Some DIY projects for Christmas

I have been busy with end of the semester stuff. I am happy to say I got A's in both my classes. After a seven year break from school I am very pleased with myself. Now that school is out of the way for a month I can focus on other things. I have been doing a few DIY Christmas decorations that I found on Pinterest. I have really liked how they all turned out. So now that I have a little time I get to share them all with you.

But first something of my own creation. My supervisor at work loves white hot chocolate, but has had a difficult time finding it this year. So I thought I would do a little Google search, find an easy recipe and make her some for Christmas. I did my search and I came up rather empty. Most of what I found wanted white chocolate chips for flavoring. I wanted an easy powdered mix. So I took the recipe my mom has been using for a few years now and adapted it to my purposes. So here is my recipe for white hot chocolate. It only makes a pint jar worth of mix, but you will have left over ingredients of everything except the pudding. You'll see what I mean.

White Hot Chocolate
1 1/2 c. powdered milk (I used the generic Wal-Mart brand)
2 small boxes Hershey's White Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 TBS. Coffe-Mate powdered creamer (I used the generic Wal-Mart brand)
3 TBS. powdered sugar (I used the generic Wal-Mart brand)

Mix everything together. Add 3 to 4 spoonfuls to your hot water.

My 3 year-old niece and I had a Grinch night and used this mix with a couple of drops of green food coloring to have Grinch Hot Chocolate. She loved it.

I came across several really cute snow decorations on Pinterest. It just so happened that shortly after finding them Hobby Lobby had their terra cotta pots on sale. So of course I had to make these super cute snowmen.

Terra Cotta Pot Snowmen

These little guys are made from 4 terra cotta pots all hot glued together. 3 pots are painted white and the 4th painted black. Using the end of the paint brush I made the dots for the mouth. I used a light pink for the blush. A little orange paint for a nose.Wiggley eyes, sparkley green/red button, fuzzy green ribbon and a holly button give the final touches. Yes they are different sizes. The larger one had white paint dapped on the hat with some glitter to look like snow. Sadly the link for the original snowman no longer exists.

Here is another snowman I did. He is made with 2 different sized terra cotta pots.Obviously the larger one is painted white and the smaller one is painted black. The blush, nose, eyes and dots are done same as the previous snowmen. I used an ultra fine tipped sharpie for the squiggly mouth. I hot glued the pots together and glued the ribbon on for the hat band. The snow is done same as above. I used glittery blue puff paint to write "Let It Snow". You can find the original snowman here: All Kids Network

My last set of snowmen use just one terra cotta All painted white. I just did dots for the eyes. I did the blush, noses and mouths as decribed previuosly.  Now the ones that look like they have beanies on I used little kid gloves. I hot glued them on, tied a ribbon around the fingers and cut off the tops. The ones with earmuffs are made from large pom-poms and sparkley pipe cleaners. The snowman with the red "scarf" with the snowflakes is painted. the one with the silver "scarf" is painted and then I added scrapbooking ribbon. All the other scarves are scrapbooking ribbon. The backs are sticky. I found them in the dollar bin at JoAnns. You can find the original snowmen here: CraftTown

So I know I found this next project on Pinterest and now it seems to have disappeared. I have some 1"x3" boards lying around the house so I used them for a couple of projects.

Is It Too Late To Be Good?

I cut 2 7" pieces and a 5" piece of wood. The 7" pieces I painted red and the 5" piece I painted white. I used red and white puff paint to write the words. I felt it needed a little something so I hot glued on some glittery snowflakes I found at Wal-Mart. The boards themselves are actually hot glued together as well.

Jingle All the Way

I just randomly cut pieces of wood for this project. There was no measuring. I do know the bottom piece is 12 1/2" long. I think the "J" is 6" tall and the "n" is 3" tall. Everything else is in between those two measurements. Sorry I know it's not very specific. Anyway I modge-podge Christmas scrapbook paper onto the front of the wood. I used white puff paint to write the words. I found a little sprig that looked cute and wasn't attached to anything else, so I hot glued it on. A few days later I also found a set of battery operated lights not attached to anything so with a little help from my mother and an electric staple gun we added the lights all the way around the sign.

