Day 26- Cream of Anything and Edamame

Tonight for dinner we had my favorite chicken of all time, creamy Italian chicken, if you don't have the recipe you need it! It's pretty simple to make and you make it in the crock pot ( I love my crock pot! and the recipe is at the very bottom). This recipe calls for 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, instead of cream of chicken soup I made a batch of cream of anything soup. It can be used in place of cream of chicken, mushroom, celery, etc. and it is better for you too! I was a little leery that it would change the taste of my dish but it didn't, it tasted the same if not better. The only thing I will change from now on is using 1 cup water per every 1/3 cup to make a can. The directions call for 1 1/4 cup but in my opinion it was too watery.

I wrote all the ingredients and portions for a can on the front so I won't forget

Cream of Anything Soup

 

1 cup non-fat dried milk

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup bouillon (if you have cubes you have to smash up 11 of them)You can use whatever kind you like (ie, beef, veggie)

4 Tablespoons freeze dried minced onions

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon pepper

(For the equivalent of one can of condensed cream soup, mix 1/3 cup dry mix with 1 1/4 cup water. Cook until thick) 

So I guess I didn't read all the directions I just mixed it in a measuring cup, I didn't cook it...so next time I will cook it first and try again with the right amounts of mix and water

This mix came from One Orange Giraffe

 

Edamame is not a veggie I normally cook, actually I had never cooked it until tonight. I made garlic Parmesan edamame and it was pretty yummy. Surprisingly Jorydn LOVED it, and when I say loved I mean she asked for seconds and thirds. Having never cooked it before I was shocked when the picture I saw for the recipe showed all these nice beans in pods sitting on a plate and I read the back of the package and it says in big bold capital letters "PODS NOT EDIBLE. DO NOT EAT THE PODS" what?! I was totally confused, so I called my mom and she didn't know either...then I found a youtube video of a guy making the same recipe I was making. Thank goodness for the internet. You don't eat the pods you just eat the bean inside, which in case you didn't know edamame is soy beans. Unfortunately the pod had all the flavor and the beans didn't. It was really messy getting the beans out of the shell, but once you got them out and mushed them around in the coating they were delicious. I think they would have been better as an appetizer rather than a veggie for dinner. Either way they were yummy and I will make it again. Next time I am going to try steaming the beans longer to see if I can get the shells to soften more.

Garlic Parmesan Edamame

1 (16 oz) pkg frozen edamame in shell
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped up
1/2 c Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Steam edamame in microwave until slightly warm and not frozen. (Mine came in a steamable bag, but you could also stick it in a ziplock baggie with a little water and steam them that way too) Drain and set aside

In a small food processor, combine olive oil and garlic. Process until well-combined. 

Heat a wok over medium high heat with a little bit of oil in it

Add edamame and toss for a few seconds

Add garlic oil and saute for a minute or two, stirring constantly

Remove from heat and add breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and salt and toss until well coated

Pop the little beans out of the shell and enjoy 

This recipe came from 28 Cooks

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 chicken breast

1 8 oz package of neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese)

1 pouch of zesty italian dressing mix

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Half way through I usually mush the cream cheese around so it gets all over the chicken breast.

Half hour before you serve it break up the chicken breast and stir it up so the sauce has time to get all over all the pieces.

Serve with noodles...and you will enjoy!

Day 25- Cotton Balls and Drains

It has been a very rainy week thus far and yesterday was no exception. Once James was down for a nap Jordyn wanted to play a game, Jordyn ALWAYS wants to play a game. We usually end up playing Candy Land, Turtle Recall, Memory, or Yahtzee...after playing those games a million times they get boring (at least for me). So my good friend Pinterest helped me out yet again! We played cotton ball race. So easy, yet so fun! We enjoyed running up and down the entry way with spoons and cotton balls. This is how the game is played...
Step 1: you place a bucket (or some sort of container) at each  end of the hall (or room or yard or wherever); fill one bucket with some cotton balls.
Step 2: Next you set the timer (we did two minutes)
Step 3: then with a spoon in your mouth you have to place the cotton ball(s) on the spoon walk or run down the hall and drop them into the other basket.
You do as many as you can in two minutes. If you drop your cotton ball you pick it up and keep going if you are under the age of 5 and if you are over you have to go back to the beginning and start again.

We started with this many cotton balls, but Jordyn added a whole lot more and by the time we were done the thing was covered in cotton balls

Guess who won this game? I did...but we don't do winner loser we just count the cotton balls and play again

We had lots of fun and both giggled at the sight of each other awkwardly walking down the hall with spoons and cotton balls hanging out of our mouths.

My kitchen was still stinky yesterday when I woke up...one of the worst things you can wake up to a stinky house. So I started my sniffing again and it led me to the drain in the sink. I then went on a Pinterest search for a drain cleaner and of course I found one! It was very simple and very effective!! All you need is vinegar, baking soda, and salt. You put a half a cup of baking soda down the drain, then you add a 1/4 cup of salt. Pour a cup of warm vinegar down the drain and let it sit for 15 minutes. (It will bubble and sizzle) Then run warm water down the drain for a few minutes and ta da clean smelling drain! Now my kitchen smells 100% better, I guess the drain was the stinker the whole time.

