Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

You might say this recipe is revered by some as delicious. I get requests to make it A LOT during the winter. I always oblige because it is about the easiest thing to make EVER!!!!! What you will need

8 oz cream cheese

2 large chicken breast

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1 can corn

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 tsp of chili powder or to taste if you like it spicier

1 packet of ranch dressing mix

1 tbsp garlic powder

1tbsp onion powder

1tbsp celery salt

Any kind of broth. I like ham but any broth from your pantry will do. 

Directions:

1. In your crockpot put the two chicken breast. You can put them in frozen if you dont have time to thaw them.

2. Place the cream cheese on top of the chicken. You don't need to soften it or anything. Just put the block on the chicken. 

3. Add your canned ingredients (corn, black beans, rotel)

4. Add your dry ingredients. Ranch packet and spices. Really just season it to your taste but definitely add the ranch packet. Cook on low for several hours stirring occasionally. 

5. Now for the broth. I wait until the stuff starts to cook down a little and stir and couple of times. Then I add about 1 cup of broth of your choosing. I let this cook down and then if I think it needs a little more liquid I add a little more. 

6. I ALWAYS double this recipe. A double recipe will fill a crockpot depending on the size of your crockpot. 

Enjoy this one l because it is soooooooo simple and delicious!! Next time I make it I will take a picture so you can see it in all its glory and scrumptiousness. 

Homemade Baby Wipes

Once again Pinterest has struck again. I wanted to make my own baby wipes so I went straight to Pinterest. You can visit the blog I found it on here. I searched and searched for the perfect container and came up short. One day it dawned on me when I was making coffee and the canister was almost empty. THIS would be the perfect container. So what you will need is:

A nifty container. I used a plastic folders can. 

Roll if Bounty paper towels

1 cup water (I used distilled)

1 tbsp coconut oil melted

1 tbsp baby wash (I used Earth Mama chamomile) 

Mix together the water, coconut oil and baby wash. Once you have cut your paper towels in half, pull out the cardboard roll. Then find the end piece and pull up. I got my husband to cut an X on the lid of the Foldgers can. Pour the water in the can. Pull paper towel through the X. Then Voila! You have baby wipes! 

UPDATE

So I used the whole can of wipes I made. Here is what I think. They were just ok. The paper towels were pretty rough and they were difficult to pull out towards the end of the roll. So what I have done now is cut up some flannel blankets I have and don't use anymore. I cut them into squares and put them in my wipe warmer then poured the water in on top. They are working perfectly. I love how soft they are on Leila's skin and I just throw them into my dry bin where I put her cloth diapers. Its working out perfect so far! 

Gripe Water

I love Gripe water for Leila! It's great for an upset tummy and gets rid of hiccups. The downside is it is about 10-12$ for a 4oz bottle. Booo! So Pinterest to the rescue. I found a recipe and tried it this afternoon. You can find the original recipe at Holistic Familia. I think it was a success. I made about a half gallon so I am going to pour it into some ice cube trays and freeze it. Then just take it out as I need them! I am looking forward to saving that money. It only cost me about 5$ for the ingredients since I already had chamomile tea and I will be able to make lots more now!

The ingredients:

2 tbsp crushed fennel seeds

5 bags chamomile tea

6 cups of water (I used distilled)

1 finger of fresh ginger sliced 

Bring your water to a boil. Add your fennel seeds and ginger. Let boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Add tea bags then cover and let steep for 15-20 minutes. I strained the tea into a glass measuring bowl and I ended up with 4 cups. I had a gallon jug from my nursery water and I poured the tea in there then added 4 cups of distilled water. I let it cool and then poured into an ice cube tray. After they are frozen just throw them into a freezer bag and take them out as you need them. Once thawed they are good for about 24 hours. 

This is what mine looked like after the tea steeped. 

I used some cheese cloth I had and strained it.

