Crock Pot Yumminess!

Barron and I cleaned up the rest of the Creamy Crock Pot Chicken today and it reminded me that I need to share this recipe with you! If you're looking for something you can toss in the crock pot and come home to dinner, this is for you. (*disclaimer: it is best with noodles or rice. I suppose you could put rice in the pot too, but it will be mushy. Instant rice doesn't take too long.)

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken
from my Aunt Sherri

4 chicken breasts
1/4 c water
1 pkg Italian salad dressing mix
8 oz cream cheese, low fat, softened (I've used less than 8oz before)
1 can cream of chicken soup (fat free is what I use)

Spray crock with non-stick spray. Spread the chicken along the bottom of the crock. Mix cream cheese, dressing mix, and cream of chicken soup. Cover chicken with mixture (it's pretty thick). Cover that with water (use a little more if you want). Cook on low all day (or high for a shorter time).

Yum. Sorry I don't have a picture, but let's be honest; crock pot meals don't win awards for presentation ;)

As mentioned above, serve over rice or noodles.

Another crock pot favorite of ours is pork loin. I make it with a dry rub, giving it great flavor but keeping it versatile enough to use for bbq sandwiches, pork nachos, soup, etc.

Pork Dry Rub

Pork loin (you could it on butt, roast, whatever, but I try to keep it lower in fat)
Meat tenderizer (like Adolf)
black pepper
seasoning salt
season blend, no salt (like Mrs. Dash)
basil
some flavor of Dirkey grill creations (really most anything will work)
water

Spray the crock with non-stick spray. Sprinkle tenderizer on both sides of meat. Cover it well, but don't over-do it. Place in crock, fat side up.

In a little bowl, mix the rest of the seasonings. I realize I didn't put any measurements - I wasn't given any so I just wing it. Half a teaspoon of everything is a good place to start. Add more of something you especially like. Add more of it all. The only way to screw this up is use too much seasoning salt. The tenderizer is very salty, so you don't want to over-do the salt. Once mixed, sprinkle it over the meat. (And yes, sometimes I do just sprinkle each spice directly on the meat, one at a time. Whatever.)

Add some water to the pot, around the meat. A cup should do it, maybe two.

Cook on low all day. Come home from work and sigh in contentment at how wonderful the house smells. Eat it like it is day one. Get creative the rest of the week. Monday is a great day to make a huge pork loin!

Happy slow-cooking!

Fall Photo Op for Your Kiddos!

One of our wedding photographers, Sarah Carter, is doing a Fall Photo Op for kids over near Second Baptist. Evening sessions are available Oct 28-31. For all the details, click here. Be sure to check out her other photos - she's a talented gal.

Recipes for Fall

I LOVE fall. One of my friends said fall is a "perfect" time to have a birthday, and while I hadn't ever thought about it, I would have to agree. Fall is also a perfect time for cooking. I've been playing with some new fall recipes lately and they have been a hit, so I wanted to share them with you.

Made these as a dessert this weekend. Considered icing them, but they were sweet enough without it.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 c light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 c sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c chopped pecans, toasted

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Create well in middle of mixture.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, and butter. Stir in butterscotch chips and pecans and pour into the well of dry ingredients.
Fold together just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon batter evenly into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350. (12-15 min for mini-muffins)
*Note - I added the teaspoon of vanilla (because I love it in everything) and omitted 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

I had almost a cup of canned pumpkin left, and I woke up Saturday morning with aspirations of pumpkin pancakes and AllRecipes.com did not disappoint.

Pumpkin Pancakes




I don't know about you, but one of my favorite chilies in town is McAlister's. And not the veggie. The all meat, no beans one. YUM. So I found a recipe sounded like it could be close. It called for 4 lbs of chuck roast. 4 lbs! But ooo, it was good! Check out Chunky Beef Chili from Southern Living here.

The last thing we tried this weekend was acorn squash. I'd never had one but it was recommended by FoodieRachel and Pioneer Woman, so I figured we should give it a try. Disclaimer: if you add butter, brown sugar, and a little maple syrup to almost anything, how bad could it be? Exactly. So head on over to Pioneer Woman for her recipe and give it a try. You'll be glad you did!

Heavy Cream Substitute - You're Gonna Love This

Got recipes that call for whipping cream, yet you can only bring yourself to make them for very special occasions because of all the fat? Make every day a special occasion with this heavy cream substitute!

