Yesterday I wanted to attend the Chrysalis closing so I needed a crock pot meal that I could fix in the afternoon so it would be ready for everyone since I wouldn't be home.
I cooked my chicken before hand and then cut it up. I then put all the ingredients in the crock pot and about 1/2 hr. before I thought everyone would be eating I had the babysitter put in the biscuits. Turns out that the biscuits took longer to cook that the recipe says. I think other than that snafu they turned out pretty good. We all agreed that they would have been good with some peas in carrots in them as well. Here's the recipe if anyone wants to try it out.
Southern Chicken & Dumplings, submitted by Stephanie Lucius of Powder Springs, GA
3 10-3/4 oz. cans cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. onion, diced
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3-3/4 c. water
3 12-oz. tubes refrigerated biscuits, quartered
Pour soup into a slow cooker; add onion and chicken. Pour in enough water to cover chicken. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours, or on high setting for 4 to 6 hours. About 45 minutes before serving, turn slow cooker to high setting. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon; shred into bite-size pieces and return to slow cooker. Drop biscuit quarters into slow cooker; stir well. Replace lid and cook for 35 minutes more, or until dumplings are done. Stir and serve. Serves 6 to 8.
This came from the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks 101 Slow Cooker Recipes.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A sense of Accomplishment
It is 8:03 and I am finished with my chores for the day. I am really enjoying having the chores split up over several days. It really gives one a sense of accomplishment. And when I am finished with the chores for the day I am not overly exhausted. I feel like I am getting stuff done and I can be full attentive to the kids. I do need to finish the laundry but the first load is already in the dryer. So I should be finished with laundry well before lunch. And to think tomorrow is one of my 2 days, Friday and Sunday, where I have given my self no chores. Fridays should be fun days! So I have decided that on Fridays I will do whatever mending needs to be done and then I can work on things I want to learn or become better at. Now I need to go make breakfast and getting catching up with the world.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Space to remember, mend and create
So as a part of trying to learn to make things and get caught up on my scrap booking I created some space. So below is a picture of my creative space. I can scrap book here, sew, mend, write, whatever I want here. It is still in need of a little organization but that won't take long.
I am hoping to start by mending my big pile of things that need mended on the desk. That's my first task then I think I am going to make some napkins for the kids. You know some eco-friendly cloth napkins.
I am hoping to start by mending my big pile of things that need mended on the desk. That's my first task then I think I am going to make some napkins for the kids. You know some eco-friendly cloth napkins.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Chicken and Noodles
So not only to try to save a little money but also because I wanted to I made Chicken and Noodles from Scratch. The noodles were so easy to make. It took me less than an hour to make them, that includes the 20 minute resting period before I rolled it out. I baked some chicken and then shredded it. So when it came time to make dinner I just had to dump it all in the pot. And I made enough for 2 batches. My down fall for saving money came when I had to run to Dollar General and get broth. I had heard that Wal-Mart was crazy due to the mention of snow. I didn't even want to deal with that mess. Now I wish I would have.
Anyways, I used 5 cans of Chicken Broth which = $5. Way to much for broth! I think I can get enough broth at Wal-Mart for $3. We prefer the boxed broth to the liquid from the chicken. Because I baked it there wasn't much liquid from it anyways.
The noodles were probably about $1 to make 2 batches. When I buy them they are $4 a bag so that saved $7, great!
The chicken was frozen Chicken Breasts. There are 8 in the bag for about $7. I cooked 3 Chicken breasts so about $2.60 for the chicken.
Remember this was two batches of noodles, excluding the broth. So per one batch of Chicken Noodles it would cost $4.80 to make it from scratch. To just buy all ingredients it would cost $10. That's a savings of $5.20 per batch. Not to bad and it was so easy to do.
The noodles could have been rolled out thinner. This is something that I am not good at. The reason I cannot make cut out sugar cookies. Which is another goal for 2010. I think that I would like to get the Kitchen Aid mixer pasta maker attachment. I think that with this I could get them rolled out correctly.
The Pasta Attachment is $120 on Amazon. So it'll be a while before I get one. If anyone has one laying around that they would like to sell or let me borrow. I am not above borrowing or buying one used.
I will try this again.
When searching for the Pasta Attachment on Amazon I saw a Ravioli press, hmmmm. Maybe some adventures into pasta.
Anyways, I used 5 cans of Chicken Broth which = $5. Way to much for broth! I think I can get enough broth at Wal-Mart for $3. We prefer the boxed broth to the liquid from the chicken. Because I baked it there wasn't much liquid from it anyways.
The noodles were probably about $1 to make 2 batches. When I buy them they are $4 a bag so that saved $7, great!
The chicken was frozen Chicken Breasts. There are 8 in the bag for about $7. I cooked 3 Chicken breasts so about $2.60 for the chicken.
