I am linked up over at Growing Up Geeky for Toddle Along Tuesday.
This weeks theme is Halloween. Come on over and check it out!
Monday, November 5, 2012
A Month of Meals {Recipes-Week 2}
Sadly Baby Love has caught my stomach bug and poor daddy seems to be heading down the same road. Little is napping right now so I thought I would take a few moments to put together week 2's recipes.
{Loaded Baked Potato Soup}
1 bag Ore Ida hash browns
2 cans 9or 2 cups) low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 package of reduced fat country gravy
Directions
1. Add chicken broth and water to large pot on high
2. When broth and water begins to boil add hash browns.
3. Mix gravy with a little bit of water before adding to pot to prevent lumps.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. I like to mash mine a bit with a potato masher, but it is yummy either way.
Ingredients
4-6 boneless, skinless Chicken breasts
1 (18 oz) bottle Barbecue Sauce ( I used 'Sweet Baby Ray's')
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
DIRECTIONS
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of crock pot. In a medium bowl mix together barbecue sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and red pepper. Stir sauce and then pour over chicken. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Close with lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours. (The last 30 minutes of cooking, remove the lid from crock pot and let water evaporate to thicken sauce) Serve!
{Chicken Noodle Soup}
Ingredients
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups medium egg noodles
2 cups chopped chicken/turkey
Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan combine broth, onion, carrot, celery, basil, oregano, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in uncooked noodles. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until noodles are tender but still firm and vegetables are just tender. Discard bay leaf. Stir in chicken; heat through. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups medium egg noodles
2 cups chopped chicken/turkey
Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan combine broth, onion, carrot, celery, basil, oregano, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in uncooked noodles. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until noodles are tender but still firm and vegetables are just tender. Discard bay leaf. Stir in chicken; heat through. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
I enter A LOT of online contests like 1 a day, but you can't win unless you enter and I figure the more I enter the better my odds are of winning something and I have actually won a few pretty awesome prizes!
My first win was a 16x20 canvas of a photo from Mckinley's 9 month pictures which I haven't received yet. I will probably not be using this particular photographer again because her customer service is not good at all. I bought a session off of Groupon and we got some cute pictures for the price and she was kind enough to resend the pictures I misplaced, but it took her 7 months to do it. We actually have a Photographer we are in love with that I found after buying this package so we won't have this problem again, but lesson learned
My first win was a 16x20 canvas of a photo from Mckinley's 9 month pictures which I haven't received yet. I will probably not be using this particular photographer again because her customer service is not good at all. I bought a session off of Groupon and we got some cute pictures for the price and she was kind enough to resend the pictures I misplaced, but it took her 7 months to do it. We actually have a Photographer we are in love with that I found after buying this package so we won't have this problem again, but lesson learned
My biggest win so far was $300 worth of diapers and diaper swag!
My most recent win was SUPER EXCITING and very useful because of my Monthly Meal Planning. I entered a giveaway over on Frugal and Thankful for a Crock Pot cook book and I WON! If you know me you know I love cooking in my Crock! I love coming home to a delicious smelling house and a dinner already done plus I love how easy it is to clean. Sadly I already had Novembers menu completed and the groceries purchased so we will have to wait until December to try out some of the recipes.
I also have 1 more place I will be pulling some recipes from next month. I stumbled upon the blog
Crock-A-Doodle-Do. This mama has some awesome healthy Crock recipes that I am dying to try out!
Now if I could just win us a new grill all would be right in the world!
My most recent win was SUPER EXCITING and very useful because of my Monthly Meal Planning. I entered a giveaway over on Frugal and Thankful for a Crock Pot cook book and I WON! If you know me you know I love cooking in my Crock! I love coming home to a delicious smelling house and a dinner already done plus I love how easy it is to clean. Sadly I already had Novembers menu completed and the groceries purchased so we will have to wait until December to try out some of the recipes.
I also have 1 more place I will be pulling some recipes from next month. I stumbled upon the blog
Crock-A-Doodle-Do. This mama has some awesome healthy Crock recipes that I am dying to try out!
Now if I could just win us a new grill all would be right in the world!
Thankful {Days 5 and 6}
Yesterday I was out of commission and sadly today Little Lady has her first stomach bug and poor daddy got christened.
That means I get to be thankful for 2 things today.
The first thing I am thankful for is my BFF. My PIC. My Person.
Her name is Lis with an S and she is the one person who knows more about me than anyone else. She took care of me when I slept on the bathroom floor in college. She always stood by my side even when I let a bad boyfriend take me away from my friends. She loves my hubby and my little and me no matter how cray cray I get.
She understands my insane brain and she can match me in potty words.