8 oz low-fat cottage cheese
3 Tablespoons non-fat dried milk

Blend for five minutes and voila!

Now I need to warn you, it's a little more salty than cream, so if your recipe calls for salt, don't add it until giving the final dish a taste.

I have not tried it yet with a sweet dish, but I have tried it in pasta and soup and had great results. Give it a try and let me know how you use it!

Birthday Week!

So "birthday" is meant to be a day, right? I managed to drag it out at least a week...and you gotta love that! My actual birthday occurred on the same day as Camp Scrap, a huge scrapbooking event at our church, so I spent the evening with about 200 scrapping women (many of whom are some of my favorites - thanks for coming, T)! It was crazy (as always) but fun.

Love these beautiful flowers from the MacPac - what a nice surprise!

Saturday we were up early for a breakfast meeting and then my husband was so sweet to take me to the Ozark Craft Festival! We had a great time walking around with our friends, Jaye and Peter, eating some oh-so-good for your fair food, and admiring the handiwork of the vendors. We didn't buy much, but we did pick up some mums at what I refer to as my "BOO blocks." Aren't they cute?!

Barron's bright idea.

After the craft festival we headed downtown for fondue and Fedora. Yum! And then back home for a movie. It was a perfect day.

Mmmm...cheese... Mmmm...chocolate... And a fun new scarf!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what Barron got me for my birthday. Well, I told him not to get me anything (honestly) because we're preparing to do some remodling at our house, so I figured I'd throw in an extra accessory or two that could be considered my birthday gift. He did, however, make the occassion very special with his thoughtfulness, and that's really all I can ask for.

Other birthday events over the week included lunch with Barron's family, a visit from my dad, lunches with friends and coworkers, and chili and football at the Mac's. It was a wonderful birthday! Thanks to everyone that made it special - I really appreciate it!

Oh, and let me give you a little taste of what I received for my birthday. Can you spot a theme? Mini-muffin pans, pancake mix, pure maple syrup, cupcake stand, Red Velvet cupcake mix, cookie scoop, instant yeast with a measuring scoop (to measure out the equivalent of one packet), Martha Stewart's pumpkin carving kit (random, but fun!), a pink Mizzou hat (yay!) and fleece blanket were among the fun and thoughtful items. I think people must know that when they give me baking tools, they receive baked goods in return. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

Shockingly Overlooked

For those of you who don't know, my brother Forrest plays football at Mizzou. He's worked his way up over the years and this year he's got a pretty key job - place holder. What's that you ask? Well, you know the guy that holds the ball for the kicker when he kicks PATs or field goals? The one you never notice, yet if he wasn't there, extra points would never been the same again? Yep, that's him! Should something go wrong (heaven forbid!) it's the holder that will have to react instantly and clean up the mess. And since that's the case, Mizzou has picked the right guy, because Forrest is quick in mind and step.

Anyway, if you catch them on TV, he's #88, but if all else fails, just watch for him after every touchdown. Do I sound like a proud sister? Good!

Check out those muscles!

Photo courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Puffins

Tonight I made puffins, courtesy of Bakerella. YUM! Sadly, I do not have any mini-muffin pans (Gasp!) so mine were not as cute as hers but hey, they tasted good. Easy, tasty, and no slaving over the stove flipping pancakes while everyone else eats! A must try!

photo courtesy of Bakerella

Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage

This summer I rounded up some girlfriends of mine to do a new women's Bible study called Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage. It's a new Bible study by Kerry Clarensau and seemed like a great topic for someone like me who recently got married. I have to admit I had some reservations at first. My favorite color may be hot pink, but the butterfly on the front made me a little skeptical because I wasn't looking for a fluffy feel-good study; I wanted solid, Biblical principles. Thankfully, that's what I found.

The study is called Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage but it is truly more focused on the life part and just applies that to marriage. Obviously marriage is the most important human relationship we can have, but this book teaches principles that apply to every relationship and most importantly, our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

My favorite chapter was "The Secrets to a Strong Inner Life." Sounds a little new-age-y, but it is filled with Truth to fight against common temptations like doubt, bitterness, insecurity, anxiety, etc. The questions at the end of the chapter are a great self-evaluation and application tool as well.

If you are looking for a study to go through individually, with friends, or even in a more formal study setting, you should check out Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage. I liked the study so much that I am teaching it this fall at Second Baptist, so if you're in the Springfield area and would like to come, let me know. It will be Wednesday nights, 5:45-7pm.

