters

Now that I have gushed over my sister, Brooke, I think it is time to rave about my big brother, Jack.  Let me start out by saying that my brother was not the most organized guy when he was a teenager.  Birthday presents from him usually went something like him driving me over to Borders and me picking out some books, or maybe a gift card of a place I picked out. Teenagers are busy (as I know very well of right now in my life) and birthday presents often seem silly or too much effort to try and be creative.

Banana Crumb Cake | Beautiful Disasters

Fast-forward to present day and now my brother is Mr. Organized with birthday gifts.  It was my mom’s birthday recently and even though he lives across the country in LA, HE bought the present for my mom (which I still need to pay him back for) and had it sent to a local Best Buy, where all I had to do was drive over and pick it up!

When I got home from my visit at U of I with my sister this weekend my mom told me that my Jack had a surprise for me. I was kind of like ok…what kind of joke is this going to be?  The surprise? These gorgeous BCBG earrings that he bought for me to wear to my prom. Yes, feel free to cry everyone. I mean..what?!  I was not expecting that one at all!! Anyways, I owe a big ‘ol THANK YOU to Jack and Brooke for being rockstar siblings. Love you both with all my heart!

Banana Crumb Cake | Beautiful Disasters

On to banana crumb cake!  I am super pumped to share this recipe with you all. Oh my gosh…so good! The night I made it, my dad ate probably about 1/4 of the 13″ x 9″ pan!!! I KNEW he would like this one, as he is the banana king and loves basically anything associated with bananas (food-wise).

However, this was actually a request from my mom, so I guess I am just trying to make the whole family happy with this post today. Must be that I am getting close to high school graduation and starting to feel sentimental and stuff… yikes.

Banana Crumb Cake

(Makes one 13″x9″ cake)

3 bananas, ripened

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

CRUMB TOPPING:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and spray a 13″x9″ baking pan with cooking spray, set aside.
  2. Using a mixer, beat bananas and sugar until liquidy and combined. Mix in butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add in flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix in milk until thoroughly combined.
  3. In a smaller separate bowl, mix together crumble toppings with hands or fork until crumbly.
  4. Pour half the batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, sprinkle half the crumb mixture on top, pour remaining batter over top, add final layer of remaining crumb mixture. Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Let cool and enjoy! Cover leftovers in container or with plastic wrap.

Banana Crumb Cake | Beautiful Disasters

Random Fact of the Day: There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee. Of these, only 26 have been tested, and half caused cancer in rats.

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Sour Cream Bundt Coffee Cake

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When I was younger and my mom did all the baking in the house, it was always such a treat whenever she made her sour cream coffee cake (my grandma’s recipe).  You would smell the baking cake with cinnamon and a toasted nutty aroma.

Coffee Cake Bundt Cake | Beautiful Disasters

It certainly is something that will make you jump out of your bed in the morning!

Coffee Cake Bundt Cake | Beautiful Disasters

I decided to try something new and bake it in a tube pan…er…but found out later it was actually one of my grandma’s old jello molds. It was actually kind of a funny accident but only because, thankfully, it was oven-safe! I made one larger-mediumish cake and then one smaller cake. But this recipe would fit one regular, large tube pan.

Coffee Cake Bundt Cake | Beautiful Disasters

Cakes in bundt form are just more exciting than the classic ‘ol rectangular coffee cake, am I right?? Enjoy the layered goodness in this coffee cake because, trust me, it is worth savoring.

Sour Cream Bundt Coffee Cake

(Makes 1 large bundt cake)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3 eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

FOR TOPPING:

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F and spray a large tube or bundt pan with cooking spray, set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract. Slowly add in flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in sour cream just until combined, be sure to scrape down the sides for everything to be completely incorporated.
  3. In a small, separate bowl, combine chopped walnut, 3/4 cup sugar, and ground cinnamon with a fork or whisk until evenly combined.
  4. Pour half the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan, then half the topping mixture, then the remaining batter, finish with the remaining topping mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for about 20 minutes, then use a knife to loosen the cake around the edges, invert onto cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely. Enjoy! When not eating, cover with plastic wrap or in sealed container to avoid dryness.

Coffee Cake Bundt Cake | Beautiful Disasters

Random Fact of the Day: There are more than 50,000 earthquakes throughout the world every year!

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