Easy Breakfast To Go: Yogurt Parfaits

These are easily one of my favorite breakfasts. The combinations are endless and they can be made in a variety of containers to fit your needs. They are perfect in a coffee cup with a lid to go with my husband or in a sweet, pretty cup to savor myself after dropping the kids off at school. I can send them with the kids to school if they are craving a home breakfast but just didn't get ready in time. My oldest will take them on the bus. You can even prep them for a yummy summer or after school snack.

Simply layer your ingredients one at a time until you get to the top and enjoy!

Things we like to add to our yogurt and granola:

Blueberries
Blackberries
Shredded Coconut
Chocolate Chips
Bananas
Peanut Butter Chips
Almonds
Walnuts
Strawberries
Kiwi
Peaches
Dried cranberries
Raisins
Chopped dried apricot

Easy Whole30 Meal in 10 Minutes

Okay so I must confess that I only made it 12 days on my first Whole30. I think I would have done much better if I had been better prepared. I jumped in to do it concurrently with a friend, who read the book and was ready to go. She did fantastic and lost 15 lbs in 30 days. She looked and felt amazing when she was done (I am still so proud of her!!!). I lost 6 lbs in 12 days. I cannot wait to do it again, but I have learned that I need to give myself plenty of prep time and I also need meals that I can make for my whole family. Cooking for just myself and then making a separate meal for them was not working. It made me feel like I was being punished. I am also rather cranky without cream in my coffee and I was having a really hard time making the transition to nights with sub par coffee. Below is my favorite meal that everyone wanted to eat. It was also one of the easiest so I/we ended up eating it quite a few times in 12 days. It's also something I continue to make because even though it is simple, it is very delicious!

Shopping list:
Chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Assorted bell peppers
Onion
Avocado
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the chicken breasts into strips or chunks and add to a heated saute pan on medium with a little bit of olive oil and salt/pepper to taste. While the chicken is cooking cut up peppers and onions and add them to the chicken about 4 minutes in. Continue to let the chicken cook and peppers and onions to get tender. While that is cooking another 3-4 minutes cut up avocados into wedges. There you have it. A delicious, fast dinner that follows the Whole30 guidelines that will fill you up. If you aren't on Whole30, add a piece of bread or a pita to the mix. For the kids I would add some fresh fruit on the side.

I could usually make this meal in less than 10 minutes because I would prep my onions, peppers and chicken breast and have my cutting done ahead of time. That has really been the key to being able to stick to healthy eating in general. When I don't prep I tend to make things that are less healthy. This is a good go to recipe to add to my rotation.

What is your favorite Whole30 recipe?

The BEST Homemade Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

Seriously this frosting is so good I could eat it straight out of the bowl and frost everything in sight. It is addictive, rich and so creamy. I made so many batches to get the right combination of chocolate to make it taste amazing.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of salted butter at room temp
4-6 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons or so of vanilla extract (don't be thrifty on this and get the good stuff, no imitation)
1/2 cup of Hershey's Cocoa Powder
2 Squares of Ghiradelli Baking Chocolate (the semi-sweet kind big bar)
1 tablespoon or so of milk or half and half

What you do:

It is really helpful to have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer but if you don't you can do this in a bowl with a regular mixer, no problem, you're going to get a nice arm workout!

If your butter is cold you can soften it by unwrapping and putting it in the microwave on 50% power for 10 sec intervals. Making sure it doesn't melt is crucial, so don't do anything else while you do this!

Put your butter in your mixer and let it whip on medium speed for about 5 minutes, stop and scrape the sides once or twice.
While it is beating, melt the chocolate squares carefully in the microwave (half power, short intervals) until it is just melted all the way through. Make sure that there are no lumps.
Add the vanilla and melted chocolate to the butter.
Add the 1/2 cup of Hershey's Cocoa Powder
Once the cocoa powder has been incorporated add the powdered sugar (minimum 4 cups) 1/2 cup at a time. After 2 cups of powdered sugar add in the milk (or half and half). You can add more than 4 cups if you need more frosting. Just keep alternating powdered sugar and milk.

