Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff

Tonight, we had a yummy dinner. Of course, it was another recipe from the Mix and Match Mama. I'm pretty sure this will become a regular at our home. 

Crock-Pot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs stew meat

1 onion, chopped

1 can beef broth

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound egg noodles

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Over medium-high heat, brown your stew meat in a tablespoon of EVOO and some salt and pepper (about 5 minutes). Transfer meat into your slow cooker. Layer onion, broth, cream of mushroom soup, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or on high 3 hours.About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, move heat to high on your slow cooker and add in your noodles. Continue cooking uncovered until noodles are tender (about 30 minutes).

What I've Done Wednesday

I have been looking forward to this Wednesday for a couple weeks now. Today was our MOPS outing day, and our church offered 3.5 hours of free childcare. We all know us, moms, need this every now and then. I'm so thankful to be a part of a church that supports such a wonderful ministry. We started off our morning with pedicures. Then we headed to a local shop in Springdale and ended our time at Marketplace Grill. We had such a wonderful time just enjoying ourselves without our kiddos. I am so thankful and blessed to have met these girls! 

Finishing her breakfast before heading to church

Pedicure Time

About to enjoy our Chocolate Mess at Marketplace

Brooke Deen's Meatloaf

If my brother were to ever tell you what his least favorite most hated meal was growing up, it would definitely be meatloaf and green peas. I, on the other hand, LOVE meatloaf! So when I saw this recipe, I knew that I had to try it out! I'm also going to be trying this recipe very soon!! This recipe was very good, and it makes it even better when Caroline eats what we eat! I made homemade mashed potatoes and mixed the meat loaf in them for her, and she loved it! I really liked the glaze that Brooke uses. It's similar to tomato paste that is normally on meatloaf, but it has a little "twang" to it with the Dijon mustard. If you like meatloaf, you should give this recipe a try....

Brooke's Homemade Meatloaf

Meatloaf Ingredients:

2lbs ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons ketchup 

2 large eggs

1 slice white bread, torn into pieces

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

Glaze Ingredients:

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the meatloaf ingredients. Mix well and then press the mixture into a 9x5" loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients. After 30 minutes of baking, brush some of the glaze over the top of the meatloaf. Bake for another 30 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. 

 Turn meatloaf out onto a serving platter and spoon remaining glaze over the top.

Rock Creek

Yesterday, Caroline and I headed to my sister-in-law's family's hunting lodge for their annual crawfish boil. {Stephen has developed a sore throat and now has double pink eye as of this morning----stay away from me!!!!}. We definitely went down there for the socializing and not the crawfish!!! We had a great time seeing everyone, and Caroline enjoyed herself after she finally warmed up to the crowd {two hours later}. Ha! 

Caroline and Henry riding on the new four-wheeler. They both loved it!

Rebekah and Caroline enjoying their cookies

Still working on her cookie =)

My mom, Caroline, Rebekah, and Me

Sweet girl enjoying some water

Mandi and I! I'm so glad she married Josh because I get to see her a lot more!! Love my friend!

Chicken and Cheese Taquitos

One of my friends recommended this recipe from Keeping Up With The Joneses, so I thought I would try it out. It looked very easy to make, and I needed something to take to our Bible Study potluck at church so it was a win win. Prior to preparing and assembling the taquitos, I used Shay's method for cooking the chicken. I put it in the crock pot with a little chicken broth and cooked it for about 5 hours. The chicken is so tender and just shreds with a fork. When I make this next time though, I am going to cook the chicken with a little enchilada sauce that the recipe calls for. I think that would make it oh so tasty! On to the recipe...

Chicken and Cheese Taquitos

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup green enchilada sauce

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 cup chopped cilantro {I will use a lot less next time}

4 green onions, sliced {green and white parts}

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 large package flour tortillas

Directions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mash together the cream cheese, lime juice, spices, garlic, green onions {I chopped the babies in the food processor}. Stir in the enchilada sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cheese, cilantro and shredded chicken. Warm your tortillas a bit in the microwave so they are more pliable {I skipped this =)}. Spoon mixture on tortillas {I then spread mine with a knife over the whole tortilla} and roll up. Place on the baking sheet seam side down. Once all prepped and ready, spray with more cooking spray. Bake for ~10 minutes or until tortillas are brown and crispy. 
These were even better as leftovers, and little lady had them for lunch today and LOVED them!  Guten Appetit!! 

Wordless Wednesday

Bath Time

Ever since we moved into our new house 3 weeks ago, Little Miss has refused to sit down in the bath tub. The first few nights included screaming then she finally got over that and would just stand while we bathed her. Then FINALLY, last night she sat down. I was by myself so I had to grab the camera to document this milestone so that her daddy would believe me! 

