Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Greg and I both love chicken and dumplings. It's one of the things he always tells me to ask my mom to make when we visit. I've never attempted chicken and dumplings before. I've seen so many different types of recipes, ranging from making the dumplings from scratch (which I don't have time for) to using canned biscuits for the dumplings. I was always hesitant to try the easy recipes because I figured there's no way they could taste good, if they did, why would anybody spend hours making this dish? Well, I saw an easy crock pot version on Pinterest and decided to go ahead and try it. It was so easy and cheap, I figured if it didn't turn out good, we weren't out much. I was shocked at how good it turned out! We both loved it. It was simple and delicious. We both agreed it'd be yummy to add some carrots or celery but it's fine the way it is. Besides the biscuits, we usually have all the ingredients on hand for this. The recipe called for 4 biscuits, but 8 come in a container, so we added 2 extra biscuits to the crock pot and cooked the other two to serve with the soup.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

1lb of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (3-5)

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

2 cans (10.5oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can (14oz) Chicken Broth

1 medium White Onion, diced

4 Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits

Place chicken in crock pot (I put mine in frozen) and top with butter. Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions. Cook on High for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from crock pot and use a fork to shred. Return chicken to the crock pot. Cut each uncooked biscuit into 9 pieces and stir into the chicken mixture. Continue to cook on High for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

I couldn't get a good picture of the finished product, so here's the picture from Pinterest.

Source: polishthestars.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Project 365-Week 2

Well, I finshed another week of Project 365. I'm glad that I've taken a picture every day, but I'm disappointed in the pictures I've taken. I've taken some that I feel reflect our day and have meaning, but most of the ones I've taken haven't. I also need to really work on taking better pictures as far as lighting, clarity, etc. Taking better quality pictures is going to take some time, but my goal this week is to take more meaningful pictures that tell a story or represent our day somehow.

The cream cheese spaghetti I made for dinner, I feel like this was the best picture I took of my recipes this week, too bad it was my least favorite recipe. :(

First snow of the winter.

Bedtime Stories

After our MOPs playgroup, while loading Carter in the car, Evan got away, ran into the field next to the parking lot and fell in the mud. None of the parks we go to have dirt, they all have mulch and this is the boys' first pair of muddy/dirty jeans.

My sock bun fail. Looked so cute and simple online, looked more rat's nest than cute on me, need to practice some more.

Evan played with this pirate ship for probably half an hour today. If I went into another room for something, he'd pick it up and follow me, sit down and continue playing. It was really cute to see him slow down and concentrate on something for so long.

T.G.I.F.

It's been a long week. It's freezing in Virginia. Today the wind chill is 23 degrees!! It's cold and windy and we've been pretty much stuck inside the entire week. We did venture out a couple of times, but not as much as we typically do. Wednesday, we had a MOPs playgroup, so we bundled up and braved the cold and rain to get a little playtime in. Thursday, I had a friend over after the boys went to bed to watch "Water For Elephants". I read the book and really wanted to see the movie. If you haven't read the book, then I would not recommend watching the movie because it wasn't that great and I only liked it because I read the book. Today Greg got off work at 9:30, and he has Monday off for Martin Luther King Day. Yay!!
This weekend I'm planning on getting some much needed house work done, I'm hosting a playgroup on Wednesday morning, and I'd like our house not to be a complete disaster when people come over. I'm also meeting an old friend for lunch this weekend, which will be nice. And we're planning on going to the gym every day that Greg is off, hopefully it works out. I'm also hoping to sit down and read up on how to take better pictures. Greg is watching "The Pacific" at night, it's a mini-series that I have absolutely no interest in, so my nights are free. We finished "Friday Night Lights" a week or so ago, so I'm trying to use my evenings to be productive and let our tivo fill up a little. I'm excited to learn how to take better pictures because my Project 365 pictures are looking a little pitiful and I've been trying some new recipes and posting them on my blog, and I'd like the pictures to reflect how yummy the recipe actually is. And speaking of recipes, I redid my recipe tab on my blog, my recipes are more organized and should be much easier to find.

Here's some pictures of the little guys this week.

Carter's hippo lays on the ground on his stomach and Carter likes to "ride" him, so Evan had to do the same thing with his monkey.

The boys are climbing EVERYTHING!!!!

Evan pointing at his belly. He's obsessed. He loves to lift up his shirt and say "belly" and he loves when we ask him where his "belly button is".

Carter was waving at Evan and kept saying "hi". He wanted to make sure Evan knew that he was up there because he just learned how to get up there and Evan has been doing it for weeks now.

