White Chicken Chili Recipe

Do yourselves a favor....GO MAKE THIS!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs uncooked chicken breast (can be frozen) cut into 1-2" chunks

2 - 15 oz cans white beans (drained) -- (I used white Navy beans)

1 - 15 oz can of white corn (drained)

1 onion, chopped (sweet Vidalia)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 package taco seasoning

1 - 7 oz can of green chilies

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 - 14 oz can of chicken broth

Toppings:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 T lime juice

finely chopped cilantro

fresh shredded cheese (I used colby jack)

corn tortilla chips

Directions:

Place cut up chicken in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Add beans, corn, and onion.  Mix the next five ingredients and pour over the top.  Cover and cook on low for the next 8-10 hours.

Before serving, use a potato masher to break up the chicken, quickly with pressure and alternating directions.  Consistency should change from brothy with chunks of meat, to thick and even.

Add cheese, sour cream, lime juice, cilantro, and chips before serving.  This did not disappoint!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a fun and busy day at our house!  It involved lots of baking, small projects, and sweet traditions.  I think Christmas Eve might be my favorite day.  I love all of the traditions, excitement, and anticipation of what's to come.

Eli was my sous chef all morning.  I love that he's getting old enough (and adept enough) to help me in the kitchen.  We prepared the breakfast casserole and pigs n blankets for Christmas morning.  Then we got busy prepping our reindeer food and making cookies for Santa.

Landon boy watched and took notes for reference.

Love that sweet little hand.

He told me he knew how to do this part because he has a play dough roller and does this all the time. : ) 

For lunch we went to Aunt Jan's house and had pork sandwiches and chips, then the boys exchanged gifts with them.  We let Eli skip his nap that day in hopes that he'd crash easily that night  (mission accomplished).  When we got back home our cookies had cooled and we were able to decorate them.

It's a good thing Santa's not diabetic because Eli goes heavy on the icing!

We may have even taste-tested a cookie or two.  Had to make sure they were up-to-par for Santa!

For supper we had crock pot BBQ chicken sliders (my new favorite meal!), sweet potato fries, and green beans.  It was such an easy and good meal.  It was nice to eat something "normal" when we've had so much junk lately.  Wesley even went so far as to say we should make this our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

After dinner we spread the reindeer food (a combination of oats, sugar, and sprinkles) so that Santa's reindeer would have a treat in the yard while Santa was busy leaving our presents in our house.

Loved the boys Christmas jammies this year!

Landy said forget Santa!  He was hungry!

Just before bed Ginny, Pops, and Aunt KT made it to our house.  We talked for a few minutes, and then said goodnight.  We had to get ready for bed; he sees you when you're sleeping!

I came downstairs in the middle of the night because I'd heard something.  Sure enough, Santa had found our house!

For Landon's first Christmas, Santa left him a little brother onesie, a puzzle, a sound/white noise machine, board books, a small toy, and a few snacks in his stocking.

Eli had been a very good boy too.  He got several books (including ones to practice tying his shoes), some clothes (including a matching big brother t-shirt), and several small treats and toys in his stocking.

Eli must have been very good this year, because he got this train table too!

I foresee many hours being spent at this train table!

Weekly Eats and Catching Up

I've been kind of in a blogging funk here lately.  I don't have a whole lot to say.  We haven't been doing too much, just clinging to our last few days of summer.  Actually, I'm at a workshop this week (bleh, at least it's in Auburn though - War Eagle!), so my summer has ended.

I have been trying to cook more this summer though, and thought I'd share our weekly menu.

Monday - homemade BBQ pizza (lunch), and OMG Chicken with green beans and biscuits (dinner)

Tuesday - taco night

Wednesday - chicken pot pie, white rice, and salad

Thursday - *Bible Study* (we eat there)

Friday - It's All-American night, we're having hot dogs and french fries and having our own little Olympics party while watching the Opening Ceremonies

Saturday - sausage/pancake bites (breakfast),  hamburger steak, potato medallions, peas, and corn (dinner)

Sunday - No Peek Chicken with brown rice, green beans, crescent rolls

Monday - spaghetti night

 *My husband has a very strong sweet tooth, and would prefer having dessert often, but I have weak will-power, ha!  So I try to limit our sweets and save it just for special occasions.

It's not gourmet, but it's not Chick fil A either (my favorite and highly frequented go-to meal).  Here's to hoping I can keep things up once school really gets going!  What's a good recipe I need to try?