My last project was a Christmas present. Since my friend and I already exchanged gifts, I feel it's safe to post it here.

O' Come Let Us Adore Him
I am not a painter...at least not on canvas, but I like the way it turned out. I painted a piece of canvas navy blue, then painted black around the edges. I used foam stickers for the letters, except the word "adore". For that I used a gold paint pen. The star is done with clear glitter glue. The stable is a wooden ornament I bought at JoAnns. I painted the back white and hot glued it to the canvas. You can find the original here: View Along the Way

Pumpkin, Pumpkin and more Pumpkin!!!!

I LOVE Pumpkin!!!  This year I have tried out some new pumpkin recipes and I am flat out addicted. It all started with a magazine talking about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Creme Frappachino. I was so excited because it doesn't have coffee in it. So I zipped over to the nearest Startbucks and bought a small one for $5. The addiction was immediate and I knew I couldn't afford to buy one every time I wanted one. So I began searching for copy cat recipes. I tried out a recipe I found online (Peanut Butter and Peppers ) and ended up with my own. Part of that is due to my own food allergies and the rest is up to my personal tastes. So here it is my version of Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Creme Frappachino:

Pumpkin Cream Shake: (1 serving)
1 c. 2% milk
2 heaping TBS pumkin puree
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp pumkin pie spice
1 big handful of ice cubes
spray whip cream

Put everything bu the whip cream into a blender. Crush the ice. Pour into a glass and top with whip cream.

I made my own pumpkin pie spice, the stuff in the store is too expensive for so little.

Pumpkin Pie Spice
4 TBS ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Mix everything in a small jar with a tight sealing lid.

I made pumpkin pie pancakes and pumpkin pie french toast. I put these in the freezer in individual servings. I also made cinnamon syrup to go on them.

Cinnamon Syrup (See Jane in the Kitchen)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium heat stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk.

Pumpkin Pie French Toast (5 dollar dinners) [I altered the original recipe to suite my tastes. Below is what I did.]

3 eggs

3/4 c. milk

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 c. canned pumpkin

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

I mixed everything together and lightly coated each slice of bread. Fry over medium heat. Make sure you spray the pan every time you put a new slice of bread on.

Pumpkin Pancakes (twopeasandtheirpod) [I again slightly altered ithe original recipe to suite my tastes]

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix everything together and make pancakes as usual. I also tossed some chocolate ships into a few pancakes. Very yummy.

Breakfast in the Freezer

Because I work graveyard shift and then go to school in the morning I have a difficult time eating properly. Especially in between work and class. Not eating makes class difficult, but who has time to run across town, cook breakfast and then drive all the way back across town in an hour. Or have the funds to eat out all the time. Certainly not me. I also just don't like fast food that much. What to do about this problem, well I found the answer on Pinterest. Make your own pancakes, waffles, french toast Toasters (onegoodthingbyjillee). She has a bunch of other ideas for things you can freeze to make life a little easier. Be sure to check them out.

Well I now have this great idea about freezing left over breakfast items. I had also found some great recipes I wanted to try out for pumpkin french toast and pumpkin pancakes. I promise to do a post with the recipes for these. I have a few pumpkin recipes I want to share.

Now there are several breakfast items in the freezer. Pumpkin french toast and regular french toast. Pumpkin pancakes and breakfast scrambles.

Breakfast Scramble (snackinginthekitchen)
1 lb. cooked breakfast sausage
1 can diced green chile
1 dozen eggs
1 c. shredded cheddar

After cooking the sausage mix everything in a bowl. Pour into greased muffin pan. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes. (you can test it with a toothpick to see if the eggs are cooked) You can use bacon or ham if you prefer. Reheat thoroughly in the microwave. About 90 seconds.