Depending on how you like your frosting (thicker, thinner) alternate adding milk and powdered sugar until you get the consistency that you are after. If it doesn't have enough chocolate for your tastes add more cocoa powder 1/8 cup at a time, although this is pretty perfect to me. Frosting is never an exact measurement for me. Cupcake baking is another story, chemistry is not forgiving!

Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup

I love a good soup. This one I got help from my little dude Jack. He has mastered the art of holding the handle and stirring. Love this guy! On these cold January days I think a good hearty soup is just what you need at the end of the day. You can make this in about 30 minutes.

What you need:

3 large or 5 medium potatoes
1 roll of pork sausage
Chicken stock or bouillon cube (1)
Bag of frozen soup/stew veggies (my bag had carrots, celery, onions and potatoes) or fresh versions of these
Salt and pepper to taste
A pot to boil potatoes
Potato Peeler
Knife/cutting block
Large soup pot (I use my big Le Crueset)


Directions:

Start by peeling your potatoes. Cut them into bite size chunks and put them into the pot you are going to boil them in. Cover them with water until you have approximately 1 inch over the potatoes and but them on high heat to boil. They should be done in about 20 minutes. After you have the potatoes started, break the sausage into chunks and cook over medium heat in your large soup pot. Once it is cooked you add the frozen veggies, one bullion cube and one cup of water (or one cup of stock). Turn down your heat to medium low and cover until potatoes are done cooking, stirring occasionally. When the potatoes are done, add the entire pot to your sausage and veggies. Now you can add your salt and pepper to taste.

Easy right? The kids gobble it up. It is so quiet at the dinner table when we have this soup!

Prep stage: Sausage cooked, bullion and veggies added.

Coconut Oil Waffles

Oh my goodness. I have never in my life been asked for more waffles than I was this past Sunday. Everyone wants more and more and more of these. So I happily obliged and we had breakfast for dinner again. Now homemade is relative here. Homemade to me is making them with my waffle iron instead of pulling them out of the freezer and putting it in the toaster. I love Krusteaz Belgian Waffle Mix (no paid sponsorship or affiliation here I just love it, but I wouldn't be upset if they sent me a free box or some coupons!). I change up their recipe and add coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. The result is a sweeter and healthier option. Which according to my family is amazing! I also use the Coconut Oil Pam spray for the waffle maker for an added touch of yum.

The Best Grilled Cheese

I love grilled cheese.  It combines two of my most favorite foods cheese and bread, what's not to love? But my favorite recipe uses sourdough bread (Pepperidge Farm, Farmhouse Sourdough is my fave), 2 slices of colby jack and some Smart Balance butter on both sides...divine.  The sourdough gives it just enough kick and the colby jack mellows it out.  The kids always eat it up and so do I! So go on and try out a new grilled cheese, you're gonna love it too!

How to Make Your Own Homemade Butter

Today is perhaps the best Monday in quite awhile.  This morning we woke up in our new house.  It is Regan's 4th birthday.  My Mom, who is continuing on her fight against cancer, doesn't have to have surgery today!  And it's my 300th post.  So I'm going to share with you just how easy it is to make your very own homemade butter because making homemade butter is one of the most satisfying things to make!

What you need:

• Heavy Whipping Cream (use as much or little as you like, I usually do about 2 cups and I don't usually measure it, I just pour in half of the carton)
• Kitchen-aid stand mixer with the whisk attachment.  You could do it with a hand held mixer but this way is a lot easier.
• Salt or seasonings to taste.  I like a garlic herb blend or even cinnamon.
• A strainer, bowl for the strainer to sit and a mason jar to hold your buttermilk.  A dish or container for your butter.
• A loaf of fresh bread.  Okay this one isn't required but you'll want it!  Try this recipe, its easy!

What you do:

Put your cream in the mixer and turn it on low so it doesn't splash out.

It will turn into whipped cream, resist the temptation to eat it!  It will still be really white in color and fluffy.

A short while after the butter will separate from the buttermilk and it will be yellow in color.  Turn your mixer off.

