Food for my Week

This is going to be the week from you know where... we have Fabulous friday coming up and even though Im super excited for it Im also super stressed out as I am supposed to be in charge of it. So hopefully it all turns out and is a good time... we will see!
  But here is my game plan for dinner this week
Monday - tacos
Tuesday - Asian Chicken Salads
Wednesday - Pizza Puffs
Thursday - Fried chicken with Tabasco Honey
Friday - Burgers (as I will be at Fab friday)
Saturday - Shrimp Stir Fry
Sunday - Left overs!
   Wish me luck this week! I will for sure need it. My goal this week is to just survive!

Christmas is coming!

Yes I am one of those people who is insanely in love with Christmas! Besides the snow, its wonderful! I plan for christmas pratically the entire year. And now that Halloween is about over its time for the hard core planning and prep to begin! I have nothing standing in my way now! Yippie!
  So besides all the projects I am working on as gifts there are a few I have on the side. One is I want to do a 12 days of christmas crafts with Jaxon and Owen this year. So for the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas I am going to do a different craft on Tuesday and thursday. Its going to be awesome! here is my game plan
Nov 16 - Toilet paper roll snowmen
Nov 18- Snowflakes
Nov 23 - cards for Grandparents
Nov 25 - make your own gift wrap
Nov 30 - Picture frame for the picture with Santa
Dec 2 - Ornaments
Dec 7 - Letter to Santa
Dec 9 - Gift bags
Dec 14 - Gift Tags
Dec 16 - Make your own Christmas Crackers
Dec 21 - Cookies
Dec 23 - Chocolate Covered Pretzles!
  I think it should be a good time! Anyone want to join in the fun?!?!

Monkey Bread

I love to eat monkey bread... but I hate making it. It takes a long time. But I still make it because it is so worth it in the end. I just whine and complain the whole time Im making it! But there is rarely any left over once I serve them!
Give it a try when you have some time... all your little monkeys will love them... mine sure do... (ok Jaxon doesnt but thats because he wont eat things that make his hands sticky or dirty)

Monkey Bread

1 1/2 sticks butter, chilled (that equals 3/4 cups)
3 Tbsp maple Syrup
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp maple extract

1) Preheat over to 400 degrees
2) Combine the flour, baking powder and 2 tbsp of white sugar. Cut 1 stick of butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.
3) Add Buttermilk and extract until the dough starts to come together. (it will be very sticky and I always have to mix with my hands)
4)in a microwave safe bowl melt 1/2 stick of butter. in another bowl combine 1/3 cup white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon
5) pull off small sections of dough and roll until a ball. dip ball into butter and then into cinnamon sugar mixture. place into a muffin tin. It should take about 5 or 6 balls to fill a single muffin tin.
6) Bake for 15-20 minutes
7) remove from tins (good luck.. this always give me trouble) and top with Maple glaze

Maple Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp maple extract

combine all ingredients

Yeah I know it sounds like a pain... and it is... Im not going to lie to you. But its SOOOOOOO good! its worth it!

Go Back to Bed

Go back to Bed by Ginger Fogleson-Guy is one of my son's current favorite book. I love reading it to him. So I dont mind that it has become a nightly thing. Its super cute. It's about a little boy who is told to go to bed but he keeps finding reasons to go back down stairs only to discover that his parents are doing some truly unbelievable things. (like baking, or sledding with penguins) It has a great rhyming scheme and Jaxon has taken to reciting the lines. (today I was making sugar cookies for his preschool class and he comes up to me and says "lets eat sugar cookies and stay up all night!") It made me laugh.
  This was a book we had taken out of the library and then had to continually renew until I went and bought a copy of our own. He loves it that much! And Im glad he loves it. I will admit... I sometimes as him if we can read it as one of his bed time stories because I love it so much!
   Im also biased to this book because the little boy (edwin dupree.. great name eh?) reminds so so much of Jaxon!

Jellybeans

I have had theses done for a while and I kept them out saying that I was going to make black ones too... but its been weeks and I never make black ones and really what kid likes black jellybeans??? So I decided that the ones I have are good enough!

I think they are super cute!

I have now started on making Strawberries... and I have been busy working on the car mats. I am thrilled with how its all coming together! My house is a bit of a disaster though.. I should clean it. This is how I typically spend my day.. I do one chore and then spend some time on crafting... plus I need to do the mom thing too! but is seems to be working for me

More Felt Food

I have been able to really get alot of this felt food done this week. As long as my boys keep sleeping through the night (knock on wood) Ill be able to stay up a little later and get some crafty time. Which I will need in order to get it all done!
  This is what Ive been working on lately.

