Crockpot Italian Chicken

I am always looking for great meals that I can prepare in the crockpot, and this might be my new favorite. It gets points for being SO simple and even more points for being DELICIOUS! I threw this in the crockpot on Sunday morning before we went to church. 

When we got home from church, all I had to do was boil noodles, cook a vegetable and bake some garlic bread to finish out this meal! And it was an absolute favorite. Thanks to www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing 

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 cans cream of chicken soup 

Instructions:
Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low in the crockpot for at least 4 hours. Once chicken is done you can leave the chicken breasts whole, cube it, or even shred it.

Once you have cut up the chicken, throw it back in the crockpot and stir into the sauce. If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it to your preferred consistency with a little milk. Serve over pasta or rice.

Building Log Cabins

We have been working on sorting parts of speech. Verbs and nouns seem easy, but sometimes adverbs and adjectives get confusing. So, on President's Day, we used this activity to practice sorting parts of speech!

I cut out log cabins and labeled popsicle stick with words. Then I told them what part of speech to build their cabin with. They had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to reinforce our grammar lessons.

Puckering Up

Aunt Mary, you keep us entertained! 

When the kids opened their Valentine's package, they quickly gave me a photo opportunity with these suckers. 

Eli couldn't keep his lips  on straight. That thing was HUGE for his little mouth.

: )

Pizza Pockets

If you are anything like me, every once in a while you look at the clock and realize that supper should be on the table in half an hour, and you have nothing, nada, zilch! Maybe your afternoon snuck away from you, or you get home later than expected.

If this describes you, file this quick recipe for the future. Special thanks to this website where I found the recipe: richestoragsbydori.blogspot.com.

This quick and simple dish is so easy to make that Emily did the work -- bonus!!

 And, how did they taste? DELICIOUS! Everyone devoured them. 

Serve them with sauce on the side and you have a crowd pleaser! 

Ingredients:

3 cans Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
56 pepperoni slices
Block of cheese (Colby & Monterey Jack or Cheese Stick)
1 beaten egg
Parmesan
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
1 jar pizza sauce 

Cut the block of cheese into at least 28 squares.

Flatten a biscuit out and stack pepperoni and cheese on top.

Gather up the edges of the biscuit.
Line the rolls up in a greased 9x13 in. pan.  Brush with beaten egg.  Sprinkle with parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Bake at 425°F for 18-20 minutes.

Serve the rolls with warm pizza sauce for dipping.   

Another Milestone

The first few years of a baby's life are full of milestones. 

I greet each one with mixed emotions.

Our latest milestone is the retirement of the crib. A huge "thank-you" to our dear friends, Ashley and Ryan, for loaning us their crib since my brother was using our crib. What a blessing to benefit from their kindness.

Eli loves his new freedom to be able to crawl out of bed on his own. 

Draped from Eli's crib is a sentimental quilt that Aunt Melissa made for our sweet Emily when she was born. 

And, his crib sheets -- I made them with a super simple pattern!

I found this vinyl wall art online, and knew it would be perfect for our little guy's room. The only problem is that his walls all have rough texture, so they can't be used directly on the walls. Easy solution -- I framed them! 

Ganglion Cyst, No More!!

Ganglion Cyst Overview

A ganglion cyst is a tumor or swelling on top of a joint or the covering of a tendon (tissue that connects muscle to bone). It looks like a sac of liquid (cyst). Inside the cyst is a thick, sticky, clear, colorless, jellylike material. Depending on the size, cysts may feel firm or spongy.

Gross, I know. Could doctors and researchers come up with more positive-sounding names for things. "Ganglion" is just a disgusting word!!

I had a ganglion cyst on the palm of my hand. It had been growing for years and years, and finally started affecting daily function. Matthew finally convinced me to see a surgeon. 

In less than a week, I parted with my ganglion cyst. A week later the stitches came out. And it is great to open a jar and turn a steering wheel without pain. Thank you, Dr. Sundberg!! (And thank you to Matthew, who changed a few extra diapers the week following the procedure. Thank you to Kathy for keeping the kids. And thank you to Emily and Megan, for taking on a few extra kitchen duties so we could have good meals!)

Making Memories Together

This year the girls aren't taking dance. At first, I was disappointed because I loved watching them dance, and it was fun to have an evening out of the house every week. But we discovered a treasure in this decision -- we have another evening of family time and more evenings without rushing through dinner to get somewhere on time.

Matthew and I have tried to plan a few planned evenings each week. The girls look forward to these nights. Another benefit is that we spend less time plopped on the couch and more time interacting with each other.

