Do You Viggle?

I had heard of Viggle before, even downloaded it to my old phone, but never did anything with it.

Then, recently I saw some good friends using it and they love it, so I re-installed it on my new phone.

You may be asking, what exactly IS Viggle?  Well, Viggle is an app you can download on your phone (available in both the Itunes and Play Store), and you earn points for watching TV.  When you start to watch a show, open up your Viggle app, and click on the big V and it listens to your TV to see what you are watching, and then you are 'checked in".  You earn 1 point for every minute, so I just check in again at the end of the show (I just started yesterday, so I don't know if I'm watching a marathon if I can wait til the end or not, so I am doing the end of each show to be safe).

Now personally, I am not a huge TV watcher, the TV in my living room usually stays off til the older kids get home from school, sometimes even until my husband get's home from work.  I do watch a lot of prime time TV shows at night tho.  But, I have my TV on right now, and I checked in so I can earn points.  It's not going to hurt me to have the TV on in the background so I can earn points while I am doing my stuff around the house.

They also have other ways to earn points.  Sometimes you can watch some short videos on the app for points.  Last night, while I watched Survivor and Revolution, I was able to play trivia about the shows and earn extra points that way too.  Oh, and I got bonus points just for checking into watch those shows! (I think it was 50 bonus points each!)  They also have some offers you can do for points, but I didn't even bother with those.  They give you 200 points to start with, and I ended the day yesterday already over 850.

They have all sorts of things you can redeem your points for too.  $10 Starbucks gift card, $25 gap gift card, a Kindle Fire HD, a Royal Caribbean cruise (LOTS of points for that one haha), Fandango movie ticket, and more.  This is just a handful of items form all their rewards lists.

So, do you Viggle?  If not, are you going to start to now?  I love easy ways to earn gift cards and other items!

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Ok, so I got this great recipe off of Pinterest last year at some point.  It is SO easy, only 3 ingredients!  Plus, it's a dump and go recipe!  Those are some of my favorites.  We have made these several times.  I got the original recipe from here.

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can be frozen)
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 16oz jar Salsa (we usually use pace picante, I have used both medium and mild)

Directions:

1.  Place chicken in crock pot, sprinkle packet of taco seasoning over the chicken, dump the salsa on top.

2.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

3.  Remove chicken from crock pot and shred. (At this point you can serve it if you want to, but I like to put it back in the pot)

4.  Stir and cook a few minutes longer, so the chicken can absorb some of the sauce.

5.  Serve and enjoy.

You can add whatever you want to your tacos.  We used sour cream, onions (hubby), black olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese.

I love my stockpile

What do dish soap, hand soap, body wash, shampoo, shaving cream, laundry detergent, stain booster, toilet paper, paper towels, mouthwash, and toothpaste all have in common?  They are all items in my stockpile that my family has needed in the last 2 weeks.   Most of the items  are items I got for free at some point too.  My family needed the items and they just grabbed them from the stockpile when they needed them.

2 weeks ago, my oldest daughter had the flu, so she was washing her hands, a LOT!  She came up to me one day and told me she was out of soap, I went out to the garage and grabbed another soap and refilled her dispenser.  My oldest had been told to do his laundry about a week ago.  He said he couldn't because we were out of the stain booster and the laundry packs that him and his sister use for their laundry.  My hubby and I just laughed at him as I had him follow me to the laundry room where I had a  cabinet full of laundry detergent and stain booster.

I love that I don't have to go around and check how everyone is doing with everything (cause we all know kids aren't going to tell you they are low, they are going to come running to you when they are out of it and they need it!).  I don't have to make lists and try to remember to buy stuff.  I already have it all at home ready to go, and it was cheap!  If I had to run out just to buy the laundry detergent and the Tide stain booster I was looking at around $15, no thank you!

Deciding to stockpile was one of the best decisions I have ever made!  Do you coupon and stockpile?

