Friday, October 23, 2009

Happily Ever After

Around this time of year, I tend to get a little sappy. For starters, this is my absolute favorite time of year. I love everything about it...the weather, the leaves, pumpkins, apple cider, halloween...it just really doesn't get better than that. So when it came time to pick a wedding date, it was really a no brainer. On October 27th, my husband and I will celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. This has been a tough year for us, for a bunch of random reasons, but over the last month or so, it seems like the stars have aligned, our prayers have been answered, and things FINALLY feel GOOD again. I'm looking forward to our anniversary this year, because, even though I should do this often, I can take a moment to spend quietly with my husband, and tell him just how much he means to me, and just how lucky I feel that he is in my life. There are so many reasons that I love my husband, and I'm not going to get into that, but the main reason is that he GETS me. I can be so completely random and ridiculous sometimes, and he just goes with it. It has been such an awesome 2 years, and I feel lucky to be his wife. I am taking a week of vacation next week, and I can't wait to relax and spend some down time with my hubby!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Home




After all of my talk about painting and moving , I've been meaning to post some pictures of our house, but I kept forgetting. It is still a work in progress, but we finally feel settled, and it is starting to feel like home. I really love this house. It is so cozy!! These aren't the greatest pictures in the world, but you will get the idea...




the living room...






another angle...





the kitchen...




another angle...







our bedroom...





front of the house...



another angle...





Taco Soup

I have been making this taco soup for a few years now. I'm not exactly sure where the recipe came from, I think it is more of a combination of recipes that I saw and liked. I always make a huge batch of this, then freeze it, so it makes several meals for us. If you just want a normal size batch of soup, make sure to halve this recipe.

Taco Soup
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cans kidney beans
2 cans corn
2 cans Rotel
2 cans tomato sauce
2 packets taco seasoning
2 packets Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

Brown ground beef and onion, and drain. Add to pot. Add rest of ingredients (including liquid from all cans). Stir well. This can either be cooked on the stovetop on medium-low for 30-45 minutes, or in the crockpot on low for 3-4 hours. Top with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Crockpot chicken & dressing

This is by far one of my husbands favorite meals. I like making it because it is super simple and fairly inexpensive.

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 boxes jiffy cornbread mix, prepared using pkg directions (I make them in 2 8x8 round cake pans
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
2 eggs, hardboiled
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stick butter, melted
2 hotdog buns, or 2 slices white bread
2 tsp sage

Boil chicken breasts and let cool. Once cool, shred and set aside. Cook cornbread using pkg directions. Let cool. Add cornbread, hotdog buns, onion, sage, chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup, egg and butter to a large bowl. Mix well. Spread half of one can of cream of chicken soup in the bottom of a crockpot. Next, spread 1/3 of stuffing mixture, followed by 1/2 the shredded chicken. Repeat layers. Top with rest of cream of chicken soup. Cook on low for 4-5 hrs.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

I have had this recipe on my list of things to make for quite a while now. It has made it's rounds on the cooking board that I frequent, and I've heard nothing buy great things about it. I was super excited to make it, but was a little disappointed. It was pretty good, but I guess it just didn't live up to all the hype. I served it over rice, topped with cheese, but the next day, I had it in a tortilla, and I liked it better that way.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast
1 cup of salsa, any brand
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of sour cream

Directions:
Add chicken to the slow cooker.
Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
Mix salsa and chicken soup in another bowl. Add to crock pot.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Add sour cream during the last 30 minutes.
Shred chicken with forks and serve!