Sante Fe Chicken

Crock Pot Quick and Easy

This is one of those recipes that comes together quick.  As I worked on menu planning yesterday, I wanted to try something new in the crock pot and it had to be chicken.  After searching around pinterest and the net I found several versions of Santa Fe Chicken.  So I basically tweaked it to fit my family's taste.

First I went through the pantry and the kitchen table looking for ingredients. (Don't ask, I've been trying to organize the pantry. Sigh.) Lucky me...this recipe calls for basic pantry staples and I had them all.

If you can open cans, you can make this.  I layered the ingredients: homemade chicken stock, diced tomatoes with chilies, corn, black beans and spices.

homemade chicken stock





A word on the homemade chicken stock...I have several chicken casserole recipes that call for boiled chicken breast.  I season the chicken while cooking and normally have this huge pot of seasoned broth.  So I freeze it for use later.  Either strain through cheese cloth or let chill over night in the refrigerator.  After skimming any fat from the top, dip out with a coffee cup and put in freezer proof container.  You could also use a freezer bag.  It is lower in sodium than the canned stuff and tastes better too.

Place the chicken in the pot on top of ingredients and cook for 6-8 hours on low.  I am cooking on high for four hours.  Once chicken is done, remove and shred.  Return to the crock pot and give it a quick stir.  At this point, I plan to cook on low for about two more hours.

We will have this with leftover rice from last night and corn tortillas.  I've also got my homemade salsa to serve with it.  My girls should really enjoy this.  I also like that it can be served over the rice or as filling in tacos or burritos.

Recipe:
3 to 4 skinned chicken breast
1 can chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans
1 tsp of dehydrated onions
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
**note** if you have made the homemade taco seasoning a teaspoon of it would probably work too.  You can also add some "heat" if your family lots hot with their spicy!

I will update y'all with a review tomorrow.  Now go drag out your crock pot and let it work while you enjoy this gorgeous day with your family.

Gettin my kilter strait

Not only was last week spring break, we also had a death in our family.  So it was a very busy week.  The girls and I tried to do what we could for my Mama and her sisters.  Mainly, we cleaned her house Wednesday and Thursday and did some shopping for her.  Visitation was Thursday evening and Services were Friday morning. 

The girls were close to their great uncle and I felt it was important that they spend as much time with our family as possible.  I am very proud to say that for the most part, they behaved very well and were also a great help in cleaning Mimi's house.

We have had a very hectic week and I'm feeling a bit off kilter.  A lot of the "list" for spring break didn't get accomplished.  This week might not be much better because I have quite a few tax returns to get done. So we are going to punt and revise the list.

First is the menu plan...we were either with family or eating on the run last week.  I tried sooo hard to stick with Weight watchers, but had a few temptations.  I just can't refuse a krispy kreme doughnut!  I've got to find some more healthy crock pot recipes. We will be trying a new one out this week...crock pot Sante Fe chicken. I will let y'all know how it turns out. But in the meantime, if you have any suggestions, please send them on.

Then we have school activities and practices. HC1 starts back her conditioning program after taking last week off, so I've got that schedule to work around as well as JV track meet Thursday (at home: smiley face!) and 6th grade concession stand duty Friday.

No it doesn't stop there...At the lovely hour of 8 a.m. HC1 has sports physical...in Oconee county Saturday morning.  There is no rest for the weary and I am beginning to wonder when I ever had time to work a full time job.

And the weeks after that are just as hectic. The end of the school year is just as busy busy as the beginning.  I pray that as we are all getting our kilter's straitened out and back in our regular routines, that we have a safe and blessed week!

Not Really Goodbye

Please pray for my Aunt Jeanette, cousins Janet and Berry, my mom and her sisters as we say our earthly goodbyes to my Uncle Malcolm Fussell.  He was the eldest son, the light of my Granny's life.  Throughout many hardships, he was a rock to his sisters and many nieces and nephews.

He was a war hero and remembered by many in this area as an upstanding law officer.  He took me on my first trip in an RV, but I don't remember where we went.  He also had a 57 Chevy that stayed under a shelter and I loved that car.

He loved my rowdy loud children, maybe because he couldn't half hear the noise.  I know that today we are saying goodbye to his earthly presence and that he is already in Heaven with his Father.

Boston Butt in the Crockpot

This is by far simplicity at its ultimate best.   I don’t think it can be messed up, it cooks itself and it is something everyone in my family eats.  All five of us. 

Pictured is a very large, purchased on sale, pork butt roast.  Place the nekkid butt in your crock pot.  I seasoned with garlic salt, paprika, black pepper and a little olive oil.  However, you choose the seasonings that your family prefers.  They don’t like garlic, leave it out.  Try sea salt instead.

I then poured some BBQ sauce I had in the fridge over the top.  This also got me reading the label (yuck) and looking for recipes for homemade BBQ sauce.  I’ll follow up with a recipe for that later.  Naturally it will be a sweet tangy southern style sauce.

