Bajio Chicken

We have made this twice this month. It is super easy and DELICIOUS! Enjoy

5 Lbs. Chicken Breast (4-5 chicken breasts)
1/2 c. salsa
1 TBSP cumin
1/2 c. brown sugar
1, 4oz. can green diced chilies
6 oz. sprite (about 1/2 can, I add a little more)

Combine in crockpot, cook on low for 5-6 hours, shred, and cook for 1 more hour on high.
We serve it with cheese and salsa or black beans on the Costco tortillas (the one's you have to cook). YUMMY! It serves about 10-12 people or 5 people in my house.

Deonie

Camping Cookies

I came up with this recipe so Gabe and the kids could eat healthy when they go camping, as opposed to just eating junk food and pop.  They are high in protein and fiber and low in fat and sugar, but they still taste good : )  These also work great for breakfast cookies or for a healthy alternative to regular chocolate chip cookies.

Anna's Camping Cookies

These are BEST if made the night before and eaten the following day, the flavors have more time to incorporate.

1/2 cup butter, softened (set the butter wrapper aside for use later)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup splenda

-cream the above ingredients; add

1/2 cup pureed white beans (rinse and drain a can of white northern beans, then puree them + 3 T. of water in a food processor, store what you don't use in the fridge)

1 egg (at room temperature)

2 tsp. vanilla

-mix ingredients until smooth; in a separate bowl mix the following ingredients

2 cups ground white wheat flour

1 1/2 cups ground rolled oats (put 1 3/4 rolled oats in a blender or food processor to make the oat flour)

3 heaping T. of protein powder (not the flavored kind)

2-3 T. benefiber (optional)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

-add the dry ingredient mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing each time; add

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

-mix until the chocolate chips are well incorporated

The dough should not be too sticky, I know when mine is the right consistency because it falls off my kitchen-aid paddle quite easily.  Use your butter wrapper to lightly grease the cookie sheet.  Drop cookies by rounded spoonful onto the sheet, then squash down half way.  This is important because the cookies don't spread out as much because there is less butter in them.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, then let them completely cool before eating.

BORAX SLIME!!!

Homemade Slime Recipe

Borax
White Glue
Water
Food Coloring (optional)
Ziploc bag1. Borax is available in the laundry section of your local grocery store. Take a cup of water and add to it 1 Tbs. of borax (approx 4% solution). Stir until completely dissolved.
2. Make a 50% water 50% white glue solution. Take 1/4 cup of each and mix thoroughly.
3. In a ziploc bag, add equal parts of the borax solution to equal parts of the glue solution. 1/2 cup of each will make a cup of slime.
4. Add a couple drops of food coloring.
5. Seal bag and knead the mixture.
6. Dig in and have fun. Remember to wash your hands after playing.
7. Keep your slime in the sealed bag in the refrigerator when not playing with it to keep it longer. Unfortunately it may eventually dry out or grow mold. Just throw it out and start again!

I Spy Jar

I found this on a website called Happy-Go-Lucky It is such a good idea I just had to share it. I think I will make them for church bags.

Supplies Needed:
•Plastic jar with lid
•Plastic Pellets
•20-30 small objects
•Self-Laminating Sheets
•Small piece of elastic - enough to stretch around the top of the jar
Directions:
•Gather your small objects: I went through all my junk drawers and art supplies to get random objects: paper clip, penny, dime, screw, buttons, stickers, letter beads, fishing worm, etc. Anything I could find that was small enough to fit in the jar.
•Take a picture of the objects or create a list of the objects: I placed the objects on my printer/copy machine and made a color copy of all the objects. You could also take a picture of your objects and print the photo. The list of objects would be perfect for older children.
•Make smaller cards of objects: I cut the copy of my objects into 4 sections so the cards would be smaller.
•Laminate the cards: I took two cards and put them back to back. Then I used the Self-Laminating sheets to laminate the cards - two cards per sheet.
•Place all the objects into the jar.
•Pour in plastic pellets.
•Glue the lid to the jar: I placed super glue around the inside of the lid and placed the lid on the jar.
•Attach cards to jar: I punched a hole in the cards and put elastic through the hole. I wanted it to stretch around the top of the jar and easily come off when Connor was playing with it.
Spin the jar and start searching for the items shown on the cards. Connor was so excited to look for the different items and he was just as excited to shake the jar around.

snowmen ornaments

The boys made these cute ornaments for Christmas. Here is the tutorial http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/

I ended up using wood squares, at Hobby Lobby they are 4 in a pack for 1 dollar. I know that the tutorial used canvas but they were a little more expensive. I think we ended up spending $2 total on making these. That was because I already had some paint. I just had to buy white paint and the wood squares. Just a cute idea if you want to try. The boys loved getting their hands messy.

generic vs. name brand

I am on a generic kick lately and I am trying to find generic brands that are either better or just as good as the name brand equivalent out there. Let me know if you find something. For example I found generic vanilla wafers at Walmart and I thought they were a little better than the name brand vanilla wafers, and I think they are about $1.50 less than the name brand, BONUS!

Beverly Lewis

So one day I just picked this book up off of the library shelf and thought I would give it a try. I liked it so much that I picked up another one of her books at the library this last week and haven't been able to put it down. They are super clean which is a bonus since I feel like there aren't a lot of those types of books out there. Anyways if you want a good, clean read, then pick up any one of her books.