Easy Chicken Cacciatore...

...well I tried another crockpot recipe from this post. Last night's meal was Easy Chicken Cacciatore from Going Jane. Everyone kept asking me what cacciatore was and I had no idea!!! The recipe:

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 oz. can of sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup water

26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

1 tsp Italian seasoning
Spaghetti Noodles
Mozzerella Cheese

Directions:Put the chicken breasts down in your crockpot.
Top with mushrooms, water and half the sauce. Sprinkle the seasoning on top.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When you're ready to serve, warm the remaining sauce and toss it with your cooked spaghetti—or any other kind of pasta to your liking or that's in your pantry. Top with cheese.

Finished product:

My mistake was that I put too much water in the crockpot but it still tasted yummy. Matt didn't add anything to his AND went back for seconds which as you know at our house, that's a HUGE deal!!! I'm eating leftovers for lunch today-yum!!!

Maple BBQ Chicken...

...well, I tried out another crockpot recipe from this post. This past Monday, we tried the Maple BBQ Chicken recipe that I got from The Chrismond Family.

Maple BBQ Chicken

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup Maple flavored syrup

2 Tbsp. mustard

2 Tbsp. Worestershire sauce

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

4 boneless, skinnless chicken breast

Place chicken breast in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6 hours or until chicken is done. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce. Place on buns for yummy BBQ chicken sandwiches. 

Verdict: You can ONLY cook this for 6 hours or close to it. I put it on at 6:20AM and didn't get home until about 5pm...yeah, there was not much juice left. It had flavored it enough to be tasty but would have been better if we hadn't left it on so long. We whipped up some mac-n-cheese and made it a meal! Yum, yum! Definitely better than just throwing some chicken in the oven with BBQ sauce. However, I AM going to make Matt clean the crock this week. Sorry for no pictures, I was loading the dishwasher before I thought about it!

More Crockpot Recipes...

...when I did my last Crockpot Recipes post, my blog stalker sister saw it and sent me a 100+ page document of Weight Watchers Crockpot Recipes!?! I've slowly gone through and picked out some I want to try and I'm going to share them with you. If you're interested in the document, leave your email and I'll forward it to you. FYI-my criteria for picking out recipes include 1. must sound like it taste good and 2. must have less than 6-7 ingredients, any more and I lose interest.

So everyone say hi to my sister Sha and let's thank her for the recipes!

Bloody Mary Chicken (6 PTS)

4 whole boneless skinless chicken breast

33 3/4 ounces Bloody Mary mix (I use extra spicy)

Wash, skin and remove fat from chicken breasts and place in a slow cooker.  Pour Bloody Mary mix over the chicken breasts, turn slow cooker to low and cook on low for 8 hours.

Per Serving: 305 Calories; 3g Fat; 56g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 137mg

Cholesterol; 1026mg Sodium. 

California Vegetable Cheese Bake (3 Points)

4 cups frozen carrot, broccoli & cauliflower blend, thawed

1/2 cup finely chopped onion (can use frozen chopped onion)

1 (10-3/4 oz) can Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup (one 2-ounce jar) chopped pimiento, drained

1-1/2 cups cubed Velveeta Light processed cheese

Spray slow cooker container with butter-flavored cooking spray. In prepared container, combine thawed vegetables & onion. Add mushroom soup, pimiento & cheese. Mix well to combine. Cover & cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours. Mix well before serving.

140 calories, 3 gm fiber, 4 gm fat 13 gm protein, 13 gm carbohydrate, 236 mg sodium, 373 mg calcium   (3 points per 2/3 cup serving)

Cheesy Crockpot Chicken (7.5 PTS)

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Cans 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Put chicken in the bottom of the crockpot. Add rest of ingredients on top. Cook 8 hours on low. Serve over rice or noodles. (Points include rice)

Per Serving: 328 Calories; 8g Fat; 55g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 146mg

Cholesterol; 631mg Sodium. 

Sweet & Spicy "DUMP" Chicken (6.5 PTS)

1 Package Taco Seasoning Mix

8 oz Apricot Jam

12 oz Salsa

1 1/2 Pounds Chicken Pieces

For immediate cooking: Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Place all ingredients into a large baking dish, turn chicken to coat. Bake until chicken juices run clear (45-60 minutes for chicken pieces, or 20-30 minutes for chicken breasts).

For freezing: Place all ingredients into a 1 Gallon freezer bag. Lay flat in freezer.

