Friends and Food

My friend Julie Luse from Bedhead and Brainfarts has a fabulous blog that everyone should check out. She is an amazing cook and has started Foodie Friday. She has always amazed me with her go gettem' spirit. She started the magazine Delight Gluten Free after finding out her husband and son had an intolerance. I wouldn't even know where to start with getting a magazine published so I have always been in awe. Her blog is no exception. Click the link below to check her out.

Now I am sure that I won't have great food to blog about each week but I have been cooking more lately so I thought that I would share some of the recipes that I have been making.

I have been getting most of my recipes from Pinterest. It is my new addiction.

Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

from Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 10

1 onion, chopped

1 16-oz can black beans

1 16-oz can red beans

1 8-oz can tomato sauce 10 oz package frozen corn kernels

2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 8-oz can chopped green chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts


Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. I topped it with low fat cheese but you could also add sour cream, cilantro, or Fritos.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Also from Skinnytaste.com

 

Green Beans

 

2 tsp. Olive Oil

 

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

 

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Parmesan Cheese

 

Place green beans on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and mix to coat. Sprinkle with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and then take them out and stir them( well not stir but toss) and put them back in for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with Parmesan cheese. I put mine back in the oven for a second and let the cheese melt. Delicious.

 

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

(I would give credit to the person I got this recipe from but I couldn't get her site to work. It kept telling me it no longer exist so SORRY!! I tried)

 

2-3 Chicken Breasts

 

1 can Pineapple Chunks

 

1 bottle of  Sweet and Spicey BBQ Sauce

 

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and chop into chunks. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. I served this over rice and it was a huge hit with the family. When my kids like something you know that it's good.

First Craft of the New Year

 You may be looking at my pics asking "what is that". Well that is my solution to not washing 100 different cups every day. I bought tiles that each kid could personalize and put there cup on when they are done getting a drink. When they come back to get a drink later instead of getting a new cup they can just get their cup off of their tile and use it again. At the end of the day I wash all of the cups and we start new the next day. I get so tired of my counter tops being cluttered with cups because no one knows whose cup is whose. I went to the local hardware store and picked up 6 ceramic tiles off of a clearance end cap for only .26 cents.(WooHoo Bargain) I then bought a paint pen and little felt dots for the back so they wouldn't scratch anything. I let each one of my kids and my hubby decorate their own tile. I think they turned out really cute and so far it is working to help minimize the cup problem. A little fingernail posish remover will remove the paint if you make a mistake or just decide to redo them:-)

I have them lined up along the counter by the sink. They take up a little counter space but not enough to matter. I wish I would have thought of this a long time ago.

Happy New Year

It's a new year!! WooHoo!! I always feel like it is your new chance for a do-over. You can start fresh with all of the adventures that you always plan to do. That could be spiritual, health, family, financial, etc. Today is the day that my holidays are officially over and the day to start my new year. We had an extended holiday so the 10th is our new year.

Today Brandon and I are going to the mall to get weighed in to start the Pound Plunge. I am hoping that having to weigh in each week will be the motivation that I need to keep up the healthy eating and exercising. Having had a baby 2 months ago is also a great motivation. I want to have my body back.

For added motivation I ordered a new pair of shoes. Athletic shoes of course. I am always excited to have new shoes to add a spring to my step.

Brandon and I also want to start a budget. We have been very frustrated with our spending habits for a long time. It is easy to talk about a financial change but it is a whole other thing to take action. Working together we hope to take a big chunk out of our debt this year. If we can do that when I'm not working imagine what we can do when I get a job again. EXCITING!!

I have also been looking for motivation to start reading again. I really do enjoy it when do it. I need some suggestions for books so if you have any leave me a message and let me know.

These are a few of my big projects for the new year. I am not going to beat myself up if I don't fulfill all of my goals but any bit of progress I will consider a success. They will hopefully be motivation to blog about as well.

I saw this on Pinterest today and had to repost it on here. So true. I hate going to WalMart but don't have alot of other options in big ole North Platte. (Sorry, it's hard to read)

One of Those Weeks

Oh my goodness, It has been one of those weeks....

1.  We get invited to a party that I was less than thrilled about going to because it was with a bunch of people that just seem to make me feel very inadequate. I know that it is my issue and that it has nothing to really do with them. They are nice people. Just a group that you feel always does things better than you. I get ready for the party and we venture off. I am breastfeeding and have never to that day leaked. Oh yes, it happened at the party. How many people noticed before I did? I was very embarrassed and wanted to crawl under a rock. Thankfully I was wearing a scarf so after stuffing a little toilet paper in my bra(it's all I could find) and rearranging my scarf I was back at the party. After getting back home I go to get ready for bed only to realize that I had my sweater on backwards the whole time. Of all days for that to happen. I must have looked like the biggest idiot.

2.  I volunteered to make almond bark pretzels for my Mother-In-Law to give away at a party here in town. I am tired of making pretzels because they are my go to party snack for Christmas time and have already made a ton of them. I was very tired the other night as I was preparing them and went to put them in the refrigerator to set up and dropped them all over the bottom of the refrigerator. As soon as the almond bark hits the shelf it sets up. I tried to clean it up as quickly as I could but it wasn't soon enough. I wanted to cry. I still have almond bark stuck to my crisping drawers. GRRR!

3.  I have my post-pardum check at the doctors office yesterday. My doctor is never quick getting into the room once you are taken back so I didn't figure I needed to hurry. They tell me to take my pants off and get on the table with the little paper cover they give you. I take my pants off and am removing my underwear when the doctor walks in. All I could do was yell "WOOOOH". He says "Oh I'm sorry" and walks back out. I shouldn't be embarrassed but it is something about the security of the little paper blanket makes you feel better. After getting a second to get ready he comes back again. I am red in the face and again looking for the rock to crawl under but he handled it real well. I know that it wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before after having delivered all of my babies but something about standing pantsless in front of another guy that is just a little awkward.

Hopefully all of my most embarrassing moments of the week can lighten up your holiday season.

Merry Christmas!!

Quick Family Pics

I realized as I was looking through pictures that we only had 1 family picture that included Nicola. She is leaving on January 4th so I thought it was time to get that done. After taking several pictures I decided that maybe the good old funny face pose would work best for our family because Tate was crying, Zach kept posing anyway, the sun was in our eyes, and it just wasn't going well.

We will miss Nicola. Especially the girls because they have grown so close over the last year. Hopefully one of these days we will be able to take a trip to Australia to visit her.