Washing Cloth Diapers

I get asked a lot, "how do you wash your cloth diapers?" Well, after some trial and error I have come up with a pretty good wash routine. There was a week or so when I thought I would never get them clean, the smell of ammonia would choke me. They would smell fine out of the dryer, but as soon as pee hit them they would smell awful! After some research and a great blog I found through a babycenter message board I have come up with a pretty good system. Please check out the blog!! It was so helpful in helping me to understand what I was really doing and why. From the article I learned some myths about cleaning cloth diapers that were bunk! Most companies will tell you not to use bleach. YOU CAN use bleach. Depending on the size of your load you can use 1/4 to a 1/2  cup of bleach once a month or so. Go ahead a run your water and pour recommended amount in your washers bleach dispenser. You want to bleach your CLEAN diapers. I know this sounds strange but it is the way it should be done. Most diaper companies will want you to use a natural detergent and a minuscule amount. After a few months of my Bumgenius detergent and their recommended amount, my diapers smelled to high heaven and the stains would not come out. YOU CAN use Tide, some people opt for the free and clear. I will buy Tide F&C next time but for now I am using the Dreft that I have. If you are going to cloth diaper a diaper sprayer is a must. It attaches to your toilet and you can spray off your poopy diapers right into the toilet. I keep a dry bin with a Planet Wise liner. So here goes my routine!

1. I always spray off poopy diapers and put in a dry bin beside toilet. Peepee diapers go in Planet wise pail liner hanging on my changing table.

2. Every other day I run a load.

3. I run a hot wash and two cold rinses. We have really soft water and it seems like it makes it more difficult to get all the detergent out. So I usually set the washing machine to do 2 additional cold rinses. You want to make sure when you wash them that you set the water fill amount to the appropriate size. If you run it like it is a large load when it is a small load the diapers don't get clean like they are supposed to. When washers agitate the clothes rub together and that helps in the cleaning process. If you have too much water your diapers won't be able to rub together and get clean.

4. Drying process. I line dry my covers and AIO's. I dry my inserts in the dryer on a medium setting. Some companies suggest drying the covers in the dryer on medium heat occasionally to help tighten the fabric.

5. If I ever have stains that wont come out I lay everything to dry in the sun. The sun will help with stains and odor. The key is to lay them in the sun when they are wet.

6. Once a month I bleach my diapers. To bleach them I do steps 3 & 4 first. Once my diapers are clean I take all of them out. I start the wash cycle by allowing the washer to start to fill up. I then add 1/2 cup of bleach in my bleach dispenser. Once the washing machine filling cycle is done I add my diapers and let them wash like normal (just like step 4). This is when I would lay them in the sun if there were still any stains that wouldn't come out.

Cloth Diaper Types...the 411

For most, the world of cloth diapers can be overwhelming. The best thing to do is to try out a couple before fully committing to one kind or brand. I started out with several brands and fell in love with Bumgenius' then invested in those. I have one Bumkin pocket diaper, several Lotus Bumz pocket diapers, several Rumparoos pocket diapers, a bunch of Bumgenius 4.0s there pocket diaper, a bunch of Bumgenius all in one's, and one Bumgenius FLIP cover with stay dry inserts. I have a total of 26 diapers. Most diaper companies recommend having at least 24 diapers so you can rotate them to help keep down and wear and tear. 

Different Types of Diapers

Pocket Diaper: 

Consists of a waterproof cover and some sort of soft inner liner like fleece. They require an insert. There are different kinds but all the diapers I have came with a microfiber insert. With this diaper you would change the whole diaper and start with a freshie! I always remove inserts from the pocket and place in a dry bin.

Notice the insert that is folded over and snapped. If you have a girl you would want to position it to the back. If you have a boy position to front of diaper. Makes sense! 

Stuffing 

Stuffed diaper ready to wear

All in One's:

AIO'S are just like they say. It is a diaper cover and absorbent layer attached to the diaper so no pocket stuffing is involved. 

