catching up

Do you ever feel like you are constantly catching up!??! I just found our small digital camera with photos from before christmas!! Here is one of our Adventures in Glendale to see the 'snow' and santa...




At the Americana, they did that bubble snow for about 15m. We ran so fast to get to where the snow would be (we were stuck in traffic getting there) while Ry drove to find a parking spot.



And every mad dash to see snow and santa would only be complete by an In n Out dinner!!!

So....at least it's not Easter when i'm posting these!!

SNOW

We experienced this beautiful view this morning outside our window

I don't think that I will ever get used to this lovely view...I love our foothills

This is right outside our porch. Good Morning, Sunday! We love this welcomed cold weather!
have a great Sunday, friends!

Back to school...

I'm back to school at Biola now. Last Monday was the first Monday back. Sitting here at the computer getting my Monday schedule down...planning out direction sessions...thinking of questions to ask about the books the classes are reading...realizing I should have read more this weekend than clean and watch the Super Bowl and write a short post on the blog...sigh...

BUT...the weekend was a.maz.ing! The weather was beautiful and we had plans all weekend and all of a sudden they all got dropped due to illness (we have been sick on and off since we moved here-hurray allergies). So we were home all weekend instead of traveling all about. How nice was that to just have a free weekend!

What did you all do? How was your Super Bowl ? : ) Have a great week!

latest crock pot find

This recipe was very well received. We had friends who also needed a meal that night (don't you hate when you discover that you have NO food in your fridge!) and it yielded enough food for their family of six and ours of four! We just added a quick quesadilla for their dear veggie daughter, a bag of salad and made a full pot of couscous (didn't have enough rice, which I think would have been the best side for this dish) and it fed us all...well!!! and even the kids loved it and went back for more. In case the link doesn't work, here is the recipe:

--12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves
--1 cup brown sugar (it's okay. you can brush your teeth after.)
--1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (stay with me...)
--2/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine, but think regular white would be fine)
--3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
--2 T soy sauce
--1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

Enjoy!!

Yummy chicken!

So...this is sooooo so simple....the latest crock pot meal!

take your frozen chicken...dump it in your crock pot....
pour over a bottle of salsa (we use pace picante medium)
turn on low for the day...
come home. turn off. pull out chicken. it just tears all apart...it's shredded amazing juicy chicken for burritos and nachos for dinner.

do it!!
if you have more crock pot meals, send them my way : ) i'll test them out on our fam. the kids loved the chicken-but i didn't tell them about it-i just made their burritos and they ate them! if i would have told them salsa was the main ingredient-i would have lost them!

enjoy!

Crock Pot Lasagna

This is a tried and approved recipe from my very casserole hating husband. He doesn't do lasagna, ever...in our marriage or pot lucks...he'll eat it just because he doesn't want to offend, but inside he just doesn't like it at all. But...I asked him if i could try this recipe on him-and he LIKED it...he even at more the next day and said "this is better the next day"!! YIPPEE!!
My dear friend from high school Christine posted this on my facebook when I did a call out to everyone to share some crockpot recipes that didn't need a lot of fuss. You do need to cook the beef first-BUT...it's quick and not intense. Here ya go!! Enjoy!!

Christine's Crock Pot Lasagna

1 lb lean ground beef ( i use ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounces cottage cheese (I use reduced fat)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup asiago cheese
12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 4 1/4 hrs
1 Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan.
2 Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and oregano.
3 Cook long enough to get it warm.
4 Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker.
5 Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with cheeses.
6 Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.
7 Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

A.MAZ.ING. chili!!

so...our dear friend Claudette gave me this recipe-and it's the most amazing chili ever!! Has a sweetness to it that is just dreamy! Enjoy!

Auntie Clod's Homemade Chili:

2lbs of lean ground beef-do not drain
2 T olive oil
1 whole onion (i chopped it up real fine cuz the kids don't like onions)
2 packages of mild chili seasoning
2 T chili powder
2 T of tiger sauce (thailand) (don't worry if you can't find it-i didn't use it and it still tastes amazing!)
Brown the above in a large mixing pot (i actually just browned mine in a large skillet then transfered it into my stock pot-BUT i'm sure her suggestion is just fine too!)

4 cans of dark kidney beans
4 cans of italian style stewed tomatoes
2 bottles of prego (or other) tomato sauce
mix in with the large pot containing the above ingredients

here is the secret ingredient : ) 1/2 cup brown sugar. (sweet and spicy!)
bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Enjoy!!! a perfect meal for this gloomy weather! Thanks Auntie Clod!!!