Filed under: Meal Plans | Tags: chicken, crockpot, dinner ideas, enchiladas, meal plan, sloppy joes, Tyler Florence
Fall has definitely arrived, and this week I am fixing a lot of our “comfort foods”. Quick and painless comfort foods, at least. Plus trying out a new enchilada recipe this weekend! I’m including some recipes at the end of the post too, if you’re interested in ones that I don’t link to. If you’re looking for more menu ideas, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday here!
Monday- Football Night w/ Friends–Italian Beef Sandwiches, Chips, Veggies and Snacks
Tuesday- Chili and Peanut Butter Sandwiches (a staple with chili at our house), Leftover chips and veggies *Roast Sticky Chicken Preparation
Wednesday- Roast Sticky Chicken (in the crockpot), Easy Roasted Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli
Thursday- Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder, Dinner Rolls, Salad
Friday- My Favorite Sloppy Joes, Apple Slices, Onion Rings
Saturday- Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa, Corn Casserole, Salad
Sunday- BRUNCH! Omelettes, Waffles/Pancakes, Biscuits and Gravy
Roast Sticky Chicken (Overnight Prep-Crockpot)
- 1 large roasting chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup onion, chopped
In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that the meat is thoroughly cooked (180°F is well done for a whole chicken). Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.
Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder
- 2 cups cooked chicken, thawed (from Roast Sticky Chicken if available)
- 1/2 cup cooked onions, thawed
- 1-2 cloves garlic – minced
- 1 can chicken broth
- 1/2 – 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 2 cups half & half or milk
- 3 cups cheese – monterey jack, shredded
- 2 cans creamed style corn
- 1 can green chilies, chopped & undrained
- 4 oz. jar pimiento, diced
- fresh cilantro or parsley, optional
- tortilla chips, optional
Combine chicken, onions, garlic, chicken broth, and cumin; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half & half, cheese, corn, chilies, and hot pepper sauce. Cook and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted. Stir in pimiento. Serve immediately. Garnish with cilantro, parsley, and tortilla chips, if desired.
My Favorite Sloppy Joes
- 1-1.5lbs ground beef
- 1 green pepper
- 1 small onion
Saute together, browning the beef. Drain and return to pan on med-high heat. Add the following ingredients:
- 1 can tomato soup
- 1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2T brown sugar (or more to taste)
- 1T worchestershire sauce
- 1t mustard (for a little tang)
- 1/8-1/4t garlic powder (I usually just sprinkle some over the top)
Mix all ingredients, reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for appr. 15 minutes. (You can eat it right away, but the flavors will blend together better if it simmers).
Filed under: Family, Thoughts | Tags: Disney, High School Musical, High School Musical 3, HSM3, movies
Last night, Abbie and I joined 4 of my friends and their girls at the movie theater for High School Musical 3. It’s a good thing we had early-seat scouts, because it was PACKED!!! There’s no way the 13 of us would have been able to sit together otherwise! There is no doubt Disney is going to make MAJOR money on this movie!
Well, it certainly did not dissapoint for the girls! Honestly, I was almost as entertained by the reactions of everyone in the theater as I was the movie itself. Oh, to be a squealy teenager again.
The movie itself was well done. You can definitely tell that the budget for this movie was a lot higher than the previous “made for TV” installments in the High School Musical phenomenon, which gives it a “richer” feel.
The choreography was AMAZING in my mind, and I was pretty impressed with the musical numbers as well. I was glad that the tone of the movie was less “vindictive” than the past. Don’t get me wrong, Sharpay is still at her game, but it’s not a central theme of the movie. Instead, there is a lot of focus on friendship, teamwork, and making strong decisions about your future-and the Wildcats handle it with style.
If you’re the parent of a tween or teen, you will most likely walk out of the theater with no hesitations…and one very happy child. Just a slight word of warning to any parents of young children that may have gotten swept up into the HSM craze (like me). This movie is definitely the more “mature” of the three, which makes sense since they are all seniors. It does focus a lot on the relationship between Troy and Gabriella, and how leaving for college is going to affect them. There is a noticeably long kiss between the two, as well as a scene that appears to be in Gabriella’s room where Troy is feeding her strawberries (one of the girls behind me proclaimed…EW!) with somewhat seductive undertones at times.
When put in the context of the current portrayals of High School provided by Gossip Girl and 90210, HSM3 is very clean and wholesome in comparison. My end opinion? The girls had a great time last night, I’m sure the soundtrack will be playing over and over in Abbie’s CD player…but I think I will pass on the DVD release, because it’s a little mature for my 6 year old to watch again and again.
Filed under: Thoughts | Tags: addiction, blogging, blogs, entertaining, financial, food, frugal, ministry, organizing, wives
I’ve noticed over the past few weeks, that the number of blogs I subscribe to has increased from about 10 when I first started consistently reading blogs, to a whopping 66!!!! How did that happen???
