Crock Pot Pie (#21)

Hello Birthday Bucket List! #15 - COMPLETE!!!

Amanda will be proud, I finally made a Pot pie, and it was AMAZING.

The Ingredients

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 skinless, boneless breasts

Corn - 1/2 cup frozen

Peas - 1/2 cup frozen

Onion Powder - dash

Milk - 1/2 cup

Basil - dash

Butter - 2 Tablespoons

Flour - 3 Tablespoons

Chicken Broth - 1/2 cup

Salt - dash

Pepper - dash

Canned Biscuits - 1 can

 

 

I didn't have Cream of ANYTHING soup, so I had to improvise, and that is where a lot of the ingredients came from.

 

{1 Tablespoon of butter and  3 Tablespoons of flour to make a base. Ass the 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth, salt and pepper and ta-da  - you have a substitute.}

 

The Finished Crust <3

First, you want to spray your Crockpot, and toss in cut up chunks of chicken. [I read in several recipes that many prefer dark meat, but we only had breasts] Next I added the frozen corn and peas. Again, every recipe had different veggies, and most had celery. This is what I had on hand. Add the spices of your choosing to the pot as well. Finally, you add your soup or soup substitute and mix well. Several different recipes had awesome dough recipes, and options to take your Crockpot liner out and toss the biscuits on and toss in the oven. I didn't have the time or the oven. I took a can of biscuits, and placed them on top of the filling. Added some honey to sweeten the "crust." Placed the lid on top and put a knife between the lid and pot to eliminate the condensation on the crust. Times varied from 3-4 hours on high to 6-hours on low. I choose 3-4 hours on high. At 3 1/2 hours the filling was smelling delicious and the crust was perfect.

 

I really did enjoy this recipe, and with the weather finally feeling like Fall - it was a perfect warm feeling meal. The kids loved the chicken and sauce. I loved the biscuits. Overall, a win for this family and I cannot wait to play with other substitutions with veggies and adding potatoes.

 



The Finished Plate

As you can see, I made a small portion. I was not confident in this recipe. It is something I was never made or ate in my life. You can just adjust the amounts accordingly. This was enough for 4 servings with a side of mashed potatoes.

 

Enjoy Y'all!

 

 

Lord of the Flies (#2)

Lord of the Flies

Made it through 1984, and I am very eager to start...

 Lord of the Flies.

We are having our first Book Club get together today... doubling as a BBQ for my birthday. 7 kids, 4 adults = I think we have NO chance. :-) But, 3 Crockpots going (2 at my house, one at Kristyn's) and the men are BBQ'ing - life is good!

Crockpot Honey Cola Ham (#20)

As a mother of 3, I face struggles daily with picky eaters. I make shaped sandwiches, foods have silly names, and there are rewards systems for trying new foods. (Sue me! I know there are not supposed to be rewards attached to foods, but it works!) My biggest struggles right now are Malakai and his inability to try new things. At 7, he thinks he knows what he likes and that it that. And he knows he DOES NOT eat ham. (Sheesh, that is a harsh thing to hear for a Thanksgiving Dinner loving gal like myself) And then my sweet diva-like daughter, Alannah doesn't want to eat meat unless it is turkey bacon or grilled chicken bites.

While Malakai is at school today, and the kids and I have a play date, my Crockpot will be slaving over a Cola Ham. Let's see how this turns out.

 

Ingredients

These is how it looks PRE-Crockpot! <3 (Brown Sugar
is in the Cupcake)

Boneless Ham (size accordingly to what you need)

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

4 Tablespoons of Honey

I Tablespoon of Mustard

2 (8oz.) cans of Cola

 

You are going to want to make a paste out of the brown sugar, honey and the mustard. This will be rubbed on the sides of the ham that have been scored. (Keep in mind, you can score both sides - just don't go any deeper than an 1/8 of an inch.) Put that rubbed on ham into your Crockpot and pour the 2 cans of cola into the pot. Be careful not to pour directly onto your ham, otherwise all that rubbing will have been a waste. Toss the lid on, turn that knob to low and ENJOY your day for the next 7-8 hours. Alannah, Kal'El and myself are off to the park for a play date while our partner in crime, Crockpot, slaves over the ham.

When this is done, Alannah and I will whip up a quick bowl of Honey Mashed Potatoes. (Regular Mashed Potatoes with honey swirled in. The kids ADORE them!)

***SIDENOTE: I do use a lot of honey. And if you are curious as  to why - here goes. I grew up in a family with very little allergies. When we moved to the South, my little family's allergies exploded. And I was told a teaspoon of local honey will help fight the allergies. And honestly it does. I give them a straight up teaspoon sometimes, but cooking with it is fun. Now, the honey bear - Alannah and Kal'El love Sir Honeybear, so I pour the local honey into a cleaned out Kroger Honey Bear container, and they know to grab honey bear. :-) I love my kiddos!

THE VERDICT:
We all loved it!!! I used a pre-sliced ham, so that was even less work that I needed to do. :-)

My life POST 1984...

I read it.