We got our first snow of the winter this week. It didn't stick.

Before I had kids, I'd be thrilled and maybe when they're older I might appreciate cold weather and snow again, but right now I hate it. I'm ready for summer.

Snack time, the boys love their graham crackers.

Another thing on our weekend to do list? A trip to Snippets. I know two little boys who need a haircut!!

We even played in Evan's room for awhile this week. We don't go up there much since they have basically taken over the entire main floor and also have the entire basement full of toys, but we were getting a little bored stuck in the house.

We can't spend too much time in one place because the boys start doing things they're not supposed to and then it's time for a change of scenery. The boys were into climbing and I thought that was bad, but now they're into climbing and then JUMPING  off things. They can easily get on these couches in the basement by themselves and they love to climb to the back and jump off. AH!!

Trying to climb the chair.

Playing with his pirate ship. The boys seem to never get tired of this.

Both boys are getting into pretend play now, they love to act like they're stirring and eating in their play kitchen and Carter loves his spoon. He'll act like he's eating. And they love it when you act like you're taking a bite or a drink of something they hand you.

I'm really excited it's Friday. I have some crock pot chicken & dumplings cooking for dinner (I'll post the recipe if they turn out good) all 3 boys are taking a nap, so I think I'm going to relax and spend a little time on Pinterest, play some Words with Friends, and get started on this book.

Pinterest Fail

So, it's not secret that I'm addicted to Pinterest. I use it to figure out what we're having for dinner, what book I should read next, fun craft ideas, etc. I have a folder for style tips like outfit ideas, make-up tips, and hair tutorials. This morning I tried a sock bun that I saw on Pinterest that I thought looked so cute. I always wear my hair up when I'm around the house, so I thought it'd be fun to find some cute updo's to look more put together. The tutorial looked so simple and the girl's hair looked so CUTE! Well, I tried it out and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but mine did not turn out like her's did. I'm going to try blow drying straight to see if that helps tomorrow.

Here's how the one on Pinterest looked. All cute and neat--but not too neat.

And mine--looking like a rat's nest.

Enchilada Casserole with Spicy Black Beans

I got this recipe out of my Cooking Light magazine. I love Cooking Light and always find several recipes in each issue that I want to try, but this was my first time trying any recipes out of that magazine. It turned out great and we all loved it. I seeded the jalapeno in the beans so the boys could have this for dinner also.

Enchilada Casserole with Spicy Black Beans modified from Cooking Light magazine

1lb ground sirloin
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup beef broth (I used 1 beef bullioun cube with 1 cup boiling water)
1 tbsp taco seasoning (40% less sodium)
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce (no salt added)
4 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas
1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used a blend I found called "authentic hispanic cheese")

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and onion to pan; cook until no longer pink. Drain
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth, taco seasoning, and tomato sauce to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 1/2 cups tomato mixture to beef mixture; reserve 1/2 cup tomato mixture.
4. Place 1 tortilla in a 9 inch pie plate. Top with 1 cup beef mixture. Repeat layers, ending with tortilla. Spread reserved tomatoe mixture over tortilla. Top with cheese. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Cool slightly. Cut into 4 wedges.

Spicy Black Beans
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 1 cup chopped red bell pepper and 1 minced jalapeno pepper, saute 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 (15oz) can rinsed and drained organic no-salt-added black beans. Cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro.

Night Time Routine and Shredded Chicken Taco Bowls

Every night, Greg and I do the boys bathtime/bedtime routine the same way. We've been doing it that way since the boys were about 4-5 months old. We tried a couple of different ways, but we found this works the best. The boys seem to be growing up so fast and I know that we'll be making changes to this routine soon and as soon as we do, I'll completely forget how we used to do it. It's one of the very few (maybe only) thing that we do the same every single day at the exact same time and I wanted to document it so I'd be able to look back on it.

