slow cooker chicken tacos

Now that the days are cooler and our routine is busier, I have pulled out the old slow cooker and started to add a few soups and casseroles to our weekly menu. These slow cooker chicken tacos have been an old stand by in our house for a few years and I was excited to make them again the other night!

The recipe is just what I think every slow cooker recipe should be; toss the ingredients in the pot and turn it on! The mixture of chicken, beans and corn makes for a filling meal, packed with protein. 

I've made this dish for guests and taken it to parties and have always had lots of requests for the recipe...

So here it is!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 large jar of chunky salsa

2 large chicken breasts (bone and skin removed)

2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning 

1 cup frozen corn

Add black beans and salsa to slow cooker. Place the chicken breasts on top of the mixture and sprinkle with taco seasoning. 

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.  

Remove chicken breasts and shred with a fork. Return shredded chicken to the slow cooker, add frozen corn and mix together with black beans and sauce. Turn the slow cooker to low and cook for a half an hour. 

Serve with soft tortillas and top with shredded cheese, sour cream and guacamole.

Salsa in a Pot!

This spring I've been reading a lot about container gardening. I have a vegetable garden that I seem to overfill every year, so I thought I might try to spread things out a little!  While checking out some great gardening blogs I found a few posts that used one large pot to grow a variety of plants, and some were even meant to be used together in one recipe... what a great idea! Tomatoes seem to be the most popular for container gardening and I have read that peppers can also do quite well. This information lead me to the idea of "Salsa in a Pot"!

My plan was to find an inexpensive pot, decorate it and plant everything needed for homemade salsa. I found this plastic pot at Target and thought that the colour and finish were very similar to a chalk board, so I decided to use the chalkboard markers that we use on our chalkboard table to add a little colour. Once I had finished having fun with the markers, I planted a plum tomato plant, a hot pepper plant and some cilantro... add an onion and we'll have everything we need for a fresh salsa!

Vegetarian Curry Soup

My husband and I absolutely love Indian food and this Vegetarian Curry Soup is one of our favourite choices for a vegetarian meal.  The health benefits of living a vegetarian lifestyle are extremely well understood, but I just don't think we would be able to fully commit to the limitations of no meat. However, when we have the opportunity to eat authentic Indian cuisine, I think it could be a possibility! For now, I try to stick to planning at least one vegetarian meal a week.

This Vegetarian Curry Soup is a great Veggie night option. It has a dark rich broth, a full aromatic flavour and is surprisingly filling. I use a pre made curry paste for seasoning, which makes it much less complicated than your standard Indian stew, and the majority of the ingredients can be a combination of whatever you have in the fridge!

Vegetarian Curry Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup of onion, chopped

2 large carrots, diced

1 zucchini, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 can of chick peas

1 can diced tomato (with juices)

2 cups of vegetable broth

1/4 cup sour cream

3 cups of baby spinach

To start, heat a couple of table spoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add onion, garlic, carrot, zucchini and red peppers to the oil and sauté for a few minutes. 

Then, stir in one or two tablespoons of your favourite red curry paste (I usually buy patak's) and sauté for an additional minute or two. Stir in chick peas, tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add sour cream and stir until the soup broth thickens slightly. Just before serving add baby spinach so that it wilts, but does not fully cook.  

*Tip* - when I make this soup, I ladle the soup I know we will eat into a 

smaller pot before wilting the spinach. When reheating leftovers 

I add a handful of spinach to the bowl, stir and microwave until hot.

This is one of those recipes that really keeps getting better as it sits in the fridge... so make a big batch and enjoy it all week!

Mini Egg Blondies...

I was looking for a fun recipe for a "Girls Night In" when I stumbled upon (this pin), that I had found a few months back. The recipe was for Cake Batter Blondies that had both white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles... they looked fabulous! However, I wanted to make a few changes to "Easter them up" a little so made a few adaptations...

Here is the recipe, you can throw the batter together in about two minutes, but they do take about forty minutes to bake.