New Recipes and a Book

I'm slowly getting caught up on blog posts. This past weekend was a really good one for us - we had no plans and it was so nice to sleep in, get caught up on housework (although you can't tell it now...how does that happen so quickly?), and just laze around the house. Sunday afternoon I made a batch of chicken salad to eat on for lunch all week. I'm incredibly picky about my chicken salad. I've never found one that I like to make.

Chicken Salad in the Food Processor:

1 lb cooked chicken (chop in food processor)

3 stalks chopped celery (chop in food processor)

1/2 c. roasted pecans or almonds (chop in food processor)-i used pecans

1/4 c. honey

3/4 c. mayo

1 tsp. salt (I left this out altogether)

1/4 c. cranberries, or chopped grapes (didn't have any so I left it out)

This was sooo good. It was even better after it had sat overnight!

I also made red beans & rice with spicy sausage. This was so easy and made a yummy dinner. I just cooked some white rice. In a separate skillet I browned some pecan crusted, jalepeno sausage. Once that looked good, I partially drained a can of red beans and added those to the skillet, along with some cajun seasoning. Once that's done, just mix it all together! Wesley really enjoyed this. The sausage wasn't too spicy at all, not like I expected and intended it to be, but it made for good flavor.

This weekend I also got some reading done!

I had intended to save this book for Spring Break reading, but I picked it up and then couldn't put it down. Heaven is for Real was a very good book! Whether it is completely true, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it's for me to judge. I will tell you this though. There has been a lot of sadness lately. Not in my immediate, personal life, but just in general it seems like. This post by a friend pretty much sums up all that's been in my head lately. After reading this book, I just long for heaven even more. I highly recommend it for you to read also!

Night School

So Monday night I started taking classes at night...cake decorating classes that is! I'm taking them at Michael's with one of my oldest friends (since 8th grade), Sarah, and her sister.

There's 10 people in the class, ranging from high schoolers to retired people, with everything in between. One of the first things we did was go around and introduce ourselves.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca. I do basic cooking and baking. I love my kitchen aide stand mixer and use it at least three times a week. I'm taking this class because Sarah wanted to and asked me if I would too."

*Flashback*

I was on the flag line/color guard in high school and college all because Sarah wanted to try out when we were in 8th grade. I didn't even have any idea what I was getting myself in to, but I ended up LOVING it!

So check out my cake.

haha, ok, not really. That's the one the teacher made.

We decorated sugar cookies and just practiced working with different tips. These are the cookies I did.

I have homework this weekend: to make a 'naked, one layer cake and a double batch of homemade buttercream icing! Next week we will be decorating cakes. I can't wait! Thanks for showing me one more thing I didn't know I loved to do, Sarah!

Comfort Foods

It's been cold here lately, and we've had some yummy comfort foods.

Ham and Egg Pie

A Petty family fav! We usually had this after Christmas and Easter-when there was a lot of leftover ham.

2-3 c. cooked ham, cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

about a soup can of water (I do between half and 3/4...I don't like it real soupy)

3 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced

1/2 c. margarine

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 8-count can crescent rolls

Mix first six ingredients. Pour mixture into baking dish (I can't remember what size I use. It's the size smaller than 9 x 13, but not quite a square.)

Top with crescent rolls (you can also make up a batch of Bisquick biscuit dough and pour on top if you prefer a biscuit top - we like it both ways).

Bake at 450 until golden brown.

Chicken & Dumplin's ... from the Crock Pot

I love chicken & dumplins...I've always wanted to make them, but it somewhat intimidates me. This was sooo easy and delicious!

8 oz. chicken broth

8 oz. water

2 T butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup

poultry seasoning

salt & peppahhh

1/2 onion, finely chopped

4 chicken breasts

2 cans biscuits

Mix first seven ingredients and pour in crock pot. Add chicken breasts and cook on high - 3 1/2 hours. Take chicken out, shred, and return to crock pot.

Cut biscuits into pieces (I used 2 cans of Crescent rounds...because that's what I had. It turned out delicious and was super easy. They're already in strips; all I had to do was tear them into small pieces). Put pieces into crock pot and make sure covered with liquid. Cook for 90 minutes.

This was sooo easy and delicious. I started it this morning. If I were going to be gone all day, I think I would cook the chicken on low, and then turn on high when I add the biscuits when I got home. Also, this was done and I just turned on to the warm setting. The perfect comfort food. My husband gave the seal of approval and said this one was a keeper! : )

Whatcha Got Cookin?

The weather lately has been perfect: warm during the day and cool at night, which has put me in a comfort food kind of mood, I guess. Supper Thursday night was a BUST, I don't know what happened, we ended up eating McDonalds in the bed at 9:30. But, I did have some successful nights in the kitchen. We love soups and stews this time of year. Both of the following recipes are simple yet delicious!