The absorbent layer is semi attached with fleece(dry side) on one side and microfiber(wet side) on the other. You never want the microfiber to be on the side touching the babies skin. 

FLIP: 

The FLIP system consists of a water proof diaper cover and stay dry inserts. 

There are several options with this type system. I have never used a prefold but they could be used with a diaper cover like this. This system comes with what you see in the pic, 3 stay dry inserts, which is fleece on one side and microfiber on the other. You could also purchase disposable inserts. With this system, when it's time to change you can continue to use the cover. Wipe it clean and replace the insert. You can use the cover until it gets soiled. The FLIP is my favorite diaper for when I'm running out of the house because I can fit 2 diaper changes in this nifty bag and throw it in my purse. 

This is one cover and 2 inserts. 

Why I love Bumgenius!

Before our little Leila was born I had already made the decision to cloth diaper. I made the decision for many reasons. The thought of all the disposable diapers that go into landfills a year is disturbing and I like that I am helping to decrease that number even just by a little bit. Financially, I think it's a good decision as I have yet to have to buy a pack of disposables. Lastly, I like that it is better on Leila's skin. We used newborn disposables (they were given to us) the first 3 weeks til she could fit in her One Size cloth diapers. Her skin was so red and I constantly had to put Aquaphor on her diaper area until I started using cloth. Now, on to why I love my Bumgenius'. 

On the left is a Bumgenius. On the right is a Lotus Bumz. There are two things I Love about BG. The PUL is extended into the top interior of the diaper as you can see in the pic above, unlike the lotus bumz that have the fleece extending all the way to the top seam. Because these are pocket diaper I stuff 2 microfiber inserts inside. Once the diaper is stuffed the fleece in the Lotus Bumz ALWAYS folds over the top. When the fleece front the diaper touches her clothes wicking occurs and pee gets on her clothes. The PUL fabric across the top of the BG keeps this from occurring. The other thing I like about BG better than my others are the butterfly snap closures. 

The butterfly snaps make for a better fit and easier to put on as opposed to the wings on other diapers like on this LB bellow 

That is 8 snaps you have to close on a wiggly baby. And you can notice the fleece poking over the top. 

So, rave over! I love Bumgenius! 

Welcome Sophie!

Welcome to our home Sophie! Sophie is a French Giraffe that is great for babies that put everything in their mouth. As you can see Leila is already loving hers! They are light and easy to hold with lots of different size surfaces to chew on. The skinny neck also makes it easy to grasp.

Blackened Seasoning

I got this recipe on my bachelorette trip. We took a cajun cooking class at the Viking Cooking School, needless to say…it was wonderful. Whitney Roberson, Amy Claire Smith, Payton Davis, Brittany Heinsz and myself made a meal fit for a cajun queen. One recipe that I consistently use is the Blackened Seasoning recipe. I make it in large quantities and store it in a mason jar.

Blackened Seasoning  (Makes about 1/2 cup)

In recipes for blackened food the fish or meat is rubbed with this spic mixture before it is cooked in an extremely hot skillet. This forms a black, crispy crust over a tender, moist interior. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fine salt, or to taste

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper, or to taste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Directions:

1. Stir together all ingredients with love.

2. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

I will post more of the recipes from our class tomorrow. I am calling it a night! Nighty night folks. Sweet dreams and don’t let the bed bugs bite. 

Creole Mustard Sauce

This is the mustard that goes with the Blackened pork tenderloin….but you can use it for anything I would think.

Creole Mustard Sauce

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of grainy Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (I used plain rice vinegar still tasted good)

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Tabasco), or to taste

1/2 teaspoon of Creole seasoning (such as Tony Chachere’s), or to taste

2 green onions, green tops only, very thinly sliced ( I never do this…but feel free)

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together ingredients and place in refrigerator for at least one hour to allow the flavors to develop

Blackened Pork Tenderloin

Make sure you have a good ventihood for this one because it can get pretty smokey when you sear the tenderloin if you use anything other than clarified butter. The clarified butter doesn't smoke as bad. I got this recipe when I took the Viking Cooking School on my bachelorette trip. Below is verbatim from the book given to us in class. 