I love you Lis and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for you.
I am also very thankful for the person who has to put up with me all day everyday. No not my precious hubby, but my Co-teacher, Assistant, whatever you would like to call her. Mrs. Cathy and I have worked together for 3 years now and how she puts up with me and my scatterbrain beats me. She is awesome with our babies and she has the most creative ideas!
I am very Thankful for you both and I love both of you very much!!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
A Month Of Meals {Recipes-Week 1}
When I started meal planning I never thought I would actually have people telling me I inspired them to start planning their own meals. That is one of the reasons I wanted to start blogging about it and sharing what has worked for me and our little family. I love putting my menu together and writing out my grocery list and it doesn't really take me that long to plan everything out, but then comes the recipes. I print them out or pull them from my cook books and then the real work begins. Some recipes I pull from Pinterest or Google searches which makes it so much easier to post them, but this month I wanted to use my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook which means I will have to peck out those recipes all by my slow typing self. I will be posting 1 weeks worth of recipes at a time or as many as my 1 year old who only allows me to type 5 minutes at a time before she starts screaming at me and trying to press buttons on the laptop.
I Challenged Myself this month so every meal is either something that can be frozen and pulled out later or something cooked in the Crock Pot.
{November Menu- Week 1}
{Roxanne's Roast}
Ingredients
1 large roast split into 2 equal pieces
1 bag of baby carrots
1 onion
Potatoes (will not go into freezer. Will be put in when ready to Crock It)
2 envelopes of Lipton onion soup mix
Beef broth or boullion
Worcestershire sauce
Directions
1.When I get home from the store I cut my roast into 2 equal pieces and place them in freezer containers.
2. Place 1/3 package of carrots into each container.
3. Cut 1 onion into large pieces and add 1/2 to each container.
4. Pour in 1 Cup of beef broth into each container.
5. Add Worcestershire
6. Add 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix to each container.
7. Place lid in place and freeze until ready to Crock It.
8. Remove from freezer and let thaw in fridge night before you will be cooking it.
9. Dump all contents into crock.
10. Add potatoes.
11. Cook on low for 8 hours.
8. Remove from freezer and let thaw in fridge night before you will be cooking it.
9. Dump all contents into crock.
10. Add potatoes.
11. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Did you know you can cook baked potatoes in the Crock? Well I didn't until this month and you better believe this is how I will be cooking my potatoes next week!
Ingredients
2-3 Potatoes
Foil
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese
Bacos
Directions
1. Clean potatoes
2. Wrap in foil
3. Place potatoes in Crock
4. Crock for 8 hours
WHAT!! I don't have to wait 40 minutes for my potatoes to cook!
MIND BLOWN!
{Chicken Pot Pie (Makes 2)}
Ingredients
4 refrigerated pie crusts or frozen crusts
1 rotisserie chicken
2 cans of mixed veggies
11/2 tsps rubbed sage (dried)
1 1/2 tbsps butter
2 cups canned chicken broth
2 tbsp. All purpose flour
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Pull chicken off of bones and set aside
3. Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon sage in medium bowl.
4. In large skillet/pot melt butter in heavy large skillet oven medium-high heat.
5. Add chicken broth and flour mixture to skillet and stir until thickens.
6. Add in chicken and vegetables and 1 teaspoon sage.
7. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour mixture evenly into pie crusts
10. Top with crust.
11. Bake until bubbly and crust is golden brown
12. If you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
{Mexican Stuffed Belle Peppers (Doubled)}
source
Ingredients
4-8 bell peppers
1 pound of 85 percent lean ground beef
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 cup of canned enchilada sauce
1 1/4 cup of shredded jack cheese
1 entire bag of cup of cooked (leftover) mexican rice
salt and pepper
sour cream and diced green onion for toppings
Directions
1. Finely dice a 1/2 of a yellow onion. Pour a cup of prepared enchilada sauce into a heat proof measuring cup and add diced onion. Heat the onion/enchilada sauce mixture in the microwave for about 5 minutes to soften onions.
2. Cut the tops off of four bell peppers. Remove stems and seeds and dice the tops of the bell peppers.
3. Pour 1/3 of a cup of water into the bottom of the crock pot and nestle bell peppers in.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine one pound of uncooked ground beef, onion/enchilada sauce mixture, diced bell peppers, 1 cup of shredded jack cheese, 3/4 cup of cooked rice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
5. Fill bell peppers with ground beef mixture and top with more cheese.
6. Cook on low for about 6 hours. You can test mixture with meat thermometer for doneness. It should be cooked to 160 degrees.
