Tacos.

A few weeks ago, as I was planning the meals for the upcoming week, I asked my husband if anything in particular sounded good to him. His response was tacos. More specifically, crunchy shelled tacos. As I set out to find a recipe, I realized that in our six plus years together I had never made tacos. Isn’t that crazy?

I found a crockpot chicken tacos recipe from How Sweet It Is. I love anything that can be made in a crockpot. I mean, who doesn’t love having dinner ready when you come home from work?

First, I made the taco seasoning. I did this the night before. And I actually doubled it so I would have extra on hand for the next time I needed it.





The next morning, I placed the chicken in my crockpot (forgetting to use a crockpot liner!), then sprinkled in the seasoning (about 3 tbsps) and poured in the beer. I went with a light beer with lime. I actually used the whole bottle because I really hated to waste the rest (and I couldn’t drink it at 7am before I went to work). Using the whole bottle ended up being a mistake because the chicken was too juicy in the end. So don’t be like me.

Once the ingredients were in the crockpot, I put on the lid, and cooked everything on low for about 10 hours. The house smelled so wonderful when we came home from work! Then just shred the chicken in the liquid using two forks. The recipe called for cheddar cheese to be mixed in with the meat. I decided to skip that part and just added the cheese when we built our tacos. We topped our tacos with a mexican cheese mix, store bought salsa and avocado. Delicious.





I believe Taco Night will now be added to the meal rotation at our house!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup beer
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
taco shells
toppings: we used avocado, salsa, and cheese

In a bowl, mix together chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. (I doubled this part).

Place chicken in the crockpot, sprinkle on desired amount of seasoning (I used 3 tablespoons), then pour in the beer. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Shred the chicken using two forks and then let sit in the crockpot for another 15 minutes or so. Make your tacos and enjoy!

A celebration.

After 9 long months, we finally sold our old house! We signed all of the paperwork on Friday so we celebrated with a special dinner that night.

My husband wasn’t feeling too well as allergy season has already started in the south so I kept things pretty low key. We had filet mignon, gorgonzola smashed potatoes, roasted broccoli and his favorite cheddar rolls from Fresh Market. For dessert, I had planned to make this Nutella Mousse from Crazy for Crust but my husband said that he’d rather have it some time when he would actually be able to enjoy it. Poor thing!

Celebration Dinner

For the steaks, we like to keep it simple. A little seasoned salt and a few minutes on the grill. My husband is in charge of all things grill related so he took care of those. And they turned out perfectly.

Gorgonzola Smashed Potatoes

The gorgonzola smashed potatoes are easy and delicious. These are a go to side item in our house because you can make as little or as much as you like. I like to use the bags of small potato medleys (red, gold and purple potatoes) but any small potatoes would work. First, I preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then I boil the potatoes whole. Once the potatoes are cooked through, drain and place on a foil lined cookie sheet. Using a potato masher or fork, I smash each potato individually.  Then sprinkle on salt and pepper. Next, I dot each potato with a small pad of butter and then top each with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, as much or as little as you like. My husband actually likes to add a little Italian seasoning to his potatoes but I think they are delicious just like this. Once the potatoes are covered in all the goodness, place the cookie sheet in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is starting to melt. And don’t overlook the cheese that melts onto the pan and starts to turn a little brown. That might actually be my favorite part!

I will admit that I am completely addicted to roasted broccoli. I would eat it every single day. Seriously. In fact, I only refrain from making it every day for fear that my husband will soon be burned out on it. It’s so easy, delicious and healthy. I start with fresh broccoli florets, trimmed and ready to go, thanks to the grocery store. Toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Then bake on foiled lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until roasted to perfect. All I can say is don’t be fooled by the simplicity.

Now once my husband starts to feel better, we’ll try that dessert!

Cheers!

A Weekend Getaway.

Friday, February 10th was my birthday. My 30th birthday to be exact. So how did I celebrate my 30th birthday? My amazing husband took me on a weekend getaway to Breckenridge, CO and my son spent his first weekend away from home with one set of his grandparents.

This was my first time to Colorado, other than switching planes in the Denver airport. I was simply amazed by the beauty of this state. The mountains, the snow, the cute towns. Simply breathtaking. Since this was our first weekend getaway, we wanted it to be low key with plenty of time for relaxation. We rented a house in Breckenridge and that’s actually where we spent most of our time. I thought I would share some of our activities and photos.

From the back deck of the house.

