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!!

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.

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!

Giveaway Winner!!!

I am super excited to announce the winner of my very first giveaway!! For some reason, I can't copy a picture of the random generator on random.org, so you guys are just going to have to take my word for it that I did use it!! Anyway, the winner is Jen!!

Jen said...
FOOTBALL!
September 23, 2009 8:15 AM

Congratulations, Jen!! Please email me at jennharton@paducah.com to claim your prize!!

Chicken Club Ring

Our dinner last night was pretty good. I look forward to trying different variations of this in the future. I think this was originally a Pampered Chef recipe, but I found it here. I have put that recipe below, and noted my changes.

Chicken Club RingRecipe
2 (8 oz) tubes refrigerator crescent rolls
3 cup coarsely chopped cooked chicken ( I just boiled my chicken, then when it was almost done, I chopped it up and put it in the skillet with a small amount of the bacon drippings, some garlic salt and onion salt.
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley (I omitted)
1 garlic clove, pressed (I used garlic salt instead)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced (I diced up a regular tomato)
2 chopped green onions
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl, combine chicken, bacon, 3/4 cup of cheese, mayo, mustard, parsley and garlic; mix well.Scoop filling evenly over desired shape**; top with tomato slices. ( I mixed the tomato and green onion in with the rest of the mixture.) Finish shape as directed. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.** Shape refers to the various shapes you can make with crescent rolls and some creative folding - wreath, ring or braid. Basically, you lay them out in a circle, overlapping, to look like a sun. spread filling out over the inside edge, and one-by-one, fold the points over into the middle.

Happy Fall...and a Giveaway!!!

I LOVE fall. It is, by far, my favorite season. I'm not the most outdoorsy person, but fall is the one time a year that my husband can get me out to hike our local trails, or go exploring in some out of the way place that he has randomly come across. I love the cool air, and the colorful leaves, and the smell in the air that you only get in the fall. It.is.awesome.

As luck would have it, I received my very first package from myblogspark yesterday, so I am having a "Beginning of Fall" giveaway!! Yay!! If you haven't checked out myblogspark, you really should. It is a pretty neat concept. Anyway, on to my giveaway. The prize is a Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters "Snack Pack" prize pack that includes all four (4) varieties of the Granola Nut Clusters along with a sling backpack, stainless steel water bottle, flashlight and binoculars! I have already tried some of the granola nut clusters that I received, and they are AWESOME!

To enter the contest, I want to know your favorite thing about fall. The contest will end at 10pm on Thursday, and the winner will be announced on Friday morning. Good luck!!

"Enchiladas"

Thankfully, we finally got unpacked enough that I could cook dinner last night in our new house! I was so excited, because I haven't been able to cook at all in so long, and that is how I relax. I was really excited about this particular dinner, because I LOVE anything mexican, and my husband does not. However, he actually requested this, so it was at the top of my menu for the week. A couple of months ago, I tried a recipe that everyone was raving about on the nest. Annie's "Benchilada's" were SO good. My husband loved them, but he asked if I would make them again using shredded beef. I was a little skeptical about mixing shredded beef, sour cream and ranch dressing, but the outcome was GREAT!! I still absolutely love the chicken version, so I will probably rotate between the two, but this is definitely going into our normal rotation!

My take on "Benchilada's"!

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast (any roast that shreds easily will work)
2 cans of beef broth
1 onion, sliced
taco seasoning
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
flour tortillas (you can use small or large. I used the burrito size, and it made 5)
jar of salsa
shredded mexican cheese (I usually use close to 4 cups, I love cheese!)

Directions:
I put my roast in the crockpot in the morning before work. I added 2 cans of beef broth, 1 medium onion and a little bit of taco seasoning. I cooked it on low for 10 hrs. It was perfect by the time I got home from work. When I got home, I took the meat and onions out of the crockpot and placed it into a colander in the sink so all of the juice could drain.