Day 24- Dishwasher Cleaner

I had a doctors appointment this afternoon to get my knee checked out. When I got home and walked in the door I smelled the awful smell that was my house. So, as always when the house stinks, I went straight for the kitchen and started smelling EVERYTHING.The two places that were the worst were under the sink where we keep the trash can and the dishwasher. I cleaned out under the sink really well (something I should probably do much more often). Next came the dishwasher, I remembered seeing a pin for cleaning the dishwasher a while ago with vinegar and baking soda.

All you had to do was place a dishwasher safe container full of white vinegar on the top shelf and run the dishwasher through a normal cycle.The vinegar will wash away the greasy grime, sanitize, and helps remove the musty odor. Once that is done you can dump out the container which will now hold dirty water...ewww....You will run the dishwasher one more time on a short cycle but this time sprinkle a cup of baking soda around the bottom. The baking soda will help freshen the smell of the dishwasher as well as brighten up the look of the inside by removing stains. This made the dishwasher smell much better but it did not look that much cleaner, but my main concern was fixed!

Day 23- Letters and Shells

Jordyn starts Pre-K on Monday next week. I think it is crazy she is already old enough to be in school and she thinks it is awesome. She is so excited about going to school, I think she ask how many more days at least 20 times a day and shows her new princess book bag to everyone who comes through the door.
In preparing for school we have been working on her letters all summer long. We have been doing an activity with a letter once a week and finding the letters everywhere we go. For some extra practice we put letters going up the stairs. We used small sheets of paper and I wrote the capital and lowercase version and she did too; then we taped them going up the stairs in a random order. I used blue painters tape so we could move them around easily (this I could change the order and she couldn't memorize a pattern.) She usually gets her fairy princess wand out and taps each letter as she walks up or down the stairs. We only did A-H for the first few days and now that she has mastered them we will be adding the next set of letters today!

Jordyn dressed like a princess everyday!

I have been trying to make dinners with things I have that need to be used up, we do this once every few months so that we can clean out and restock. As I was looking though my pantry I found jumbo shell that I used to make stuffed shells awhile ago. Last time I made them they did not have enough flavor, so my good friend Pinterest helped me out and got me a recipe that was much more flavorful, two recipes actually. I found two recipes and married them, I read through them both and came up with my own version and it was delicious.

This is what the shell should look like before it goes into the pan

Before baking...

After baking!

Rave Reviews

Jonathan said,"these are great they just need more meat per bite." (typical guy answer...not enough meat)
Jordyn said, "Mommy do we get these tomorrow? They are yummy, I like them."

Jessica's Stuffed Shells
1 jar three cheese spaghetti sauce
1 pound of ground beef
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
Pinch of basil
10-15 jumbo dried pasta shells

Preheat oven to 350
Lay half of the lemon juice on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch  baking pan then cover with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce
Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box (you want them al dente)
Drain noodles and let them cool so that you can handle them
Brown the ground beef in a pan over med heat

Combine the ricotta, egg, salt, garlic, Mrs. Dash, Italian seasoning, and basil in a medium bowl, then add the remaining lemon juice. It should resemble mashed potatoes when you are done mixing it all together.
Fill each shell with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the pan.
Sprinkle the ground beef over top of the shells make sure you get some on each one
Ladle the remaining sauce over the shells (I added Parmesan cheese to the top too...but that is optional)
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, uncover for the final 15 minutes or until the shells are cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Day 22- Pancakes

Since I didn't post yesterday I have not one but two pancake recipes for all of you! In each of the following recipes I used 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce per egg because I didn't have eggs in my fridge...so you could do either.

Yesterday morning I decided to try a pancake recipe using sour cream. I love sour cream so I figured pancakes with sour cream were probably going to be pretty yummy, and they were! They reminded me of IHOP pancakes, James liked them too. Jordyn did not like them...but I am pretty sure her reasoning for not liking them was that she saw me put the lemon juice and sour cream in, kids...we will see if she likes them when I warm the leftovers up for her later.

James enjoying his pancakes

I added sprinkles too...I add sprinkles to most breakfasts'

Sour Cream Pancakes
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (I’m pretty sure regular table salt is fine, just use 1 tsp though)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 2 eggs)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
butter

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix only until combined. don’t overmix the batter, or your pancake will be chewy, dense and tough
Melt a tablespoon of butter on a large skillet over medium low heat until it bubbles (I dunno why you have to do this but I did because the directions said so, but after the first couple pancakes I used cooking spray)
Pour the pancake batter into the skillet and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbles appear on top and the bottom is nicely browned.
Flip them over and cook for another minute or so until its browned.
Serve and enjoy with your favorite pancake toppings :)

Pancake recipe number two! These pancakes are a different type pancake because they are square and you bake them in the oven...AKA no slaving over the stove while everyone else eats (that's a MAJOR plus in my book). These were delicious everyone loved them, and by everyone I mean my guinea pigs, my father-in-law, brother-in-laws, and sister-in-law...they were yummy. It probably helped that they were cinnamon roll pancakes with icing drizzled all over them. Sounding yummy yet?! They weren't too hard to make either. I will be making these again for sure! (And I am sorry I don't have a picture my camera is acting up and all the pictures are either white or blurry...)