When we first got into town, we were starving so we decided to stop for crepes on Main Street at Crepes A La Cart. I tried the Le Parisian with ham, brie and dijon mustard and my husband got one with turkey and pesto. Phenomenal. After the crepes, my husband ran into Rocky Mountain Cupcakes to pick up some cake pops that he had ordered for me. He also picked up some smores, which were two graham crackers with a marshmallow in between, dipped in chocolate. So delicious.

After picking up some goodies, we stopped at the grocery store and got enough food to cook all of our meals for the weekend. I really love to cook, especially when my husband is in the kitchen cooking with me, and actually find it to be quite relaxing. Plus the house we rented had a fantastic kitchen. It would have been a shame not to use it! When we were at the grocery store, my husband managed to slip away to the bakery and pick up a birthday cake he had ordered for me. And somehow he even managed to get it into the house without me noticing and surprised me with it after dinner on Friday night. What a guy!





On Saturday morning, we rode snowmobiles. To be honest, I was a little skeptical about this at first but my husband really wanted to go and I had heard from so many people how fun it would be. So I decided to be adventurous and go but opted to be a passenger on my husband’s snowmobile rather than trying to drive one on my own (that would have been bad for everyone involved). I am so glad we went. I had so much fun and the views were amazing. I highly recommend this to anyone going to Colorado. We used White Mountain Tours and were very impressed with our guide, Brian. He showed everyone how to use the snowmobile and then we set off for our ride. We followed him on trails for over two hours. And while that seems like a long time to be in 11 degree weather, it flew by and I don't recall ever being too cold. I did have on tons of layers though! It was a blast and I will definitely do this again!

  

Me and my husband.



The whole group.

 

Snowmobiling stop.

 

Another snowmobiling stop.

After riding the snowmobiles, we were starving so stopped for lunch at Kenosha Steak House on Main Street. We each had burgers. I opted for a regular beef burger but my husband had the elk burger. Both were excellent. The remainder of the trip was spent relaxing at our house, which was exactly the kind of weekend I needed.

From the back deck of the house.



From the back deck of the house.

I had such an amazing birthday/weekend but by Sunday I was ready to go home. I missed my little man so much. Luckily, we had been getting updates all weekend via text message. He had a great weekend with his grandparents and I think they were sad to send him home.

Valentine’s Day party.

My son’s class is having their Valentine’s Day party this afternoon. Last week, my son’s teacher gave me all the details of the party. She started the conversation by saying that since the children didn’t know when Valentine’s Day was that they were opting to have to party on Friday. She then told me that there was a sign-up sheet for refreshments (we are bringing veggies) and that each child needed to bring a valentine box to hold all his valentines and that they wanted the children to pass out valentines to each other. I was a bit surprised by all this considering that the children are just barely over a year old. But I love a party and anything that gives me an excuse to do crafts.

I’ll admit that at first, I struggled with what kind of valentine box to make for Slade. I didn’t want anything pink or covered in hearts for a boy. So I spent some time googling “valentine boxes for boys.” Eventually, I stumbled upon this Sandwich Box Monster. Very cute, yet very boy. And it seemed easy enough. After a quick to trip to Michael’s on my lunch break, I was ready to make Slade’s valentine box. I decided to use an empty tissue box instead of the sandwich box beccause I just happened to have one on hand. I also opted to use some googly eyes instead of using the egg carton (the eggs I buy come in a plastic carton). I found some blue ball things at Michael’s (I’m really not sure what the correct name for them is) that I used for the spots on the monster. Overall, I’m pleased with how it turned out.

For the valentines, I looked at the selection in several stores and didn’t find any that I liked or felt were appropriate for toddlers. So again, I started googling and found some really cute, free, printable dinosaur valentines from HP. I was able to print just the amount I needed, wrote each child’s name on them and my husband cut them out. So easy!

I’m not a fan of giving candy or really any sugar to children (to my knowledge, Slade’s never had anything sweeter than an animal cracker, other than fruit) so I opted to give each child a package of applesauce. Slade loves these little pouches and they are great for a snack on the go. To attach the valentine to the applesauce, my husband punched a hole in the top of each valentine with a hole punch and then using some white curling ribbon leftover from Christmas, he tied each valentine to the applesauce.

I found this shirt on Carter's website and couldn’t resist. I thought it would be the perfect Valentine’s party shirt.

And with that, we are ready for the party this afternoon!

Happy Valentine’s Day.