Toast with Peanut Butter and Jam

(Ive seen this done with purple grape Jelly, but I like red Strawberry jam better!)

All the fixings for a black forest ham sandwich

Ham slices, lettuce, cheese slices, and tomatoe slices

The bread was the trickiest part to figure out... I took me some thought to figure out how to make it 3-D... but Im thrilled with how it turned out!

My Big Projects

Guess what... Christmas is just around the corner! AHHHHHH! Normally I have already finished my shopping by now... not this year.. I dont know where my head is at. But it hit me yesterday that Chrismas will be on me before I know it... so I have kicked my butt into gear and have been working frantically to get it all done. I have two HUGE projects to complete.
1) As any of you who follow this blog know I am making felt food for my boys and their cousins for christmas. I still have a huge list of items I hope to complete for then. (I am making a total of 5 sets of all the food I make 1 for my boys, 2 for the the 2 cousins and then 2 incase someone wants to buy some off me or incase I need a quick kid gift!) I have just finished making bread slices this afternoon... Ill post them tomorrow.. along with the PB and J and sandwich fixings I have busted out too!
2) This is the project giving me the most stress right now... I am attempting to make personalize car mats for both my boys for christmas (one for each of them!) This scares me because I dont sew... sewing machines scare me... I have one... but I have hidden it under my craft table and use it as a foot stool. But my awesome friend Chelsea gave me the idea and then I say it on http://www.homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/ and thought it was perfect for my boys since they are both obsessed with hot wheels. So I am working on it. In the last two days I have dedicated alot of time to it and have them both mapped out on paper (full size, 4 feetx3 feet) and made patterns for the buildings... next step to buy fabric... WHERE DO I BUY FABRIC?? how lame is that... I dont even know where to buy fabric... bahahaha... Im awesome arent I???
  then of couse I have all my side projects... getting the scrapbooks up to date again, updated the journals, and I still want to make about 15-20 more cards for the 3 Cards for a year kits I am giving away at christmas....Oh did I mention that My bestest friend Leah is coming over on Wed morning to teach me to knit scarves... so Im sure Ill be trying to make a fw of those too!
   To answer the question I know you are all thinking... NO I AM NOT CRAZY... ok I am... but its been a manic week... so I better make use of it.. Im hoping it sticks around!
What are you all working on???

Menu

So here we are about to start another week... boo... weekends always go way too fast. Anyways... you will notice that we are eating some of the same things I mentioned last week... but there were a few nights where I didnt make what I had planned... but know I have all the stuff for it so I have to make it before it all goes bad!
Monday - bang Bang Shrimp
Tuesday - Waffles
Wednesday - Boston Pizza
Thursday - Sausage and 3 cheese pasta
Friday - Chicken Creole
Saturday - Chicken and Rice
Sunday - Leftovers

Pop Tarts

I loved pop tarts when I was growing up... now I see the boxes and cringe a little... I dunno what happened. but I figured they would be super easy to make and fun for the kids to play with so I threw together some felt Pop Tarts. Arent they AWESOME! Im thrilled with how they turned out!
This is how I did them!
1) Cut Tan felt into 4 1/2 in x 3 in rectangle. You need two of them!
2) But smaller wavy retangles in various colors for frosting.
3) Add Sprinkles. I have seen people sew on little beads... but I thought that could be a choking hazard so I just used embrodery thread and random added sprinkles to the frosting.
4) Glue frosting to one of the tan retangles. (I used a hot glue gun.. I love my hot glue gun!)
5) I then flipped that piece over and glued a little square around a small amount of stuffing to form the "filling"
6) Blanket stitch the edge to give it that toasted look!

SUPER CUTE... I sure hope my boys and their cousins love this felt food as much as I do when they open it at Christmas!

Exhausted

Wow! The Halloween party is OVER... sign of relief! I am beyond pooped! It was really fun though. I think everyone else had fun too.. at least I hope they did. I forgot to take pictures... wawawa!
   but here is what we did. All the families decorated a door in our church then the kids went trick or treating around the building. It was great fun and warm! Then we all voted on the best decorated door and they won a prize. Then we played games and ate food! Wonderful!
  The games were
1) Pin the tail on the werewolf
2) Punpkin patch match- there was a pit halloween die that had pictures on it and then pumpkins on the floor that had the same pics... so you rolled the die and then had to toss a bean bag onto the matching picture
3) Monster color (just monster pictures to color)
4) Haunted Hopscotch
5) Eye Ball Toss - I took my pumpkin tins and put towels in the bottom and then the kids tossed eye ball ping pong balls into them

Double Recipe day!