Freezer to Crock Pot Meals #2

After telling my sister about my first experience with freezer to crock pot meals she asked me if I would go shopping with her so she could start freezing meals. I gave her a stack of 40 recipes to choose from. She picked 9 meals to freeze. After an hour at Wal-Mart (again on a Friday morning) she spent $111 and got 12 meals for her family. We found that buying fresh chicken was a lot cheaper than buying the 5lb. bag of frozen chicken. I had never noticed the chicken on sale before, I am certainly going to look from now on. We actually split them all in half because it's just her, her husband and 2 little girls. the did not need servings for 6. So she really ended up with 23 meals for $111. Not bad at all. I bought a few things to make up 5 more meals to stick in the freezer. I still have 4 left from my first freezing. This morning I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and bought some breakfast meat. I spent about $35 between the two trips and I am going to make 6 dinners and a few breakfast items. All the breakfast items can be tossed in the freeze then heated up in the microwave or toaster. Here are the recipes for the meals my sister and I both made. (*there are a couple of recipes I am not sure I got from my books or if I got them off of Pinterest. I will try and find the proper links to the recipes I think I got online)

Johnny Carino's Bread Soup (copy cat recipe)
2 cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 can cooked chicken or 2 chicken breasts cubed
1/4c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
garlic croutons
parmesan cheese

Puree the tomatoes. Freeze tomatoes and chicken. Add bread crumbs when cooking. Cook LOW 5 to 6 hours. Serve with croutons and parmesan cheese. (I used a rotissere chicken and then used the leftovers to make my own chicken broth)

Big Mouth Roast Beef Sliders (Mommy? I'm Hungry)
3 lb. beef roast
1 c. water
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope brown gravy mix
1 (8oz.) jar picante sauce
12 dinner rolls

I whicked the dry mixes and the water together before freezing. Cook on LOW 8 hrs. She suggests serving with sliced swiss cheese and horseradish saucy.

Terrific Pork Tenderloins
1 lb. pork tenderloin chops
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 can diced green chiles
2 cans cream of celery soup

Add the cream of celery soup when you are cooking. Cook on LOW 8 hrs.

Chicken Tostadas
1 TBS. garlic
3 TBS. chili powder
3 TBS. lime juice
2 TBS oil
6 chicken breasts

Cook on LOW 8hrs. Serve in tostada shell with your preferred toppings.

Chicken Alfredo
4 chicken breasts, cubed
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 sm carton of sliced mushrroms
1 jar alfredo sauce (add when cooking)
1 pkg broccoli floretsm thawed ( add last 30 minutes)
Fettuccini noodles

Cook on LOW for 6 hrs, Add broccoli and cook onHIGh for 30 minutes. Serve with cooked noodles.

Chicken Fajitas
2lbs. chicken breast
1 sm onion thinly sliced
1 bell pepper thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 TBS lime juice
1/2 c. chicken broth

Cook on LOW 6 hrs. Serve with totillas and your favorite toppings

Beef Burritos (Saving You Dinero)
1 roast
1 diced onion
4 tsp minced garlic
2 TBS whole peppercorns
2 TBS apple cider vinegar
2 cans tomato sauce
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

Cook on LOW 6 to 7 hrs. Remove meat, strain juice, return meat to juice and shred. Cook 30 more minutes. Make your burritos with your favorite fixings.

Mediterranean Chicken
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 cloves garlic
1/4 c. chicken broth
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. sliced black olives
6 chicken breasts
Pinch of cinnamon

Cook on LOW 8 hrs. Serve with rice.

Roast At Its Best
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp basil
2 tsp garlic powder
1 pkg Italian dressing mix
1 rump roast

Cook on LOW 10 to 11 hrs

Meatball Subs
1 bag Italian style meatballs
2 jars spaghetti sause

Cook on LOW 6 hrs. Serve on hoggie rolls with mozzarella cheese

Savory Chicken
6 chicken breasts
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 c. + 4 TBS. chicken broth
1/2 c. onion, chopped
4 tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
4 c. broccoli (added the last 30 minutes)

Cook on LOW 6 to 7 hrs. Add broccoli last 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

Posole
1 lb. pork shoulder, cubed
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 can diced green chile
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 sm onion chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can posole (Mexican style hominy), drained
2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro

Cook LOW 9 hrs. Add cilantro 30 minutes before serving. Serve with lime wedges.