To learn more, visit www.secretsbiblestudy.com. Also, check out Kerry's blog, http://kerryclarensau.blogspot.com and view comments and other testimonies on Facebook, www.facebook.com/secretsbiblestudy.

Pretzel Bread and DIY Cereal Box Magazine Files

Blimpie has a new Pretzel Bread that Barron has become a fan of, and he suggested we try to make some. I'm always up for a culinary adventure, so I scoured the Internet for a recipe and discovered signature pretzel bread from Two Bites in Suburbia. I never realized pretzels were boiled before baked, but in fact they are. Fascinating! Here's what I came out with. Not perfect, but pretty good -- we made four small buns and this is the remainig lone ranger.

Next up - DIY Magazine Files from cereal boxes. I must admit I semi-stole the idea from a new book called Wallpaper Projects. The book suggests covering the boxes with walpaper scraps. I, however, do not have any wallpaper scraps, nor do I know where in Springfield to find the adorable wallpapers featured in the book, so I opted for scrapbook paper and "peel and stick" laminiate. I think it turned out well!

Cut box to desired shape

Trim paper to fit and glue on all sides. Line inside with same or coordinating paper if you like.

Finished product!

This was a trial box for me, as it was acually too small for magazines, but I'm pleased with how it turned out and I've got a couple larger boxes in the cabinet that I'll be ready for!

We Be Jammin'

A blog I read regularly (FoodieRachel) had a recipe for Jalapeno Jam and it got me thinking that I should make some with the Garden Salsa peppers we grew this summer. So last Saturday we "jammed", as Barron calls it.

Aren't those little bell peppers cute?!

Sealing them up. Hope it works!

Tada! It worked!

This was my first time canning anything, so I was pretty nervous about it all. Thankfully Barron was there to help, or we wouldn't have been successful. It was so exciting hearing the lids popped, indicating they sealed!

Barron had never had pepper jelly before, so he was skeptical, but he came around after trying it with some cream cheese. Since we were successful on our first attempt, he wanted to make strawberry jam, so we headed to the store for some strawberries and repeated the process. It went more smoothly the second time and we've been enjoying jam all week long! Will I do it again...well, maybe next year when I forget the process.

The Besty: RSS

Many of you have mentioned "visiting" my blog "from time to time" and enough of you have said it that I feel compelled to share with you a wonderful tidbit of technology: the RSS reader. What is it? Well, my friend Sarah Jo Austin (@sarahjoaustin) described it so well, I'll let her explain it to you:

I use RSS, and you should, too. That is the theme of today’s post, so I’ll be laying the peer pressure on pretty thick.

So what exactly is RSS? Well, it stands for really simple syndication. By using an application called a reader and adding subscriptions from your favorite news sites and blogs (hmm…A Fool of Myself [and Excellent Adventure] comes to mind), the new content from those sites comes to you in your reader. You no longer have to remember all the sites you frequently read, go to them, and hope for new content; if a site has been updated, the new content will appear in your reader. (Come on. Everyone is doing it.)

Still confused? Watch this little video produced by CommonCraft.com to see how you can start using RSS within minutes. I would have made my own video, but I hate reinventing the wheel, and this one is super easy to understand:

Click To Play

To summarize the video, to get started with RSS, you need a reader (e.g. Google Reader, NewsGator, Bloglines, My Yahoo!, etc.). Once you have a reader, add subscriptions to your account by looking for and clicking on the orange RSS logo. That’s it! Just start reading! (I’m going to tell everyone how lame you are for not using RSS!)

Thaks, Sarah!

Here's a screen shot of my RSS reader. I use Google Reader because I already had a gmail address when I signed up - and I'd recommend getting a Google account if you don't have one!


You can see

• blogs I follow in the left hand column (which I categorize further by friends/foodie/ministry, etc.)
  
• some of the posts from those blogs in the middle (this is the "home" view)
  
• recommended blogs (based on who I follow already), recently read items, recently starred items (things you want to come back to - great for craft ideas, recipes, etc!) on the right.
  

If you look closely at the left column again, you'll see some people there - Google Reader allows you to share items with your friends who also use Google Reader. If you see a funny video, click "share" below the post (not shown) and it will be shared with all of those people. You can also add comments about why you shared the item (if you choose) and make comments on what other people share. Very fun! (I envision some of you ladies making a "scrapping" group and sharing ideas amongst yourselves - fun!)