To thaw and cook: Take the bag out of the freezer the night before, make sure the baggie is completely closed. Place the Bag on a shelf furthest from the freezer (It works best if the bag is laying flat, although this may not be the best option with a side-by-side fridge/freezer). Preheat the oven to 350 F. Empty the contents of the bag into a large baking dish and bake until the juices run clear (45-60 minutes for chicken pieces, or 20-30 minutes for chicken breasts).  For the crockpot: Put chicken in the bottom of the pot, pour over the remaining ingredients (mixed) and cook until the chicken is done! SIMPLE!

Happy Crockin'! Don't forget to entry my giveaway if you haven't already. It ends at 5pm CT on 9/30.

Rainy Visit...

...this past weekend, my dad came up to STL again. We had big plans to go to this local BBQ competition and participate in the People's Choice Competition by sampling and voting on our favorite BBQ. It was NOTHING like we were expecting. First off, we had to ride a school bus to be shuttled there which was almost a 20 minute ride. I was about bus sick by the time we finally got there. Then when we arrived, the band couldn't play because everything was so wet and the People's Choice Comp? Yeah, it was just a huge long line, you didn't get to see the people BBQing or anything. Very lame in our book, so we took the 20 minute school bus shuttle ride back to the car and hit up Rib City instead-yum! Here's a pic of my dad riding the school bus:

We toured town, as we always do when he's visiting to show him what's new and exciting in our area then watched a NCIS marathon and turned in early for the Inaugural Hope 4 Tomorrow 5k on Sunday morning. This was part of Runners 4 Luke that I usually run with. Matt and Trent, my running husband, ran and my dad and Matt's mom walked. I did neither because I was supposed to volunteer. However, since it was pouring down rain, I spent the majority of the time trying to stay dry. Here's Matt and Trent tying their shoes before the race, Matt insisted I get his "good side."

The boys before the rain started as you can tell by their smiles.

Matt's mom and my dad-yes, Matt looks just like his momma and I look just like my daddy.

Matt and Trent listening to instructions as the rain starts:

Here come my dad and Star drenched to the bone but finishing up the 5k!

The boys both finished in under 30 minutes. My dad and Star finished in under an hour which was a huge improvement from my dad's time last year. Great job guys especially in that rain! We all warmed up and filled our bellies with a post-race breakfast at IHOP-yum!!!

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings...

 ...a couple weeks ago, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner did a crockpot recipe link-up. I picked out some that I wanted to try and blogged about the recipes. As promised, I'm trying them and posting about them as promised. First one up was Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings from Tastefully Done.

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

4 chicken breasts (no need to cook them first, toss them in frozen or thawed)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, diced
water or chicken broth (the broth gives it much more flavor)
2 cans refrigerated biscuits

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Mix together the soup and onion and place over the chicken. Pour enough water or broth in the crock pot to completely cover the chicken and soup mixture. Cook on low for 5-6 hours if your chicken is thawed; if chicken is frozen, cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Once chicken has cooked completely, remove the chicken from the pot and shred with a fork. Return chicken to the pot.

1 - 2 hours before serving, tear the raw biscuits into pieces and drop in the pot. Let the biscuits cook for an hour. (The liquid will cook the raw biscuits and turn them into dumplings). The biscuits will absorb the extra liquid.

My variations...I only used one can of biscuits, primarily because I didn't realize that it needed two (this is why you should read the recipe before you go to the grocery store and not skim it in the night before) and I needed the other can for deer burger muffins for dinner the next night. It had a little extra juice but not so much that it took away from the dish. I only used one can of chicken broth but because I knew I'd be gone for more than 8 hours, I went ahead and added another can of water just to make sure it wouldn't dry out.

Verdict? Matt and I both thought it tasted exactly like chicken-n-dumplings!!! All it needed was a little extra salt and pepper. We both loved this and it was super easy! For just the two of us, it was enough for dinner and lunch the next day. This one is definitely a keeper!

Halloween Pillow Giveaway!!!

...okay, this would definitely have to be the coolest giveaway I've ever done. Although the calendar may not say its fall yet, it feels like it already is which means its time to break out the fall decor and gear up for the next big holiday: Halloween! Four lucky winners will be the proud, new owners of this Halloween decorative pillows made by my momma Quilitin' Vick.

Here are all four pillows (L to R): Black Cat, Scarecrow, Ghost, Jack-o-Lantern

Jack-o-Lantern Pillow with bat background

Ghost pillow with owls (too cute!)

Scarecrow pillow with plain strips as a background (this might be my favorite!)

Black cat pillow with a full moon in the background

You've got a three ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment & tell me about your favorite Halloween costume. (Mandatory)
2. Follow me! If you already follow then mention that in your comment.
3. Share the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook. One entry for sharing on Twitter and one entry for sharing on Facebook (again let me know that you did this in your comment).