I have two GREAT recipes for you today! SW Tortellini soup and Chocolate caramel Rice Krispie Squares.
The first uses these wonderful products from Knorr. They are just like Oxo Cubes but cilantro and Chipotle flavoured. My Mom found them in TX for me... Im super sad that I cant seem to find them up here. STORES PLEASE BRING THEM IN! They add such a nice punch of flavour. I love them.

Ok.. i know there isnt much broth (I added way too many noodles.. but it was one of those too much for the broth but not enough to save separate.. so I added them in... its hearty!) Also I know its not Tortellini... all I had was Sachatinni)
SW Tortillini Soup

Equal part Chicken Stock and Beef Stock. How much stock you need will depend on how many noodles you use. (I used both stocks because I find chicken stock bland, but Im not a huge fan of beef stock... it was a nice combination)
For every cup of stock add one Chipotle cube. For every 2 cups of stock add 1 Cilantro cube. Bring to a bowl and add Pasta, simmer until cooked. Remove from heat and add a splash of lime juice.

Another wonderful treat my mom sent me from TX was Caramel marshmallows. They are AMAZING! I had to make a "best door" Prize for the party tomorrow so I thought Id try them out. And what is better then Chocolate and caramel I ask you??? NOTHING! So I bought some Cocoa Rice Krispies and now Im cursing... why does everything have to be so tasty!

Chocolate Caramel Rice Krispies

1 Tbsp Butter
1 Bag Caramel Marshmallow
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt butter in a pan, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add to Rice Krispies and stir to combine. Pour into a 9x13 pyrex pan and allow to set up

Sampling all the fun things the states has to offer makes me sorta of glad to live in Canada... Id be 300 lbs if I lived where I could get these things all the time!

Trick or Treat

We are in full swing here getting ready for the big Halloween party we are doing on Friday. Im impressed that I only have to paint my graveyard and make the best decorated door prize and we are all set.

These little fellas are what Im giving out at the party to the little trick or treaters. They are toilet paper rolls stuffed with candy and then wrapped with that papery ribbon stuff. I have seen some done really decked out; google eyes, pipe cleaners the whole nine yards. Mine got silly marker faces. I figured the kids will only be after the goodies inside!
Steps
1) fill tubes with Candy
2) Wrap end to end 2 or 3 times so candy doesnt fall out
3) Wrap mommy style around tube.
4) Embellish!
Pretty darn simple eh?

Pumpkin Tins

I love Halloween... have I mentioned that already??? I love Jack-o-Lanterns too! I think they are sooo cute! But I really hate carving pumpkins because I hate pulling the insides out! YUCK! so I decided to make them this way. I took some old tims and then painted them. Super Simple and I htink they look pretty darn cute!

Finally

I completely just realized that I never posted the last pages of the baby book I made for my friend. So here they are!
X-Xtra Special

Y-and then there was You

Z-zzzzzz

I am busy planning a Halloween Party for Jaxon and Owen and all their little buddies so keep watching and Ill post some of my fun Halloween crafts Ive been doing for it!

What the Piskos are eating this week

One thing I love about Sundays is its the start of a new week and I get to pick out meals for the week! YAY! What to cook what to cook! Here is what I have decided on;
Monday - Chicken Fingers
Tuesday - Butter Chicken
Wednesday - SW Tortillini Soup
Thursday - Chicken Creole
Friday - Leftovers (I know I normally do this on sunday, but Ill be too busy on Friday to cook)
Saturday - Chicken Tacos (elders are over!)
sunday - Bang Bang Shrimp

Jaxon Approved

I love to bake. Actually I love doing anything in my kitchen! I try everything. No matter what I have tried these are still Jaxon's most favorite treat... good old Chocolate Chip cookies. He will eat 4 cookies the day I am baking them! Sometimes there is nothing like a good Chocolate chip cookie. This one is particularly good if you ask me. It started off as a Michael Smith recipe but I have made some changes that I think make good cookies out of this world cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking Powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp Agave Syrup (if you want to use Corn syrup that works just fine too!)
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Chocolate chips
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)

1)Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2) Mix flour and baking powder together in a small bowl. In a different bowl cream together butter and sugars until creamy.
3) Add the syrup, egg and vanilla to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Scrape down sides and gradually add flour mixture. But until just combined. Stir in Chocolate chips and oats. (I will give them a slight crush in my monsterous man hands before adding them)
4)scoop dough by the tablespoon onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