Mission accomplished.

My thoughts:

Topic #1: E-Books
I can't do it. At least not right now. I like the feel of pages. The smell of the pages, and until Kirkland's brings back the sachet that smells like books, I can't do it. Topic over. :-)

Topic #2: Readers
I am excited that we have a new reader, Amanda! We worked at Borders together also. Unfortunately she can't meet with us because she moved her happy behind to Florida. But, she is super friggin smart, and brings a lot of good points (and explanations) to the online discussions!

Topic #3: 1984
This book did a lot of things - none of which made me want to read it again. I questioned my own government quite a bit. Considered how much of our history is a false or altered telling of what actually happened. It also made me grateful for the freedoms we have that often get overlooked: free thought, will, and speech. This book was a very extreme Nazi like government controlled society.

There were days I felt for Winston. When he began to question Big Brother, I had hope. I love a good rebel, almost as much as a good love story. Enter Julia. (Or the dark-haired girl to start) Is she a spy? No, she is a rebellious insider. They form this relationship and receive help to continue this relationship by a Mr. Charrington. (My favorite character throughout almost the entire book.) Winston and Julia are in love. And to top it off Winston meets with O'Brien and learns of the Brotherhood who is against Big Brother, and he plans to join and basically live happily ever after. In a world of chaos and no freedom, you get the sense of hope with the relationships taking place. With all this going on, I still don't become attached to any of the characters, I just don't get a lot of development or emotions to latch on to - which leads me to continue to hope to see a glimmer of emotion or a character I love. The one character I find myself liking, Mr. Charrington turns out to be a member of the Thought Police which leads to the capture of Winston and Julia. Winston is then tortured in the worst ways imaginable - rats!

The issue that I have wrapping my head around this book is that the characters in the books I normally read are the "I will die for you" in love type of characters. The fact that Julia and Winston turned on each other just breaks my heart. (Maybe they should find themselves a vamp, shifter or a Fae. They love hard. :-P)

Then after all the torture - you are released, and after everything you fought and did not believe in is suddenly OK in your world. 2+2=5 now. What in the world??? It just switched. Ended. Oh man.

*deep breath*

Topic #4: Final Thoughts
When all was said and done, Amanda (being her smart, insightful self) brought up an interesting thought:

Was Winston ever released? Throughout the novel, there were several hallucinations. What makes you think he was actually released, and that he is not just imagining freedom? Perhaps as a coping mechanism. Now, my mind continues to wander.

And thus, my first check mark on the list of 101 Books You Should Read Before you Die.

Birthday Bucket List

For the past couple years, I have made a 'BIRTHDAY BUCKET LIST' that correlates with how old I am turning. Last year, I had 27 things to do during my 27th year. Needless to say, it was not very successful. Haha, my 27th birthday was 3 days before we shut the doors to my Beautiful Borders Store #0472. Which was followed by me being UNEMPLOYED and UNPLANNED for the first time since I began working. I was blessed God to only be unemployed for 6 whole days. Haha. Then came the hard part, we moved during this 6 days of unemployment which followed Malakai having to switch schools twice! (If you have not had to deal with a situation like this, NIGHTMARE!) Plus, I felt like I had been ripped from my entire family. I will not dwell on the loss of my favorite place growing up, and my favorite job thus far, but anyone who worked at Borders would agree that we were a loyal to the core group of people, and we were never there for the money. (HA!) We love those damn books and all their glorious plot twists and turns. I am grateful to still have quite a few of those people still in my life today, a WHOLE year later. I honestly did not expect it. There was a lot of drunken talk at our farewell party that we would never talk again. A year has passed and I have some amazing new co-workers, and even some awesome friends. I have been continuously blessed. We have found a church home, and the kids are all growing up so fast. We are a diaper-free zone now, and I never thought that would happen. Haha. I am happy to say that I did not put on the 40+ pounds I worked so hard to lose during this year of ups and downs. And my husband says I read WAY more now that I can't check them out. Funny how that happens. I look forward to this upcoming year, and I WILL complete my BIRTHDAY BUCKET LIST this year, so here goes it. (There will be some returning characters from last years list that are important to me to complete!)