This are super cute and FREE so you don't want to miss the opportunity to spice up your place was one of these pillows. Giveaway is open until 5pm Central Time on September 30, 2011. Winners will be announced the following week. Good luck ladies (and Slam if you enter)!

Happy Half-Birthday to Me!!!

...yes, today is my half-birthday. What's that mean? Nothing really, just needed a title for this post BUT 13 years ago it meant that I could get my driver's permit! Now on to my random ramblings...

*I am volunteering at a local elementary school with their Girls on the Run program. Last Thursday was my first day and as it turns out, I'm the only coach that's not a teacher at the school. There's a TON of coaches so I'm not sure that they necessarily need me. I'm going to make the best of it and at least stick it out through the season.

*The author of the book I did a review on last week, Playing with Matches, left a comment on the post. That's the second author that's commented on a book review I've done. That's pretty awesome in my book!

*I know I did a whole blog post about how I was going to still be blogging and then I feel like I haven't blogged much in the past few weeks. Well, here's my excuses: 1. I don't really have much to write about so there's no point in doing random postings, right? and 2. the MIA Conference I'm helping with in November is taking up a TON of my time and all my blogging time has been dedicated to that blog. I'm in no way complaining because I'm REALLY excited about this organization and conference. But now you know why my blogging here has been slacking. I do apologize for my lack of comments though, please forgive me!

*For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my tweets but yes, once again, I have poison. Geez, I hate that stuff and I hate it even MORE when I can't take any medicine for it! Matt took Shad dove hunting and Shad must have brought it home because it's all on my legs. On top of the poison, I also had some major sinus drainage going on and again, couldn't take any meds so I was a hot mess that was in bed by 8pm for most of last week. Happy to report that now, most of the poison is drying up and the drainage is to a minimum.

*Remember this post where I smuggled a treadmill into the man cave without telling Matt? Just wanted to update you on that he STILL hasn't said anything. I know that he's noticed but he's not mentioned a word to me. I'm not sure whether to take that as a good or bad sign.

*Now that camp is over, things are slower at work which makes the days drag out REALLY long! I'm starting to study for my CPRP (Certified Park & Recreation Professional) in hopes of taking (and passing!) the test by my wedding anniversary (10-11). It's only 3 chapters to study and has a practice test so I'm hoping it's not too bad. Also, if it's approved in the budget then next year, I'll be studying to get my First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor licenses. So bottom line, I have a lot of studying to do in the next year!

*If I ran Top Chef then if the Challenger beat the Top Chef, he would become the new Top Chef. So in theory, the Top Chefs could constantly be rotating. That drives me nuts about this show! The Top Chef can loose but is still the Top Chef...that doesn't even make sense!!!

Okay, enough ramblings for one day!

Happy Birthday Butchie!!!

...this past Saturday, 9-10-11, was my dad's 58th birthday! He drove up to the STL and my sis, H, Matt and I took him to dinner at Tony Roma's. Tony's is located at the Mills Mall. If you aren't familiar with this mall, it's eh...not the best place to be on a Saturday night (really, what mall is???). As we walked in there was a ton of cops and a huge crowd outside a store. The store had their cage/gate down...uh, not a good sign. I took Haley's hand and we walked briskly through the crowd to get to the restaurant and then my sister yelled at me. She pointed in the store and what do you know, Nelly was in there! I looked at my dad and told him, "Surprise! Your birthday gift is you get to see Nelly!" He said, "Who?" We oogled for about a minute and went on our way.

Now let me tell you that it was about 4:30 so the restaurant was SLOW, like maybe 5 of the 20 tables were full. At most restaurants, your water cup is never empty and you finish dinner feeling like you could float away. Not tonight, she never came around and we had to flag her down to get some water. Anyways, our meal came and I'd ordered a pulled bbq pork sandwich. I dipped a fry in the sauce that was on it to taste and OMG! My mouth was on FIRE!!! No where on the menu did it say a hot, firey sauce was on this little sandwich. It just said Memphis BBQ sauce. I guess it was my bad for not asking but I did ask for another sandwich and I NEVER do that. Matt even tasted the sauce and agreed it was hot, which for him to say means its REALLY hot. He said it had lots of cumin in it. I got the second one sans-sauce.

So dinner, not fab, but Pop got his onion loaf, bbq and got to see his girls so he was happy.

Matt, H and my Pop:

After dinner, we stopped at the shoe store and then the boys wanted to hit up Cabella's. The girls detoured to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Here's my dad with his girls:

He's coming up again this weekend and we're going to hit up a bbq competition and then do a 5k on Sunday. Happy birthday Dad! I love you!