Another added bonus: if you have an iPhone, you can log in and read everything there --a great and productive use of dead time!

Anyway, that's my attempt at making your busy lives easier. Hope you'll try it. Post any questions or concerns you have in the comments section. Happy RSS'ing!

Win prizes from Yeebird!

My wildly creative friend Rebekah made this fun sleeve for us to put our wedding album in. We'd been carrying it around in a bubble wrap pouch (talk about cool), so Rebekah took it upon herself to make a sleeve as nice as our album. Check it out!


It just so happens that Rebekah is celebrating her 100th blog post with a giveaway! Forgive me for being a little late in the game, but regardless of the contest, her blog is so fun to read. She's always working on a project and having fun with her kids...and she offers basic photoshop tutorials! If you're into scrapping, sewing, or crafting, you'll want to check out Yeebird.

Quick Dinner Idea: Tortilla Pizzas

Just before leaving work today I saw a friend had a new blog post, so I decided to read it really quick. So glad I did! In it she said she was making tortilla pizzas for dinner. Say what!? I had just been trying to come up with a way to use some leftover chipotle chicken we had, and this sounded like a fun thing to try!

Here's the recipe from The Lucky Laymans:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place some fajita size flour tortillas on a cookie sheet & heat them until they are golden brown & crispy around the edges (normally 8-10 min). You'll need to watch them as they may bubble up a bit & I just prick them with a fork to flatten out the air bubble. After they are brown, just pull them out of the oven & top them with whatever pizza toppings you want. I normally just use a can of pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, & mushrooms. I've also made a white pizza version with alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, spinach, & mozzarella. Once you've filled them full of toppings, just put them back in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is nice & melted. I normally fix 2 pizzas for each of us because the fajita size tortillas are quite small. You could certainly use bigger tortillas--this is just what I normally have on hand.

As I said, we had chipotle chicken, so I used a ranch-garlic sauce (much like Papa Murphy's - mix ranch dressing [1/3-1/2 a cup] with 2-3 cloves of garlic and voila), the chicken, and both mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Some sun dried tomatos, bell peppers, or even spinach would have been nice on there, but it wasn't too shabby anyway. We also used some ham and made a more traditional version with fresh garlic chives and basil. Yum!

We chose to make ours on the grill. We grilled one side, flipped and added toppings and closed the grill to let them melt. Super easy and quick. Sorry I didn't take pics! Try it and share your variations!

Guest Bathroom: Old and New

One of the lovely wedding gifts we received were some black and white, fleur de lis patterend towels. The second I saw them I loved them. But then I thought "where can I use them?" The solution: repaint the guest bathroom!

But first, some background on our guest bathroom. When I moved into this house, the tile in the bathroom was painted white. And by painted, I mean they took the paint they used on the cabinets and doors and painted over the tile, even the tile that lined the shower! Needless to say, that paint was not going to last long, so even before I settled in, I began scraping. The white paint came off very easily, for obvious reasons, but underneath that layer I found two more layers of paint - and they were the right kind of paint which did not remove easily. A week later, the last of the paint was scraped off and underneath we found this lovely tile creation:

The mermaid.
Notice the one tile that is turned the wrong way. Ugh.

My mom and I debated whether to paint the tile (correctly) again, but we knew that would be quite expensive, so my mom and I thought it would be fun to paint the bathroom walls orange and use all of the random Mediterranean accessories I collected while in Europe. So here is the old bathroom.

And here's the new bathroom. We decided to go monochromatic to match the tile and incorporate the black and white towels and accessories.

The new shower curtain.

The old mermaid.

With the curtain open. You can see our new towels in the basket on top of the shelf.

Here's the color on both sides of the closet door. Like our little monogram? Dan Mac made that for us.

And that's that. We may still get new pulls for the vanity and such, but I'm ready to not think about it for a while. Barron really likes it a lot better. He was never a big fan of the orange. Thanks to our friend Amy who helped get it painted quickly!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Thanks to CarlaMac, we have a garden this year. It took a lot of work getting all of the ivy dug out of this bed, but it was worth it. The raised bed is perfect for a small garden and it has thankfully been very easy to maintain (in part, thanks to the soaker hose and a watering timer). Here's a pic of the garden on June 9:

And here's a pic of it today!

Tonight I was able to pick our first batch of green beans! Yum! So excited to cook these! I realize it's not much, but I was told if you pick them early they will grow more, and you can bet I am down for that!