So I’m a day late, I know. But I wanted to share what I made my valentine, my sweet husband, for dinner. We’ve always preferred to celebrate Valentine’s day at home so I usually try to come up with something extra special to make. But for some reason I was having a hard time deciding what to make this year and I didn’t actually decide what I was going to make until I was leaving the office yesterday afternoon which meant that a grocery store stop was necessary. This is very unlike me considering that I like to have things planned as far in advance as possible. So all of that's to say, that by the time I finished preparing the meal (which I didn’t even start until after my son was asleep) we were so hungry that I didn’t take any pictures of the finished product. I was too busy stuffing my face and the thought never crossed my mind.

For our dinner I made Brown Butter Parmesan Chicken Linguine from How Sweet It Is. Oh. My. Goodness. This was good stuff. My husband ate two platefuls and quickly claimed the leftovers for his lunch today.  Always a good sign. I did two things different than in the recipe- I used chicken that I had one hand from a rotisserie chicken and I used more mushrooms than the recipe called for just because I had more than I needed and I didn’t want the rest to go to waste. I will definitely be making this again, very soon. One bite of this pasta and you will understand why taking a photo didn't cross my mind. It's that good.

For dessert, I made Molten Chocolate Cakes from Kraft Foods. These are quick and easy to make and so delicious. We paired ours with a scope of vanilla ice cream. Yum! I followed the recipe exactly although I did opt for Ghirardelli chocolate rather than Bakers. And the recipe makes 4 cakes, so we get to have cake again tonight! (I'll be completely honest and admit that I did actually consider having cake for breakfast this morning but some how managed to talk myself out of it.) I thought these were wonderful but the next time I make them, I think I will use a mix of semi-sweet and a darker chocolate to intensify the chocolate flavor a bit.

And now you may be wondering if my husband did anything for me for Valentine’s day? The answer is yes. He completely surprised me by showing up to my office with a beautiful bouquet of roses and a package of Reese’s peanut butter hearts (my all time favorite candy). Then he took me to lunch at one of our favorite places- Sushi Café. Such a wonderful surprise!

I had a wonderful Valentine's day and hope everyone else did too!

Tortellini Soup.

Growing up, I remember my mom always made a lot of soup during the winter time. There’s just nothing better on a cold day than a bowl full of piping hot soup and a piece of crusty bread. This recipe is my take on a soup my mom makes. It’s such a quick and easy dinner. And, it’s absolutely delicious. Plus, my husband adores tortellini. Needless to say, this is a favorite around my house. And this makes enough that we can have it for more than one meal. What’s not to love!?!

Tortellini Soup

1 tbsp. butter

½ medium onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 box of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes with juice

4 cups chicken stock, unsalted

1 package frozen cheese tortellini

Salt, as needed

Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until tender. Add garlic, tomatoes, chicken stock and spinach. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the tortellini and cook for 10 minutes. Top with the parmesan cheese.

Source: my mom :)

Enjoy!

Transformation of the Hallway

We moved into our new house at the beginning of July. Six months later and, with a few exceptions, the house still looks like it did that first month. Now that all the Christmas decorations are down, I’ve realized how drab everything looks and I am determined to makes some changes!

Very few of my decorations from the old house work in the new house because the color schemes are very different. One of the things from the old house that I was able to carry over to the new house was my hallway of picture frames. At the old house, there was a short hallway from the entry way that led to the kitchen. On both sides of the hallway, I had black picture frames of varying sizes and styles adorning the walls, displaying pictures of our family and friends. It started out with just a few frames but when we moved out almost five years later, both walls were covered. This was always one of my favorite parts of the house. Anyone who came over, especially the nieces and nephews, loved to look at the pictures.

At the new house, there is a very long hallway at the end of the house where my son’s bedroom and bathroom are (along with the guest room, half bath and office). When we first looked at the house, I knew that hallway would be perfect for my frames. I’ve been anxious to get them up but a bit overwhelmed by how to hang them. At the old house, I added them slowly over time and was able to put a lot of thought into the placement of each frame. But with over 40 frames to hang all at once, I wasn’t sure how to start. 

Before

Over the holidays, I decided I was tired to looking at the drab walls in that hallway and was determined to finish the project before I went back to work in January. First, I updated the pictures in the frames (which took much more time than I had planned) and added a few new frames to the collection. Next, I moved all of the frames into the hallway and laid them out along the floor. With my son and husband out of the house, I went to work, armed with my stool, pencil, hammer, hangers and level. I selected one of the larger frames to start with and placed it in the center of the hallway. I added the other frames around it in a “random” way so that they looked like they had been hung over time instead of all at once.


After



A closer look

I am very happy with the way this turned out. It really adds life to the long hallway and my son loves to look at the pictures as we walk to and from his room.

 

Checking out the pictures