Ten Years Ago Today...

...10 years ago today, our nation was forever changed. Where was I? It was my freshman year of college and the day before was Bid Day. I was excitedly getting ready and chatting with my roommate in our dorm room, ready to proudly wear my new sorority letters to class. Suddenly, our door flew open and our senior roommate, Jo, said, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center!" She turned on our tv and my roommate and I watched. All I was thinking was, "Wow! How in the world did the pilot accidentally do that?" Then we saw the other one hit and again, naive me, thought, "Wow! Someone is not doing their job correctly!"

In my 18 year old mind, terrorist wasn't even a word to me. We live in the USA, no one would ever attack us, this was just poor piloting, right? As I walked into class and saw the panic of my teacher who turned on the tv and informed us about the other flights, I started to get an uneasy feeling that something wasn't right. She, of course, cancelled class and I headed back to my dorm room. When I got there, I had like 4 messages from my dad checking to make sure I was okay. I called him back and we talked. He explained things to me and I was in awe. How could this be happening?

That night, my sorority sisters and I headed to the vigil in the gym. Over the next week, I realized many of the familiar faces were gone from campus. When I asked about it, I found out that they were in the National Guard or some branch of the military and had been called to duty. For an event that was hundreds of miles away, this was suddenly hitting very close to home.

The following summer (2002), my mom took me to NY and we visited Ground Zero. It was the quietest place in New York other than the sound of tears. Putting the images you saw on television and then seeing nothing in person really put things into perspective. These are just a few pictures I took that day (and could find 10 years later) of Ground Zero and the memorials surrounding.

Ten years later and I still remember who told me about 9/11, what I was wearing, what class I had, who the professor was, heck I even remember what tv I watched it on (it's in my bedroom now). I hope that I never have to witness something like that again in my life time. Ten years ago and I still remember the people who lost their lives that day. I pray for their families and for the men and women who protect our freedom daily. God Bless America!

Tell me, what were you doing 9/11/01.

"Playing with Matches" by Brian Katcher...

...I recently finished Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher. Katcher is from the STL area, I'd venture to say he's from the area of town that I live in. Why? Well, when I started the book, I knew he was from STL but as I read the book, I easily picked out the local high school about 3 miles from my house, the mall which is a hop, skip and a jump away from my house and I quickly recognized all the surrounding towns. It was cool to be able to REALLY picture the setting and surroundings because hey-it was my town!

Summary (From back of book and Good Reads): Some guys are born handsome, but seventeen-year-old Leon Sanders has a mug that looks like it should be hanging in a post office with the caption “wanted for shoplifting and credit card fraud”. Thanks to his twisted sense of humor, he’s managed to go from nerdy to unknown. Leon’s new locker neighbor is Melody Hennon, an unfortunate girl whose face was horribly disfigured from a childhood accident. When Leon takes a chance and makes her laugh, he discovers that underneath the scarred skin, Melody is a funny, smart, and interesting person. Leon never predicted that he and Melody would become good friends…and maybe more. Although Leon second-guesses his own growing feelings for Melody and worries about what people will think of the two of them dating, he’s happy to have someone in his life who treats him like he’s special. But when Amy Green, cheerleader and Leon’s long-time crush, asks him out, his devotion to Melody hangs in the balance. Leon tries to find a way out of this dilemma without hurting anyone, but soon realizes–a little too late–that playing with someone’s heart is as dangerous as playing with matches.

Review: At first, I really loved Leon. He was an odd teenager, who was lucky enough to have the friends he did. He reached out to Melody despite how she looked and what everyone else thought but he still couldn't help but wonder what people would think of them together. No, that's not really cool but it's true and it's honest. Then along came Amy (boo-hiss! But what's a book without an antagonist, right?) and Leon gave up everything for her. Melody begged for Leon to come back but Leon had to go with the "pretty girl" and quickly learned the grass ain't always greener on the other side. I quickly went from liking Leon for going out there despite what others thought to hating him for hurting Melody. However, I can't say I loved the ending. I'm not sure what I wanted: Leon to end up hurting or them to live happily ever after. 


I would give this book a 3/5 stars. Despite the fact that Leon ended up being the typical teenager, it still made you look inside yourself to see if you've ever made those comments/looks at people that are different and it let you know that you should look past the outside to really see what's on the inside.

Crockpot Recipes...