Every night while Greg feeds the boys dinner, I do the dishes. Afterwards, we play with the boys until exactly 6:00. That's when I go upstairs, shut all the doors to the bedrooms, get out the boys pajamas, fill up their humidifiers (in the winter) turn on their white noise machines, get their books, pacifiers, and blankets ready to go. Then, I go in the bathroom and run the bath and get out their towels, lotion, washclothes and everything that I'll need after they get out of the bath. Greg then lets the boys climb up the stairs, we strip them down and throw them in the tub. They really love bath time and will usually play really good. We used to have toys in there, but their favorite thing was to throw them out of the tub, so we took them out. They just splash around in the water now and it entertains them just fine. Greg lets them play for a few minutes and I'll usually check the weather so I'll know what kind of pjs to put them in (long sleeves and pants, short sleeves and pants, etc) and then I'll check my email. After Greg lets them play a little bit, he'll start bathing one of them, when he's done, he hands that one off to me and I'll lay him on the changing pad on their sink and dry them off, put on their diaper, clean their ears, put on lotion, and brush their hair. Greg and I usually get done at the same time and we switch babies, he'll take the first one out in the hall way and put their pjs on them and I'll take the second one out of the tub and do the routine all over again. When I'm done, I'll hand him off to Greg and then clean up the bathroom real quick while Greg is putting on his pjs. Then, I come out and I take Carter into his room and Greg takes Evan into his room. We read them a few stories in the rocking chair and then put them in the crib. Greg always takes Evan and they always read "The Thinks You Can Think" and a couple of other short books. I always read Carter "Goodnight Moon" and "The Going to Bed Book", and I switch out the other 2 books that I read him on a regular basis, so he gets 4 short stories at night. The boys are so cute when we each take them into their own rooms at night, they will wave at each other and say "bye". When I come out of the bathroom from cleaning it up, a lot of the time, Carter will take my hand and start walking towards his room. I love that they know the drill. After we put the boys down, Greg and I will then go down and eat dinner. We've tried eating before the boys go to bed because it's important to us to sit down as a family and eat, but at this stage, it's just not going to happen. It's so much easier to eat after they go to bed, we like to be able to sit and enjoy our meal and talk. When the boys get older, we'll start eating before they go to bed. Most of the boys routines, like the time they get up, when they nap, what we do that day, varies so much from day to day depending on if its a weekday, what time they woke up that morning, if we have plans, but their bedtime routine is something that doesn't change, and I like having at least one thing we can count on being the same every day.

The boys coming up the stairs

 Greg was standing to the side so he wouldn't be in the picture, the boys thought that was funny. Carter's hollering and laughing at him.

Evan in the bath, happy boy.

The cute humidifier in Evan's room. Carter has an elephant one.

Evan's bedtime books

Carter's bedtime books. I was changing them out every couple nights but they each seem to have their favorites, so I've been sticking with the same books for a couple of weeks now.

The boys are always hyped up after getting their baths.

They both love to play with the light switch.

Wound up!!

Greg putting Carter's pjs.

You can't tell because the flash is on, but the lights are out and it is completely dark. Evan had just flipped the switch right before I took the picture.

 I was trying to get a picture of Carter, but he started running towards me.

Greg putting Evan's pjs on.

Carter hamming it up.

That table was in Carter's room back when it was my scrapbooking room. I took it out when I made it his bedroom. I wanted to keep it in the hallway for a couple of weeks to see if his new room was going to work out or if we were going to put him back into Evan's room. It's nice to have to put things on but it looks stupid. My mom is coming up in a few weeks, and one of the things on my to do list is to take it apart and put it up.

We also tried a new recipe tonight. It's called Taco Bowls, and I pinned it awhile ago and have been wanting to try it. It's a healthy recipe from a blog about eating on a budget (even better!) and it's supposed to be like Chipotle's Taco Bowls, and Chipotle is one of my favorite restaurants, so I knew I had to try this recipe. You cook it in the crock pot all day and then just make the rice right before you serve it. Instead of going with just plain white rice like the recipe calls for, I decided to go with the same type of rice they serve at Chipotle, cilantro lime rice. I used the recipe I found off of Skinnytaste. (I posted this recipe on before, you can find it here) I liked it, but Greg really liked it. With as easy and inexpensive as it was and healthy--we'll definitely have this again.
Here's the recipe.

Chicken Taco Bowls (Chipotle Style)

1.5 lbs chicken breasts

1 (16oz) jar salsa

1 can black beans, drained

1/2lb frozen corn

1 tbsp. chili powder

½ tbsp cumin

½ tbsp minced garlic

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp salt

Black pepper, to taste

2 cups dry rice

8oz shredded cheese

½ bunch cilantro (optional)
 
STEP 1: Add everything except the rice, cheese, and cilantro to the slow cooker along with 1/4 cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
STEP 2: Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
STEP 3: Near the end of the cooking time, cook the two cups of rice according to the package directions (Bring the rice and 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot with a lid in place, as soon as it reaches a boil, reduced the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving).
STEP 4: After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

And because the picture on Pinterest makes it look so much more appetizing, here's that picture as well as a link the original recipe which breaks down the cost by ingredient.

Source: budgetbytes.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest