Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Rice

We spend most of the summer

at the local pool

until late in the afternoon

and with summer rapidly approaching

we are in need of quick meals

to be ready when we get home

or done in just a few minutes

So here comes my

Summer Crockpot Challenge

I am going to be trying different Crockpot meals

or how to change my favorite meals

to work in a crockpot

I’ll label them “crockpot”

so they are easily find able

Last night,

we had my kids gymnastics show

so we didn’t get home until dinner time

and if your kids are like mine

they walk in the door

and are instantly

STARVING!

So we started the crockpot challenge a bit early

(School doesn’t get out here until next week)

and I had a Cauliflower in the refrigerator

that needed used

so I decided to make one of our family favorites:

Creamy Chicken and Rice

I forgot to take a picture

before everyone started in on the food

(remember they were STARVING!)

and I forgot to add in the broccoli

oops!

At least it already had Cauliflower in it 🙂

Ingredients:

1 lb uncooked Chicken – cubed up
1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
1/2 head of mashed Cauliflower (I steam it, and then mash it up in the food processor)
1 can cream of chicken soup
Garlic – to your liking
Fresh ground Pepper
Broccoli
Cheese – I don’t measure, just sprinkle as much as you’d like on top. I use cheddar

Directions:

Add the rice, water, mashed cauliflower, cream of chicken soup, garlic, pepper and chicken to the crock pot. stir. Turn on the crockpot for 4-6 hrs on high, or 8-10hrs on low. I forgot to put it into the crockpot until almost 1:00, so we were on high for 4 hours 🙂 You can add the broccoli at the beginning if you want, but it more than likely will become mushy – if you like it that way, that’s fine, otherwise, add it in towards the end of the cooking. Sprinkle cheese over the top just before serving.

Delicious, and seriously doesn’t get easier than that!

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Mexican Pizza

I Love pizza

(seriously, I could live on pizza alone)

I love Mexican food

and this is kind of a fun twist on the two!

You can add on whatever toppings you’d like

just like regular pizza

depending on what veggies you like

or toppings you prefer

Use your imagination!

It bakes quick and is delicious!

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 box Jiffy corn muffin Mix

1 Egg

2 TBSP butter – melted

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup canned or frozen corn

(if you like a thick crust, double everything listed. 2 boxes of Jiffy mix, 2 eggs, 4tbsp butter, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup corn)

or just use your favorite cornbread recipe

toppings:

1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey/chicken)

1 onion – chopped

Garlic – as much as desired

1 TBSP chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 1/2 cup cheese – I don’t measure, just sprinkle on top until it looks good 🙂 I use a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar

Other topping ideas

Olives (this is what I used – my kids LOVE Olives)

Green Onion (I used this too)

Bell Pepper

Jalapenos

Tomatoes

Whatever you would put on a taco 🙂

Directions:

Heat oven to 400

Mix together all the “crust” ingredients. Spray a 12×8 pan (if using just 1 box) or a 13×9 pan (if using 2 boxes) with cooking spray and then add the crust batter. Bake 10-15 minutes until golden in color

Meanwhile, brown your meat in a skillet. Add in the onion, garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook another 5 minutes. Once cornbread is cooked, spread your meat over the top of it. Add on your other toppings and top it all off with your cheese, because everything is better with a layer of cheese 🙂 Put your pan back in the oven about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Mmmmm… ENJOY!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

Chicken

Ranch

Pasta

Bacon

enough said!

I am going to admit something

I am not a fan of bacon

WHAT?!?!

Yep,

Believe it or not

I am not a fan of Bacon

we never really ate it growing up

and I just can’t bring myself to eat the fat on it

Turkey Bacon on the other hand

LOVE IT!

I know

I’m odd

My 7 year old son LOVES the turkey bacon too

You can make this recipe

with regular bacon

or turkey bacon

Just like the pasta

use whatever kind you want

I love chicken

and I love ranch

Chicken, Bacon ranch pizza

is probably one of my favorites 🙂

Try it out

You’ll like it

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken, cubed
1/2 lb Bacon or turkey bacon
Garlic
1 Tbsp Flour
1 Tbsp Dry Ranch Mix
1/2 cup Milk – I don’t measure, just add until it looks right
1/2 lb (8oz) Egg Noodles – or whatever kind of pasta you prefer. I used whole wheat egg noodles

Directions:

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cook your Bacon in a skillet. Let cooked bacon dry on a paper towel lined plate. In the skillet you cooked the bacon in, cook the chicken in the bacon grease (as long as there is not much, you don’t want too much grease in the pan). Add some garlic (to your liking) to the chicken as it cooks. Add the pasta to the water, so it can boil while you cook the chicken. Add the flour and the dry ranch mix to the chicken and coat the chicken, cooking another 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk to the chicken/ranch, until incorporated and combines into a sauce over the chicken. Drain the pasta, once cooked to your liking. Once drained, add the pasta to the Chicken and ranch sauce. Mix the pasta until completely coated in the sauce.

Eat and Enjoy!