Camp Stew

(My grandmother's recipe)

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1 can BBQ pork (I found this on the aisle with the canned meat)

2 small cans chicken

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can English peas

2 cans stewed tomatoes (I did break mine up a little bit, some were kind of big)

1 bottle Heinz HOT ketchup

chopped onion (your preference, however much onion you like)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

S & P to taste

*Mix all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

(We just threw everything in the crock pot on high and cooked until it was bubbly. It didn't take too much longer than an hour. I used Jiffy cornbread mix and made some corn muffins with this and it was FANTASTIC! It makes a lot too. The leftovers keep really well, and it freezes well too.)

Cheesy Potato Soup

(Ashley's recipe)

potatoes (I used three)

2 cans chicken broth

2 cans cream of potato

1/2 c. chopped onion

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

3 carrots, finely chopped

1/2 stick margarine

1 pound Velveeta

8 oz. sour cream

*Chop potatoes and boil until soft.

*Saute onion, carrot, celery in margarine.

*Add vegetables to chicken broth and let simmer.

*Stir in cream of potato.

*Stir in Velveeta.

*Add sour cream.

(We had a little bit of shredded cheese and crumbled bacon pieces to the top of ours. It was delicious!)

Carving Pumpkins

We recently carved our pumpkins we got @ the Pumpkin Patch!

Eli watched for a little while, but soon got bored with it!

(I love his onesie. Our neighbor gave it to us and it says, "New in Town!")

Eli and our family jack o'lanterns.

(Wesley's was the scary pumpkin, mine was the silly pumpkin, and Eli's was an E.)

I later roasted the pumpkin seeds, and they were pretty good!

First Day Back & Lemon Squares

Today was our first day back at school (with kids - which is what really counts). The first days of school are so exhausting without being 9+ months pregnant, but overall I was pleased with how I did today. (Don't get me wrong though, I am WHOOPED and headed to bed as soon as this is typed!) I think it will be a good year. Right now I have a small class - literally, like half the size of last year's class. I kept looking for more kids; things seemed too good to be true! : )

I have such a wonderful, sweet husband who takes such good care of Eli and I. He cooked dinner tonight (brats on the grill) and cleaned up the kitchen afterwards, all the while letting me to just sit on the couch for a few minutes! While he was doing all of this I got to thinking about how my mom always bought us a special "after school snack" on the first day of school (my favorites were the years we got sno cones). So, after dinner I decided to get off my lazy tail and make Wesley a special after school (or dinner in this case) snack.

He loves lemon squares, and this is one recipe I've been meaning to make for awhile. So, without further adieu: easy lemon squares!

Easy Lemon Squares

*Preheat oven to 350 & grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Bottom layer:

1 box of lemon cake mix

1 stick of butter, melted

1 egg

*Mix well and pour in bottom of dish.

Top layer:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

16 oz. tub of lemon frosting

2 eggs

*Blend well and pour on top of cake layer.

***Bake for 35-40 minutes.

(The recipe didn't call for this, but I lightly dusted the top with confectioner's sugar.)

OMG-sooooo delish! And, they certainly lived up to their name: easy! It was the perfect "First Day of School" treat!

Last Day of Summer

Today is our LAST day of summer. : (

(But at least if I have to go back to work, it's to a job I love!)

I had planned on waking up early (so tomorrow would be a little easier), but who was I kidding, I slept in. I think I pushed my limit yesterday. After our usual Sunday lunch with Wesley's grandmother, we did some mega grocery shopping. I told Wesley I really felt like a parent on this one. Between being gone most of July, going back to school, and wanting to stock up on some things that would freeze for when Eli gets here, we had a full buggy! I told Wesley we were not spending anymore money on food this month.

After that we headed to Home Depot to get a few things to re-do the bricks around the fireplace and the mantle. It hasn't been a difficult project, just a lot more time consuming than we anticipated. Hopefully it will be done tonight and I can post some pictures of the room completed.

While Wesley worked on the living room, I chopped and froze some vegetables (something I usually do, but we were out of) for easy use later and prepared/froze a couple of casseroles (Husband's Delight casserole and Poppyseed Chicken casserole). I figure it will make things easy for us when we come home from teaching or after Eli's born. I also made a back-to-school breakfast casserole for us to eat on all week, made an apple pie ring (omg...sooooo good), and prepared the fajita meat/veggie mixture for dinner tonight. By the time I finished all of that, I was exhausted! I slept well last night (well for me these days anyway) and have laid on our new couches watching our new television all morning. : )

This afternoon I've got to spend some time in my classroom doing a few last minute things and then we plan to have a lazy afternoon around the house soaking up our last hours of summer. It's been a GREAT (and hot!) summer, and so nice that Wesley and I have been able to enjoy it together, but it's back to the real world bright and early tomorrow morning!