Tuesday nights are family devotion night, and Matthew leads us in a devotion from "52 Family Time Ideas," a fantastic book by Timothy Smith. Each lesson includes an activity, scripture and discussion. It is great to set aside special family time to reflect on God and what is most important to our family.

Thursday nights are family game night. Each Thursday, someone gets to choose a game to play after supper is cleaned up. In addition, that person gets to choose a special dessert. It has been a hit! We have always loved to play games, but there is a deeper reason I thought game night would be a good idea. Although we love to play games, some of us also love to win. And, therefore, some of us hate to lose. So, keeping good sportsmanship has sometimes been an issue. I can't say that we have completely eliminated pouting after a loss, but there has been improvement.

I have to be honest -- having planned evenings requires a little bit of extra time and effort. It requires more planning. But very worth it all!

Last week was "my" game night. I chose an old marble game that Matthew and his family grew up playing -- Stay Alive. It is a great game for developing strategic and reasoning skills. And I whipped up a chocolate pudding pie as our special dessert, which Eli is proudly wearing on his face. 

One night that we tried (that I haven't stuck with) is Pinterest night. A few times, I had each of the girls and Matthew browse my many recipes that I have pinned. They created their own meal from the inviting photos. To be honest, sometimes the recipes were instant favorites, and sometimes we ran down to the computer to permanently delete the pin. 

It was fun to try new recipes. I should work it back into my menu planning, because broadening the girls' food palette has been a work in progress! It is great to teach them meal planning and they are so proud to serve their meal. : )

A Saturday of Volleyball

Last week I found out that my niece was playing in a volleyball tournament at West Prairie middle school in Colchester. We changed our previous Saturday plans to go watch her play, and I am glad that we did! Here are a few pics!!

Way to go, Lissa! You are such a special young lady, and talented in so many ways. You are kind, funny, responsible, honest and beautiful! I am so proud to be your aunt!

Fruit Salad on a Stick

One of our favorite ways to eat fruit is as a kabob! I don't know why threading fruit onto a wooden skewer makes it more fun to eat, but we never have fruit left over when I put these on the table. Megan likes to help in the kitchen, and she is a huge help to me. 

I offered to take her picture and told her to smile naturally. This is what I got. : )

Flour Fun

Eli loves to help me in the kitchen. I love this boy!

Field Trip to the ISM

Nothing is more fun than an impromptu field trip, right? We had been thinking about taking the kids to the Illinois State Museum in Springfield for awhile, but just never jumped in the van and made the drive over. So, finally, I just scheduled it into our school week. Matthew had time to go with us (which will change soon) so we took advantage of family time, and even picked up Grandma Kathy for the trip!

What treasures we found in this museum. Everyone had a great time exploring life in Illinois through the centuries. I think all of us learned through the many displays. Emily seemed to really enjoy the animal displays, and Megan enjoyed the Native American hall. I think the highlight for Eli was his first experience with an escalator. He could have ridden up and down all day, and was a pro at boarding and exiting the moving staircase!


"Move over, Emily!! I want to see the tortoise too."  

Absolutely beautiful geology pieces!

Megan liked working these puzzles to re-construct pottery pieces.

This might be on Emily's Christmas wish list -- a microscope with a projector!
The display was amazing and there was SO much to look at!

Eli patiently waited his turn to drive this jeep.  

Here is Megan digging for ancient artifacts!

A Late Christmas

My brother and his family came home from Indiana to celebrate Christmas at the beginning of January and the plan was that my sister and I would meet at Mom's house with our families to celebrate Christmas (without my oldest brother who couldn't make it home). We were all looking forward to getting together, planned the food we would bring, and wrapped our gifts for all the kids. 

And, then my family got the flu -- all five of us. So we missed out. It was a long two weeks of fever, kleenexes, sneezing, medications, aches and chills, never-ending runny noses, juice, soup, sleepless nights, coughing, more kleenexes, and lots of cuddling on the couch. It was a LONG two weeks, but, thankfully, my wonderful mother-in-law lives close and brought us medication when we ran out. Anyway, we missed our Christmas get-together.

But, we did have a chance to see my brother and his family the day before they left. Here are a few snapshots of the kids getting Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Michael and Aunt Hannah!

Eli LOVES his new racetrack. Every car we have has taken runs down the high-speed, gravity-powered track!

It only took Emily a day to get all of their Lego sets together. They have a stable with jumps, a vet clinic, a jeep and trailer and 5 horses with riders. I love it that Lego has sets that interest girls too!

Here is the vet clinic!

Megan recorded a Charlie Brown Christmas book for her little cousin, Joshua!