Once seasoned, set your crock pot on high and cover.  It is an Aunt Jo thing.  But really, covering the crock pot with a clean kitchen towel helps keep the heat in.  This was a fairly large roast and I originally set it to cook for 4 hours.  It was not quite fork tender and the bone had not completely pulled away from the meat.  So it cooked for about another two hours.  I then left it on warm until the girls got home for school.

We had pulled pork sandwiches and broccoli for dinner.  The original game plan was to have the rest at the lake.  Due to Godly intervention, we chose to spend the week of spring break at home.  So the rest of the meat made a quick and easy dinner and allowed me and Mimi to watch some excellent NCAA Women’s basketball game.

This is easy to put on before leaving for work.  Just cook on low and when you get home, an easy dinner is waiting.  It's also great on those busy weekends when that yard work leaves you too tired to cook.  And unless you are feeding a tremendous crowd, leftovers are great with a baked potato!

Of course, it would have been much better with some Uncle Malcolm ribs.  He was the original BBQ king in our family and he will be missed by all. 

Spring Break Plans

Our Plans Have Changed. Again.

Well the weather and Scott’s trucking schedule just would not cooperate with our camping plans.  And I am not going to sit in the camper with three kids, my mama and the dog while it storms. 

There are other variables like I can’t put the awning down by myself quick enough in a storm.  (Learned the hard way at the beach.) So we will mostly be home this week with some trips to here and there sprinkled in.

In anticipation of spring break, I had cooked ahead plus grilled over at Mimi’s house Saturday night.  You might have heard a lot of ruckus Saturday and Sunday evenings over on Stadium Drive.  Mimi, HC1 and I were watching some amazing NCAA WBB upsets.  Like the Lady Dogs and Lady Cards.

We have lots of leftovers to get us through the week. Which means the kitchen is closed. There won’t be a lot of cooking going on this week.  Ahhh, the kitchen will stay clean for more than one day.

To make this a productive week, I have settled on three goals.

1.  Find the pool table.  I know it’s under there.  Somewhere. Under the Mount Mitchell of laundry.  I have done a great job of keeping it all washed and dried.  But we are suffering on the fold and put up side.

2.  Bake bread.  Yes Sir.  I plan to bake some bread.  I’ve assembled all of the ingredients and am trying to build up my confidence.  Baking real homemade bread is very intimidating.  But I am going to overcome this.

3.  A visit to Oconee County.  I’ve found about 4 or 5 rentals to look at and it is time we made a visit to start planning our transition for next school year.

4.  A weekly rotation of basic chores list.  My children are going to love this one. And I'm open to suggestions of how you have combined household duties/chores into your family's schedule

We have the usual dusting, sweeping and mopping to do.  Those jobs never seem to go away.  I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing week and enjoy your family time.  Where ever you choose to spend your time.

Don’t buy that stuff in a Jar

Home Made Salsa

A cruising of my overflowing slightly dysfunctional pantry revealed an absence of a jar of salsa. Salsa – a condiment – one that the Thorpe children, all three of them, eat a lot of.  So on the grocery list it goes. 

Once at the store and after reading all the ingredients (Just what is monosulphates?)  I determined I can make this stuff myself and probably just as economical as buying a big jug of it at sams.  Of course, I turned to pinterest where I found literally dozens of recipes for homemade salsa.

Some used canned tomatoes, some fresh and some fresh and roasted.  Now I’m all about trying to eat healthy and fresher foods.  But I’m going to draw the line at roasting.  Also, tomatoes aren’t in season and are too expensive at the grocery store to use fresh.  That narrowed it down to using canned tomatoes for this experiment.

I also had to do some climbing for this one.  My big food processor is in the pantry on the top shelf.  You know, out of the way.  Of course Scott put it up there.  So if this gets posted before noon today, it means that I didn’t fall and break anything getting that monster down.

Good news:  I didn’t fall and managed to pull it down by the cord AND it didn’t land on my head.  Then I gave it a bath, completely submerging it in hot soapy water.  I worked with a couple of germaphobes way too long. Now hoping I don’t get electrocuted.

I found several basic recip1es and combined them to the following:

2 cans of diced tomatoes with chilies
½ small onion
1 glove of garlic peeled and smashed OR
1 tsp. of garlic powder OR
1 tsp. of minced garlic (my choice but not all 3, unless you have vampires in the family)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
Pinch or sugar or tsp. of honey ( I’m using honey)
Small bunch of cilantro
Squeeze juice of 1/2 of lime

Combine in food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Give it a taste and adjust seasoning.  I liked this recipe because it didn’t have a lot of salt.  So definitely adjust to your taste.  I also did not add any additional jalapeno peppers.  If you like it hot, go ahead and add some peppers too!

Once you get it flavored up, place in a jar/container and refrigerate.  I imagine this will really get “gooder” as it sits.

 

 

          “Gooder” – and HC2 term that is a word, at least at our house.

