August 24, 2009

I'm still here!

I guess from now on my life will be somewhat chaotic. I have to admit, I sure do wish August was over! We've done so much in such a short time, I'm ready to get things into a rhythm :)

Today was the first day of school for my older two girls. They will be arriving home in the next hour and I'm very interested to see how it went for Alexa since this her first time going to school. I can tell you what, I can't believe how tired I am. Baby will have some good nights and not so good ones. Naturally last night wasn't too good. She wasn't crying or anything, just hungry and not settling back down to sleep. My eyes were literally red around the rims! I had to plaster on some makeup so I didn't look so bad...

My husband and I took the girls to their classes and it is so neat. This is such a great school- they make it seem like Disney World with their enthusiasm. I am in the process of creating a good schedule for the family so things run smoothly. This will be an experimental week. Of course, nothing is set in stone with the baby. She is still unpredictable, but soon we'll get into a more definite schedule.

I have no idea when I'll be blogging. I will be around of course, but I hadn't been online since Saturday as things are quite busy. I'm sure you all understand :)

I want to ask you all, since you're such lovely readers, to please give me your favorite crockpot meal or quick meal recipes. I need to come up with a menu for us and I'm totally and completely blank! I would greatly appreciate help :)

Also, I was wondering if you could put some links of your favorite blogs. I've gotten kind of limited on what blogs I read because many of them stopped blogging and I haven't really found new places to 'go' yet :) Thanks in advance for the ideas, recipes and links. You're all wonderful and I wish I could give real hugs and smiles to you all.

Time to go...be back soon!

10 comments:

Leah said...

our family loves chicken in the crockpot with salsa and loads of garlic powder. Its great because you can use cheap-o salsa, or great salsa and it all comes out wonderful.
I use mild as I am a wimp.

Serve in a burrito with all the trimming! Or over chips, or I love it like a salad!

Another thing we do here with the crock pot is potatoes. Throw em in and let cook. I sometimes wrp them in foil to make it faster.

One more? Whole chickens are great with gobs of salt an pepper. You dont need any water, just throw it in!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

SaChay said...

I plan on fixing a roast with potatoes and carrots in the crock pot this week! And maybe some rolls on the side. I have lots of good christian blogs I love to visit on my side bar under My Blog List. My web address is http://lifeasavintagehousewife.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com has lots of recipes.

The Ag Teacher's Wife said...

My favorite crockpot meal is roast. I just throw a pot roast, onions, and carrots into my crockpot and let it simmer all day. Mashed potatoes and rolls top it off. I would love for you to read my blog. It is private, but if you want to email me your email address, I will invite you to be a reader. I have been reading your blog forever! I mostly blog about my daily life, homemaking, recipes, and things like that.

Tereza said...

Well....my cooking blog has some yummy ideas:)
I'll do a post soon on my favorite links! It's hard to find good blogs...you know the ones that balance being wonderful moms/homemakers with reality:)

Anonymous said...

You might enjoy this blog, she is a good friend of mine:

http://www.reganfamfarm.blogspot.com/

atomic momma said...

Thanks so much for posting - I so love your blog and tune in so many days for a lift. And I know you are so busy right now.

My favorite crock pot recipe is two fo them: 1)stew beef with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a packet of Lipton Onion soup. If you like mushrooms you can add fresh or canned. You can add your veggies or steam them on the side. Serve with brown rice.

2) A turkey breast - slice onions and place in the bottom of your crock pot, season the breast with salt and pepper and any other seasonings and cook on low all day. Then you can use the turkey for other recipes. I have taken leftovers done a turkey pot pie filling on low in the crock pot and then finished it in the oven by pouring contents in a casserole and topping with a buscuit or cornmeal crust.

3) Meatloaf does great in a crock pot. Any recipe can work in it.

4)Lasagne works GREAT in a crock pot and you don't have to cook the noodles beforehand! Here is one I found on Cooks.com:

EASY CROCK POT LASAGNA

1 pound chuck or 1/2 pound chuck
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
1/3 cup water
8 lasagna noodles
1 4 1/2 oz can mushrooms
1 15 oz carton ricotta cheese (optional)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown meat and seasoning, drain.
Mix spaghetti sauce and water. Place 4 uncooked noodles in lightly greased crockpot.

Layer with beef mixture, sauce and mushrooms.

Spread evenly with ricotta cheese and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella.

Layer with remaining noodles, meat, sauce mixture, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.

Cover, cook on high 1 hour.

Reduce heat and cook on low 5 hrs.

Yield: 4 servings




By the way I am so dependent on my Black and Decker steamer and highly reccommend. I hard cook eggs in it all the time and do my rice in it. It does both BEAUTIFULLY and is a "set it and forget it" mentality. You set the steamer for 30 minutes and hard cooked eggs come out perfectly. Brown rice cooks in about an hour but with either you don't tend the stove. Any of those appliances you can "set and forget" will be such a help right now.

The think I like about crock pot stuff is you can assemble the ingredients the night before (or when you have time) and put it in your crock to cook when you pull out.

Blended in Texas said...

Throw a whole,seasoned (I use butter, garlic and seasonend salt) chicken in your crock pot and cook it on high all day. It turns out extremely moist and tasty! So good! Also- you can buy the already made meatballs and either add a can of cream of mushroom soup with a cup of sour cream or a bottle of barbecue sauce to them and cook them for a few hours on high. These are just a few things I do in my crockpot. Just about anything I've done in my crockpot turns out wonderful!

Also- do you facebook? If so- would you mind if I sent you a friend request? I have been doing more facebooking than blogging. Just easier for me to do at this stage of my life. ;-)

Renée said...

I came to give you my fav recipe, and no joke Leah has beat me to the punch. That is exactly what I do in a pinch. I am also a fan of pasta salad... rotini pasta, chopped chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I am also love fish (frozen fillets from Aldi), it bakes super quick and I always feel as though I've done something healthy for myself...
As far as blogs I am fond of:

http://bakersdozen.typepad.com/a_bakerss_dozen_daily_lif/

http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/

http://www.5dollardinners.com/

http://thefatdietitian.com/ (this one is mine, lol)

Anonymous said...

Throw a whole chicken (without giblets) into the crock pot with some coarsly chopped taters and carrots. Cook on low all day.

Soak legumes of your choice over night, then cook all day in water, butter or stock, and your choice of chopped veggies, and meat if you've got it. Season one hour before supper, and enjoy.

In the crock pot, throw in some hash browns or grated potato, a few generous handfuls of shredded cheese, a batch of homemade white gravy, or 3 cans of cream of mushroom soup, some chopped onions, and optional bits of ham and seasoning of choice. Let it cook on low all day.

Don't forget about pot roast and roast beef and briscuit in the crock pot as well. :-)