Sounds rough, but that was Sunday. Really.
Eagles… 20 to 52. Yes. 52.
Cowboys… 21 to 30.
It was a valiant effort by Dallas, but let’s be real… the Eagles gave in and were trampled by the Broncos. It was painful to watch.
Regardless, it wasn’t painful to eat. We opted for some comfort food to ring in the cooler weather with some crock pot tacos, rice and delicious pumpkin cake.
Tacos with chicken:
Adapted from Table for Seven
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 1/2 hours
Serves: 4-6
You will need:
1 1/4 # boneless chicken breast
1 envelope dry taco mix
1 envelop dry ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 c chicken broth
crock pot
Place chicken in crock pot with taco mix, ranch dressing and chicken broth.
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, then uncover and shred chicken.
Re-cover and cook an additional 30 minutes.
…then make tacos!!!!
We also added ground beef as an option, browned with taco seasoning.
Hard or soft shells are perfect. Toppings? Avocado, cheese, sour cream (plain yogurt), lettuce, tomatoes, salsa verde, beans and rice (see below).
We used a triple crock pot to keep the meat and rice warm for serving 

Vegetable Rice:
Prep time: 30 min
Cooking time: 40 min
Serves: 6
You will need:
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 t chili powder
1 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 t paprika
1 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 1/4 c white rice
3 c vegetable broth
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chile powder, onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft but not browned (~6 min).
Add tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
Add rice; stir to coat well with the tomato mixture.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pudding Cake…
DIRECTLY FROM Butter with a Side of Bread. Because this is too amazing to change!
1st Layer:
- 1 box of yellow cake mix {reserve 1 cup after you open it}
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 egg
2nd layer:
- 1 30-oz can Pumpkin Pie Mix {not just pumpkin!}
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2 eggs
3rd Layer:
- 1 cup dry yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Grease the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Mix 1st layer ingredients until crumbly and pour in the bottom of the pan. Barely mix the ingredients for the 2nd layer and pour over 1st layer. Mix 3rd layer ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Top with Cool-Whip and a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!


All pictures and recipes are the property of Carpenter in the Kitchen© unless otherwise noted. When reproducing recipes, please share with a link and give written credit, or use your own words. No pictures can be reused without prior permission.