Mushroom Beef Stew
1 1/2 lbs. stew meat
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 TBS. minced garlic
1 tsp. paprika
1 c. sliced mushrooms
2 med. carrots, sliced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 celery stalk, sliced

Cook LOW 10 to 12 hrs. Rmove bay leaf before serving.

To make your own chicken broth just toss all th left over bits of veggies and trimmed off chicken fat, in my case the skin and bones of the rotiserre chicken (which I got from eRecipeCards) in the crock pot for 10 to 12 hours. Strain out all the juice. I froze it by the cup.

Homemade Laundry detergent

For the last few years my whole family has been using a homemade liquid laundry detergent. I have no idea where the recipe came from. If the recipe is yours or you know where it came from please let me know so I can give proper credit. It works pretty good, but is a little messy to make. Plus it takes a while to grated the soap. Here is the recipe we have been using:

1/3 bar of fels-naptha, grated (found in the laundry aisle)
6 c. water in saucepan
Heat water and soap until melted
Add 1 c. Borax (laundry aisle)
Add 1 c. Arm &Hammer Super Washing Soap (laundry aisle)
Stir until dissolved
Pour 4 c. HOT water into a 5 gallon bucket
Add soap mixture amd mix thoroughly
Add 1 gallon plus 6 c. lukewarm water and mix again
Optional: Add 10 drops essential oils

The soap will look lumpy and you will need to stir it before each use. Add 1/2 c. to your machine.

We use it in or HE front loader and it works great. we have however discovered that it isnt the best for getting whites really bright. Part of that I am sure is because we have hard water.

Anyway I came across a powdered laundry detergent on Pinterest last week. I decided I would give it a whirl. I got the recipe from How does she?. Please check out her website. She has the ingredients listed by weight as well.

Here's what I did:
1 box Borax (laundry aisle)
1 box Arm & Hammer Super washing soap
1 (4lb) box Arm & Hammer baking soda
1 box OxyClean
2 bars pink Zote soap, grated
2 lg bottles Purex Crystals Fresh Sprin Waters

i poured everything into a very large bowl and grated the Zote soap over the top. I used a wooden spoon to mix everything together. So much faster than the other laundry detergent recipe. I even spilled some on the carpet. Just vaccumed it up and the living room smelled great.

I kept the scoop out of the OxyClean. The recipe calls for 2 TBS per load. That is equal to half a OxyClean scoop. I have now done 3 loads of laundry. Everything looks and smells great. The true test will be the load of oily, grimy jeans. Comparitively the powdered laundry soap is a little more expensive to make for close to the same amount of soap. However the powdered soap is all cleaning products vs. mostly water. The powder also uses less per load. We were making a triple batch of the liquid soap (cause who wants to only grate a third of the bar when you know you will just have to do the rest later) every four to five months. So we'll see how long this one lasts. My sister just bought a bottle of liquid laundry detergent on the same day I made this. The race is on to see whose soap lasts longer. ;)

Coping Skills for Stress, Anger and Depression

I am aggrevated at the moment so I thought I would use this as an opportunity to talk about stress and anger and some different ways I coping with these feelings. It takes a lot to really stress me out. I actually work pretty well under pressure. In fact more often than not I feel like if it weren't for the last minute I would never accomplish anything. However, anger is a whole other problem. I have lots of anger issues. So how do I cope with these feelings.*In no way am I even remotely claiming to be an expert on any of this.*

Let's talk a little bit about stress. Stress is defined as the physical and emotional response to events that threaten or challenge us. So pretty much life is stress. Doesn't mean life isn't good too. Everything causes stress, at least a little bit. Holidays, family, getting older, money, work, school, and politics are just a few things that can cause stress. How do you know if you are stressed? In a text book called Discovering the Lifespan by Robert S. Feldman there is a neat litte test