...so on Facebook and Kelly's Korner, everyone is all about the crockpot recipes! I hate using my crockpot, primarily because I hate cleaning it but all the food I make in it is REALLY good. So I scoured all the link up and copy and pasted my favorites. Over the next few weeks, I am vowing to make one crockpot recipe a week. Here are some of the ones I'm going to try:

Catalina Chicken
Frozen (yes! frozen) chicken breasts or tenderloins (4-6 breasts or 10 tenderloins)
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
2/3 bottle Catalina salad dressing (do NOT use the low fat version)
1 pkg of Lipton's French Onion Soup mix


Put chicken and remaining ingredients in the crock pot. You don't even have to stir them together - just dump and go (I do break up the cranberry sauce a little as I scrape it out of the can and into the pot). Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.

I usually serve this chicken over rice and with a side of veggies.

SALSA CHICKEN

2-4 Chicken breasts
Taco Seasoning
1 cup salsa
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz sour cream

Put chicken in crockpot and top with taco seasoning. Mix salsa and soup and put on top. Cook for 6-8 hours on low and then mix in the sour cream and let it get hot before serving. Serve over rice or in taco shells.

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings (I'm SUPER excited about this one!)

4 chicken breasts (no need to cook them first, toss them in frozen or thawed)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, diced
water or chicken broth (the broth gives it much more flavor)
2 cans refrigerated biscuits

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Mix together the soup and onion and place over the chicken. Pour enough water or broth in the crock pot to completely cover the chicken and soup mixture. Cook on low for 5-6 hours if your chicken is thawed; if chicken is frozen, cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Once chicken has cooked completely, remove the chicken from the pot and shred with a fork. Return chicken to the pot.

1 - 2 hours before serving, tear the raw biscuits into pieces and drop in the pot. Let the biscuits cook for an hour. (The liquid will cook the raw biscuits and turn them into dumplings). The biscuits will absorb the extra liquid.

Venison Stroganoff (gonna have to wait until deer season for this one)

3 cans of cream of chicken or mushroom soup ( Usually use two cream of mushroom and one cream of chicken but it doesn't really matter)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 lbs Venison roast cut into chunks

Combine all ingredients into crockpot add venison. stir until well coated. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over egg noodles.

Easy Chicken Cacciatore
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz. can of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup water
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Yep, that's it—and some cooked spaghetti to go with it along with some shredded mozarella for a little garnish if you want it.
Put the chicken brTop with mushrooms, water and half the sauce. Sprinkle the seasoning on top.breasts down in your crockpot.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When you're ready to serve, warm the remaining sauce and toss it with your cooked spaghetti—or any other kind of pasta to your liking or that's in your pantry.

CROCK-POT MARGARITA CHICKEN

Ingredients
4-5 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 minced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons margarita mix
1) Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl. Place chicken into crock-pot. Cover with sauce. Cook on low 7-9 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

Crock Pot Pizza
1.5 lbs of hamburger
1 – 12 oz bag of thin egg noodles
2 pkg mozzarella cheese
1 pkg cheddar cheese
1 small jar spaghetti sauce
1 small jar pizza sauce
Optional items: onion, mushrooms, green pepper, pepperoni
Cook and brown hamburger with peppers and onions. Drain grease and add both jars of sauce; let simmer. Cook noodles. Layer in crock pot: sauce and meat, noodles and cheese. Repeat until crock pot is full. Make last topping mozzarella cheese. Cook for 2.5 hours on high.

Maple BBQ Chicken

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup Maple flavored syrup

2 Tbsp. mustard

2 Tbsp. Worestershire sauce

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

4 boneless, skinnless chicken breast

Place chicken breast in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6 hours or until chicken is done. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce. Place on buns for yummy BBQ chicken sandwiches.

This week I'm trying crockpot lasagna. I will do blog posts about each recipe and I'll *try* to take a picture of each of it. If you have a recipe or try any of these listed, please share!!! Happy Crocking!

Velvetta Skillet Dinner Kits...

...I have to share with you this new product out by Velvetta. It's a skillet dinner kit and they're pretty delish. They have Nacho Supreme, a cheesyhamburger one, bbq chicken and a chicken in broccoli. I hadn't even heard of them until I got my coupons this week and saw a coupon for $1 off. I thought I'd cut it out and if they were on sale I'd get one. Well, what do you know? That afternoon I went to Shop-n-Save and they were on sale for $2 so with my coupon I paid $1 for this:

 Photo from here

All you had to do was brown 1 pound of hamburger (of course, at the G house we used deer burger). Then add 2 cups of water and the seasoning, simmer for 9-11 minutes or until water's gone. Then add the salsa and cheese (cheese is like when you make Velvetta shells). It was pretty good but I couldn't taste the salsa very much. Reminded me of Hamburger Helper but with taco meat. For a $1 meal though both Matt and I were pretty pleased. I really want to try the chicken and broccoli one!

Rabbit, rabbit!