Enjoy with your favorite chips.  Now I need to find a hiding place in the fridge or else I’ll be making another batch before next week!

***UPDATE***

Do not use your food processor.  It made a big old mess.  Transferred to the blender and it literally took 30 seconds.  It is amazing salsa.  If I can learn how to fry chips we may never eat at another Mexican restaurant again!!

Camping with Kids: Part II

Thorpe Style Camping 101

There are two kinds of people.  Camping people and motel people.  And you know which one you are. 

Then there are two kinds of campers…tent campers and well, those of us who don’t tent camp.  When Mama retired, she bought the Cougar, a 5^th wheel camper, to have to spend time with the girls.  So far, we have taken it to the beach, the lake and the race track.

One of our favorite camp grounds around here is Cottonhill over near Fort Gaines.  The girls have made friends over there and we normally see some of the local “camping people”.  Wink wink, we know who we are!

CottonHill sunset

                                                     
We take the bikes, the boat, the tube, lots of chairs and an shade tent.  It use to take Forevah to get set up.  Now, Scott backs up the camper while I line him up to the hook ups.  Maddie helps him level while I start taking out all the stuff and getting set up outside.
Green carpet. Check. Table for cooking supplies. Check. Big Cooler. Check. And on it goes.  The other two girls help with the unloading and tablecloths.  Within about 30 to 45 minutes we are chilling at the lake. 

We’ve been camping since before HC3 was born.  So we’ve had toddlers, infants and now…teens.  Sooo, if you are camping with kids and preteens, What do you take? And how much?

 

I try to plan a menu and we actually do some light cooking.  But it really helps to pre-cook or in my case overcook to prepare for meals.  I have an electric skillet, a griddle, an electric burner, a small toaster, a coffee pot and a Coleman camping grill.  This means we have a pretty large extension cord and a plug strip.  **Note:  Plug your extension cord directly into the electric hookup.  Learned this one the hard way…kept blowing the breaker when using the plug on the outside of the camper.

Meals for Camping week:

1.     Taco’s:  You can’t mess this up.  Brown and season your ground meat of choice.  All the other fixings are easy.  This go round we are trying the Doritos taco bags.  Check out pinterest, but basically open a bag of Fritos or Doritos add meat, lettuce, sour cream, cheese and a fork.  Portable and easy to eat outside.  Awesome

2.     Spaghetti:  Make a wash pot full prior to your camping trip.  Freeze in a big ice cream bucket.  Reheat in your electric skillet.  Add a prepackaged salad and voila!  Easy dinner the kids will eat.  And who cares if they make a mess?  They eat outside and can wash off in the lake!

3.     Hot dogs/Hamburgers…you got to grill at least once.  And by far this is a favorite.  To make the trip easier go ahead and pat out those burgers and freeze between wax paper.  Makes it much easier to use the amount you need.  You will be amazed at how many friends you accumulate when you camp and cook!

Fun note: Take some wire hangers or buy the nice camping forks from Wally world.  Let the kids cook those hot dogs over the fire.

 

4.     Boston Butt:  Crock pot it once you get there or cook ahead.  I like to cook ahead, have for one meal then freeze for the camping trip.  Add buns and some cut up veggies.  Great lunch for hungry swimmers!

 

5.     Big Breakfast Sunday:  This means I’m cooking.  Grits in a pot on the electric burner.  Bacon in the electric skillet, pancakes on the griddle.  To keep things hot, we use a tortillas warmer.  They sell them at wal-mart and you’ll want more than one.  Breakfast is an easy meal to make self-service Holiday Inn style.  Big kids and cook their own pancakes or waffles and an adult can help the little ones.

6.     Tin Foil:  You can cook about anything in tinfoil over your campfire.  So take a big roll of heavy duty!

Other items to take are homemade baked muffins for breakfast, lots of pre cut vegetables for self serve snacks, fruit, homemade cookies or brownies for after tubing.

Now for the fun stuff with little kids:

 1.      Bicycles are instant fun, even their trikes…just don’t forget helmets. Like the Thorpe kids will have their helmets on, right.

2.      Bubbles, sidewalk chalk and other cheapo entertainment type toys. We have a toy box, an old paper box, with sand toys, wiffle ball sets, etc.

3.      For rest or down time, a few coloring books and crayons.

4.      Try to camp near the playground.

5.      Life vest. Life vest. Life vest. If you are doing water sports make sure you have vests specific for children and their weight.           

 

As you and your family camp, you will figure out what works for y’all.  You might be the all fend for yourself and eat a sandwich type.  Or maybe your family prefers the back to nature hike and eat granola.  Or maybe you become the campground gourmet that smells up the campground and ticks off all of us who aren’t!!

Either way, get a tent or starter camper and hit the road.  I can’t believe we have been camping for 10 plus years.  We have great memories and have had some wonderful times with our girls.  Now get out there, get your gear or camper ready.  It is spring break and time to hit the lake or beach with your family.