While the beef is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In another, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred the beef and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan . Take one tortilla and top with about 1 tbsp. of the sauce from the small bowl. Spread over the tortilla in an even layer. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla. Top with salsa to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients .
Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or so. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Last night, I cooked dinner for my dad. I loved every minute of it, because I haven't had a kitchen in weeks. We wanted something quick and easy, so I decided on Tuna Noodle Casserole. This is an old stand-by for me. It is my moms recipe, and I'm pretty sure it came from the Betty Crocker, or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I've adapted it a little over the years, but it is basically the same, and it never disappoints!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole
3-4 cups of egg noodles (I use more than the recipe calls for, because we love leftovers!)
9 oz canned tuna
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Cook egg noodles using package directions. Chop onion & green pepper and place in a large bowl. Add tuna and mayo to the bowl. Heat soup and milk in a saucepan until heated through. Add 1/2 cup cheese to soup mixture, and stir until melted. Drain noodles and add to bowl. Pour soup over noodles. Stir contents of bowl until mixed well. Add 1/2 cup cheese to mixture and stir well. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 420 degrees for 20 minutes.

We move into our house in 4 days, so I plan to have LOTS of updates soon!! Stay tuned!

I.Am.Exhausted.

This has officially been the longest month of my life!! On August 18, we decided to move from our apartment, and I have not had one moment of down time since then. My mom & I have painted at the new house almost every day, and we are completely worn out. The good news is, we found out today that we will be moving in on Saturday!! YAY!! That means I get to be under the same roof as all of my belongings, my husband and my cats!! I could not be happier!! I haven't had time to get real excited about this move, but now that it is getting close, I am SUPER excited!! Our house has turned out SO cute!! I can't wait to be moved in and unpacked, and able to spend some much needed quiet time with my hubby!! :)

I am NOT amused!

Well, this move is definitely not going like I'd hoped. We moved out of our apartment 9 days ago, and as of today, our house is not much closer to being ready to move into. When they told us it might take " a few days" longer, I was cool with it. I thought, we can find a place to stay for a few days. No big deal. But this is starting to get ridiculous. We stayed in a hotel until today. However, that was getting crazy expensive, so we are now going to be staying with our respective parents. Why, you ask?! Well, with Matt working nights, he didn't want to come in around 4 in the morning at my parents and wake everyone up (and there is really no way around it), and there is only room for one of us at his moms, so there you have it. It is a little bit like we are dating again! I am really trying to make the best of it, but it is starting to wear me down. I hate being so "unsettled". I just want to be in our house, with my husband and our cats! So say a little prayer that this contractor gets on the ball before I beat him with my paint roller!!! :)

Here's to new beginnings!

Well, the last week has been quite a whirlwind of activity, and until now, I haven't had a lot of time to sit back and think about what is really happening. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER happy that we are moving into a house. It is what we have been wanting, and I definitely think it is the right move for us. But I'm also a little sad about leaving our apartment. I do love this apt. It holds a lot of great memories for us. This was my first "big girl" apt!! :) The first time I ever paid bills completely one my own, without help from my parents was in this apt. Matt & I got engaged at this apt. Our "babies" were born in this apartment. (anyone that knows me knows that by "babies", I mean "cats"!!) This was our first home as husband & wife. The last 4 1/2 years were spent making memories in this apartment. So it is definitely going to be sad to leave. The emptier I see it getting, the more I realize that we are really leaving. But I'm excited about new beginnings. I can't wait to see what memories we can make in our new home.

I knew this was too easy!

Well, our move isn't looking like it is going to go as smoothly as I'd hoped. The remodel is taking longer than they anticipated, so there is a chance that we won't be able to move in for almost 2 weeks. The problem with that is that we are moving out of our apt THIS weekend, no matter what. So instead of moving once, we may have to move twice. If they don't get finished, we are going to have to move our stuff into my parents garage, and stay with them for a week. Not the perfect solution, but I guess it will do

My mom and I spent the whole weekend at the new house painting, then I went home every night and packed. I am completely exhausted, and still have so much to do. In the long run, I know I'm going to be happy about the move, but right now, I am completely stressed and overwhelmed!

We're Moving!!!!

