White Chicken Chili (Crockpot)

In an effort to keep recipes in one place (that I definitely don't want to lose), I'm posting this one here.  It's a crockpot recipe, which makes it even better!  Better yet, my crockpot switches to "warm" after it cooks for the set amount of time, so there's no need to rush home to turn it off.  Win-Win.  This makes enough to feed our family of 3 for at least 3 meals (but keep in mind that one is a 3 year old, who doesn't eat a whole lot).  We usually eat it once and freeze the other 2 servings for later.

White Chicken Chili

Chili Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth (14 oz)
2 cans white beans, drained (16 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can corn (15 oz)
1 can diced or chopped green chilies (7 oz)
1 package taco seasoning
1 chopped onion
1 clove garlic

Toppings/Sides:
Sour Cream
Colby Jack shredded cheese (or any other kind)
Tortilla chips

Directions:
For the chili, place all ingredients, except for the chicken, in the crockpot and mix well.  Add chicken last.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  After cooking, remove the chicken and shred well.  Add chicken back to the crockpot and stir.  This will change your chili from a thin, soupy mixture to the thick, creamy chili. And it's done! Top individual servings with cheese and sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips.

Easy, easy!

A Cutie & A Recipe

I FINALLY tried out a new recipe.  I actually did this one last week, but I'm just getting around to putting it on here.  Has anybody ever heard of Chex Dog Food or Rice Krispie Puppy Chow?  Well, this is a similar but different recipe.  It was really easy and a fun snack or treat.  I'm posting it here, and on my recipe blog.  If you don't care to read the recipe (and I wouldn't unless I was going to MAKE it), scroll all the way to the bottom for a cute video of Kate!

Here's what you'll need: 

5 cups Chex cereal (I used Rice Chex, but Corn Chex would work great!)

10 oz (5 squares) vanilla flavored Almond Bark

1 1/2 cups Funfetti cake mix (any kind of cake mix would work)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vegetable shortening (not pictured)

How to make it: 

1. Melt Almond Bark according to the package directions, adding vegetable shortening to thin (I heard that you can make it without the shortening, but it worked great for me to use it).

2. Place your chex mix in one large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix the cake mix and the powdered sugar. 

3. Pour the cereal into a large bowl and drizzle the melted Almond Bark over the cereal. Mix gently with a large spoon or spatula.

4. Dump the cake mix and powdered sugar onto the cereal and mix gently with large spoon until all the cereal is evenly coated.  It just looks like a big messy blob at this point.

 

5.  But it's a big TASTY messy blob.  Enjoy!

Just because I wanted to share this, here is a video of Kate from this past Sunday.  She is SUCH a happy baby, and I love seeing her smile and laugh every day!  

Whew!

Yes, we're still here and we're still alive.  I'll do some catch up posts this weekend, but in the meantime, here are a couple of quick pictures that I never posted.

These were definitely her Daddy's doing!

Oh, and I got this one as a text message while I was at work earlier this week...

Can you tell she likes hats?  :)

We've started using some of our stockpile of meals in our freezer.  Tonight we had one that my mom made for us and it was really good!  It's so nice and easy to have meals already prepared and waiting for you.  Thanks Mom!

We've been using our crock pot more and more.  Last night I tried a new recipe from Pinterest.  We'll definitely use this one again.  Kevin and I both love Mexican food and this one was a recipe for Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken.

Not my picture- Taken from the Pip & Ebby website

Here's the recipe in a nutshell:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
24-oz jar of salsa (we actually used 2 smaller jars of salsa- one mild and one medium)
Juice from one lime
One medium onion, chopped
One pack of taco seasoning
2 jalapeno peppers- chopped

Mix all ingredients together and put in crock pot.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  Enjoy!

We actually choose to shred the chicken after it was cooked and then put it all in a soft shell taco with a bit of sour cream.  Yumm!  Feel free to share any easy crock pot recipes!  I love a good (easy) meal.

A Cookin Kinda Weekend

Kevin has been out of town the past few days speaking at a youth retreat, so it's just been me and Kate... and my sister and my mom.  Another girl's weekend!

Kristi said she wasn't getting enough Kate time so she decided she was going to stay with us Thursday and Friday night.  Her busy season at work is just gearing up (like mine) so we'll probably not see very much of her over the next few months.  THEN my mom decided that she wanted to come up on Friday also!  She got to my house around 1:30ish and I was able to leave work early too.  We cleaned the house from top to bottom, and then ran some errands at Target and swung by the grocery store.