Insta GC

Instagc is a site I just joined on October 8th.  I am LOVING this site!  I have already cashed out $48 in Amazon gift cards!!  Seriously!  I get free gift cards just for doing offers.  I only do free offers, and they have a TON to pick from.  You can even watch videos to earn points.  They have a chat feature, so you can talk to other members and they are all so friendly and helpful, they will answer your questions and will even tell you what offers are crediting quickly.

Now, this site does take a tiny bit of work.  You can sign up with your normal email, but you'll want to make some email accounts for doing your offers.  Basically you just want to clear cookies and use different emails to help your offers credit better.  I write down what offers i do with which email address, so if I need to conform something I can.  Doing it this way also avoids spam to your regular email inbox too.  But this is a quick and easy way to make money.

You earn 10 points when a referral signs up and confirms their email address.  After that you earn 10% of what they earn.  This particular site is 1 account per household.

They also don't have just amazon gift cards too!  They have Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, Game Stop, Starbucks, and more!!  And the best part?  It's instant payment!!!  I select the gift card I want, and then they give me my code right then and there!!  THAT is awesome!!!

Now is the perfect time to join and earn a little extra money to help pay for Christmas!  You can join me by clicking on one of the banners on the page, or on the hyper link above.

Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

I've always been a boneless skinless chicken kinda person, but with a family of 6, that's a lot of chicken!  I recently decided to buy some whole chickens, that I got a great price on.  I love my slow cooker, and what better way to cook a whole chicken then in the slow cooker?  Just dump everything in and let it cook while you go about your day.  I spent less then $4 on the whole chicken and we even have left overs.  Yesterday was a pretty busy day with Voting, grocery shopping and taking my daughter to Ballet, so it was the perfect day to use the slow cooker.  I had taken my chicken out of the freezer Monday morning knowing I wanted to cook it on Tuesday.


Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken 
• 1/2 c chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground thyme
• 1 small onion*
• 3-4 carrots*
• 3-4 medium russet potatoes*

*you can add or subtract the amounts of the veggies, these are just rough guidelines.  I just kind of eyeball it and stop when I think it's enough for all of us.

Directions:

After removing the neck and giblets from the chicken place it breast side up in your crock pot.

Next add the chicken broth and the spices.

Cut up the Onions, carrots and potatoes and add them to the crock pot. (the onions are hidden and there are more carrots under the potatoes, I decided to add extra carrots)

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  

Mine cooked for 5 hours and when I went to take it out of the crock pot the legs, thighs and wings all fell off in the pot and had to be removed separately.

Serve and Enjoy ~

Chipotle Sausage and Rice

This is a recipe that I made up as I went LOL. I had gotten a BUNCH of Johnsonville chipotle and monterey jack chicken sausage because I got it for $.99 each. Everyone loved it and I have made it several times since.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 package Johnsonville chipotle and monterey jack chicken sausage, sliced
• 1 cup corn
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 can rotel, drained
• 1/4 c onion, diced
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• chili powder

Directions:

1. Cook rice in separate pot according to directions on package.  This should yield 4 cups of cooked rice.  Do all other steps while the rice is cooking.
2. Use a skillet to cook the sausage and onion about 5-10 mins.
3. Once the sausage is cooked add the corn, beans, rotel, and tomato sauce.
4. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder, all to taste (can add more or less to change how hot/spicy you would like it)
5. Stir and bring to a simmer.
6. When the rice is done, pour everything in the skillet over the rice and stir.
7. Serve and enjoy.

Enjoy ~

Chicken Stew (crockpot)

We had Chicken Stew made in the slow cooker last night.  It was my 2nd time making this recipe that I found on Pinterest.  I wanted a really good stew, so I went looking for one.  I found this one, and then I tweaked it to fit what I wanted.  Austin claimed to 'not like it' last night when he sat down to eat....yet when offered with the prospect of having the 1 and only chocolate yogurt, he was able to down it without any issues.