This has, by far, been one of the craziest weeks of my life!! A week ago, the idea of finding a house to rent and moving out of our apt was just that...and idea. We had been tossing the thought around, but we weren't aggressively searching for anything. On Tuesday, we found out that our rent would be going up considerably on our apt, and that was just the kick in the pants that I needed. On Wednesday, I started feverishly searching for rental houses. By late in the day, I had just about given up my search, because I wasn't finding anything. I was frustrated and stressed. I was alone at work that day, so I went into the sanctuary of the church and talked to God for a while. I told him that I was going to need a miracle if I was going to pull this off, but that I felt like it was the right time for us to make this move. After spending a few minutes in there, alone with God and my thoughts, I came back to my office feeling a little bit better. Thats when I remembered one source that I hadn't checked out that someone had mentioned to me. I logged into this website, and found a listing that was close to a month old, but was exactly what I was looking for. I figured it was a long shot, but I called anyway. I spoke with the landlord, and it turns out that he had stopped trying to rent it for a few weeks because he decided to remodel the kitchen & bathroom. The house was still available, and he planned to have it ready by the end of the month. He told me that another lady was very interested in it, but for me to go by and look at the outside, and if I was still interested, to call him and he would meet with me to see the house. The house happens to be in the exact neighborhood that we have been wanting to move to, and when I saw the outside, I was super excited. It is a cute little house, with a huge yard. I called that night and made an appt to meet him on Thursday to see the house. When I walked through the house, I realized that it is smaller than our apartment, and not nearly as "spread out", but it is still cute. He told me that if I liked it, it was ours, because he really like me and would like to rent to me. I called my husband, and he told me that he trusts my instincts, and if I think this is the right thing, then he is completely on board. The best part about this whole thing is that the rent is $100/mo less than what we pay now for our apt (before the rent increase). So I told the landlord that we would take it, and we move in ONE WEEK!!! I can hardly believe that this is happening, but I am SO EXCITED!! I am really looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!

Menu Planning

Several months ago, in an effort to cut our grocery budget, I began meal planning. I have always been terrible about ending up with a lot of main dishes and no sides, or vice versa. Since I've started planning out our menus, I feel like I have some order to my life!! I go shopping every two weeks, so it took me a while to learn to meal plan that far in advance. It also took me a while to realize that I didn't have to make a 4 course meal every night. I think that I have found a nice balance now. Here is my meal plan for the next few weeks. (with my husband working nights, the order of these could change at any given moment, but overall, this is what it will be.)

Monday - Smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday - Pigs in a blanket, mac & cheese
Wednesday - Chicken nuggets (homemade), spicy corn, some other veggie
Thursday - setting up for yard sale -probably just a sandwhich
Friday - yard sale day - out or sandwhich
Saturday - " "
Sunday - Taco Salad

Monday - Smoked sausages, baked beans, veggie
Tuesday - BLT's, chips
Wednesday - blueberry pancakes and bacon
Thursday - I have an extra package of ground beef, so I will probably do something with that.
Friday - Grocery shopping day

Progress

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself. I started a project, and I am actually following through with it!! (Follow through has never been my strong point!) I have gotten rid of an enormous amount of junk, and have a pretty big pile going for my yard sale. I said I was going to become crafty enough to decorate my house, but at this point, I am just "supervising" the crafty!! I came up with an idea for my bathroom, and my mom took my vision and actually made it happen. I need to take some pictures, but I still need to pick up a few things to complete the bathroom. It feels good to actually be making some progress!!

As for cooking, I haven't been doing much. My husband has been working nights, so our schedules are completely messed up, and I end up just making something simple. But I'm trying to get back into some sort of routine. I've started meal planning for the next 2 weeks, and I plan on actually going through with it!! One thing that I have made recently was White Castle cheeseburgers. My mom's friend made them for bunco one night, and she got the recipe for me.

White Castle Cheeseburgers
2 lbs ground beef (my pkg was about 2.25 lbs, which worked fine)
Onion flakes (enough to cover the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish)
worchestershire sauce
6-8 slices american cheese
dinner rolls (I used Hawaiian Rolls)
salt & pepper

In a 9X13 baking dish, cover the bottom with dried onion flakes. In a bowl, mix ground beef, worchestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Flatten ground beef out on top of onion flakes. (I had to do it in sections, then smash it all together) Cook in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or so. Remove from oven and drain out any grease. (I poured out the grease, then soaked up the excess with a paper towel. ) Top with cheese slices, and return to oven for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Cut into squares, and place on hawaiian rolls. (I cut mine into 12 squares, which made burgers that were a little larger than the buns. You could cut them smaller and get more out of it.)