One of my goals before busy season starts is to make a few (or a lot) of meals that can be put in the freezer so that when I'm working longer hours, dinner is already "ready".  I started off making 4 batches of roast/carrots/potatoes in gallon sized bags.  I'll freeze these, and then when we decide we are ready to eat them we'll just pull them out, let them thaw out for about 30 min and then stick them in the crock pot.  They're ready to go!  This was basically the first time that I've done this but I love it already.  It really didn't take any longer doing FOUR than it would normally take to get one ready.

I've got a couple of other recipes for freezer crockpot meals, and I've already bought all of the ingredients.  I'm hoping to get some of those knocked out today.  Then, I'm going to try to make a few casseroles to freeze.  Ambitious, I know.  Probably won't all happen.

Kevin got home around 11ish last night and slept in this morning.  Kristi had to go to work, and my mom had to go home, but we did cook french toast for breakfast and I showed them how to make this breakfast item...

They're so good.  Not really sure what you call them, but they're like sticky buns.  It's yet another recipe that I got from Pinterest and it's super easy.  Here's how you make it...

Ingredients:

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits (I just use the Ingles brand)

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional

1/4 C. chopped almonds, optional

1. Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).


2. Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.


3. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring.


4. Pour the other half of the syrup mixture on top of the biscuits and sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar mixture.  This is how mine looked right before I put it in the oven.  And of course I had to get my little helper in the picture!





5.  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. 


6. Remove from oven.  Here is what mine looked like right out of the oven.

7. Let it stand for about a minute and then flip it over onto a plate.  Enjoy!

And I had to get in one more picture of my little helper.  She had just woken up.  Look at that morning hair! :) 

Happy weekend, everyone!

Loaded Potato Soup

I tried another new recipe and it will definitely be making an appearance in our household again.  Yesterday afternoon we were being lazy and watching TV (while I was surfing the internet) and I came across a recipe for Loaded Potato Soup, which I LOVE.  I used to order it at O'Charley's but since we don't have one close to us anymore, now I often order it at Rafferty's.  Anyway, since it was only 4:30ish, I told Kevin that I was going to run to the store for the ingredients and try it out.  It was yummy.  Kevin said it was even better than what you'd get at a restaurant.  So, I'm posting it on here so I'll have this recipe to reference again in the future.  If anybody does decide to try it out, let me know!

Ingredients:

12 slices bacon
2/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 large (*or 5 med) baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 green onions, chopped (I substituted 1/2 of a medium yellow onion)
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
chicken broth (if needed)

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

2. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

3. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

4. Add chicken broth as needed to reach desired consistency. We like our potato soup really thick so I didn't add any chicken broth.  

 

That's it!  This made enough for us to eat twice, and there's still a little bit leftover for lunch tomorrow.  Enjoy!

Garlic Baked Spaghetti

Thanks again, Pinterest, for giving me another easy recipe to add to the collection.  This one was pulled from here but I altered it a little bit.  Basically instead of eating spaghetti with a side of garlic bread, this recipe combines it all into one.  Kevin called it the spaghetti calzone, and actually that's exactly what it was.  The original recipe calls for bread dough or dinner rolls, but I used pizza dough.  I guess the only difference is that my bread/crust wasn't as light and fluffy.  It was more calzone/pizza-like.  Still pretty good.

Before baking:

And after:

Basically, make spaghetti the way you normally would and go ahead and mix your sauce and noodles.  Then roll out your dough and put a row of spaghetti.  I put a little more sauce on top just because I like a lot of sauce.  Top with lots of mozzarella cheese.  Then cut your dough from the spaghetti row outward toward the edges. Pull the strips toward the center of the spaghetti, alternating sides.  Brush the top with one egg white, and sprinkle with garlic powder, parsley, and parmesan cheese.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees (If you decide to use pizza dough, follow the directions on the box for cooking- mine was at 450 for about 30 minutes).  

Anybody else have any easy recipes to share?  I'm always looking out for something new.  It seems like we eat the same few things over and over again.

Easy Sweet & Salty Treats

My mom wanted me to bring something for the day-after-Thanksgiving Oyster roast, which of course meant some type of finger food.  I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and thought I'd give it a try.  It looked yummy and there didn't seem to be any way to really mess it up since there are just three ingredients:

1. Mini Pretzels
2. Hershey Kisses
3. M&M's

They turned out great, so if you want to try them yourself, here is all you need to do...

Step 1: 
Preheat oven to 275 and lay out pretzels on an un-greased cookie sheet. Place 1 Hershey Kiss in the middle of each pretzel.  I used my oldest cookie tin because I wasn't sure if the chocolate would melt through and make a mess.  I didn't want to mess up one of my good cookie sheets, but it didn't melt through so that wasn't a problem.