The test is only to relate to the last month. Add up your score and see just how stressed you are.
1.How often have you been upset by someting that has happened unexpectedly?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

2.How often have you felt that you are unable to control the important things in your life?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

3.How often have you felt nervous and "stressed"?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

4.How often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?
   never=4   almost never=3   sometimes=2   fairly often=1   very often=0

5.How often have you felt that things were going your way?
   never=4   almost never=3   sometimes=2   fairly often=1   very often=0

6.How often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
   never=4   almost never=3   sometimes=2   fairly often=1   very often=0

7.How often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

8.How often have you felt that you were on top of things?
   never=4   almost never=3   sometimes=2   fairly often=1   very often=0

9.How often have you been angered by things that were outside of your control?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

10.How often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?
   never=0   almost never=1   sometimes=2   fairly often=3   very often=4

How do You measure up? (compare your average scores to the averages below)
AGE                                           Gender                                                Marital Status
18-29------14.2                   Male----------12.1                          Widowed-------12.6
33-44------13.0                Female----------13.7               Married/living with-----12.4
45-54------12.6                                                                           Single----------14.1
55-64------11.9                                                                           Divorced-------14.7
65 +-------12.0                                                                          Separated-------16.6

To make everyone feel a little better (hopefully) about their stress level I can say that mine is double compare to the average.

What is coping? Coping is the effort to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate the threats that lead to stress. So how do I cope with stress. Deep breaths. Close your eyes, try to feel the different parts of your body and breathe very deeply 3 or 4 times. This is my go to coping skill. It only takes a few seconds and works pretty well for me. Other ways I deal with stress-hot baths, naps and probably the most unheatlhy coping skill I have is chocolate. Chocolate cures everything, just ask Harry Potter.

I do not have nearly as good a set of coping skills for my anger. I probably never will. For me anger and depression go hand in hand. I tend to bottle and cap off my emotions. Every once in a while I explode, but it's usually over little things that aren't really that important to me. Can we say road rage? So how do I cope with the anger that I don't let out. I vent. It's probably the easiest and generally the most effective coping skill I have. But I don't just vent to anyone. I have to vent to someone who is completely removed from the situation, otherwise the anger continues to build. I also do a lot of impulse shopping. Another not so good coping skill. One that I am working very hard to get under control. I also need a cooling off period when I get really angry. Oh and I have a tendancy to watch violent movies. I think I need to work on developing a better set of coping skills for my anger. I clean a lot when I am angry as well, but it has to be the right kind of angry. So I guess that is beneficial skill. When the anger turns into depression I sleep A LOT.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people telling me that it is up to me to control my depression. That I can choose to be happy or not. Sorry folks it doesn't always work out that way. Guess I got wired wrong. I'm in my 30's now and my depression isn't as extreme as it was in high school. A big plus to getting older. It still drags me down sometimes. Lately more often than not, but that is another story. Aside from using sleep as a coping skill, I tend to pretend I don't feel depressed. Eventually it becomes true. Let me be perfectly clear, I know I have an illness. I have tried medication and I do not like the effects the ones I have tried have on me. If I get desperate I take St. Hohn's Wort. I do not see a therapist/counsiler. I do not recommend these types of not dealing. It works for ME. If you suffer from depression find what works for you and do not be afraid to admit you have an illness. Depression is NOT a choice. I wish it were. One thing I do when I am depressed, when I hurt so bad on the inside that it physically hurts to have people I love touch me, is pray. Sometimes there are no words in those prayers, but I know my Heavenly Father hears me.

I hope someting I said in this post is helpful to someone.

