Another Taco Soup.

I love Taco Soup so it's a good thing there are so many varieties of it! I'm hoping to make this one next week.

TACO SOUP
1 can chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
16 oz. can whole corn
16 oz. creamed corn
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 sm. can chopped green chilies

In a skillet brown the hamburger and chopped onion. When browned add to crockpot. Meanwhile, add all remaining ingredients to crockpot. DO NOT DRAIN. Simmer for a couple of hours on high and serve. Top with additional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips (cooked in frying pan with olive oil and grated parmesan cheese).

Another idea? Eat with large Fritos chips~yum

21 Months Of Fun!

It's the day to day stuff like this with Addison that makes life so fun right now. I wouldn't trade this time (or these memories!) for anything! And yes, that is a sticker on her forehead~ that's where she likes to put them and I have no idea why.

Easy Breakfast.

My kids aren't really cereal eaters. I don't know why. Marty and I love cereal. There's nothing like a bowl of Rice Krispies or Cheerios before bed at night! Especially if the bowl of Rice Krispies has a banana sliced on top! Yum!!! So, I have absolutely no idea why the kids don't like the stuff. Oh sure, they'll eat certain varieties like Fruit Loops, Cocoa Puffs or Cookie Crisp dry and as a snack. But to get them to eat a somewhat healthy cereal like Cheerios or Golden Grahams, in a bowl, with some milk and a spoon, for breakfast? They'd rather starve! So yep, you guessed it, the fact that they won't make morning life just a teeny bit easier for me (and Marty) means I am stuck making breakfast most days of the week.

Now, over the years I've gotten smart and have started feezing extra batches of pancakes, waffles, muffins and french toast which really helps. And I always keep the fixings for omelets in the fridge so they can make microwave omelets if they want them. I figure at least this way the kids have some variety and always go to school with full tummies. But let's face it, you can only eat so many pancakes before you're sick of them. Or so Meghan and Noah tell me!

Anyway, last week as I was bloggernacking (yes I still bloggernack every once in a while), I came across a recipe for Breakfast Danish. It sounded yummy. It sounded easy. It sounded quick. But best of all, it sounded like it makes quite a bit. So, I bought the ingredients to make them. I'll let you know what we think of them!

Oh before I go, I'm posting the recipe just in case you decide that you need some variety in your morning breakfast rotation, too. Just promise me that if you try them before I do you'll leave me a comment and let me know how they turned out!

Breakfast Danish
2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp sour cream

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp butter, softened
1 -2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and sour cream...set aside. Open your cans of crescent rolls. DO NOT unroll. Slice the "tubes" of crescent rolls into 1/4 inch disks. Flatten and place on your prepared jelly roll pan. Indent the center of each disk with your finger and place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on it. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just starting to turn golden. Let cool on a cooling rack. While cooling make the icing. Mix the powdered sugar, butter and 1 tbsp of milk together. Slowly, continue to add more milk until the icing is thick but still runny in consistency. Drizzle icing over the top and enjoy!

Menu Board Messages.

Love how instead of letting me use this as a menu board, Noah uses it as his message center! Every day is a different message. This is today's message. The best part about the whole thing is he's so quiet and nonchalant about it. When he thinks everyone is busy doing their own thing, he'll sneak into the kitchen and write his next message. These messages are a huge part of what make my days as a stay at home mom so special!

Good Morning!

Just a snippet of a typical morning with Addison. Each day with her is always an adventure. Allbeit a tiring adventure at times, but a wonderful adventure all the same!

OK.

Due to a ruptured arm muscle that has left my arm in a sling for the weekend I am taking yet another break from blogging. I will return once the orthopedic guy has given me the allclear to use my arm agian.

Another Recipe To Try!

Chicken Cobbler Casserole

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

4 cups sourdough rolls, cubed

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

2 medium sweet onions, sliced

1 cup buttermilk

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup drained and chopped jarred roasted red bell peppers

2½ cups cooked chicken, shredded

Toss 4 Tbsp. of melted butter with sourdough rolls, parmesan cheese and parsley. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet sauté onions in remaining butter over medium-high heat until golden brown. Stir in buttermilk, mushroom soup, peppers and chicken. Stirring constantly cook about 5 minutes or until bubbly. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9x9 or 11x7 pan. Top evenly with bread mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until casserole is golden brown.

