Slow Cooker Recipe Wonder

I've read several slow cooker recipes for chicken lately, but haven't tried them out.  After making this recipe for dinner yesterday, I think I'm hooked.  Essentially, you cook 4 chicken breasts in the slow cooker all day, and then add ingredients together at the end.  As a result, the possibilities are endless -- the chicken is cooked, moist, and tender at the end of the cooking process, and ready for whatever you want to make out of it.  I'm thinking chicken tacos, other noodle or rice dishes, etc.  Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

1 Box Zatarin's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Bag Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Can White Shoepeg Corn (15 ounces)

Spray slow cooker with oil or cooking spray to prevent the chicken from sticking.  Place 4 breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker, and pour can of cream of chicken soup on top, then add the chopped onions.   Cook 3-4 hours on high, or 7 hours (or longer, in my case) on low.  At the end of the day, simply stir in the can of corn, cheese, and rice together in the slow cooker, put the lid back on to let the cheese melt, and it's ready to go.  The kids ate it, we ate it, it was easy, fairly inexpensive and quick.  I'd say a winner all the way around!

Happy First Birthday, Crosby!

Can't believe my baby boy is a whole year old.. time really flies!  Happy birthday, sweet boy.  We love you so!

GameDay

In honor of the start of college football, enjoy pictures of my children dressed up like rednecks for Halloween, courtesy of their father.



Also enjoy this yummy recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip, the easy version:

2 8 oz packages Cream Cheese

1 Bag (2 cups) Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Ranch Dressing

1 Small Bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Rotisserie Chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In an oven-safe dish, place the cream cheese - diced to assist with melting.  Pull the chicken off the bone and shred while the cream cheese is melting.  Once the cream cheese has had a chance to soften, stir in the entire bottle of Frank's Red Hot along with the shredded chicken.  Pour a generous amount of ranch dressing into the mixture, stirring to combine.  Add in a little of the shredded cheddar to thicken the mixture, and stir again.  Top with the remainder of the shredded cheddar cheese, and put back into the oven until the dip is bubbly.  Serve with tortilla chips and Ritz crackers. 



 

WAR EAGLE!!!

Feeling Fall....

So I decided to take the summer "off" from blogging and just didn't tell anyone.  That's my story anyway.  Instagram and pinterest (@missal03) plus twitter accounts for myself and two organizations have kept my social media plate rather full. 

In the interim, I have two boys instead of a baby and a toddler.  It's amazing how quickly they have grown up.  For instance, check out my almost one year old:

From Crosby

From Crosby

These boys sure are fun....

From Crosby

So what have we been up to?  Trips to the beach, work, visits to the zoo, Steel City Pops and backyard pool sessions have filled our summer.  It's been a good one, and has passed way too quickly.  Most recently, I've jumped on board with the running "craze" sweeping my office and am running my first 5K at the end of September.  While I set a goal for myself to run a 5K by the time I turned 30, that didn't quite happen.  I will, however, run one before I turn 33.  As well as a 10K, and potentially a half marathon.  In the last month, I've gone from barely running in 30 second intervals, to running 2 miles.  A slow 2 miles, but running them.  I've joined Frank's gym too, and you can find me "workin on my fitness" most mornings doing Crossfit.  All this amounts to lots of sweating and extra laundry, but sadly no weight loss as of yet.  I'm still hoping that's to come.  In any event, I feel better, seem to feel less stressed, and am pleased that I am squeezing in a little "me" time during the week now.  More working moms should do that.

By request and without further ado, I'm now looking forward to Fall... My top 10 Fall faves are as follows:

1.            Color Blocking

                                    

**All from JCrew

2.              Tweed

**From Talbots

3.              The Cropped Pant

(as in Ankle, not Capri)

*From Madewell

4.               Leather

*From Piperlime

5.              Burgundy

**From Banana Republic

6.              The Chambray Shirt

*From Madewell

7.            The Frye Boot

**Frye Paige Riding Tall (Cognac) and Melissa Button (both from Piperlime)

8.          The Cape/Poncho

*From Shopstyle

9.           The Leopard Loafer

*Nine West Panto from Piperlime

10.         The Quilted Jacket/Vest

**Burberry Quilted Jacket and JCrew Vest

Also, nails:

Makeup:

Hair:

So there ya go!  Happy Labor Day, and here's to cooler weather...

Happy Birthday, Frank!

Happy Birthday to an amazing father and husband!  We love you!

My bigger boy!

My Big Boy!

Happy Friday!

Ladies Man

Crosby is quite the ladies man, don't you think?

"Am I the cutest baby ever, or what?"

"Oh wait, did someone walk in the room?"

"It's my brother, Franklin! He is so funny."

"Dad's quite the ladies man too. Happy Wednesday!"

Love,

Crosby

Happy Three Months, Crosby!

On December 22, my baby boy was three months old! Crosby is now consistently sleeping through the night, and is full of sweet gummy grins for everyone he sees. We've even managed to get a giggle or two out of him. Current favorites: Eating. Franklin. Itsy Bitsy Spider. Wheels on the Bus. Jingle Bells. Sleeping on Mama. Paci. Current dislikes: Sleeping on anyone but Mama. Vomiting. Bottles that fail to arrive on cue. Being bitten by his big brother. Three month stats: 90th percentile for height and weight, 50th for head circumference. Little bit tops in at a whopping 15 pounds, 12 ounces -- yes, my three month old weighs almost SIXTEEN POUNDS. Can I tell you what a challenge it is to wrangle a sixteen pound baby in a car seat that weighs at least 10 pounds along with a 30 pound toddler? Not an easy feat my friends, and my biceps prove it. The next three months were some of my favorite with Franklin, so here's the start of a new year of amazing "firsts" for my baby boy!