Step 2:
Place in the oven for 3-4 minutes, until Hershey Kiss is soft but not completely melting. Remove from oven.

Step 3: 
Press one M&M into the center of each Hershey Kiss.  Refrigerate until eating.  I actually placed the entire pan in the refrigerator.  Since it was only in the oven for 4 minutes, it didn't even get that hot.  By the time I'd pressed M&M's into every one, the pan wasn't even that warm to the touch, so it was fine to put into the refrigerator.

That's it!  They were so easy.  The hardest part was unwrapping all of the Hershey Kisses!

Enjoy!

My Favorite Things of Fall

Fall is here and it is my favorite season of the year! So, in honor of that I thought I'd make a list of WHY it's my favorite season!


1. College Football:
I really didn't have ANY expectations from "my" football team this year (Clemson).  With so many freshman starters, a new QB, and after watching the first two games against Wofford and Troy, I was just hoping that the Tigers at least had a decent season. Wow. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well we've played the past few games.  It's been so exciting to watch them play and it's been fun to see them beat teams ranked in the top 10 for three weeks in a row.... which, by the way is an ACC record.  This week, Clemson was ranked #8 in the nation- their highest ranking since 1991.  Let's just hope that they keep this up and that this ranking isn't the kiss of death for them.  Oh, and another plus is that Kate just looks SO cute in her Clemson cheerleading outfit.

2. Fall Weather & Clothes:
Who in the south DOESN'T love fall weather? This is probably for sure my favorite season weather-wise.  70 degrees and sunny- yes please!  Even when the temperature dips a bit cooler than that, it's better than sweltering heat and humidity.

Day	Night
Sunny High 73°F Precip 0%	Clear Overnight Low 47°F Precip 0%

And because the weather is changing, so is the clothing.  Blue jeans, sweaters, and scarves, oh my!  I wear blue jeans pretty much year round anyway, so it's nice to be able to wear them without people looking at you like you're crazy because it's 100 degrees outside.

3. The Food & Smells:
Fall food is the best.  Especially the desserts. Anything cooked with pumpkin, cream cheese and/or cinnamon = YUMMY!  Oh, and Caramel Macchiatos and White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks are another one of my fall favorites.  I realize that these are served year round, but I'm not big on drinking coffee when it's 100 degrees outside, so I save them for fall and winter.

And along the same lines of the food are the smells. I just love the scents of fall. I love being able to put the following scents in my Scentsy and make the whole house smell delicious...
Baked Apple Pie
Cinnamon Bun
Pumpkin Pie
Oh my goodness. Just typing all of that makes me want to go bake something... or go to Ingles and walk through the bakery section.

Here's a super easy fall dessert that I made last weekend...

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:

-3 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
-1 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup butter (melted)
-Cinnamon & sugar

Instructions:

Unrolled and spread 1 & 1/2 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

4. The Holidays:
Halloween and Thanksgiving- who DOESN'T enjoy these two holidays?  Halloween is going to be so much fun this year as it is Kate's first Halloween.  Isn't she going to make a CUTE little watermellon? I know she looks THRILLED to be all dressed up.

And Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays of the year. Thanksgiving = family time. And Thanksgiving = lots and lots of yummy foods.

5. The TV Shows:
Ah, I am so glad when my shows are back and the season premiers are on TV!  I mean, I really need to know if Kate Beckett is going to live or die (but seriously, she's the star of the show so she CAN'T die) and Rick Castle is just so funny.  I'm glad they're back on Mondays.  My DVR is all set and ready to go!

So those are a few of my favorite things about fall. I think that the only thing that I DON'T like about fall is that the days are getting shorter and shorter. :(

Anybody have anything else to add to the list? Did I leave anything off? What are YOUR favorite things of fall?

Fun Night with Mom

Those of you who know me know that Kevin and I go to Rocks to eat lunch after church almost every Sunday.  What you might not know is that I order the exact same thing every single week.  Country fried chicken with white gravy on top, fried okra and peach cobbler. Healthy, huh? But it's SO GOOD.

My mom came to visit this afternoon.  We did a little bit of shopping and then met Kristi for dinner at DellaVentura's. Chicken Marsala = heaven on earth!  Then we came home and tried out a new (easy) recipe for peach cobbler for dessert.  Here's the recipe if anyone cares to try it....

Easy Peach Cobbler

1 Cup Flour (self-rising)
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Milk
1 Stick of Butter

Melt the stick of butter and mix together the flour, sugar, milk & butter.  Pour the mixture in a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Remove the skin from about 8 regular size peaches & cut into pieces. Pour the peaches on top of the mixture in your 9 x 13 dish.  Bake 45 minutes to an hour at 350.  YUMMY!