Meet my best friend

Do you all love your crock pot as much as I do? (ok, I think the technical term is slow-cooker because crock pot is a brand name, but you know what I mean)

It is seriously one of my best friends. Let me explain:

5:00pm is by far one of the most hectic times of our day during the work week. It's when we're getting home from work, picking up the kids, feeding the dog and letting her outside, and trying to get a (somewhat) wholesome meal on the table so that we can all eat together as a family before it gets cold. And all of that must happen in a span of about 15 minutes.

I've picked up a few tricks to try and combat the craziness, but there's only so much you can do.

Into my best friend, the slow cooker.

Dinner is already made for me, and all I have to do is lift the lid and dish some deliciousness onto the kids plates to let it cool off for a minute before it's served.

Talk about awesome.

One of the other things I love about the slow cooker is that it is basically effortless. Dump a bunch of ingredients into a big pot and turn it on. Really. It's that simple. I'm always experimenting with new "recipes" if you can even call them that. I rarely measure ingredients and many times will just add in random items that I have on hand or left-over.

Here's my latest creation (before being cooked):

　

　

I know you can't see all of the ingredients in this picture, and I'm a bad blogger by not taking step by step instructions. But I know you're smart and I bet you can figure it out from my super simple instructions:

What you'll need:

2-3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8oz cream cheese, softened (I use fat free; use your preference)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, juices included (Get creative here...I used diced tomatoes with green chilies; you can use any variation you wish!)

1/2 small onion, chopped

Add any spices you enjoy (I always add garlic, because I'm a garlic lover)

　

Layer ingredients into the slow cooker in the order listed above. Turn slow cooker on low and let it cook for a few hours (until chicken is cooked through).

**Here's the thing, since I cook mine while I'm at work for 8-10 hours, I really have no idea how long it takes until it's done. I know mine is slightly over cooked, but that's the awesome thing about slow cookers...it's pretty difficult to ruin the meal!)

I served mine with rice, all mixed together :) I had made the rice the night before (after the kids went to bed) so that took about 1 minute or so to heat up the microwave :)

You can eat it as is, like a casserole type dish, or we actually then put the entire mixture (with rice) served on soft taco shells with lettuce, cheese, and avocado (I'm sure my husband added hot sauce; he always adds hot sauce).

We don't have a name for it other than Crockpot Mexican Chicken Mix...if you come up with something better/more creative, feel free to share in the comments below :)

　

　

They're Baaaaaaccckk!

Oh man. They are back.

It is a weakness that I have, and it only happens one time a year. That time is now.

And no, it is not Girl Scout Cookies. (Although, those are also awesome, and I have such a weakness for boxes of Tagalongs and Samoas).

I'm talking about Jelly Beans.

Not just any jelly beans....STARBURST jelly beans.

Have you ever had them? If not, stop what you're doing and head to the nearest store where jelly beans are sold. You will want to buy more than one bag.

On second thought, maybe you don't want to try them. Because once you do...seriously, it is hard to stop eating them.  (**Do not blame me for your newest addiction.  Consider yourself warned.**)

I'm typically not even a huge jelly bean fan. I mean, I think they are good and all, but they aren't something I really get cravings for or drool over. Except for this brand (in original flavor only!).

I'm not even really a huge Starburst fan. But the two worlds combined?? It's too much to handle.

There isn't really much else to say, because let's face it: This post is about jelly beans. Jelly beans are pretty basic. But these are amazing, and you MUST try them.

That's all :)

Be Careful What You Wish For

Wow, it feels like it's been a while since I've posted.  Probably because I've been so tired!  Which is fitting for today's Thoughtful Thursday post!

Have you heard the saying: "Be careful what you wish for"?

I feel pretty safe in saying almost everyone has had these little words of wisdom whispered to them at some point in their life.

I couldn't help but think of this saying, as I have been wishing, pretty much daily, for the past few months, for my sweet little boy to JUST SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!

To be honest, the sleepless nights don't really get to me when my babies are babies. I guess I just kind of chalk it up to a requirement of motherhood. Neither of my babies slept through the night for the entire first year of their life. Ok, sorry, if we're being completely honest, my daughter DID sleep through the night for about 1 month from about just before she turned 3 months old until right before she turned 4 months old; then not again until she was about 15ish months old. I think it was her dirty little trick to make me think going back to work wouldn't be so bad. I told everyone I worked with it wasn't so hard to go back to work full-time because I had a baby that slept. Life was great! Then she said "HaHa mommy, jokes on you!" and stopped that nice little sleeping through the night bit.

My son has decided to follow in his big sister's footsteps. Only, he's now almost 17 months old and still waking at least  once per night, many nights twice. " Why is he waking?" you might ask. I. HAVE. NO. IDEA!

He wakes up screaming and refuses to go back to sleep unless being held. He will be out cold in your arms and the minute you even stand from the chair, he's squirming and fussing and carrying on.

***Oh, unless he's staying at either grandparents' house. Then he sleeps through the night like a perfect angel and my parents and in-laws think I'm lying to their face for sympathy points or something crazy like that because their precious grandson sleeps from 7:30pm to 7:30am with no problems.***

I've read many books and articles about a consistant bed time routine. The problem is not the going to sleep the first time. He goes to bed just fine. The problem is once he wakes after a few hours. Then all bets are off. I've tried using cue words, music, no music, white noise, night light, no night light, etc, etc, etc. I feel like I've tried it all. This boy just loves his cuddles.