Blackening is not a traditional Cajun technique, but it has become synonymous with contemporary Cajun cuisine. Invented by Chef Paul Prudhomme at the world famous Commander’s Palace restaurant in New Orleans, the technique has been widely imitated, expanding from his original blackened redfish dish to a variety of meats and seafood. The traditional preparation calls for using whole butter and extremely high heat, which produces giant clouds of smoke. To cut back not the billowing fumes, our recipe calls for clarified butter. If you do use whole butter, try cooking outdoors or on a stove with a professional exhaust hood turned on high. 

1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons clarified butter*

1/2 recipe Blackened Seasoning (You can use the one I posted which is the one the recipe calls for or you can use your own)

1 recipe Creole mustard sauce ( Will post this recipe)

Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F, Trim the tenderloin, removing all fat and silverskin. Coat the tenderloin with clarified butter, then season generously and evenly on all sides with Blackened seasoning. 2. Place a cast iron skillet ( or heavy-bottomed sauté pan) over high heat until smoking hot. Sear the pork on all sides until a dark brown crust forms, about 3 minutes per side. The pork should be lightly charred. If necessary, transfer the whole pan to the oven and finish cooking until an instant read thermometer registers 140° for medium-rare (or 150°F for medium). 3. Remove the tenderloin front the pan and place on a carving board: tent loosely with aluminum foil and rest for 5 to 10 minutes (this part is really important…the pork with continue to cook during this time without burning it in the oven) 4. Slice the tenderloin into thick medallions. Serve hot or cold with the Creole Mustard Sauce.**

Tips and Techniques:

* To clarify butter: It is simply pure butterfat which has had the milk solids removed in order to raise the smoke point while maintaining rich butter flavor. To clarify butter, melt the butter in a heat sauce pan over medium-low heat. COntinue cooking until the butter fat becomes very clear and the milk solids drop to the bottom of the pot. Skim the surface foam as the butter clarifies. Ladle off the butter fat into another container, being careful to leave all the milky residue in the bottom of the pan. It is much easier to clarify at least one point of butter at a time. One point of whole butter yields approximately 12 ounces of clarified butter.

**Select Cajun and creole ingredients are available in specialty markets or in the spice section of many grocery stores.

Pepper Jelly Glazed Carrots

I found this recipe in the December 2011 issue of Southern Living. It was absolutely delicious and very simple. I try to always keep red pepper jelly in my cabinet just for this!

Ingredients:

1 (32-oz.) package carrots, halved crosswise

1 (10 1/2-oz.) can condensed chicken broth, undiluted

1 (10 1/2-oz.) jar red pepper jelly

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Directions:

1. Cut carrot halves lengthwise into quarters. Bring carrots and chicken broth to a boil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring often, 6 to 8 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender and broth is reduced to 1/4 cup.
2. Stir in pepper jelly and butter, and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until mixture thickens and carrots are glazed. Transfer to a serving dish, using a slotted spoon. Pour half of pan juices over carrots; discard remaining pan juices.

COOKS NOTE: I just bought the bag of carrots near the salad stuff at Kroger that were already sliced. I think they are called string carrots or something like that. Much easier if you ask me!

Corn Chowder

This is a recipe that I got from my mom. This is my go to meal when I am tired and don’t feel like cooking. My husband loves it so that means I love to cook it! Thanks for this one Mom!

Ingredients:

1 can cream corn

1 can whole corn (drained)

1 can cream of potato

1 pint of half and half

1 lb of ground sausage ( I have been using ground cajun deer sausage…when I buy the sausage from the store I get hot jimmy dean sausage.) I have also done it with chopped ham and it was delicious!