Helping mommy wash her face

Blowing bubbles

Now I'm just praying that she continues sitting!!! And thankfully we are recovered from pink eye and only two more days left of these eye drops!! 

Whew, what a weekend!

We had quite the eventful weekend at our house. We went to bed Friday looking forward to waking up in our own house Saturday and enjoying the day!! Well, little miss woke up Saturday morning about 8:30 and we noticed her eyes were a little goopy. We went ahead and fixed a nice Saturday morning breakfast not really thinking anything about it. Then a couple hours went by and they were just oozing by the minutes and started swelling like crazy! . So thankfully, our doctor's office is open on Saturday mornings, and we were able to see the doctor. As soon as he walked in, he diagnosed her with double pink eye!!!! Thankfully, we got her some eye drops and they had really made a turn for the better by Sunday morning. The oozing had stopped but the swelling is still there, and it's still with us today. I'm thinking tomorrow she will wake up and be completely better!! Thankfully though, she has been a pretty good patient except for when we put the eye drops in!!! 

Sweet girl at the doctor's office

Saturday afternoon after her nap

Swollen on Sunday morning

We were so anxious to get in our house, we moved in before the fence was built. We love our house, but we definitely don't like having to take the dogs out on leashes. Caroline loves to walk Max {Dixie is a little to rambunctious for her to hold Dixie's leash. Well, the dogs got excited and Caroline got excited and ran into the leashes and got a little rope burn on her leash!! So on top of double pink eye, we know how a rope burn on her neck and ear!  

Then, to top it all off... she fell off the couch and hit her head on the wall. It sounds worse than it actually was, and she took it like a champ other than the little red places on her forehead! Poor girl!! 

Praying this little angel can catch a break!! 

Our Weekend

This weekend I took a girl's trip to Branson with some friends. We had the best time just getting away for the night. We shopped all day and enjoyed great conversation over great food! We found a lot of good finds at the outlet mall. We then took a break at Panera for a late lunch and just enjoyed sitting outside and talking! I even managed to get sunburned on my neck!!!!! Then we headed over to the Branson Landing for some more shopping and a wonderful dinner at Cantina Laredo. We had such a great time, and I think we are all looking forward to our next girls weekend =)

While mommy was away, this little cutie had fun with her grandparents and daddy. Her weekend consisted of shopping with grandma, swinging on the new swing set, walking Max, playing on Grandpa's boat, and going to Home Depot. I think she had a pretty good weekend without her mommy. 

Then, once we were all back home and outside playing, Henry came by. They had so much run riding around in their cars. They are a mess! 

Shrimp Etoufee

Friday night, we had our friends Molly and Kaleb over. This was Caroline's first time to meet their sweet baby boy, Bryant. I'm not sure she really knew what to think about him. We had a great time and a yummy dinner. I made Shrimp Etoufee. This recipe was given to me by Stephen's mom, and it is so easy and delicious! 

Bryant and Caroline

Shrimp Etoufee

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 chopped onion

1/2 chopped bellpepper

1 short stalk celery

2 cans low sodium cream of mushroom soup

1 can low sodium cream of celery soup

1 can tomato sauce {or tomato paste}

3 teaspoons Old Bay Crab Boil {Zattanini's}

2 lbs. shrimp

Directions:

Melt butter and saute vegetables over medium heat until soft. Add soup and crab boil; let simmer for 15 minutes. Then add shrimp and cook for another 20 minutes. Best served over rice. 

**If you want to make a day ahead, do everything then refrigerate. Add the shrimp before serving the day of.**

Chicken Pot Pie

After seeing this recipe on Shay's blog yesterday, I decided to make it for our little family last night. It was super easy to make and it was yummy!! I also prepared the chicken like Shay mentioned. I threw some chicken in the crock-pot and let it cook all afternoon in some pepper and cream of chicken soup. It was sooo tender when it came time to put it in the chicken pot pie and shredded so easy with just a fork. This just might be my new way of cooking chicken. I used to boil it, but it always grosses me out and reminds me of my brother's seventh grade science project. I'll spare you the details. =) Anyways, back to the recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1 pound chopped, cooked chicken

2 cups frozen vegetable medley

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup milk

1 can biscuits- I used Grands Flaky Biscuits

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add in your cooked chicken, frozen vegetables, soup and milk with a generous amount of Salt&Pepper.  Heat through about 5 minutes. Top mixture with your biscuits and pop in the oven.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until biscuits are brown and chicken mixture is bubbly.

**I had to cook mine A LOT longer than 8 to 10 minutes because the biscuits weren't cooked. So I'm thinking next time I might pop them in the oven and cook them a little then put them on the chicken pot pie and let them cook the rest of the way**

Guten Appetit!!