New post - This one's an original by me! Crockpot Chicken soft tacos

I figured I would share one of my originals since I have found some many great things by "copying" others on pinterest! :)  This meal is a family favorite in our house.  I came upon it just trying out new ideas for getting more veggies in my family's diet.  I use a core list of basic ingredients each time but change up some of the extras each time, including the color of bell peppers that I use each time.  I love this crockpot meal because prep is fast and easy, and I love coming home in the afternoon to the smell of a yummy already cooked meal!  This feeds our family of four, each of us having about 2-3 tacos, and I usually have meat and sauce left over to have chicken nachos the next day. 

Prep time takes about 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
~1 lb chicken breast
3 bell peppers ( I usually use a mix of colors)
2 vine ripened tomatoes
small amount of water or chicken broth
avocados
soft tortillas (I like the fresh tortillas from our local Kroger)
sour cream
shredded cheese (the queso cheese mix is really good with this)
lime wedges
Add ins:
onion
minced garlic
fresh cilantro
~ 1tsp cumin

I first chop the peppers, tomatoes, and any other fresh ingredients that I may be using(onion, garlic, cilantro, etc.) and put them into a blender with a little bit of water/chicken broth.  I add more liquid if the veggies don't blend down well.  I blend until it reaches a thick sauce consistency.  I pour half the mixture into the crock pot then put the chicken in and pour the remaining half on top.

Here comes the best part.  I put the lid on, set the heat (low for ~8 hours and high ~6), and WALK AWAY!  Love it!  I did come back at about 5 hours to break up the chicken with some tongs to let the juice sink into more of the meat.  It should fall apart when you poke at it.  I also added a little more water to mix to keep the sauce from getting too thick.



Once done, just load up your tortilla with some meat and scoop some of the sauce on top (for your veggies serving!), then top with avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.  One of the best additions that has become a staple for us is squeezing a lime wedge over the taco one done.  Yum!!

I am not a great photographer, and the pictures really don't do it much justice, but it is really good!!  Hope you all enjoy this one as much as we do!

Week 13 - Not so triumphant

Along with my successes this week, I also had a couple not so successful moments.  We can start with the Chicken Parmesan Bake from the blog Food Wishes.  This pin looked so good that I actually repinned in 3 times without realizing it! :)  This picture looks great doesn't it?

The blog features the list of ingredients then a video to go over the recipe.  I prefer to follow a written recipe as opposed to a video, but it was pretty easy, so I didn't mind.  I bought chicken breast cutlets from sprouts, so they would be thinner to start with and take less time to bake.  The recipe calls for 35 minutes to bake, but mine took closer to an hour to make even when the thinner cuts.  The only problem with baking it longer is the cheese on top gets a little burnt.  I scooped some out for my kiddos and some for me.  I ate a little, and unfortunately wasn't too impressed.  The croutons got pretty soggy and mushy and didn't get that crispiness that he described in the recipe.  Both kids ate about two bites and were done.  My husband, the chicken parm fanatic, didn't even try the leftovers I put for him in the fridge.  Oh well, don't think I will trying this again.  Too bad, it looked really good!

Our other attempt was started off really cool, so it wasn't a total fail!  We attempted to make the puffy paint for the bathtub. 

 We tried the Ivory soap in the microwave from the blog Toys in the Dryer.  This part was a success.  The kids and I both marveled at how the soap puffed up like a cloud in a matter of seconds.  You quarter a bar of soap then stick it in the microwave.  I put a paper towel on a plate then put the soap on top of the paper towel.  It says to set the microwave for 3 minutes, but it took less than a minute to get all the puff we needed from the soap.  It was pretty cool, and it made the kitchen smell nice and soapy clean!  Bonus!! :)

Soap before

Soap after

For the next part I referred to the blog, Housing a Forest.  I followed the directions, and blended the puffed soap with water until it reached the yogurt consistency.  I poured it into cups and mixed in the food coloring. 

I knew something probably wasn't right when I saw the liquid at the bottom separating, but I tried to just remix it and keep going.  When I poured it into the baggies, I tried to pour out some of the liquid that had separated again before putting it in the baggies.  The continued to separate in the baggies, so I just squished them around to remix.  By the time we got around to trying them that evening at bath time they had gelled up pretty good. 

What was supposed to be puff paint more turned into congealed, dyed soap.  The kids enjoyed smooshing on the bath walls (they had looked so looked forward to using it all day, that I couldn't tell them no), but it was not so fun to clean up out of the bottom of the tub. 

Not sure what I did to mess this up, but if anyone has suggestions, let me know!

Week 11 - Bonus Post!! :)

Ok, so I tried a couple new recipes that I had to share with everyone, so there is a bonus post this week!  The first is one that I posted a picture about this morning that got a little buzz on my facebook page.  I decided to make a special breakfast, since my husband took off today to have a family day while our son is on spring break.  I looked up the recipe for the cinnamon sugar pull apart muffins on Pinterest, since we are all fans of cinnamon rolls.  I got up a little earlier this morning to put it together, and it was well worth it!  While it took a little longer than I thought to put together, I am betting the next time will go a little quicker having one try under my belt.  I had to make some adjustments to the recipe found on Wendy See Wendy Do.  When I went to make the muffins this morning, I found that I was out of nutmeg, so that was eliminated, but I figured that it wouldn't be a big deal.  I also had to use a mini muffin pan as I do not have a regular muffin pan.  Despite the adjustments I had to make, they were still delicious!  Instead of layering them in stacks of 5-6, I layered them in stacks of 4 to fit in the smaller muffin pan.  I think I liked having the smaller pan thought b/c it made more in quantity and the smaller size was perfect for my kiddos!  The smaller size would also make it a perfect finger food for parties or brunches. :)  The only change I would make for next time is doubling the recipe.  They disappeared quickly!!!

The other recipe I tried out this week was a ground chicken gumbo.  I stumbled upon this on the All Recipes site while looking for something to do with the ground chicken I bought from Sprouts a couple weeks ago.  I will definitely do this one again!  I left out the celery this time as my crew, including me, doesn't really like celery.  I think I will try it next time though.  Instead of dicing the green pepper and onion, I blended it down to more of a smooth, almost puree-like texture.  I do this with most recipes when dealing with these ingredients b/c if I don't they will end up on the side of my hubby's, son's, and daughter's plates.  I through everything else together according to the directions, but I did add a little more chopped okra that what was called for (~1 and 3/4 cup) b/c I love okra and so do my kids!  I heated up the leftovers tonight, and it was as good, if not better than the first night!  It has been a yummy week here!