This is the buttermilk.  Strain it into a bowl and then transfer the milk to a jar.

Get the butter out of the whip and squeeze out any excess buttermilk.  Then wash your butter by running it under cold water and kneading it with your hands for a few minutes.

Now you can add seasoning and shape it to fit in the dish of your choice.  

The time it takes to go from cream to whipped cream to butter will vary depending on how much cream you use and how cold your mixer bowl, whip and cream are.  I'm usually done in 15 minutes, start to finish.  To make butter faster, put your mixing bowl and whip in the freezer for about 10 minutes prior to starting.  That was easy wasn't it?  And now your hands are soft and you have buttermilk for pancakes.  People are always amazed when I tell them I make it myself.  I suppose it's because they are picturing me milking a cow and churning butter on the porch, not this girl!

Happy Monday!  Thanks for sharing this journey with me for 300 posts...here's to 300 more!

Easy Peach Cobbler Recipe

When I say easy I mean easy!  Seriously you won't believe you made this so quickly and with simple ingredients.  So lets get started and forget you're on a diet, I did!

Ingredients:

1 stick or 1/2 cup of Butter

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup of Peach syrup (from one can of peaches)

2 15 oz cans of Peaches in Heavy Syrup

Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup of AP Flour

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of Softened Butter

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

Let's Make It!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt that big ol' stick-o-butter and pour into 9x13 pan.  In large bowl combine flour, baking powder and sugar and stir with a fork.  Next add 1 cup of milk, peach syrup (just open the can and drain the syrup into a 1/2 cup) and stir until just combined.  Pour batter into pan over butter (it's okay if the butter resists having batter on it and goes to the sides).  Lastly add the the 2 cans of peaches, syrup and all, evenly over the batter.  Put into the oven for 25 minutes. 

While that is baking make your crumble topping.  Combine all ingredients until there are little clumps formed but there are no clumps of butter.  After the cobbler has been in for 25 minutes sprinkle the crumble on top and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.  

Serve it with some vanilla ice cream or some freshly whipped cream.  I had mine on the porch.  It was divine with the cooler weather and sunshine.  I almost got out there before the kids did!

Campfire Cowboy Skillet

You're going to have to do a hike to burn this off but it's really yummy and uses up camp leftovers like nobody's business.  I made this for lunch and it was a hit.  Especially with the hubs.

What you need:

Leftover bacon and sausage from breakfast (we had about 6 strips of bacon and 3 patties leftover)
1 lb of ground beef
1/2 onion chopped
1 big can of Bush's Original Baked Beans
Approximately 3 tablespoons of Barbecue sauce
Large cast iron skillet
Hungry Campers

What to do:

Cook the ground beef and onion together in a cast iron skillet on a grate over the fire.  It helps if you have it  not perfectly level so that the grease kind of self drains to one side of the skillet.  While the ground beef and onions are cooking cut the bacon and sausage into bite size pieces.  Once the beef and onion mixture is cooked drain off or use paper towels to remove as much grease as possible.  Add the bacon, sausage, can of beans and barbecue sauce.  Let simmer over fire about 5-10 minutes.  Serve with crackers, chips, corn bread, anything you have on hand.  Enjoy!

The Best Alfredo Recipe

For the longest time I thought that I didn't like Alfredo sauce.  I had tried it off my husband's plate every time he ordered it and even tried it from a jar.  I always thought it was just okay and I never thought it was good enough for all the fuss people seemed to make over it.  Then when it was my turn again to take our friends food after the birth of their son so I asked them if they had any requests.  Well the first was for more homemade bread and the second was for Alfredo.  So I did what any good blogger would do and looked for a recipe out in the blog world.  And boy did I find it.  Kevin & Amanda provided me with a fabulous recipe and a new staple in the Jones house.  