The Maze Runner

Ive been reading alot of so so books lately and havent been too impressed by one for a while. It seems like the truly good books are few and far between. But I just finished one that I love; The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Its a Teen read which I have been pulled to lately. I only get to read right before bed and by that time Im totally exhausted so I need something low key and easy or else I wont be able to follow it. I dont know how I came across this book but I am sure glad that I did.
  It's about a group of boys that are brought to this Glade surrounded by a Maze that no one can solve. They have developed their own society over the past 2 years and all that is tossed out the window when a girl is delivered to them. I love how the society works and it seemed really how a society of kids would be. Its considerable less violet and more compassionate then the one in the Lord of the Flies (which is one of my favorites) but I like to think that there is more goodness in people then we often give them credit for. The Gladers are hard working, rule obeying young men trying to survive.
   They are tormented by Greivers, repulsive creatures who sting will kill you if you do not get the anti serum fast enough. that fear traps them in the Glade at night and is a constent threat.
  the two main characters are thomas and Theresa. thomas was the newest boy brought to the Glade adn then Theresa showed up the following day and it all went nuts. I wont say much about that relationship because I dont want to ruin the book for you. But I am intrigued to read the rest of the series to see how that relationship develops.
  They only problem was that the ending was skeptical to me. sorry to be so vague but I dont want to ruin it I want you to read it. But as it was happening I was screaming "Dont believe it! You are smarter then this!" I was surprised no one was smart enough to figure it out.... for a split second I thought I might be wrong (which would have led to a whole different rant) but reading the back of book two I have learned that I am right.
  Yes... book too The Maze runner is the first book in a series.. i did not know this as I read it, but I was thrilled to learn that. The second book is called The Scorch Trials.
  I am split on how I feel about series... part of me misses the days when a book was strong enough to stand on its own (To Kill a Mockingbird, tuck Everlasting, the screwtape letters) but I do love how the characters have more time to develop. I get attached to my characters and I like seeing what they are up to in more then one book. (Harry Potter and my favorite series the Immortal life of Nicholas Flamel)
   READ THE MAZE RUNNER

Gyoza

If you have been reading this blog then you know of my love for asian flavours! So now that I am frantically trying to bust out as many felt food before christmas... since Im using some of them as gifts... I thought lets so some asian food. My favorite it Gyoza (aka Japanese Potstickers). So I made some. These were super simple. All I did was use the same circle pattern for the oranges, but on a cream colored felt. Blanket stitch and stuff. Done and Done. (Tim says they look like perogies... but perogies are gross... so Ill call them Gyoza)

ok... I as going to post my mother's recipe for gyoza... she makes the best (even my uncle who lived in Japan for a couple of years agrees) but I cant find it... Ill have to ask her for it again.

The Return of Felt Food

No I haven't given up on my love of felt food... Ive just been trying to get these Citrus slices done. They are super easy, like all the felt food as been, they are just insanely time consuming. But I love how they turned out. (bytheway... Im making a few extra sets if anyone is looking for an inexpensive christmas gift! :P)

I made the Oranges, Lemons and Limes all the same way.
First I cut out a circle ( I made the Limes smaller then the Lemons adn Oranges because I wanted them key lime-ish) Then I folded that circle in half and blanket stitched it and filled it with stuffing. Then I cute a smaller circle of white for the pit and cut that in half... then I cut little triangles out of whatever color I was on (yellow, orange or green) and stitched it onto the white. Then I used the glue gun to attach the white to the larger circle. Took me forever! But its done! I think they are awesome! Makes me miss summer!

Halloween Crafts

I love Halloween. I think the decor is super cute and its just a whole lot of fun! Today I started decorating the house for Halloween. I have a new large decoration this year. It's a Halloween Street Sign. I am "lucky" enough to live in a construction zone which means I find lots of scrap wood. So I used some of it to make this cute sign post.

The Streets are Dracula Drive, Witch Way, Haunted Highway and Maniac Manor. Im not too sure why Jaxon of all people is super excited about it... but he loves it!

happy thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have been able to enjoy your long weekend! I know I sure have! It has been great to get some craft projects finished up. Tim has been really good with watching the boys so I coudl have a break... but I think he is about done with this stay at home Dad day and is actually looking forward to going back to work tomorrow! HA HA HA
   How did you all celebrate? On Saturday we had my brother over for dinner and today we did absolutely nothing which was AWESOME! (Kris popped by again which was nice... My boys love uncle kris!)
  What are you Thankful for today? I have so much to be thankful for... mainly my awesome family and friends. Despite the trials I am dealing with due to post partum depression I can honestly say I have a pretty sweet life. I have been blessed.