1) Get my 3 planned tattoos.
2) Get my butt into the friggin' state of Florida. (I live too close to have never gone.)
3) Make a raised bed, and maintain my garden.
4) Be a part of a Book Club that meets once a month. I would LOVE it to be themed meetings, yep. I am a dork. So sue me! (Kristyn, can we do this???)
5) Complete at least one 5k and one 10k.
6) Create the reading corner in my room, like I keeping planning. (It's pretty awesome in my head!)
7) Skirts. (I am going to learn to sew, Alannah and I need more skirts!)
8) Have a garage sale.
9) Take a family picture. We have family pictures, but I mean like a photo shoot. :-)
10) Create and stick to a simple workout routine. (Now that the babies get up when they hear me get up, it's a LOT harder to work out after getting Malakai on the bus!)
11) Decide if I am serious about my store plans, I think I am. But 28 seems like a good year to decide what I need to do to go forward.
12) Go home to visit! LONG overdue, and my brother has a baby and a wife now. All these babies back home that I have NOT snuggled with yet!
13) Learn how to do the canning and preserves stuff. :-)
14) Go roller skating.
15) Make pot pies (Yes Amanda, they are easy - I just didn't do it last year. :-/)
16) Have a date NIGHT or DAY once a month. Even if it is a Wednesday, lol. Once a month.
17) 149, enough said on that one. :-)
18) Quit biting my nails.
19) Make some outdoor patio furniture.
20) Make/Find a vanity for Alannah.
21) Make/Find a fort(clubhouse) for the Boys.
22) Collect the cheesy plastic to-go cups from wherever I go!!!
23) Go to Easely Amused... Even if it is by myself.
24) Go back to school.
25) Volunteer somewhere with Malakai.
26) Host Marchgiving. I was an EPIC failure this year. I blame it on the morning of Borders. :-)
27) Blog more! (Twice a week, so 104 posts by my 29th birthday.)
28) Make a quilt.

1984

After a LONG day of figuring out how to use an E-Book.
Haha, I guess I am pretty content with my paper pages.

Here goes nothing!

My friend, Kristyn, and I are doing what most people hate... We are reading the books those crazy schools require you to read when you should be tanning at the beach, or whatever kids do during the summers now. We found a list titled, "101 Books to Read Before You Die," and we are doing two a month. Tonight I start reading 1984. A book I have always wanted to read for no particular reason other than the simple fact that it was the year of my birth. Silly reason - YES! So, like I said before...

Here goes nothing!

101 Books to Read Before I die...

Hello World, Blogging about cooking has not been on my to-do list lately. I have been cooking, but nothing SPECTACULAR. I vow to get back into the groove, but with a kid to get ready for 2nd grade, a diva who keeps finding a way to cut her hair, and potty training the baby - there hasn't been a ton of time to experiment in the kitchen. I have been relying on my Ol' Faithfuls. I did receive a Cake Pop maker, and we have been enjoying Pancake Balls, Corn Dog Bites, Cheese Ball Bites, Muffin Balls and all that fun stuff. Kids (and the Hubbs and I) enjoy bite size foods! But this post is not about the kitchen - it's about my MISSION: MISSION BOOK BUCKET LIST...

Below is a list that has been made of the 101 Books they (whoever "THEY" are) suggest one should read. The plan is to tackle them at the pace of - 1 per TWO week period. I am not going to abandon my Vampires, the Fae, the New Jersey Police Department, Wares, Sidhe-Seers, Vampyres, Bounty Hunters, etc... so the book per 2 week period is in addition to the book I always carry in my bag. (Not purse, my husband claims I look like a BAG lady with my totes... Haha, I adore my totes!) So, here goes the list. I have read a few of these, but it has been a LONG time... so RE-reading is a must. I am hoping to get this fellow friend of mine to join me, in hopes that I can be able to vent about how terrible the book is, or how much I love it!!! We will see if she joins me. (Plus, then we can go out to eat every 2 weeks... YUM!) It will take about 4 years to get through the list - EKKK, that is a big commitment for someone who took a year to complete the 60 day photo challenge. HAHA Wish me luck! (Luck for completing, and luck for buying 100 additional books to the 5 or so I buy every 2 weeks...Do you think Michael will notice the additional packages? Haha, feel free to send me y'alls copies!!!! Save a nerd some money!!!)

1. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
3. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
4. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
5. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
6. Perfume by Patrick Suskind
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel G. Marquez
8. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
9. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
10. Atonement by Ian McEwan
11. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
13. Beloved by Toni Morrison
14. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
15. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
16. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
17. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
18. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
19. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
20. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
21. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
22. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
23. The Crow Road by Iain Banks
24. Dracula by Bram Stoker
25. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
26. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
27. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
28. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
29. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
30. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
31. An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan
32. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
33. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
34. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
35. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
36. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
37. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
38. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
39. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
40. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
41. Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
42. Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
43. If This Is A Man by Primo Levi
44. What A Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe
45. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things* by Jon McGregor
46. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
47. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks
48. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
49. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
50. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
51. In Patagonia* by Bruce Chatwin
52. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
53. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
54. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
55. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
56. *Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
57. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
58. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
59. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
60. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
61. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
62. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
63. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
64. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
65. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
66. The Monk by Matthew Lewis
67. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
68. New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
69. Northern Lights* by Philip Pullman
70. The Odyssey by Homer
71. The Outsider by Albert Camus
72. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
73. Possession by A.S. Byatt
74. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
75. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
76. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
77. The Reader by Bernard Schlink
78. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
79. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love* by Raymond Carver
80. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
81. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
82. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
83. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
84. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
85. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
86. Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
87. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
88. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
89. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
90. Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
91. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
92. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
93. Touching the Void by Jow Simpson
94. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
95. Waterland by Graham Swift
96. The Unbearable Lightness of Being* by Milan Kindera
97. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
98. The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
99. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
100. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
101. A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor