Slow Cooker Chili

I am still all about the crock pot. The temperature in Utah has DROPPED & I am all about the warm comfort foods now. Tonight I decided to make some chili & corn bread. You can find my corn bread recipe HERE. It is super moist & yummy! Now for the chili. I found this recipe years ago on http://www.allrecipes.com/ long. It is really simple & the kids can easily help.



Here is what you need:

1-2 pounds ground beef (it depends on how beefy you want it)
2-16 oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I buy the kind with green pepper & onion)
1-8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Put your meat in the slow cooker. Add the next seven ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours.

We like to garnish our chili with a dollop of sour cream & some shredded cheddar cheese.

Coming up...

I have a few everyday projects to finish (& post). After, I get those finished...I will be moving onto Halloween. I have a few fun ideas, but I feel the need to get the everyday stuff finished first. Hopefully by next week I will be posting some fun Halloween stuff!

Trees

A few months ago, I found these frames (for $1.00 each) & knew that I wanted to use them in the bathroom, but I wasn't exactly sure how.

I have loved all of the cute trees made out of circles of paper, but couldn't find the paper that I needed. Last week, I came across the perfect paper. Here is my finished product:

I love how it turned out! I just hope that they will hold up in the bathroom!

I linked up on Creative Cat over at Poppies at Play.
Go check out all of the fun ideas over there!

Decorative Topiary

I have been wanting to make some decorative balls for a while. I came across a blog called That's so Cuegly that made a ton of different variations HERE. This weekend my mom gave me the cutest vase that would be perfect for one of these ideas!

Here is what you need:

a vase
glue
Spanish moss
green moss (not pictured)
small balls
sticks
floral foam
scissors




The sticks are just from my tree outside. I found the balls while cleaning out the toy box. The Spanish moss & floral foam are from the Dollar Tree.

First I filled the vase with floral foam.



Then, I put hot glue on top of the floral foam & added the Spanish moss.



Set the vase aside. Poke a hole in the bottom of the ball. I just used scissors, but you could use a drill.



I decided that I needed greener moss after I took the "what you will need picture". I bought this at Walmart.



In small sections...put glue on & then put moss over the glue. I used big clumps at first & then filled in the bare spots with the smaller pieces. Keep track of the hole at the bottom of your ball.



Trim your stick to the size that you want. Put them into the floral foam & then stick the balls onto the top. I tied some ribbon on my vase & the sticks.



I will be making some more decorative balls this week!

Finally finished!

Back in April, I repainted this mirror that my parents were kind enough to give me from out of their attic junk. I used acrylic paint instead of spray paint. Sometimes painting with a paintbrush is therapeutic.

Before:



After:



I was pretty proud of myself because it was the first thing that I hung up myself. I have been on the look-out for a cute little wreath to hang from the mirror & yesterday....I FOUND ONE!! I was so excited to find it & the $4.00 price tag made it even sweeter! I hung the wreath from some really pretty green ribbon that I already had. Now I just need something for in between the mirror & the hooks...vinyl or something...any ideas?

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I love peanut butter & chocolate. They compliment each other so nicely! I decided to make some Peanut Butter Blossoms for an after school snack yesterday. I change mine up a bit from the traditional cookies. I used a peanut butter cookie recipe from ALL RECIPES.



Here is my FAVORITE peanut butter cookie recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup BUTTER flavored shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

for peanut butter blossoms-

1 package Hershey Kisses-unwrapped
1/4 cup white sugar

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, butter flavored shortening, & sugars. Add eggs one at a time. Add peanut butter & vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.

I used a greased mini muffin tin to make my cookies. I used a small cookie scoop & then split that in half. Roll the dough into a ball (it doesn't have to be perfect). Place the ball into the 1/4 white sugar & roll until lightly coated. Place in mini muffin tin & continue until all cups are full.



Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I like to under cook my cookies a bit so that they stay soft. Remove from oven & add Hershey Kisses. I tried putting mine in upside down this time & loved it. Let cool for 2 minutes before removing from tin.

Next time I am going to try these with mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Cream of Chicken Chicken

We have made this for years, but usually in the oven. This summer, I saw my Aunt make it in the crockpot. I love to use the crockpot because I never know what time my husband will be home & who knows what will be happening when it is time to make dinner. Plus, I love how moist the chicken is when you cook it in the crockpot.

Here is what you need:

3 cans of cream of chicken soup
4 chicken breasts
1 cup sour cream
sliced swiss cheese


Here is what you do:

Mix cream of chicken soup & sour cream together...set aside. In the bottom of the crock pot put your chicken. Layer the swiss cheese on top. Pour the cream of chicken mixture over the chicken. Cook on low for 5 hours.

Serve over rice. YUM!!!

Thriftin'

Over Labor Day weekend we took some AMAZING pictures in Moab. KC (my hubby) decided that he wanted to use some of these pictures in his office. We chose about 10 pictures & had them developed. My job was to find frames. Even at $3.00 a frame that would be $30.00....YUCK!!! So, I decided to hit the thrift stores. Oh, how I ♥ thrift stores. I have 3 that are near my house. I seriously hit the JACKPOT!!! I got all of this stuff for UNDER $50.00.



I am so excited to get to work on all of these fun new things! As I use them...I will post updates. I have plans for all of the glass jars. It is a Halloween idea & I will post it at the beginning of October. I also picked up a few Christmas things. I went CRAZY in the frame section. The frames with the fruit in it are gorgeous & worth a pretty penny. They were $2.00 & the rest were $.75-$1.00. BARGAIN!!! I could really care less about the actual pictures! I have been wanting a tiramisu bowl for a while, but can't imagine spending $15.00 on it. I found this one for $3.99!!! Yea!!! The Rescue Heroes Command Center was only $4.00 (it has batteries already too) & we already have some of the guys at home.

I am linking up with Jacey over at Trash 2 My Treasure.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

With fall & winter approaching...I am ready for the soup season. Last night we made Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. I usually make it in a large pot, but I wanted to try the crock pot.



Here is the recipe for the crock pot:

2 tsp chicken soup base or bouillon
4 cups chicken soup stock
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups celery
3/4 cup onion
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup evaporated milk (I just use regular milk)
2 cups chicken
4 cups cooked noodles
salt & pepper to taste

In the crock pot add chicken soup stock, soup base, chicken, carrots, celery, & onion. Cook on high for 6 hours. Remove chicken & dice into bite sized pieces. Turn heat down to low, add cream of chicken soup & milk. Put chicken back into the crock pot. Add cooked noodles & let cook for another 30 minutes to an hour. Serve with garlic bread sticks. YUM!!!

Too early?

I am so ready to get decorated for fall. Is it too early? It is taking everything that I have not to go all out on Halloween. I bought some little pumpkins & gourds today at the store. I am SO ready!

More Organizing...

I have been trying to get things organized around the house. I'm not sure why...maybe backwards spring cleaning! This week hubby installed some rain gutter shelves. They are incredible by the way!



My next step was getting my boys' dress up stuff straightened up. A found a fun hanging thing at a thrift store a few months ago for $1.99. It was pretty girlie, but had potential.



Hubby took the flowers off. Then I took the whole thing apart & painted it to match the boys' room. It took everything I had to wait for the paint to dry. I lack patience.



Then, I used some chipboard shaped like gears to stick on the ends of each peg & covered it with coordinating paper with mod podge (ahhh modge podge). The boys' room is done in robots. I glued the gears on with E6000. Hopefully it can stand up to two little boys!

After I got it assembled...I put SOME of their dress-ups on it. Yea...one more project down!!!