The recipe from Kevin & Amanda makes a Chicken Alfredo, which is what is pictured in my version (my chicken was cut into strips).  However, I've found that I can make just the Alfredo and it's less work and still ridiculously good.  So good my husband gives me googly eyes when I make it.  So good that my mother called and told me I had ruined her dinner because her jar of Alfredo tasted awful after having mine.  I also omit the parsley because I don't particularly care for it and I don't grow it (meaning I just have to go out to the garden for the basil and sometimes that is as far as I want to go, lol).  I also reduced the pepper because I'm not a huge fan and I didn't want to hear any complaints from the "it's too spicy" whiners department.  So here we go.  Beware, this is full calorie deliciousness so check your diet at the door.

What you need:

Enough Pasta of your choice for your Posse (I use a box of penne pasta from Target) 

1 scant cup of chicken broth (Scant means a little less than) (I used Emeril's Organic it was delicious)

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese 

3 cloves of fresh minced garlic

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

8 basil leaves, chiffonaded  (to chiffonade the the basil roll the leaves together and then make small cuts in the roll from the top of the leaves down to the stems, you will be left with beautiful little strips)

Instructions:

Bring the chicken broth to a boil over a medium heat.  While it's heating up mince your garlic.  Once the broth has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium and add garlic, cream and cornstarch.  Whisk while bringing to a soft boil for one minute.  Reduce heat to low and add Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Whisk occasionally while allowing your flavors to incorporate and your cheese to melt.  While you're waiting cook your pasta.  Two minutes before your pasta is done, chiffonade your basil and add to sauce.  Drain pasta and return it to pan (no heat).  Immediately pour the sauce over the pasta and serve.  

Now your table will either be really quiet or filled with gasps and ooohs and aahhhs.  Either way you'll be smiling and you probably won't have any leftovers.  I paired my Alfredo with a Caesar salad and a homemade Baguette.  It's one of my favorite meals and comfort food for sure.   

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Well you could call it goulash but whatever you call it, its good and its pretty good for you.  Especially if you sneak in some veggies.  Which of course I do!  Here's what you need to make a fast and tasty meal that your kids will eat up.

Julie's Homemade Hamburger Helper- Chili Mac

Ingredients:
One box of Mac and Cheese (I use Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of chili beans
Sneaky vegetables
Ground Beef, about 1 lb

What to do:

Start by cooking the pasta according to package directions minus 1 minute.  When you combine everything later the pasta will finish cooking.
If you haven't pre-cooked and frozen your meat, brown your meat.
Once the pasta and meat are done, combine all ingredients and simmer over Medium low heat for about 5-10 minutes.

There you go!  Easy peasy and delicious meal in about 15 minutes.  You can even top it with shredded cheese if you like.  The kids will never even know that you added those Sneaky Vegetables and they will give it some nice flavor.

Paired with Monterey Jack cheese and Tortilla Chips.  

Sneaky Vegetables

I'm rather lucky in that my kids will eat most anything.  They each have their own little dislikes, but they all eat salads and vegetables.  So why sneak in more veggies? Why not?   If I can add more nutrition and in most cases more taste to my meals without compromising the good thing I've got going I'm all for it.

Lets take onions.  You could read more about there nutritional value here.  Take my word, they are good for you.  For a kid though, they can be a texture issue, or the taste is too intense.  So what is a mom to do?  Keep reading, we'll do this together.

Lightly chop one onion and one each of red, green and yellow bell peppers.  Saute them together with a spoonful of butter, garlic powder, season salt, pepper, all to taste.  Place the mixture into a food processor or mixer and puree it.  Separate the mixture into an ice cube tray and freeze.  Once they are frozen you can pop them out of the ice tray and put them into a ziploc bag.  Now you have Sneaky Vegetables, in an easy to use cube form.

If I make a soup, chili or homemade hamburger helper I add Sneaky Vegetables to it.  Not one kid has noticed.  They just eat away.  You can do lots of other vegetables like mushrooms, squashes and tomatoes.  Its kind of like making baby food!  I'm sure someday they will catch me tossing a cube in and when it does I'll just tell them its a tasty cube, that I use to make everything taste yummy.

Buy the veggies when they are on sale...save yourself some green too!

Shrimp in the Crock Pot or Wok

Oh my!  I really had my doubts about this one.  Not only did they turn out really good, but we are going to experiment with the ingredients substituting fish, it was that tasty.  Everyone ate them up.  I found this recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking and she got it from The Pioneer Woman.  So here's my version.  Isn't that what cooking is all about?  Finding a recipe and making it your own?