Just starting out-crock pot ready meals

I guess I could have posted this with the first post, but oh well. My brother is the one who suggested that I create a blog for some of the things I was doing. Like feeding a family of six for two weeks on $100. (That comes out to $1.38 per person per meal for a total of 12 meals.) I don't want to offend anyone, but a lot of the different websites I have come across never seem realistic to me. I don't coupon. I cut them out then never take them with me, so it's a waste of time. With my schedule I don't have a lot of time to waste.
I just recently downloaded Safeway and Kroger apps onto my smartphone. Yes I know a smartphone doesn't exactly scream a simple life, but trust me it makes my life so much easier. I haven't really used these new apps yet. But they are free and promise to give me the weekly sales ads, which means I no longer have to remember to go buy a newspaper.
I have spent a lot of time reading on other blogs about crock pot meals that you make ahead of time and then toss them into the freezer. I love this idea, however I have to deal with weird food allergies and picky eaters. So a lot of these blogs don't help me. I am sure that mine won't help everyone either, but it's worth a try, right?

So I thought for my first real post I would post my freezer to crock pot recipes. I have 8 freezer to crock-pot meals prepped (minus the one I just tossed in the crock pot). Just pull them out of the freezer defrost in whatever manner you like enough to get them out of the freezer bag and dump them into your crock pot.

I spent $100 without coupons. I shopped at Wal-Mart early on a Friday morning because a lot of their meat is on sale then. I also bought store bought brands, except for the Campbells Cream of ___________ Soup. I am picky enough to buy the real thing.  Some of the recipes I planned for the next two weeks cannot be frozen, I will post those later on. On each bag I wrote what the meal is, when I put it in the freezer, how to cook it (i.e. Cook on LOW for 8hrs) and if there was an item that could not be frozen I wrote "add _____" I cook almost everything on LOW so that it is ready when I wake up in the evening. If you want to shorten the cook time the general rule is Cook on HIGH for roughly half the time. I splurged and bought pre-chopped onions and just tossed in a couple of big spoonfuls when it called for onions. I spent 3 hours prepping all the meals after I went grocery shopping.

Bean Stew

6 c. Chicken Broth

1c. dry beans, rinsed and picked through

2 med. carrots, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 TBS. uncooked white rice

2 TBS. minced garlic

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook on LOW 8 hours

Beef Stew

2 lbs. stew meat

1 small onion, chopped

5 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tsp salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cans beef broth

Cook on LOW 8hrs

Sausage and Bean Supper

1 lb cooked sausage (i used jimmy dean's HOT pork sausage)

1 small onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 c. honey (to be add when ready to cook)

1 can tomatoes with green chili

1 can kidney beans, rinsed

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can pinto beans, rinsed

Cook on LOW 4hrs

Pork and Veggies

1 lb. pork roast cut into 1/2" strips

1 small onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, sliced

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms

1 can tomato sauce

1 1/2 TBS. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cook on LOW 8hrs

Suggest serving with rice

BBQ Beef or Chicken

Beef roast or 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 jar of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Stubb's original)

Cook on LOW 8hrs

Shred with fork before serving

Chicken Taco Soup

1 small onion, chopped

1 can chili beans (i used Ranch Style Beans)

1 can black beans

1 can tomato sauce

1 can chicken broth

2 cans tomatoes with green chili

1 pkg taco seasoning

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cook on LOW 8 hrs

Suggest serving with chips and cheese

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice

2 cans cream of chicken soup (to be added when ready to cook)

1 1/2 c. water

1 pkg long grain and wild rice (i used Uncle Ben's)

1 small bag of baby carrots

6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cook on LOW 8hrs

French Dip

2 lbs. beef roast

1 envelop onion soup mix

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. oregano

1 TBS minced garlic

2 cans beef broth

Cook on LOW 8hrs

Carefully remove meat from sauce. Skim off excess fat/oils.

Serve with crusty french rolls and a side of the sauce to dip.

An experiment

This is an experimental blog. Hopefully I will be able to share some cool ideas on how to simplify things in your life as well as my own. Some of the things I want to try and to share are recipes ( I <3 my crock pot), craft ideas, coping skills and whatever else comes to mind. Some of this will come from personal experience, some from other places (like Pinterest or reading), while the rest could just be my one brilliant idea for the day. Guess we'll see what happens.