Recipes

Here are the recipes I mentioned earlier. They're pretty similar, and equally delicious! I highly recommend them both!

Chinese Chicken Salad

(We had this at my Dothan Baby Shower, and it was sooo good!)

3 cups chopped chicken (a small rotisserie chicken would work just fine)

10 oz bag shredded cabbage

1 bunch green onions (tops only)

2 pkgs Ramen noodles (chicken flavor)

2-3 oz chopped almonds

3 T butter

4 T sugar

1 C oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6 T vinegar

1 tsp accent

*Combine chopped chicken, cabbage, and onion tops in a large bowl and set aside. Crush noodles and toast in skillet with melted butter. Mix all ingredients. Can be served with crackers or enjoyed by itself!

Oriental Cole Slaw

(This is the yummy recipe from my friend, Allison. Very similar to the Chinese Chicken Salad.)

1 head Napa cabbage, sliced (Allison just used the bagged stuff)

1 head green lettuce leaf, sliced (I think she left this out)

4-5 green onions, chopped

Brown (in 1/2 stick margarine):

2 pkgs Ramen noodles (beef), crushed

1/2 C sesame seeds

1 C slivered almonds

Dressing:

Seasoning from pkgs of Ramen noodles

4 T sugar

1 C oil (vegetable or peanut)

6 T cider vinegar

3-4 T soy sauce (to taste)

*Can also add chicken or other meat (Allison included chicken in hers).

Tip: Only mix as much as will be eaten, as it will get soggy. Just store the noodle mix and cabbage mix in separate containers.

The Munchies

I've been busy in the kitchen tonight. For supper we had turkey piccata, dirty rice, green beans, and toast. It was really, really good! And, fairly simple too, which is always a plus.

I was looking through some recipes after supper and decided to make some banana bread and homemade brownies. Well, sadly, the brownies were a BUST! I grabbed the wrong size dish and the brownies ran all over the sides into the bottom of the oven. It was one big soupy mess. Sad-I reeeally wanted brownies tonight!

Since Eli and I are in a munchie mood tonight. Here are my new favorite recipes.

(They're all dips that were made by teacher friends while we were at the beach, and they're all VERY EASY!)

Fiesta Ranch Dip:

*probably my favorite!

16 oz sour cream

1 pkg Ranch dressing mix

1/2 pkg Fiesta Ranch dressing mix

Mix well and serve with Ruffles.

BLT Dip:

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

1 package of those Hormel bacon pieces

2 cherry tomatoes, diced and drained

Mix well and refrigerate. Serve with toasted rounds.

*OMG - Soooo good!

Pretzel Dip:

2 blocks cream cheese

8-16 oz shredded cheddar (depending on how cheesy you want things)

1/2 cup mayo

1 pkg Ranch dressing mix

Mix well and serve with pretzels.

*The girl I got this recipe from adds just a splash of beer to hers (when she's making it for non-preggo people) to make it fluffy, but I'm obviously not going to be doing that! : )

New Recipe

I made a new recipe last night and it was a huge hit! And super easy! Be warned, it makes a butt load. Seriously. It was A LOOOOT. I cooked Taco Soup in the Crock-Pot. I had two ladle fulls for dinner last night and Wesley had three. Then for lunch today we each had two, and there is STILL half a crock pot full (and I have one of those big crock pots)!

I got this recipe from my dear friend, Allison, like, a year ago. (Really, I think I got it at the end of football season last year when Allison, or her mom, or sister, or somebody made it at an "after the football game" get-together we went to.)

This is now one of our fall/winter things to make. I was surprised because "Taco Soup"....c'mon...that's a little Mexican-ish and Wesley does NOT like Mexican food. Also, it has two cans of corn in it (another thing Wesley does NOT eat).

I hope you enjoy! And join me all in thanking Allison for sharing! mmmmmm! : )

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef (we use turkey now...it's healthier....cook it up though, don't throw it in the Crock Pot raw)

1/2 cup chopped onion (used my Vidalia Onion Chop Wizard thing that was a wedding gift...something we didn't register for....but LOVED it!)

garlic (didn't actually have this....just threw in some garlic powder and garlic salt.....it all worked out though!)

