Last week of Crock-tober

With Halloween rapidly approaching, the Main Man and I discovered we have one more thing in common. We hate it. 

I can't figure out why our kids like it either. The Girl hates talking to adults and we never let them eat the candy they worked so hard for. I know. We're the worst. The Boy is going as a ninja. He gets to take his sweet moves on the road. Pumped does not begin to describe his excitement.

For the record, I've loved Crock-tober. This is my busy season, and since adding tree skirts to the mix, it's even busier. The Crock Pot Life has been a lifesaver and I can only hope it's helped you out a little.

Menu

Roast Chicken

Potatoes, Green Beans and Ham

Corn, Bacon and Chicken Chowder

Honey Mustard Ham

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Recipes

Roast Chicken

Potatoes, green beans and ham

Put those items in your pot and let them cook all day. You can also sub cooked sausage link discs for the ham.

Corn, bacon and chicken chowder

Honey Mustard Ham

I'll probably use some applesauce in place of the juice. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

What you'll need

Meat

Whole 3-4lb chicken

5-6lb bone in, fully cooked ham

1lb cooked chicken breast

Cooked kielbasa (which reminds me. Try it fried with cocktail sauce.)

The rest

8-10 potatoes

Can of Cream Corn

Chicken broth/stock/base for 8 cups

Ham

Onion

Half and half (or milk)

Apple juice

Brown sugar

Kidney beans, 2 cups

Taco seasoning

Green beans

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll add your email to my list so you can see all the wonders I write about. I have no great plan for November, so if you have one, let me know! Ornaments, and mini projects are coming soon! 

Crock-tober out.

Crock-tober Week 4

I plum forgot to post on Wednesday. And here we are. Whoops. The good news is because I didn't love the original plan, I was able to switch something to accommodate my Main Man.

What we're eating:

Crock Pot Honey Chicken with Cole Slaw

Cheesy Cowboy Casserole

Amish Lady (not)Noodles with Corn

Apple Cinnamon Pork Loin

Crock Pot Carmel 

The idea is to make a lot of Amish Lady without noodles, and add the noodles after you're done eating. Cook for an hour, and store for later. Ta-da! It's a twofer!

Honey Chicken:
http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2012/02/21/crockpot-honey-bourbon-chicken/
and it's Cole Slaw:
http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2013/08/22/moms-sweet-onion-coleslaw-dressing-recipe/

Cheesy Cowboy Casserole:
http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/08/cheesy-crockpot-cowboy-casserole.html

Amish Lady Noodles:
http://redesignaccessories.blogspot.com/2013/09/crocktober-week-1.html
Add everything but the noodles and serve it over mashed potatoes. No one will judge if they are from a box. After your family is full, add noodles until they are just covered in broth and cook for an hour or until they are soft. Refrigerate. 

Apple Cinnamon Pork Loin
Recipe found here.

Crock Pot Carmel:
Really simple, but oh so fun! Start it in the morning and your kids will be dipping apples when they get home and you win Awesome Mom award. She says you can add it to a mason jar to cook. Of course I am! I want to see it happen.
http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2013/08/crockpot-caramel.html

Go shopping!

Meat:

3-4 chicken breasts or 2-3 breasts and 4-5 thighs

1# ground beef
3# pork loin

Everything else:

Honey

Soy sauce

Ketchup

Vegetable oil

Garlic cloves

Onion

Red pepper flakes

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

Mrs Dash or other favorite seasoning mix

Red potatoes

Cream of mushroom soup (or homemade chicken soup)

Cans of tomatoes, corn, red kidney beans

Cheddar cheese

Egg Noodles

Chicken Soup Base
Apples
Cinnamon

Sweetened condensed milk

Heavy Cream

This is the part of the show where I'd like to tell you I'm working on something fun and I can't wait to show you. I have some ideas. If only I didn't live in the world of retail and you wanted to hear about Christmas already. In the mean time, love this wreath a client commissioned.

Have a great week!

Crock-tober Round Three

Confession:

I made apple sauce twice last week and will be making it again. The kids weren't so keen on my leaving it chunky, but who cares what they think? It was delish!

Aren't you loving that it's finally actually crisp? The first week of Crock-tober was not all that I was hoping for. Comfort food isn't as awesome in 85 degree weather. 