Remember this was two batches of noodles, excluding the broth. So per one batch of Chicken Noodles it would cost $4.80 to make it from scratch. To just buy all ingredients it would cost $10. That's a savings of $5.20 per batch. Not to bad and it was so easy to do.
The noodles could have been rolled out thinner. This is something that I am not good at. The reason I cannot make cut out sugar cookies. Which is another goal for 2010. I think that I would like to get the Kitchen Aid mixer pasta maker attachment. I think that with this I could get them rolled out correctly.
The Pasta Attachment is $120 on Amazon. So it'll be a while before I get one. If anyone has one laying around that they would like to sell or let me borrow. I am not above borrowing or buying one used.
I will try this again.
When searching for the Pasta Attachment on Amazon I saw a Ravioli press, hmmmm. Maybe some adventures into pasta.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Organization
Well, yesterday I set daily goals for myself. I took my dry erase board down and got it in order. I divided it up in to days of the week, a section for each family member, and a section for food.
In the days of the week section I have delegated chores to each day and that's the day I do them. I worked yesterday to get all the laundry done but due to a little critter wanting me to hold her all day not much laundry got done. So I had to finish it up today which was mainly just folding and putting away. I had all the laundry washed and dried, well except for three outfits I had to change yesterday due to the little critter spitting up on me, oh well. Maybe I nee two laundry days a week, we will see.
Today I had all of yesterday's laundry and all of today's chores done by 9:30 AM, Yahoo! The only thing I need to worry about house wise is cleaning up the kitchen after meals.
In the food section of the board I divided it up so we know what we have to fix, ideas of what we want to fix, and what we like.
i gave each person in the fam a spot so we could see what special things we have going on during the week.
I am hoping this will help being more organized at home. Here's a pic of my chart.
In the days of the week section I have delegated chores to each day and that's the day I do them. I worked yesterday to get all the laundry done but due to a little critter wanting me to hold her all day not much laundry got done. So I had to finish it up today which was mainly just folding and putting away. I had all the laundry washed and dried, well except for three outfits I had to change yesterday due to the little critter spitting up on me, oh well. Maybe I nee two laundry days a week, we will see.
Today I had all of yesterday's laundry and all of today's chores done by 9:30 AM, Yahoo! The only thing I need to worry about house wise is cleaning up the kitchen after meals.
In the food section of the board I divided it up so we know what we have to fix, ideas of what we want to fix, and what we like.
i gave each person in the fam a spot so we could see what special things we have going on during the week.
I am hoping this will help being more organized at home. Here's a pic of my chart.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Things I want to accomplish in 2010.
I am not setting a certain number of items. This is just a list of all the things I would like to learn to do or things I want to accomplish in 2010. If you can help me learn something or accomplish something I am not above getting help. So here we go:
1. Handle raw meat w/o freaking out.
2. Hem a pair of pants.
3. a more organized home (meal plans, cleaning schedule, ect...)
4. become a better coupon clipper and user.
5. knit
6. loose weight (60-70lbs.)
7. design and keep up our family website
8. make clothing (apron-me, dresses-girls)
9. work on photography-not that i want to go professional, I just want to be better
10. Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements
11. make hair accessories
12. become a better cook with a better variety of meals
13. practice and get better at creating cakes
14. have a yard sale and get rid of all the stuff we have sitting around in bags to sell.
15. finish organizing the back room
16. make my own baby food
17. get scrapbooks caught up.
18. come up with a schedule for a more efficient day
19. become friends with my sewing machine
20. enter a craft show-if I can learn the things I want to
21. exercise more
22. become healthier
23. mend clothing
24. there are lots of thing I would like to try to make (purses, bags, aprons, clothing, napkins, ect...)
I think that's a good start.
1. Handle raw meat w/o freaking out.
2. Hem a pair of pants.
3. a more organized home (meal plans, cleaning schedule, ect...)
4. become a better coupon clipper and user.
5. knit
6. loose weight (60-70lbs.)
7. design and keep up our family website
8. make clothing (apron-me, dresses-girls)
9. work on photography-not that i want to go professional, I just want to be better
10. Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements
11. make hair accessories
12. become a better cook with a better variety of meals
13. practice and get better at creating cakes
14. have a yard sale and get rid of all the stuff we have sitting around in bags to sell.
15. finish organizing the back room
16. make my own baby food
17. get scrapbooks caught up.
18. come up with a schedule for a more efficient day
19. become friends with my sewing machine
20. enter a craft show-if I can learn the things I want to
21. exercise more
22. become healthier
23. mend clothing
24. there are lots of thing I would like to try to make (purses, bags, aprons, clothing, napkins, ect...)
I think that's a good start.
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