The Dark

 My fridge is overflowing with leftovers! Crock pot recipes, a boxed thanksgiving dinner with my brother and frozen lasanga all are still living in my fridge... so Im not cooking this week until its all eaten up! So Im not bothering with a menu this week. Sorry! But Ill leave you with a book review
   Im pretty sure Ive mentioned this before, but we do a book of the month with Jaxon. This was our first year doing it. (Ill do it with Owen too once he gets older) I love reading and am a firm believer in the huge difference reading and loving books can make in a persons life. Books are magical. I think I am making a good start to passing on that love to my boys
  This year we have focused on Robert Munsch books. He is brilliant. Truly a Guru to me! Somehow I missed the start of the month. It just totally snuck up on me. So I forgot until the fourth to give Jaxon his new book. So once I remembered he got to pick out a book. He chose The Dark. Classic!
  It's a story about a little girl, Jule Ann, who finds a dark and the Dark eats all the shadows and grows and grows. I love this book (and most other Robert Munsch books) because its just a nonsense story. No moral. No Lesson. Just good clean fun. Just a story to be a story. I love it. This is a Classic Munsch book so it was wonderful. (while I still like his new books, I will always have a soft spot for the Classics.) I love that this is a book that I read growing up and now Im reading it to my sons.

  It's a really cute tale... you should read it!

Butter Chicken

Ahhhh Indian food... how I love you! I swear I live on the wrong side of the world. Actually maybe Canada is the right place because then I can eat food from any exotic location... China, Japan, Thailand, India... Canada doesnt really have a cuisine... does it???
  Tonight I left the slow cooker on the shelf again... sorry we had a change of plans. My brother came over so I made a low key thanksgiving dinner/lunch for us to share before he took off to work. But This is what I had planned on making tonight and I have tried this recipe before... pretty good!
 It is from Food Network so here is the link http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Main/Chicken/recipe.html?dishID=7298 (hopefully that works!)
  It says to serve with italian veggies... which I never do... but if you want to go ahead!

Beef Stroganoff

Im not sure what it is tonight... but I think I just realized that I dont like beef stroganoff. I think I used to like it, but now not so much... maybe its the MASSIVE miagraine Im fighting that is making me dizzy and pukey... but Tim says its a good recipe... so here ya go!

Beef Stroganoff

1 ½ lb lean beef stew meat

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

½ cup sliced green onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp oregano, crushed

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp thyme, crushed

¼ tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

1 ½ cups beef broth

1/3 cup chicken stock

1 8 oz container sour cream

1/3 cup flour

¼ cup water

4 cups hot cooked egg noodles

In a large skillet brown beef, drain off the fat.

Place mushrooms, onions, garlic, oregano, salt, thyme, pepper, and bay leaf into slow cooker. Add meat. Pour broths over all. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Discard bay leaf.

If using the low setting, turn to high, whisk sour cream, flour and water until smooth. Stir 1 cup of the hot liquid into sour cream mixture. Return to cooker, stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thick and bubbly.

Serve over cooked hot noodles.

Meatballs

Ok... so I totally bailed on the crockpot tonight and just defrosted a freezer meal. It was one of those days. but here is what I was planning on making, and I know its a REALLY good recipe since its one Ive eaten and loved since I was a kid!

BBQ Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 egg, beaten

sauce;

1 cup ketchup

4 Tbsp Brown sugar

4 tsp prepared mustard

Combine the first 5 ingredients and make meatballs. Brown meatballs in skillet then place into slowcooker. Mix sauce ingredients and pour over meatballs. Cook 4-6 hours on low. Serve over rice.

Big thanks to all the ladies who came out to our attitude fo gratitude night tonight. I always enjoy your company! It was a fun night. Remember;

"Absence og gratitude it the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind."

 - Gordon B Hinckley

Asian Pulled Pork Sammies

This is another yumy recipe! Normally Im not a pulled pork fan. Something about it grosses me out. But I am an Asian food fan... so I figured why not give it a try! SUCCESS!

Asian Pulled Pork Sammies!

1 2 ½-3 lb pork shoulder roast

1 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 ½ tsp five spice powder
6-8 kaiser rolls, spit and toasted
1 ½ -2 cups shredded napa cabbage or broccoli slaw mix
Trim fat from meat. Place meat in cooker. In a small bowl combine apple juice, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and five spice powder. Pour over roast.