Ingredients:

• 2lbs of raw shrimp (mine were peeled and frozen, thaw before you cook them)
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 T of Tabasco sauce (I used 1)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper (PW uses much more and Slow Cooking uses 1 tsp) 
• 3 lemons, juiced
• 1 T basil (I used the stuff from my spice rack, but by all means use fresh if you can)

What you do:

If you make this in the crock pot- combine everything and cook for about 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes.  That's it.

If you make this in your wok- combine everything and cook on low for about 10-15 minutes or until done. 

I've made it both ways and both were delicious.  There is some major excitement over shrimp night.  I served mine over brown rice that had been cooked using some of the shrimp juice.  Oh my, it was delicious.  I also paired it with green beans and a baguette.  This recipe is a keeper.

On a personal note, I have a sick little one this week so posting will be few at best.  I will also probably get sick myself, as Jack just coughed in my ear for the second time. He's already coughed in my face at least 3 times I can remember.  This weekend I will be performing a one woman show of Tangled because that is his favorite movie and I don't care how many times we watch it if it makes his sick little self happy.  If you haven't checked out the FlyLady you should do it.  I can sit and watch Tangled all day long guilt free because my house is clean.  It's a miracle I tell ya!

What's for Dinner? February Meal Plan

For some reason I had a hard time creating this months meal plan.  There were a few days where I just wasn't sure what to do.  It's going to be a busy month with basketball playoffs.  So my plan has to be pretty flexible.  There are also things like our Valentine date which I scheduled Mac and Cheese, I like to make it easy on the grandparents.  I also add sides according to what I have fresh on hand.  If we are out of fresh I will go to a frozen or canned back up.  The number represents the date of the month.

1-Pork Chops
2-Baked Potatoes
3-Shrimp
4-Roasted Chicken
5-Super Bowl, Party Food
6-Chicken Quesadillas
7-Meat Loaf
8-Potato Soup
9-Pizza
10-Chili
11-Mac and Cheese
12-Leftovers
13-Ham and Beans
14-Homemade Hamburger Helper
15-Pork Chops
16-Sandwiches and Soup
17-Shrimp
18-Spaghetti
19-Pizza
20-Roasted Chicken
21-Breakfast
22-Potato Soup
23-Chicken Quesadillas
24-Leftovers
25-Pizza
26-Pork Chops
27-Mac and Cheese
28--Chili
29-Spaghetti

This month I'll be posting recipes for Crock Pot Shrimp and my Homemade Hamburger Helper.  I'll also show you how to add "Sneaky Vegetables" to meals you make.  I add them in all the time.  So meals like Mac and Cheese, Spaghetti and even Pizza are full of added veggies.

Triple Berry Mini Pies

These taste just as scrumptious as they look and they are super easy to make too!  I got a little pocket maker from my mother.  To be honest, at first I thought it was going to be a bunch of crap, but I love that little thing now!  There are some similar ones out there, empanada makers and such, this one is pretty similar.  My mother got hers at the fair.  Who knew right?

Triple Berry Mini Pies:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of frozen berries, thawed
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 package of ready to roll pie crusts
1 tablespoon of melted butter plus 2 teaspoons of sugar, for brushing on crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine berries, sugar, flour and lemon juice.
Place small amount of mixture into dough and press closed in pocket maker.  If you don't have a pocket maker, use a lid or something round to cut out circles from the dough and then fill and press closed.
Repeat process until all dough is used.
Place on baking sheet and use a knife to make slits in the top of each one.
Bake for 8 minutes and then brush with butter/sugar mixture.
Continue baking for 2 to 4 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool slightly and remove from baking sheet.  You will need a spatula to remove them, they tend to leak out berry juice.  You can either use parchment paper, or just run your pan under warm water after baking and it will come up rather easily with just the water.

They will be gone faster than you can get them on the plate.  You will have lots of leftover berry juice.  If you add vanilla yogurt to it and place it in popsicle molds you will have another yummy treat!