7. f you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
Note: You must used pre-cooked rice. I used leftover mexican rice, but you can also use cooked white rice. Just bump up your seasoning so that the mixture is not too bland. You can add chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle in adobo. Whatever sounds good to you!
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
source
Ingredients
1 large pork shoulder/Pork Butt or whatever you like to call it
Onion
Garlic cloves (I use the pre chopped bottled stuff because it is easier, cheaper, and last longer)
BBQ seasoning
Liquid Smoke
BBQ sauce (I used 2 different kinds because I didn't have enough of either and it was delicious!)
Water
Buns
Slaw
Directions
1. Rough Chop onions and garlic and place in bottom of Crock.
2. Place Pork in Crock and sprinkle generously with BBQ seasoning.
3. Add Liquid Smoke (I was cautious with this, but wish I had added more)
4. Pour in enough water to fill Crock 1/4 of the way up.
5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
6. Remove Pork Shoulder and place in large bowl to pull apart and remove bones and fat. I found a form and some tongs were really helpful. You will also want a few large bowls for discarded pieces.
7. Pour remaining liquid, onions, garlic, and bits and pieces through colander to strain and discard.
8. Return pulled pork to Crock and begin shredding with 2 forks or hands if you let it cool.
9. Pour BBQ sauce over pork to mix together.
10. Serve on buns with your choice of fixins (that's southern for BBQ toppings and sides like Slaw, BBQ Beans, and Potato salad).
11. Freeze extra meat for later use.
{Joan's Homemade Soup}
Coming Soon
I am still waiting for this recipe MIL!!
1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Pull chicken off of bones and set aside
3. Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon sage in medium bowl.
4. In large skillet/pot melt butter in heavy large skillet oven medium-high heat.
5. Add chicken broth and flour mixture to skillet and stir until thickens.
6. Add in chicken and vegetables and 1 teaspoon sage.
7. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour mixture evenly into pie crusts
10. Top with crust.
11. Bake until bubbly and crust is golden brown
12. If you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
{Mexican Stuffed Belle Peppers (Doubled)}
source
Ingredients
4-8 bell peppers
1 pound of 85 percent lean ground beef
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 cup of canned enchilada sauce
1 1/4 cup of shredded jack cheese
1 entire bag of cup of cooked (leftover) mexican rice
salt and pepper
sour cream and diced green onion for toppings
Directions
1. Finely dice a 1/2 of a yellow onion. Pour a cup of prepared enchilada sauce into a heat proof measuring cup and add diced onion. Heat the onion/enchilada sauce mixture in the microwave for about 5 minutes to soften onions.
2. Cut the tops off of four bell peppers. Remove stems and seeds and dice the tops of the bell peppers.
3. Pour 1/3 of a cup of water into the bottom of the crock pot and nestle bell peppers in.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine one pound of uncooked ground beef, onion/enchilada sauce mixture, diced bell peppers, 1 cup of shredded jack cheese, 3/4 cup of cooked rice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
5. Fill bell peppers with ground beef mixture and top with more cheese.
6. Cook on low for about 6 hours. You can test mixture with meat thermometer for doneness. It should be cooked to 160 degrees.
7. f you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
Note: You must used pre-cooked rice. I used leftover mexican rice, but you can also use cooked white rice. Just bump up your seasoning so that the mixture is not too bland. You can add chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle in adobo. Whatever sounds good to you!
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients
1 large pork shoulder/Pork Butt or whatever you like to call it
Onion
Garlic cloves (I use the pre chopped bottled stuff because it is easier, cheaper, and last longer)
BBQ seasoning
Liquid Smoke
BBQ sauce (I used 2 different kinds because I didn't have enough of either and it was delicious!)
Water
Buns
Slaw
Directions
1. Rough Chop onions and garlic and place in bottom of Crock.
2. Place Pork in Crock and sprinkle generously with BBQ seasoning.
3. Add Liquid Smoke (I was cautious with this, but wish I had added more)
4. Pour in enough water to fill Crock 1/4 of the way up.
5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
6. Remove Pork Shoulder and place in large bowl to pull apart and remove bones and fat. I found a form and some tongs were really helpful. You will also want a few large bowls for discarded pieces.
7. Pour remaining liquid, onions, garlic, and bits and pieces through colander to strain and discard.
8. Return pulled pork to Crock and begin shredding with 2 forks or hands if you let it cool.
9. Pour BBQ sauce over pork to mix together.
10. Serve on buns with your choice of fixins (that's southern for BBQ toppings and sides like Slaw, BBQ Beans, and Potato salad).
11. Freeze extra meat for later use.
{Joan's Homemade Soup}
Coming Soon
I am still waiting for this recipe MIL!!
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