Cook, covered, on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.

Remove meat from cooker, reserving the juice. Remove meat from bone, discard bone.(I used a cut that didnt have a bone and it worked too!) Using two forks shred meat. Place meat back into juice and mix to coat. Place meat on buns and top with Napa cabbage. I added a little Hoisin Sauce to the bun too! Also I used a cheese bun since that is what I had on had. YUMMY

My New Favorite Crock Pot Recipe

Tonights Crock Pot Recipe was a huge success! It was so so yummy! I am already planning when I can make it again! LOVE IT! I found this recipe at bettycrocker.com Its so good! (I have made minor changes to the recipe you will find on the site)

Chicken Tacos

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 envelope (1 oz) taco seasoning mix

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup taco sauce

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

1. Place chicken breasts in cooker. Sprinkle with taco seasoning mix and brown sugar; toss to coat. Mix in green chiles, corn and 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce.

2.Cover and cook on Low heat setting 6 to 7 hours. (I totally forgot to get this started this morning and I cooked it for 5 hours on Med/High and it still worked)

3.Place chicken on cutting board; use 2 forks to pull chicken into shreds. Return chicken to cooker. Stir in green onions. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 15 minutes.

 

4. Serve in taco shells with desired toppings.

 

MMMMMMMMM

 

Sorry for the lack of pictures... I ate it too fast!

French Onion Soup

I love french onion soup. This wasnt the best recipe for it that I have tried. But it was pretty easy and nice in a slow cooker so I think Ill save it.

French Onion Soup

3 large onions, thinnly sliced (I sliced mine too thick... so it was a bit much)

3 Tbsp Butter

3 Tbsp Flour

1 Tbsp Worcheshire sauce

1 tsp Sugar

pepper to taste

8 cups Beef Broth

1) Place onions and butter in slow cooker. Cook on high for 35 minutes (onions should start to cook up and be brown on the edges)

2) Mix together the Flour, Worcheshire sauce, sugar and pepper. Add that mixture along with the beef broth to the onions and cook on high for 4 hours.

3)Serve topped with cheesy bread

Cheesy Bread

8 slices French Bread

Gruyere Cheese

1) Top bread with Cheese and melt under a broiler.

Crock Pot Week

I have decided to finally bust out my crock pot and try some new recipes. I have 2 or 3 that are tried and true but I really want to expand my crock pot use. So I have googled and found some promising recipes. I will use the slow cooker every day this week!
Monday - French Onion Soup
Tuesday - Chicken tacos
Wednesday - Oriental Pork Sammies
Thursday - BBQ Meatballs
Friday - Beef Stroganoff
saturday - Butter Chicken
Sunday - Leftovers
Im excited... are you?

Eat Pray Love

Ok Ok Ok I know I missed posting last night. Here is the reason why... I went to a movie with a friend and we went to the late show... it didnt start until 10pm and then it was 2.5 hours long so I didnt get home until 1:30 because the movie was up north so I was exhausted.
  So the movie... SUCKED! It was just weird. In case you dont know what its about; There is a lady who feels like she has lost herself so she gets a divorce and travels to Italy, India and Bali on a mission for peace and happiness. Dont get me wrong Id love to take a year off from life and travel the world. But I just couldnt get into this... maybe it was just too late and I was too tired, maybe I just have a hard time following someone elses spiritual journey. I dunno... it was weird to me.
  Im sure we have all had those moments and phases (sometimes years) where we feel like we have lost our selves... at least I have. So I was left wondering how many women went and saw this movie and could relate with Liz and then got a divorce. Julia roberts does do an excellent job and I found her character very relatable and cute. I was just not into the whole show. Despite being a Chick flick there were a few men scattered in the story... Something about them was creepy. I dont know if it was just how they where supposed to act but they all seriously gave me the heebie jeebies.
   The most painful part was that it was 2.5 hours long! I knew i was in trouble when she finally left Italy (her first stop) and headed off to India and it was already 11:30! I looked at the time and wanted to scream... HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO BE????
   but I survived to tell the tale.
Now to make up for the lack of post yesterday... I have an announcement... I have decided to do a theme week next week... so Break out those crock pots ladies (and gentlemen... if there are any reading this!) I am going to cook a new crock pot recipe everyday next week and Ill be sure to post them all for you! Im excited because I dont have many crock pot recipes and Im dying to find some good ones