Three Cheese Breakfast Melt

Martha Stewart is on my DVR list.  I usually watch her in the afternoons when Jack wakes up from his nap but is still sleepy so he uses me as a human pillow.  Its kind of our thing now.  He hears the opening music and turns his head over and goes back to sleep.  Last week we had breakfast for dinner on the menu and they happened to make a Murray's Breakfast Melt.  It looked so yummy and I had all of the ingredients except the fontina cheese.  So we made them my way for dinner and I got rave reviews.  "Mom these are so good!' and "Dad better get here fast or we're eating his!"  Some meals are meant to just be enjoyed regardless of their caloric content, this is one of them.

Julie's Three Cheese Breakfast Melt:

Ingredients:
English Muffins- 1 per melt
Eggs- 1 per melt
American Cheese- 2 slices per melt
Mozarella and Monterey Jack cheeses enough to sprinkle some on each melt
Bacon- 1 slice per melt

Recipe:
Start by frying your bacon and turn your broiler on low.
While the bacon is frying separate the English muffins and lay them out on a baking sheet (I lined mine with foil.)
When your bacon is done, set it on a paper towel to drain.  Use a brush to "butter" the muffins with bacon grease.  Put them in the broiler and carefully watch them brown, should take about 1-2 minutes.  While they are browning start your eggs.
Start them like you would an over medium fried egg, but before you flip them (almost all of the egg white should be cooked) use a fork to break the yolk.  Once you flip them sprinkle mozarella on top of the egg and turn the heat off.  They will continue to cook on the bottom and the cheese will melt.
When the muffins are lightly toasted add a slice of American cheese to each side of the English muffin.  Let them melt (takes just a minute) and then pull them out.  Immediately place 1 piece of bacon, broken in half and placed in an X formation on one side of the muffin, sprinkle with monterey jack cheese.
Place the egg on top of the bacon/cheese and top with the other half of your muffin.  Stand back and enjoy your masterpiece.

By golly these are good.  Definitely a once every month or two kind of dinner, or breakfast.  I'm sure there are some low cal options to this, like turkey bacon, less cheese, no bacon fat but I'll just eat this sparingly and enjoy every bite.  Pair it with some fresh fruit and don't feel guilty!

Banana Pecan Pancakes Recipe

Oh so decadent.  Add some maple syrup and I guarantee you'll be in heaven with these.  One of the meals we have at least once a month is breakfast for dinner.  It's kind of like a free-be for my oldest who is not too fond of vegetables, although I've started sneaking in pureed vegetables into everything (shhh don't tell him).  I normally make pancakes or banana pancakes but since the holidays are over I found that I had bought an excessive amount of pecans and dropped some in the batter this time.  It was one of my best ideas ever!  The kids were done eating and asking for seconds by the time I sat down with my plate.

The recipe:

1 cup of flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 cup of milk
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1-2 very ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup or more chopped pecans

Combine ingredients until all are incorporated, be careful not to over mix.  Cook on hot griddle and enjoy.

Here they are pre-syrup.   I knew once I put the syrup on I wasn't going to pause to take a pic.

Still working on a good recipe for a home made hair conditioning treatment.  I'm sure it would be funny to see me with all of the goo on my hair so when I make a really good recipe, worth sharing, I'll post some good pictures of my hair covered in goo.  It has been fun trying them out.  Regan has given me some really amused looks, especially when I put mayonnaise in my hair.  She ewwwed that recipe.  I'm trying out a new one this week.  We shall see.  While I really enjoyed being unplugged last week, it feels good to be back.

Easy Baked Potatoes from the CrockPot

Seriously one of the easiest dinners I've ever made.  Before I got organized I would never make baked potatoes because I just didn't have my self together enough and I was throwing dinners together at the last minute with what I had on hand.  I usually had plenty to choose from, but if it required more than 20 or so minutes it wasn't going to happen.  It also really stressed my husband out that I didn't know what we were having in the morning, his mom would set out what they were having in the mornings and so it was what he was accustomed to.  Whereas my mom worked a lot of overtime and I made a lot of meals for myself as I got older, just throwing them together at the last minute.  While my husband has never cared what we ate for dinner, this process really caused us to talk about how our childhood influenced our expectations for everyday life.  Hmm maybe a little deep for a post about Baked Potatoes?  Well life is pretty deep!