A Picture.

Truly, "a picture speaks a thousand words" at it's best.

So Addison.

I love that all you can see is this messy mop of curly hair under all those blankets! So Addison. So Addison.

Great Buds.

Gotta love the chocolate beard Addison is sporting!

Easy Crockpot Recipe.

Because our checkbook can't take much more of this non-stop eating out, nor can our stomaches, I am on the hunt for quick and easy crockpot recipes. However, since I'm not a fan of crockpot recipes that call for umpteen cans of Cream of Chicken Soup, finding recipes can be a bit tricky. So when I found this one AND discovered I had all the ingredients save for the Taco Seasoning, I was thrilled. So was the family. They all wondered what the strange smell coming from our kitchen was! And because it was so good, I thought I'd share the recipe.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
2 chicken breasts
3 T taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup cream cheese

Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours (or high for 2.5 hours). Add cream cheese 1/2 hour before serving. Shred chicken in crockpot with fork and serve on tortillas or taco shells topped with cheese, lettuce, black olives and sour cream.

One Small Change.

As I was reading through blogs yesterday I came across a post about participating in this One Small Change Challenge. The title alone was probably enough to grab my attention, but throw in the word's "change" and "challenge" and I'm hooked! Anyway......

Here's the scoop: On the first of every month you blog about one small change you are going to make to help the environment. Decide on your small change then make a conscious decision to follow through on this change for the entire month. Then, on the first day of the next month you are to blog about how your green change went and write about your change for that month. Continue to do this up until April 22nd~ Earth Day. The gist being that any change you make over the next few months, no matter how seemingly small, can make a big difference.

Now you know by now I'm not one to pass up a challenge, right? So you shouldn't be surprised that I have decided to get on board, right?! And I am quite proud to say that after about thirty minutes of idea searching, I have decided to commit to trying to reduce waste by buying products with the least amount of packaging. hmmm......

Wish me luck because I think I'm going to need it!

Happy February!

I don't know about you, but I love February. The days are getting longer. The temperature isn't as cold. There are always awesome deals to be found at the mall as the stores get ready for their spring lines and try to make up lost Christmas dollars. The month is shorter making spring feel like it's right around the corner. The bulk of the winter illnesses are gone. My list can go on and on but for your sake, I'll stop there! So in celebration (or maybe it's honor?) of February I have returned from my Blogging Vacation.

While nothing really noteworthy has been happening lately, I did find that I missed blogging a bit. I've found I like having a place to "journal" our happenings and thoughts. It's fun to go back and reread old posts seeing where we were then and compare it to where we are now. You forget how much things can change in such a short amount of time, you know?

When I started blogging Addie wasn't even one. She wasn't walking, she wasn't really talking. She wasn't the chattering little spitfire she is today. When I started blogging I was still cooking and putting dinner on the table every night. These days? We're grateful for McDonalds Dollar Menu. (Although I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing to be greeted with a "hey, we missed you yesterday!" when we walk through the door.) When I started blogging we were exploring the whole Mormonism faith. Now we're very well rooted at Eaglebrook (and trying in vain to get the Missionaries to stop showing up on our doorstep!) Marty's job was on the line. Now it's more secure than ever. And as we all know, I was really struggling with my "perfectionism" issues. OK, so I'm still struggling with those, but I have learned to let some of it go (just reread the McDonalds line to see "rolling with the flow" in action!)

But more interestingly, as I have gone back and reread old posts I discovered that I actually stuck with a couple of things like going places by myself and even learning how to craft easy projects. Now, I'll be honest and say I'm finding that while they're darned frustrating at times, overall I am enjoying the process and even finding it somewhat theraputic.

So while I don't know that I'll post every day anymore, I think I will get back into the routine of blogging. Even if it's only for the accountability (or maybe even simply the documentation) aspect. And if you need proof of accountability, then look no further than the picture posted at the top of this entry. (Many tears were shed this past weekend while I was making that felt heart!)