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

1 pkg Ranch seasoning mix

1 can tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can Rotel

1 can green chile peppers

1 can Chili beans (we used hot I think)

1 can kidney beans

1 can regular corn

1 can creamed corn

1 can chicken broth

I fixed this all in the crock pot Sunday night and was going to turn it on Monday before I went to work. Well, I was kicking myself during that professional development training when I realized I'd forgotten it. Well, Wesley just turned it on high about 5:30 and we were eating by 7:30, so no worries! DELISH! Seriously folks. Try this one!

Do You Bunco?

Do you Bunco?

I play once a month with a group of 12 ladies. We usually play on a weeknight, but this moth we opted to play on Friday night and make it a couples night, everyone bringing their husbands. I'm so excited....I finally have a husband! : ) Although, my husband isn't thrilled that he has to go and miss the last regular season high school football game. I hope he has fun though, I think he will.

Tonight I played with another group, just filling in. Both groups have a $10 "buy-in" (or whatever you want to call it...a fee to play). I usually don't win but tonight I tied for the most wins (but lost the money in a roll off), although I did win most Buncos. I came home with $50. The husband was happy! : ) Hopefully, I can do it again Friday night. Although, if you play Bunco, you know that it's kind of a hit or miss thing. No skill, pure luck.

I plan on making Oreo balls and taking them. We're supposed to bring a "Halloween dish" (I couldn't think of anything but pumpkin spice cookies, and wasn't really feeling those). I've heard they're very good. I'll let you know (and hopefully have some more big winnings to talk about)! : )

Show Us Your Life - Favorite Dessert Recipe

This week at Kelly's Korner it's Your Favorite Dessert Recipes.

This dessert is easy, cheap, quick, and GOOD!

My sister taught me how to make these in college. We'll call this an Apple Ring.

Ingredients: 2 cans of crescent rolls, 1 can apple pie filling, butter, cinnamon sugar

1. Open the crescent rolls and split them at the perforated slits into the triangles. Taking the wide end of the triangles, make a circle. The tips of the triangles will be pointing outwards (sorry, pictures would be helpful now, but I don't have them!). I use my Pampered Chef circular stone.

2. Open the can of Apple Pie filling. Spoon it out into the crescent rolls.

3. Take the tips and fold over on top of the filling and tuck the tip, creating a pocket. Do this all the way around. It will look like a ring.

4. Drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 until the crescent rolls are done.

5. Eat and enjoy! : )

The Mother of All Wedding Gifts

That's right. It's the kitchen aid mixer. I've looked at it with lust in my eyes for years. Ok, that seems a little extreme, but you get the idea. I've wanted it. Bad.

Here we are registering for the gift at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Now, the Kitchen Aid mixer is very expensive. But, I was holding out for it. I didn't want a knock-off. It had to be the REAL thing! So, we were saving all of our gift cards and had ALMOST gotten enough to buy it. BUT-IT CAME!!!! I couldn't believe someone actually got it for us (I really wish I'd taken pictures opening the package, but I was in such euphoria, I completely forgot!) - BIG THANKS to Gregg and Jamie!!! Wesley and I LOVE our mixer!

We had already begun unpacking all of the wedding gifts we'd gotten and setting up our kitchen, so we had the perfect spot on the counter for it! Here are a few pictures of our new kitchen. I love all of our new stuff and how everything looks all set out together. There are still a few finishing touches that we're waiting on and a few things that we can't change because we're renting (the UGLY wall paper border), but hey, for what we've got to work with, I love it! I know we'll remember our new home fondly.

This is the view looking into our kitchen. Excuse some of the clutter. Remember, we were in the process of cleaning up and cleaning out! Notice how good that mixer looks on the counter!

I love how this turned out. You can't see the plate on the right, but it's so pretty! It was a birthday gift from my friend Emily. Above the stove are some of my granny's recipes that I scanned and then framed. I made the frames myself using scrapbook paper. Also, a black lantern, from Hobby Lobby, I think, sits in the middle of the stove. It's a nice touch.

Moving along the counter, here's our new toaster oven and spice rack. The knives and salt/pepper and oil stuff are old. We've registered for a new knife set (or Wesley has anyway). And he's holding out for it like I was for the mixer.

And, finally, here's a look at the counter next to the refrigerator. Some silver canisters and then a cookbook stand (which I'd had since college, but decided to paint it black to match everything else in the kitchen). On it sits one of my new cookbooks (another wedding gift), a southern cookbook, the name escapes me, but it also features many of Jack Deloney's paintings (the renowned artist from Ozark, AL) - and I have a signed copy by Jack himself!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour. Happy cooking!