Ingredients:
1 box of Rainbow Bit cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1/4 C canola oil
1/4 C table cream
1/4 C milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 200g package Cadbury Mini Eggs

Combine cake mix, oil, cream, milk, egg and vanilla in a large bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl smash Mini Eggs (I used a mortar and pestle). Stir half of the smashed Mini Eggs into the batter. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 cake dish/pan. Sprinkle the remaining smashed Mini Eggs over the batter and bake for approximately 40 min. The blondies are finished when the edges are golden and crispy and the middle is still quite soft (they will harden as they set). Allow blondies to cool for 20 minutes before slicing and removing from the pan.

I think I'll make some more for Easter brunch!

Enjoy!!

Linking Up

The Taylor House - Pinterest Power party

Mom 4 Real - Knock Our Socks Off Party
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party
Alderberry Hill - Make the Scene Monday

Menu Planning for Baby...

Now that Henry has been enjoying solids for over a month, the variety of foods he is eating is growing quickly. We have also just added lunch to the menu, which means a full three meals a day! Sometimes I find it difficult to keep track of what he ate and when he ate it, which means it's very likely that he will have the same dinner three nights in a row. I know I wouldn't enjoy that, so I thought it was time to come up with a menu plan! 

I find dinner time to be the most chaotic in our house. Rob is rarely home from work, Andrew is getting restless and Henry seems to go from happy to hungry in the blink of an eye! Knowing what is on the menu, and having it thawed in the fridge is a great step in the right direction. Also, in the very rare event that I get to leave the house and someone else feeds my kids, they will know the plan!

At the beginning of the week I will sit down and fill out the menu, knowing what I have on hand, and what new foods I would like to introduce for the week. It is recommended to introduce new foods slowly, giving baby at least three days with each new addition before trying something else. I have left a space for comments on the menu where we will keep track of his likes and dislikes, whether he has missed a meal or any adverse reactions (gas, constipation) he may experience. 

The second part of my plan uses these adorable little jars! I wanted to be able to label the meals in the fridge so that they would be easy to identify. What better label is there than a little bit of Chalkboard Paint! I used  baby food jars, but may switch to the small mason jars once Henry is eating larger amounts. *Be careful to keep the paint away from the inside of the lid, where it may come into contact with baby's food*

Each night, I quickly check Henry's menu, pop the frozen food cubes into the jars, label with chalk and place them in the fridge for the next day! I thaw few servings of fruit for his dessert as well. I am loving that his meals are thawed and ready to go (especially when I remember on my way out of the door that he will want some lunch before we return)! 

I had so much fun designing Henry's menu that I decided to make a few more for you!

If you would like to print one off, simply save the JPEG file below and print! It is also super easy for me to customize this printable, so if you are interested in one with your baby's name, send me a message on my Facebook Page, I would love to hear from you!

Happy menu planning!!

Linking Up
The DIY Dreamer - From Dream to Reality
The Taylor House - Pinterest Power party
Mom 4 Real - Knock Our Socks Off Party
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

The Taylor House - Pinterest Power party

A sweet contribution...

It has been about 6 months since I started blogging, and one of the things that I have really enjoyed is the opportunity to meet other bloggers with similar interests. I admit, I get my fair share of raised eyebrows when my friends and family see the amount of effort I put into some less than popular past times (labelling is a hobby). However, my new bloggy friends also have a passion for making the world a little more pretty, and agree that it's worth the blood, sweat and tears to "Do it Yourself"!

Jessica is a fellow blogger who shares her love cooking and crafting on her fabulous blog Prairie Girl to Southern Belle. This week, Jessica and I decided to swap Valentine's Day posts. Her recipe for "Sweet Hearts" uses flour tortillas, cinnamon and sugar, to make a quick snack. Absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day festivities!

Hop on over to Prairie Girl to Southern Belle to find the cooking details (Sweet Heart Recipe). And stay tuned for more fun contributions from Jessica!