Filippo Berio Olive Oil

I love Olive Oil

We use it in all our cooking

It is healthier for you

and I enjoy the taste so much more
compared to regular vegetable oil

I did not realize you could use it as a substitute for butter

I guess I always assumed it would be too runny!

Then I got my Bzz Kit today

(I am a bzz agent)

for Filippo Berio

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

and it had this conversion chart in it!

I was so excited to see it

I had never seen one before

(feel free to pin it for later use!)

Yum!

I was VERY excited about this campaign

We love Olive Oil around here

and this is such a terrific brand

the oil tastes great

it is high in monounsaturated (or the “good”) fats

has no fat or cholesterol

no sugar, salt, or gluten

and can help reduce the risk or heart disease, as well as help control blood pressure and blood sugar levels

It is fantastic stuff

We tried it out making dinner tonight

and it was delicious 🙂

Works well for cooking

delicious as a marinade

We use it to marinade steaks all the time!

Vinaigrette’s

put it on your veggies,

etc. etc.

So if you are not an Olive Oil convert yet

go out and try some Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

you won’t be sorry you did!

I am a bzz agent and recieved this olive oil for free. 🙂

The options on this blog

Are as always

My own

Banana Muffins (or bread)

These mini muffins get made at my house

at least once a week

If I only make a single batch

they only last a few minutes after my kids get home from school

My husband is lucky if there are a few left for him

when he gets home from work

These are delicious

and the mini size make it perfect for little hands

great for food portioning also

I buy extra bananas each week

just so we can make these!

In the recipe

I’ll give you different adjustments/substitutions you can make

I use them sometimes

or I will also just make them with the regular/straightforward recipe

It is really up to you!

Melt in your mouth chicken

Here’s another pinterest recipe we tried out

It was billed as

“Melt in your Mouth Chicken”

We found that the picture that went along with the recipe

could not have possibly been the same recipe as listed

because there were no ingredients in the recipe to make it look that way

The recipe was good

It wasn’t fantastic

but it was good

The kids weren’t big fans

So I think this will be a one time only recipe

So it wasn’t a pinterest fail

other than the fact it looked NOTHING like the picture

but I also would not call it a pinterest success

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parmesan

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Fresh cracked Pepper

Chicken breasts – I used 6 small Chicken breasts

Mix all the ingredients and pour over the chicken breasts, Bake at 375 for 45 minutes (or if they are thin like mine, more like 30 minutes)

Again, we thought this was good, just not outstanding and won’t make it into our regular rotation of recipes

Wide Awake Princess

My daughter and I just finished this book

“Wide Awake Princess”

by E.D. Baker

The story is about Annie

the younger sister of Gwendolyn

also known as Sleeping Beauty

After the Curse that Gwendolyn was given at birth

(sleeping for 100 years, after touching a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday)

her parents asked the farires for a gift for Annie

that would keep her safe

She got the gift that no magic would work on her

or effect her

Which is a main theme of the book

They story starts on Gwendolyn’s 16th birthday

where even with all the safeguards

she still manages to prick her finger on a spinning wheel

Thus sending the entire castle

except Annie

into a 100 year sleep

Annie then sets out on a mission

to find Prince’s to kiss her sister and break the spell

Her friend and guard from her parents army, Liam, joins in her search.

You join Annie on her quest to find Prince’s to kiss her sister

Many fairy tales are weaved through the storytelling

Which makes it a fun story to read

as you recognize and enjoy the twist

on familiar fairy tales!

My daughter and I really enjoyed reading this book together

it was a fun read

It is obviously geared towards younger adults/kids

knowing that,
I did actually have a few issues with certain

stories in the book

The Rapunzel story bothered me

especially when one of the Prince’s comes to see her

and mentioned that he comes to see her every week

but that he also has a WIFE!

Hello,

I would rather not explain to my 10 year old

why this prince was coming to visit

Rapunzel

when he has a wife at home

Yeah,

I could have done without that part in the story 😛

Other than a few adult items like that in the book

we enjoyed it

and now I want to get started on the Sequel!

I want to find out what happens next!!

So pick up a copy at amazon!

Birthday Board

There are 9 kids in my husband’s family

There are 5 in mine

Needless to say

there are ALOT of birthday’s to keep track of!

I’ll be honest –

I am not good at keeping track

but

I knew my kids would love

to send their cousins cards

for their birthday’s

because what kid doesn’t

LOVE getting mail,

especially Birthday mail?

Not to mention the fact

that we have so many people to keep track of

and 8 of our siblings are not even married/have kids yet!

(this is going to be HUGE once that happens!)

I feel better knowing I can keep track of these things 🙂

I am however

crafting challenged

I don’t have a Cricut

or any of those fancy machines

for cutting some Vinyl out

I thought I would get some stickers

or letters at the craft store

but the variety and cost

was was too much for me

So a light bulb went off in my head

I’ll just decoupage it!

I have a printer

I’ll buy some fancy paper

(that was on sale at Michaels)

and it was SOOO much easier

than figuring out another way

Now don’t get me wrong,

you can use your fancy machines

or Vinyl to do this

but if you are like me

and challenged in the crafting arena

all you need is some

mod podge and a printer!