Menu

Baked Potato Soup

Country Ribs

French Onion Soup

Potato, Sausage and Cheese

Chicken Tacos

Baked Potato Soup

This is pretty thick, so soup is used pretty loosely. Sometimes, I like to add a favorite bbq sauce to just mine for a little extra awesome. This comes to us from 'Fix it and Forget it'

4 lg baked potatoes

2/3 c butter

2/3 c flour

6 c milk

salt and pepper

small onion, chopped

12 slices of bacon, fried and chopped (bacon can be cooked, chopped and frozen. It's wonderful)

2 c shredded cheddar cheese OR 1 c cheddar and 2 oz velveeta

1 c chicken broth/base

Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the pulp, pop it in the crock pot. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour. Gradually stir in the milk and broth and stir until smooth and thick. Add the sauce to your crock pot, along with everything else. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Country Ribs
(Erin, this one as your name all over it. Super simple)
 3-4 boneless or bone-in country ribs.
1/2 a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 c beef broth.
All in the CP for the day on low. The biggest problem is that you need a spoon to dig out the ribs, they are that soft and wondrous.

French Onion Soup
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-french-onion-soup/detail.aspx?extkb=1

Potato Sausage and Cheese
(Mom, this is perfect for my growing brother)
http://www.food.com/recipe/joleans-cheese-potato-smoked-sausage-casserole-126623
**I forgot to add that this is originally a oven baked recipe, but I put it in my crock pot on low for about 4 hours. 

Chicken Tacos
(Mom, this is perfect for Alex AND Dad. Always thinking of you!)
Cook chicken in the crock pot mixed with 1 oz packet of ranch dressing mix, a 1 oz packet of taco seasoning and 1 1/2 c chicken broth. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred and serve with your favorite toppings.

I've been making these adorable little pumpkins to get ready for a craft show at Indiana University, Kokomo.

Via

I should probably tell you about them soon. 
Have a great week!

Burlap Garland Wonderland

 Garlands!

not swag. do not call it swag. we both know it's stupid.

You know how I role. I see awesome ideas on Pinterst and make them slightly or not so slightly, my own. 

Here's what I found:

Burlap Garland

It's as easy as you think. She explains it all. To primp,  twist a lot.  Then twist more.

Here's how I used them to dress up my boring old roman shades in our dining room.

If that doesn't convince you that you can't live without these, this will:

Deco mesh! Can you see this stuff with lights at Christmas time? It's going to be spectacular! You'll get to see it.

Up close and personal.

My shopping tip- at Hobby Lobby, you can find deco mesh in at least two places- Christmas and general floral. Every other week, ribbon goes on sale for 50% off. Deco mesh is floral ribbon. Seasonal is only 40%. You're welcome. (The same goes for burlap ribbon.)

It's Tree Time!

See what I did there?

Tree time instead of tea time? 

I know. I'm hilarious.

Before we get to the heart of the matter, I'd like to let you know an upcoming month long 'project' called Crock-tober. I saw the phrase in a book, and decided to make my Mom and sister do it with me, which lead to a comment on Facebook, which lead to others wanting to going, and here we are. It's a thing now.

This is not a food blog, but it's the best way to get the recipes, shopping lists and links out. Since I don't hate cooking and I love LOVE my crock pot, it's happening. Despite all the work it will take, I'm excited. My dad is too. He just doesn't know it yet. 

Now, for Arts and Crafts time with Amy.

I found this at Sugar and Charm and it calls for a styrofoam cone covered in paper. Have you ever bought one of those? They are at least $3 and never on sale. My plan was to make several in different sizes and with different covers. And I'm cheap. Instead, I used kraft colored card stock. AKA brown. Rolled one into a cone, glued it and cut the bottom to make it flat and that left me with a stencil for the next one. Glued the second to the first and I was left with a fairly sturdy cone. For less than a buck. (Because the paper was on sale at the Lobby of Hobbies.)





After this worked, I got a pack of 25 of the paper for $3 on sale. Which it is about every other week there.

And then came the gluing of the pinecones. Big and little. Start at the top, but not the tip top, save that for the perfect one later. The first few were slow because I needed to let the glue dry and be secure, but after that, I would glue, hold and keep going at a pretty good pace. The whole project took over an hour, but it could have been faster. That's not my living room, it's my friends. She had a 'bring your own craft' day. A bag of mini pine cones are $3 and I already had the bigger ones. On sale at Target last year for a whopping 90 cents. One bag of minis and a few bigs only covered the front 2/3's. But where it sits, can you tell?

The orange garland was bought at Hobby Lobby too. On sale. That goes without saying. I'm thinking of spray painting one in chalkboard paint? One in red glitter balls. Who knows. While everyone else is all about the snowmen, I'm in love with trees for Fall/Christmas/Winter decorating.