Recipe adapted from Stephanie O'Dea's "A Year of Slow Cooking"

• You need enough potatoes for your family, but you don't want to stack them on top of each other, which was about 7 for my Crock Pot.
• Wash and take out any bad spots.
• Stab your potato with a knife, but don't stab yourself because no one wants to eat bloody potatoes.
• Dry thoroughly- Stephanie explained that if you don't there will be rust.
• Wrap in foil and place in the Crockpot.
• Bake them on Low for 10 hours or High for 6 hours.  Mine were done after 9 hours on Low and I just moved my setting to warm.

They turned out perfect.  I used leftover chili, cheese and cooked up some bacon for toppings.  I paired it with green beans, grapes and a Baguette.

The Best Chicken Enchiladas

My family ate these up.  I'm talking the kids hovered around the pan of cheese sauce and licked it clean before the enchiladas were done baking.  The recipe is fairly straightforward and the ingredients are simple.  I found the recipe on Pinterest and its from a cute little blog Joyful Momma's Kitchen.  This recipe is a keeper.

The Recipe:

10 Soft Taco Shells
2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken (I used the leftovers from a Roasted Chicken)
2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used up to 2 1/2)
3 Tbsp. Butter
3 Tbsp. Flour
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup of Sour Cream
1 4oz can of Diced Green Chiles

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix the chicken with 1 cup of the shredded cheese.  Roll the mixture up in the tortillas and place in the pan.   In a sauce pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour cooking 1 minute.  Add the broth and whisk until smooth and heating until it is thick and bubbly, about 3-4 minutes.  Turn the heat off and stir in the sour cream and chiles.  If you have a picky eater that will freak out about the green things in the sauce puree them in a food processor first.  Pour mixture over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 22 minutes and then under the broiler for 3 watchful minutes to brown the cheese.

They have just the right amount of kick to not be too spicy for the kids but just enough for a more mature palate.  Next time I think I will make the sauce first and then add a bit to the chicken and cheese mixture inside the tortillas and maybe add a bit of cheddar cheese on top.  The kids can't wait to make it again!

Tip:  Use a utensil to hold the tortillas in place as you roll and put them in the dish.  Otherwise they tend to come unrolled and give you grumpy face wrinkles.  

"Hurry up Ellie my mouth is open!"  Oh and Regan  is dressed for a picture.

Oh cheesy goodness.  Not low-cal tonight!

Crock Pot Rice Recipe

Go ahead and judge me, I can cook and bake all sorts of things but I am a horrible rice cooker.  I even, oh my I can't believe I'm admitting this, have a rice cooker and I can't make rice in it.  I tried twice, it was awful.  Really it is my husbands and for some reason it just doesn't like me.  So when I was at Stephanie O'Dea  reading her 365 Slow Cooker recipes and came across rice I thought "I can totally do this."  So I did and it turned out pretty good.  I printed out the recipe when I was meal planning so all I had to do was go to the back of my House Journal and start cooking.  

Here is the recipe  from her 365 days posts:

Rub one tablespoon of butter around the bottom and sides of the crockpot

Add 1 cup of rice

2 cups of water

Pinch of salt

Cook on high for 2-3 hours checking every 45 minutes.  Stephanie's was done after 2 hrs and 15 minutes.  Mine was done after 2 hours.  I could tell after the second checking that  it didn't need another complete 45 minutes.  I also modified it by adding a chicken bullion cube at the first 45 minute check because we were having chicken and I wanted it to be extra yummy.  I also used short grain brown rice.  

It got mmmm's and every one ate it.  Jack shoveled it in his mouth, which always makes a mother proud.  I made a roasted, butterflied chicken, salad and a baguette.  It was a yummy meal.  Definitely keeping crock pot rice on the menu.