Italian Vegetable Crock Pot Chicken

This week has been cold, rainy and busy which means I go straight to a crock pot meal! This recipe is pretty cheap but delicious to eat and is a great way to get some vegetables in for dinner.

3-4 Frozen Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup of baby or shredded carrots
2 stalks of diced celery
1/2 medium onion chopped
8 oz of frozen or fresh broccoli
1/2 block of cream cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 package Italian seasoning mix

Set the onions on the bottom of the crock pot followed with the chicken breasts, then place the rest of vegetables on top. Poor in the Italian seasoning followed by the cream of chicken soup and the cream cheese. Let cook on high for 4 hours or high for 6 hours. Shred chicken with a fork when done and mix in melted cream cheese and soup more thoroughly. Enjoy on top of brown or white rice, and side with a green salad or stuffing! My husband and I also added some crushed Ritz Crackers and crushed red pepper on top for extra flavor.

No Fail Taco Soup

Taco soup is one of my absolute favorite recipes to make! It is a dump, crock pot and prep meal that is hard to mess up. Here's a basic recipe that you can follow with some of my substitutions and suggestions, you can really add in more of one kind of beans or tomato soup depending on your preference.
1 can of drained black beans
1 can of drained kidney beans (I used red kidney beans)
1 can of drained corn
1 can of green chilies
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1-2 pounds of cooked ground beef (I use turkey)
1 can of tomato soup and 1 can of water OR 1-2 cups of chicken broth
I package of taco seasoning
1/2-1 package of ranch seasoning

Dump this all into a crock pot on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Enjoy with cheese, sour cream and either crushed tortilla chips or Fritos. To expand the recipe simply add one more can of beans or cup of water or crushed tomatoes. I froze a batch I made and it reheats wonderfully on low either in the crock pot or pot over on the stove.

Cutting Board Cleanup Hack

See that plastic grocery bag on the edge of the counter? I slid one of the grocery bag handles under the cutting board and it made a diy garbage bag! This is absolutely perfect for those ends and yucky slices of veggies and fruit! You can just slide them off the cutting board and keep your work space free and fresh. This hack also helps keep down odor from your kitchen garbage as you just tie the ends of the grocery bag and throw it away after a cutting board session. Saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to try it today-Pinterest win!

DIY Delicious Potato Fries

I absolutely love fries and here is my go to recipe when I need a delicious and easy side for fish, burgers, or sandwiches. Let's dive straight into the recipe!

6-8 Russet Potatoes
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut about 6-8 washed potatoes into wedges. I like to first cut the potato in half long ways, place the cut edge facing down on the cutting board and then slice it long ways down the middle and then on each side. Place cut wedges into a bowl to store and ready for seasoning. After all the potatoes are cut into wedges and placed in the bowl spray or poor in olive oil. Sprinkle garlic powder and seasoning salt in the bowl and mix with your hands making sure all fries are coated in oil and seasonings. Place fries on a cookie sheet and cook for about 30-35 minutes or until edges are browning or fries "bubble". Take out and let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Simple Way to Style a Scarf

It's getting colder outside and that means fall clothes! I absolutely love wearing boots, leggings, sweaters and especially scarves and there are so many cute ways to style them! Here is one simple yet effective way to keep warm and be cute as the temperature keeps dropping.
First start with a simple long scarf and grab the two corners that are closest to each other. Tie a small double knot with those two corners (see images below).

Next put on the scarf with the knot on the back of your neck. Then grab the middle of the scarf and twist it to make a circle in front of you and then loop over your head. Adjust the scarf so that they knot is hidden on the back of your neck. You can also adjust the length of the scarf by pulling the smaller loop wider. Its such an easy and great way to create a big full scarf for these chilly autumn days! Such a great way to amp up your cardigan! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Baked Corn Dog Bites with Jiffy

My husband and I were reminiscing about our childhood and both talked about how much we loved eating corn dogs! We however are trying to eat a bit more healthy and decided to look up how to make our own corn dogs at home. I found on Pinterest how to make these little corn dog bites using only a Jiffy corn bread mix, and thought score! I tweaked the recipe a bit, but they ended up pretty good (if you like corn bread)

So here's the recipe:
1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix (make as instructed)
-1 egg
-1/3 cup of milk
1 tsp of honey

First pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and make the Jiffy mix in a bowl stirring in the egg and milk. Take about 3-4 hot dogs and cut into about 5-6 pieces. This part you really can change depending if you want just one slice of hot dog, or several small or big slices of hot dog in your cornbread muffin (I put 2 or three slices of hot dog, but I wish I put more!). Then take a cookie scoop and scoop and plop the mix into a *very* greased muffin tin filling each tin no more than half way. Then push in one or a few pieces of hot dog and bake for 10 min. That's it! They are great for bringing to parties or just serving as a snack, enjoy!