These were really good! My husband wasn't a fan of the hawaiian rolls, because he said it made his burger too sweet, but other than that, they were great!

Making Changes

About a month ago, I decided that I no longer like anything about my apartment. That may seem drastic, but it is completely true. I am so tired of looking at the stuff that I have, and I am ready for changes. Not only that, but I'm tired of being unorganized. So I have begun a pretty big project. I am cleaning out and getting rid of anything that I don't want. I have taken things down off of my walls, off of tables & out of closets, and I am having a yard sale at the end of the month. I am organizing all of the junk that I have left, and trying to make it look a little bit better. I'm bargain shopping for new decorations, and I'm trying to become crafty enough to decorate my house. Its coming along, slowly but surely. I'm pretty sure that my husband thinks I've lost my mind. Every time he walks into a room, he finds something else missing!! But it has been a lot of fun so far, and very theraputic!! I should have done this a long time ago!!

Excuses, excuses. (and a recipe!)

I really haven't been blogging much lately. In fact, I haven't been doing much of anything lately. I am not a huge fan of summer. It makes me lazy. I haven't cooked much, or done much organizing. LAZY, I tell you!! But last week, I was on vacation, so one night I decided to make a nice dinner. I can't remember where this recipe came from...I copied it down from somewhere YEARS ago, and I don't make it very often. It is a variation of a roast, but it is a lot different than the normal potroast that I usually make.

Italian Roast

1 (3-4 lb) chuck roast
2 cans beef broth
1 cup red cooking wine
mushrooms (the recipe calls for shitake mushrooms, but I use button mushrooms)
1 onion, cut in strips
1 green pepper (I think I added this ingredient somewhere along the way!)
salt & pepper
olive oil

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add chuck roast and sear on each side. Remove meat, and add more olive oil. Add onions, mushrooms and green pepper. Cook until tender. Add beef broth and red wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add meat to pan, cover, and place in 400 degree oven for approx. 4 hrs. Keep an eye on it, and if the liquid starts to cook down too much you can add more beef broth. After 4 hrs, remove meat to a plate to rest. Pour the rest of the contents of the pan into a blender with 2 tablespoons of flour. Blend until it makes all the same consistency. Serve over meat and mashed potatoes.

Slowing Down

I've noticed lately that whenever someone asks me how I've been or what I've been up to, I always say that I've been busy. But when I step back and look at things, I'm not real sure what I've been so busy doing. I mean, I know that we all have our responsibilities, but compared to some people, I don't have much going on. So why am I always so "busy"?! I heard recently about a man in our town that passed away while playing golf. He was married with 4 kids, and HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD! I just can't wrap my brain around it. It has caused me to take a look at my life and what is truly important, because tomorrow isn't promised to us. I know that I have things to do around the house when I'm at home, but is there anything so important or so pressing that I can't stop and sit on the deck with my husband for a while when he asks me to? Not really. So I'm trying to teach myself to stop taking things for granted, and enjoy EVERY day. I also want to take steps to better every relationship in my life. I am so blessed with a wonderful group of family and friends, but is there more that I could be doing in those relationships? Probably so. Several months ago, I blogged about The Love Dare, a 40 day devotional that my husband and I were starting. We did really well with it for a while, but then we let life get in the way, and we never finished it. I've been thinking for several weeks that we should start back up, but we never find the time. I just finished my daily devotional book that I've been doing, so I've decided to start The Love Dare on my own. In the movie Fireproof, the husband does the book on his own, without even telling his wife that he's doing it. That is kind of the approach that I want to take on it. I haven't told my husband that I am starting it, because I feel like it will be more effective if he isn't expecting it. If he notices that I'm doing it, thats fine, but I'm not going to volunteer that information. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like we have any major problems in our marriage, but I think we could all stand to be a little better, or try a little harder. So that is what I plan to do. My "dare" for today is to not say anything negative to my husband. So far, so good! :) I'm not going to post about this every day, but I will up date once a week or so on how its going. And if you haven't checked out "The Love Dare", you definitely should.