Directions:

1. In a large pot add the first four ingredients and season to taste. (salt, pepper, garlic powder….whatever you fancy.)

2. Brown the sausage in a skillet. If you add a little water in the skillet the meat will fall apart in smaller pieces. (I don’t like big chunks of sausage.)

3. Drain the meat and then add it to the chowder. I usually turn it on medium low heat and cook for about 30-45 minutes.

COOKS NOTE: You can also put it in the crockpot and cook it on low if you have a while. I cooked it for 3-4 hours and low and it was good. Not quite as thick as if you do it by stove top, but good all the same.

Leila's Nursery

I wanted to share some pictures with you of Leila's nursery. My mom and dad worked hard to help us and I think it turned out perfect. My goal was not to really have a theme but to go with a color scheme that I liked. Dave had an old movie poster of The Beatles movie The Yellow Submarine. It has cartoon characters and lots of bright colors. That was where I started and went from there.

Yes that is a picture of Jerry Garcia. It was my husbands only 

request so of course I complied.

Panoramic View

Paint Color: Grayish from Sherwin Williams

Crib Bedding: Caden Lane

All furniture are antiques handed down to me

Hawaiian Sweet Roll Sandwich's

These are always a hit. They are great for tailgating, pot lucks, you name it...they will be a hit there too! Haha! My friends love these and they are so easy to make. 


INGREDIENTS:

1 package of 12 Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

1 Onion, minced or grated (I use my food processor...much faster!)

1 stick of butter

3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

3 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

3 teaspoons of poppy seeds

1/2 a pound of shaved ham

8 slices of swiss cheese

Directions

1. Melt buter in small skillet and add onions. Combine mustard, worcestershire sauce, and poppy seeds into onions and butter. Simmer for several minutes.

2. Slice rolls as a as a group length wise and place bottoms in an aluminum foil line 13″ x 9″ pan.

3. Spread 3/4 of onion mixture on rolls bottoms,  followed by the ham and cheese slices.

4. Top with the roll tops. Spread the remaining onion mixture over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate till ready to bake.

5. Bake covered with foil for 20 minutes on 350 degrees. Or until cheese has melted

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe on an Apple a Day via Pinterest. It has become my go to cookie recipe!! I have done some variations to the recipe....like adding chopped milky ways instead of chocolate chips. I also like to put the dough in my muffin top pans to make deep dish cookies.

Ingredients:
Soften 3/4 cup of Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup of Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips or whatever your heart desires

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Last add the chocolate chips. Drop heaping tablespoon portions of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until they start to turn golden around the edge. DO NOT cook for more than 10 minutes or they wont be like the chewy soft bake ones from the store. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then remove them to cool completely.

Our life in a Nutshell

I met my husband Dave in March of 2009. He just moved back to Cleveland to farm with his dad and I was in my last semester of nursing school. When I was preparing to graduate, something told me that I needed to stick around....this guy was special. I took a job at the hospital in Clarksdale and so our budding romance continued. I knew after only a few months that this was a man that I could love and spend the rest of my life with. One year after we met Dave got down on one knee while making me dinner and asked me to be his wife. I knew without a doubt that I would love him the rest of my life. On March 26, 2011 Dave and I said our vows and became husband and wife. During our first 2 years of marriage we had a blast. We traveled all over the country (Las Vegas, New Orleans, Denver, Jackson Hole, Boise, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, San Diego, Breckenridge, Aspen) to see friends and always enjoyed our time together. When Dave's sister got married in May of 2012 there were lots of beautiful babies around. While out on the dance floor sharing a slow dance, Dave looked at one of his cousins beautiful babies and said "I want one of those." One month later we were expecting our little peanut. Her due date was February 22, 2013. After 40 weeks and 4 days we were blessed with our beautiful baby girl, Leila Sloane on February 26, 2013 at 8:31p.m. She has filled a place in our lives that we didn't even know we needed to fill. She has been such a blessing and a wonderful baby. We look forward to the adventure ahead! Little girls are SO MUCH FUN!