What you need:

Letters – whether you use a stencil, vinyl, a cricut, freehand, stickers, etc. Use what works for you, but I’ll just talk about what I did. Just substitute what I did, for your preferred method!
8″x 24″ board – I just had a piece in my garage that was close to this size. (months can be spaced about 2 inches apart with a 24″ board, which is what you need, so 24″ is the minimum length you need) My husband keeping random things pays off!
Small eye hooks – I just bought a couple of packs of the smallest ones at Home Depot. I used 14
Round discs – sold at Michael’s. This is for the names.. I think they were around 1.5″ in diameter – it was the only size they sold at my store… you could use any shape you choose for your board – stars, ovals, diamonds, whatever works with your decor/style
Wire
Small 1/16″ drill bit – the smallest they sell at Home Depot
Drill and Wood Sander
Spray paint (optional – I just used some we had in our garage)
Lots of patience if you have as many names as we do!

Steps:

Sand your board. The shapes you buy for the names should be all ready to go, so no need to sand them.
I spray painted the board white – this is optional depending on how you decide to decorate it! but I wanted a smooth surface to work with.
Create your letters for the board and the names for the discs via your method… How I did it: I used Word (and used the ruler function to make sure I had the right size/spacing!) and picked a font and size that would work/that I liked. I then printed it out (It was 2.5 pieces of paper for the “Birthday” and month part on the board) on some fancy cardstock, scrapbook paper that was on sale at Michael’s. I even color coded the discs for the different families – one color for my family, one for my Husband’s, and then one for our family. The Discs have the person’s name and the day of the month they were born. You could also have the year they were born on there, but I didn’t have that information for everyone 😛
Attach letters to your board via your method.. How I did it: I cut the paper to the right size using an exacto knife and scissors. I then glued it to the board with my Homemade Mod Podge. I did the names on the discs the same way – Printed the names and the date of the Birthday on the paper – cut them out and then glued them to the discs. You use the Mod Podge on the bottom of the paper to glue it to the board/discs, and then brush it over the ENTIRE surface of the paper on top. This will firmly place it to the board/discs. As long as you put it on SMOOTH and STRAIGHT, don’t worry about any wrinkles that you see as it dries – they will flatten out once it is dry! Once they were dry, I was able to clean up any edges that I didn’t cut perfectly with my exacto knife and it was actually easier to cut/trim than before it was glued 🙂
After it is all dried, Drill small holes in the top and bottom of each disc
Drill a hole in the bottom of the board, under each of the months of the year – approx. every 2 inches. Hopefully you spaced the names of the months properly when you created your letters scheme (I used the ruler in Word to space things properly)… To hang the board, I also drilled 2 holes in the top – 3 inches in from each side.
Screw the eyehooks into the holes under each month – also put 2 in the top of the board, if that is how you plan to hang it
I used wire (I had some floral wire from another project I’d done) to hook all the discs together, in order of day of the month, and then into the eyehooks on the board. There are many methods you could use to hang the discs, but this is REALLY easy, and I just happened to have the wire laying around anyway
Used some ribbon between the eyehooks on the top of the board to hang
Enjoy a job well done!

2 Year old making scrambled eggs

My 2 year old wanted to make a video about making scrambled eggs

Here ya go – Enjoy!

Italian Casserole

This dish is oddly delicious

When I first made it

I only thought it would be so-so

but it is actually addictingly good

We were so surprised it was!

I seriously can’t stop eating it!

We usually have all the ingredients around the house

The kids eat it

The adults like it

So that makes it a keeper around here!

In the recipe

I put in substitutes I use

to make it healthier

and less calories

and still delicious!

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (I use ground Chicken breast – cheaper and healthier!)

1 onion – chopped

garlic – chopped, put as much as your liking 🙂

salt/pepper or Montreal steak seasoning (which is what I use ALL the time!)

1 cup Pasta Sauce – favorite brand, whatever is in your fridge

1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella

3/4 cup Sour Cream – I use Low Fat

1 can crescent rolls – used reduced fat

Parmesan cheese

butter

Directions:

Heat oven to 375.

Saute onions in a skillet for a few minutes and then add the garlic. Add the hamburger or ground turkey/chicken. Add your salt/pepper/Montreal steak seasoning and cook until meat is cooked through. Add the pasta sauce to the meat and remove from heat

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and mozzarella

Pour the meat into a deep pie dish or an 8×8 pan

Spread the cheese mixture over the meat

Place the Crescent Roll dough over the cheese, so the dough covers the entire dish

Now I use some spray butter and spray the top and then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. You could melt some butter and mix it with the Parmesan cheese and then brush it on top. Or you could even skip this step (but who doesn’t love Parmesan and butter on top of bread?)

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until browned on top

Enjoy!

The calories on this – if you divide it into only 4 servings (which is ALOT of food for one person!!) – using the reduced calorie options I listed is about 580 calories per serving