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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Crock Pot Cycle 1: Recipe Review

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I pinned a great set of recipes plus a shopping list for the Crock Pot that made 8 dinners, here. Well, I loved it so much that I am ambitiously planning on doing my own! I've only got 2 meals left in the freezer, so it's time to start planning a new cycle of meals. Before I do that, though, I wanted to review the ones I made already. I'll preface my thoughts with this: all the meals were pretty good and I would make them again with a few minor modifications. The recipes were also all low fat and heavy on the veggies, which I LOVE. Each recipe made 2 freezer bags that fed me, the girls and my husband, with leftovers for lunch or dinner for the girls the next night.

8 (16, really) times I don't need to worry about dinner!


Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
This was a nice, hearty soup. It was tomato based with tons of veggies. The recipe called for pre-browning ground beef, but I used ground turkey. I think beef would have been better, or even uncooked beef cubes instead of ground. The potatoes and carrots were also not soft after 8 hours. I left them on for another few hours (total 10) and they were fine.

Next time: use the ground beef the original recipe calls for, or sub out beef stew cubes.

Teriyaki Chicken
Super yum! I had this once with egg noodles and once with rice. The rice was definitely better! The sauce turned out a little thin, and there was a lot of it, so the rice was nice to soak it up. The pineapple was a little much, maybe because the chunks I used were so big.

Next time: sub crushed pineapple for pineapple chunks, and pour off some of the liquid before adding to the freezer bag. The onion was a little much, too. I needed to cut my pieces up smaller, and maybe fine one more veggie to add for variety. Maybe yellow or orange peppers?

Healthy Barbeque Chicken
Another outstanding recipe. The green peppers turned out a little bitter for some reason, so the girls picked them all out. It's ok, like I mentioned earlier, all of the recipes were heavy on the veggies so there was plenty for them to eat. The original recipe mentions that you can use sweet potatoes instead of regular, so next time I make this I'll give that a try.

Next time: sub red, orange or yellow peppers for the green and try sweet potatoes. And don't call it barbeque chicken. It has nothing to do with barbeque.

Stephanie's Goulash
I saved the best for last. This recipe cooked up with a thick stew-like consistency. The beef cubes pulled apart nicely and weren't tough at all. I used low fat sour cream instead of regular, and I honestly don't think it made any difference. This was by far my favorite out of the bunch.

Next time: double the recipe! It only makes about half as much as the others, and it was sooo good that I missed the left overs.

If anyone is interested in the recipes, they're from The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis. This week, I'll find four new recipes and create a shopping list for them. I'm so excited! Aren't you? ;)

Friday, March 16, 2012

Easter Lollipop Garden

My cousin wanted me to share this nifty little Easter idea with the masses. It's been a hit the two years we've done it with N, and I'm so excited now that D is going to be old enough to kind of get it. I got the idea from my boss at work a few years ago, and he got it from one of his customers. Kind of like pinterest in the dark ages, haha!

Did you know that on Easter Eve, you can plant jelly beans and they grow overnight into lollipops?

The day before Easter, find a nice spot to plant your jelly beans.

Make sure they're covered up well with dirt!
Easter morning arrives and voila! Lollipops have sprouted!
Make sure you get them all!

This was from 2010, the first year we did the Lollipop Garden. N was just over 2 and FLIPPED over it, she was so excited!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

They're Classics for a Reason...

...Those simple little crafts that everyone knows about and does at least once in their lifetime. Today N, D & I went for a walk at the park. While we were "hiking" I asked N to pick up nice looking pine cones for me. While D was napping, we made Pine Cone Birdfeeders!

Here's what you need! For nut-free, you can use soy nut butter or maybe honey.

Spread it on with the knife. In a few minutes, you can give up and use your fingers.

Spread out the seeds. I used a birdbath to hold them in, and then just set the extra seeds out in it when we were finished.

Roll 'em around!


Tie on a string to hang them from.

Hang from some tree branches, and employ the 4 year old to take your picture so you have every step photographed.

Ta-daa!

We've really been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather here. N has been spending just about every waking hour outside. When we can get out and run off the sillies, everyone is so much happier!