I think it’s safe to say, I’ve become addicted to my blogs. I keep up on my friends’ blogs, I read ministry blogs, blogs of wives who’s husbands are in ministry, foodie blogs, organizing blogs, entertaining blogs, frugal/financial mom blogs. It almost seems like one blog leads to another!!!
I will admit, I am not great about leaving comments that often…I’m the perpectual “lurker”, but yes…I’m addicted. How about you?
How many blogs do you keep up with? What is your favorite type of blog?
For today at least…
I really have to chuckle because when we moved to Indiana 3 years ago, we decided to go down to one car. I wasn’t working at the time and we lived right next to the church Jason worked at. There just really was no need to have two cars…and it worked great! We saved $$$ on license and insurance, and we never noticed a difference! Since that time, I have re-entered the workforce full time and we no longer live that close to Jason’s office either. Two cars has seemed to become a necessity.
So when one breaks down, life gets interesting!!! We have public transportation, but I’d have to leave for work at around 6:30 and not get home until around 7:00pm…and that is traveling with my little guy–who’s 4. Uh…no.
So instead our schedule looks a little like this: The whole family got up and ready together and took Peyton to daycare, then dropped me off at work. Jason then took Abbie to school, went to his Dr. appointment and then headed to the office. Abbie has early dismissal today, and I’m spending the afternoon with her, so Jason is coming back to my office to pick me up…then we are heading right back to his office to drop HIM off, then I’m heading to get Abbie from school. At the end of the day, Abbie and I will go get Jason from work and pick up Peyton from daycare. What makes it funny is that I work on the west side, Jason works on the north side and we live on the south side. We are criss-crossing the city like none-other today!!!
PS. Just for the record…it’s not the 11 year old van that is broken down…it’s my new-er used car (2003-I guess it’s not THAT new) that we just paid off less than 2 weeks ago. Go figure!!! 
Filed under: Family
I just wanted to take a moment and ask for you to pray. Midway through the morning, our department got the somber news that one of our co-workers had been tragically killed over the weekend. Steven was one of our staff therapists for CAPS (counseling and psychological services) here at PUSH. While we don’t have many details, we do know that a suspect is in custody in relation to his homocide.
Please pray for Steven’s family as well as for those who are close to him. Our CAPS department is incredible in the way that they provide support to the students here at Purdue, and they now face an immense time of grief and sorrow themselves.
Thanks…
Filed under: Favorites | Tags: drinks, hot chocolate, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, Starbucks
After reading Kem’s post about Starbucks’ new hot chocolates, I knew I had to try it out! The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate…I must admit-it does not dissapoint. Definitely a new favorite of mine…but at 550 calories and 24 grams of fat in a Grande, it will have to be a special treat!
This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping – a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii.
YUM!!!
Filed under: Meal Plans | Tags: Meal Plans, olive garden, pasta fagioli, pork chops, Rachael Ray, Ziploc
Last week was definitely better…we stuck to the meal plan pretty well! We had a surprise dinner out yesterday after church, so I just have one leftover meal to use this week!
This week’s time/budget saving strategies: Wednesday’s meal with be a crockpot recipe since our X Group (small group) starts this week. I’ll actually be using that meal throughout the rest of the week too–the chicken broth in Thursday’s meal, and leftover shredded chicken for Friday’s chowder. Saturday’s Pasta Fagioli makes a HUGE batch (for our family at least)–so I will separate the leftovers into these babies and throw some in the fridge and freezer for lunches next week!!!
Monday- (Unused from last week) Baked Ziti, Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Homemade Poppyseed Dressing (the kids LOVE this), Italian Sweet Bread
Tuesday- Baked Potato Bar (our choices are: Bacon, Cheese, Butter, Sour Cream, Scallions, Broccoli), Fruit Salad drizzled with Poppyseed Dressing.
Wednesday- Roast Sticky Chicken (crockpot), Wild Rice, Steamed Broccoli
Thursday- Linguini with Ham, Peas and Mushrooms, Salad, Italian Bread
Friday- Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder, Leftover Salad, Dinner Rolls.
Saturday- Pasta Fagioli (an Olive Garden copy-cat), Breadsticks and Leftover Salad.
Sunday- Pan-Fried Pork Chops, Spinach/Grape/Almond Salad, Baby Red Potatoes.
Filed under: Family | Tags: family photos, lafayette photographers, mcgreevy-marks photography, photography
Saturday we spent some time with Christy Marks of McGreevy-Marks Photography doing our first ever professional family photos. Is that insane??? I can’t believe that we really haven’t had professional photos taken in the last 6 years!!! She was great to work with, and she gave us a sneak peak of some of the pictures on her blog. I can’t wait to see all of the photos later in October!
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m bored with the look of my blog right now, so I’ll be changing it around a bit over the next day or so….hang tight!
~ Katie