Part of me says enjoy the cuddles. There will be a day when he doesn't want them. Then the other part of me (the working mom who needs to function during the day) says I need my sleep too!! It's been 17 MONTHS of no sleep and times up buddy! Once you turn one, mommy's patience is done.  You're past your grace period!

Anyway...back to the "Be careful what you wish for" phase.

I really cannot think of why I would need to be careful about my wishful thinking of a full night's sleep. What harm can really come of everyone in the family sleeping through the night?!

Game Day....A Day Late!

In case you missed it....yesterday was the Super Bowl.

I love sports.  Playing them, watching them, talking about them.  Volleyball is my favorite, with basketball a close second. 

I understand the rules and the game of football (mostly) but I can't say it is a favorite of mine.
Then add in that the Super Bowl was not showcasing a team I really follow or care much about and well, let's just say I was into the Super Bowl this year just so that I could make (and eat) some good food!

I know this post doesn't really help YOU do some creative cooking for an event that took place yesterday, but you can just file this away for future reference.  Or maybe you have a little boy's football themed birthday party and you're still looking for ideas!

Anyway...I got creative yesterday!

My daughter loves to help in the kitchen.  So, we decided to make a fan favorite...Rice Crispy Treats!  Only we made them with a little twist.  I used Cocoa Crispies (ok, actually, I used the store brand generic version).  But instead of placing them in a standard pan, I used a muffin tin.  It was perfect for making individually sized treats.  I used the excess to form a football shape for a larger focal point :)

After the treats were cooled, I took out my cake decorating supplies, and piped some laces onto my "footballs".  I even had an extra helper, who decided to help himself to some icing!

Super easy, super yummy :)


Next up was my taco dip.  This is a recipe that I usually make, but I changed up the presentation a bit to make it football themed.

Why, yes, those are opposing olive teams.  And yes, there are 11 players on each team.  It's all in the details :) 

And in case your interested...here's the recipe for my taco dip!  I usually use lower fat ingredients to make it a little bit healthier, but any version will work.  I included quantities for each ingredient, but to be honest, usually I just eyeball it.  So, feel free to adjust as you feel necessary!  (This recipe is also easily doubled to feed larger crowds)

Michelle's Taco Dip
1 can refried beans (this time I used black bean refried beans because that's what I had on hand)
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I use fat free)
8 oz sour cream (I use fat free)
1/2 packet taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese (I use 2% milk cheese)
1 cup salsa
1-2 cups chopped lettuce

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning.  I used a hand mixer to get the cream cheese smooth.  Set aside.

In a pan (I used an 8x11, just because that's what was clean, you can easily fit this in a 9x13) start with you beans and make a base layer.  I like to use a clear pan so you can see the layers, but that's totally not necessary!

Then layer the cream cheese mixture, and the rest of your ingredients.  Usually I layer in this order:

beans
cream cheese/sour cream mixture
salsa
lettuce
cheese

But, since I was trying to make a football field, I used the lettuce last as "grass" and added extra salsa on the ends for my "end zone".  Then I piped on some extra sour cream to make my "goal lines".  The goal lines came out a little thick...oh well.  Who doesn't love a little extra sour cream!?

Then I decided to cut some olives in order to put a "team" on the field. 
If you really wanted to take this to the next level, you can add some goal posts too.  But I was making this, while also trying to make lunch and feed the kids, so no goal posts this time around.

Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite dippers.  Yum!!
In addition to looking good, it also tasted great too :)

Did you make any festive football food for yesterday's big game?

The Silver Lining

I'm sure you've heard the phrase: "Every cloud has a silver lining". Maybe you haven't heard the phrase worded exactly that way, but something along those lines.

I have heard this phrase many times. I know I've used it myself a few times.

And I couldn't help but think of this phrase after a night we had earlier this week.

Do your kids have a "witching hour"?  Mine do.

And for my son (15 months old), that time usually spans from when we get home from work/babysitter until after dinner. Sometimes it even stretches until I can get him in bed for the night!

Anyway, a few nights ago my son was especially cranky/frustrating and I was trying to quickly clean him up from dinner and just get him in bed. All of a sudden I hear my husband yell...my daughter had thrown up. I came downstairs to see a little bit of food thrown up on the kitchen table and floor. Fun. My first thought was that my daughter gagged on some food and spit it up. As my husband and I are debating this thought, my daughter let us know this was NOT the case and proceeded to release I think just about everything she had eaten all day. In her hair, on her clothes, all of the floor, and the dog. Yes, even the dog was spared no expense in this one. I'm just glad I was standing a few feet away from her at the time!

So, with a screaming son who was already over-tired and needed to go to bed, I helped strip down my daughter to get her in the shower. My son was confined to his crib (and he let me know he was not happy about it) while my husband worked to clean up the war zone in the kitchen.

Once I got my daughter showered and and in pj's, I stuck her in front of a Curious George episode and proceeded to get my son ready for bed. My husband worked to mop the floor then give the dog a bath.

Luckily, my daughter didn't get sick again, but I couldn't help but think of the phrase "Every cloud has a silver lining".

What,  you might ask, would be the silver lining in this situation?

Well, the kitchen floor got mopped and the dog got a bath...both of which hadn't happened in an embarrassingly long time.

So see, every cloud really just might have a silver lining!