Cinnamon Roll Pancake Squares

1 1/2 cups milk
4 T. melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 2 large eggs)
2 T. sugar
2 cups flour
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly grease an 11×17 inch jellyroll pan.
 In a large mixing bowl, beat together milk, butter and applesauce/egg.
Add sugar, then gradually beat the flour in.
Carefully stir in the baking powder and salt.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Squeeze out Cinnamon Roll Filling over pancake batter (the woman did swirls but that was too difficult so I just did little dots all over the batter)
Bake in 350 degree oven for 11 minutes until center is set and does not give when pressed with your finger.
Remove from oven and drizzle with Maple Drizzle. Serve immediately.

Cinnamon Roll Filling
4 T. melted butter (Next time I will use 5 so maybe I can make swirls)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. cinnamon

In a small bowl mix filling ingredients together until blended well. Place in a pastry bag or plastic ziplock bag and snip corner to drop or swirl over pancake batter.

 Maple Drizzle
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T. good maple syrup
milk

Mix the first two ingredients in a bowl until smooth, dripping in small amounts of milk until mixture is a drizzling consistency.
Using a spoon or another utensil drizzle over the pancake.

Freezer Note- These can be sliced, placed on a cookie sheet and frozen. Once frozen, place in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze
Reheat in microwave

Sour Cream Pancakes recipe is from Obviously Omnivore
Cinnamon roll pancake recipe is from  Big Red Kitchen

Day 21-Worlds best chicken...

World's best chicken...or so said the pin. I wouldn't say it was the best chicken I have ever had but it was good and I will be making it again. Whenever I see a pin that says "best" I have to try it and see if it lives up to it's title, and usually it doesn't. Oh well... It was good though and I was a little leery about trying it because I am not a fan of mustard and neither is Jonathan, but it really didn't have a mustardy taste. Thankfully this recipe is pretty easy, and like I said it was good and the chicken was good and moist. My only suggestion is to salt it really well because ours needed a little extra salt once we began to eat it.

Rave Reviews:
Jordyn, who tried it before we even sat down to eat, said, "Mommy this cut up chicken is really good!"
Jonathan, with suprise in his voice (he was expecting to hate it since it was made with mustard), "It's pretty good."

"The World’s Best Chicken"
(I think I would rather call it Mustard Syrup Chicken)



1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup syrup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Turn oven on to 450 degrees
Mix together the mustard, syrup, and red wine vinegar
Place the chicken breast in a glass baking dish and generously sprinkle with salt and a little pepper
Pour liquid mixture all over the chicken breast
Place in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 and juices run clear

Original recipe from Rachel Schultz

Day 20- Keychain and Crockpot

We had mom's group this morning which was lots of fun. There were a lot of new faces which meant more kids for Jordyn to play with and more mommies to chat with! We usually try to do a craft when we get together, and I have been wanting to make credit card key chains. I had a pile of old credit cards my dad gave me so I had more than enough so everyone could make at least one.

I think mine turned out pretty cute! I wish I had gotten pictures of everyone's because they were all so different but so cute. I am so happy I have friends who like to craft as much as I do.

Step 1: Print out pictures of your kid(s)...I used word to crop my pictures so they were a little bit larger than an inch wide..you could make your picture larger if you wanted a bigger key chain.
Step 2: Print an cut out your picture(s)
Step 3: Cut your credit card to the size you want..mine were slightly larger than a inch...to make it easier cut both sides so it is a squared rectangle with no round edges
Step 4: Decorate your credit card (use the flat side for your picture) and glue everything down
Step 5: Punch a hole in the top...make sure to do this before the next step or it will be very difficult, I know from experience
Step 6: Cover the entire thing with modge podge to seal it
Step 7: Let them hang from keys or whatever and show of your cuties

Jonathan had court tonight and I knew he'd be getting home late, so I need something that would be ready to eat when he got home. I pulled out the freezer meal I made last week and decided to make it...and it was yummy! If you don't remember it was savory vegetable beef soup. I will definitely be making it again, however I will probably wait for fall because it taste like a fall meal. The other change I will be making next time I do it is adding extra meat. Jonathan complained it wasn't meaty enough so I will do 2 pounds ground beef instead of one.

Freezer Meal: Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
1 Onion and
2 TBS minced garlic
2 lbs Ground Beef
2 whole carrots chopped per bag
3 Red Potatoes chopped per bag
1 can tomato soup split between bags
1 can diced tomatoes split between bags
1/2 TBSP Worcestershire per bag
1/2 cup Beef Broth per bag
1 TBSP Parsley per bag
1 tsp Basil per bag
1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
1/2 tsp salt per bag
1/2 tsp pepper per bag
1 TBSP Sugar per bag

Place in crockpot with 1 1/2 cups of water and 15 oz of beef broth on low for 8 hours