Here is the original recipe that I got found on Pinterest....http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=7854  But I am going to post my ingredients and how I cooked it here in my blog.  The original recipe calls for mushrooms, but even tho I am a mushroom lover, I left it out of this recipe because I just don't see mushrooms as part of a stew.

The really great thing about this recipe is this is a dump and go!  Just dump it all in the crockpot, then let it cook, no extra steps.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken (skinless and boneless) 
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 4 cups potatoes, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped **
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1tsp basil
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1.  Cut up the chicken, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion and dump it in the crock pot.

** I didn't have any celery in the house, so I left it out this time.

2.  Sprinkle on all the spices.

Spicy!

3.  Add the lemon juice, chicken broth, and cream of chicken soup.

4.  Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low all day.

5.  I use some cornstarch to thicken the sauce up a bit, this is really optional, but I prefer the sauce a bit thicker in a stew.  I just do it a little bit before serving, so it has time to thicken up, then I serve it.

Enjoy ~

Plink

I just joined Plink at the end of September, and I must say I am loving it.  Like I said earlier in my Ebates post, I love getting rewarded for doing what I am already doing!  That is what Plink does.

Basically, when you join Plink you link either your debit card, or your credit card with Plink.  Then you pick what stores you want to add to your 'wallet'.  That's it, they do the rest for you!  Anytime you use your linked card at a place that you have in your wallet, you get points.  When you get to 500 points you can cash out.  Easy peasy.

Here is the list of places that are currently partnered with Plink:

Taco bell
Arby's
Burger King
Dunkin Donuts
Quizno's
Outback Steakhouse
Red Robin
7-11
Regal Cinemas
Edwards Theaters
United Artist Theaters

At first you can add 3 places to your wallet, after you get someone to sign up under you, you can have up to 5 places in your wallet.  You can also switch them out, so for example, you don't have Outback in your wallet but you are going to go there for a special occasion, you can remove something from your wallet and add Outback.

Here is a list of places you can get a gift card to:

Amazon
Kohl's
Walmart
Tango Card
Facebook Credits

Now, these are just the $5 gift cards, they are also available in higher increments if you want to save your points.  They also have other gift cards available in higher increments, such as Barnes and Knobles $10 gift card for 1,000 points.

I have cashed out $20 in Amazon gift cards so far (all $5 increments).  In fact, the kids and I ate at Taco Bell earlier this week and my points just hit my account and it was enough to put me over to get a gift card, so I just cashed out one tonight.  They also send you your gift card immediately through email, so my card has already been added to my Amazon account.  With Taco Bell you get 70 points if you spend $5 and 140 points if you spend $15 or more.

They also reward you with 100 points for each person that you refer.

You can join me at Plink by clicking on the hyper link above, or my link down below.

https://www.plink.com/index.cfm/main/homepage/refer/103381/aid/1264

New Progresso Kitchen Favorites

Progresso has come out with a new item called Progresso Kitchen Favorites.  They are found in the packaged dinner section of your local grocery store.  My Harris Teeter had a promo running last week where if you bought 2 you saved $3.  Well, I also had $.75 off of 1 coupons, that would double to $1.50 off.  They were $3.99 each, so $7.98 for 2, but with the promo and coupons I got them both for $1.98, which is great, because with a family of 6 we usually need 2 boxes for something like this!!  I bought 4 boxes total (went on 2 different days).  I bought the Chicken Marsala and the Basil Chicken.

I have to admit, when I took everything out of the box, I was worried that it wouldn't be enough for all of us (especially the pasta), but once it was all cooked it was more then enough!  The directions were very easy to follow.  It comes with the breading, seasoning mix, pasta, and the Marsala wine in the box, I just had to add chicken (and mushrooms, they are optional, but you have to have mushrooms with chicken marsala!).  It only took 20-30 minutes to cook the whole dinner.

I served it with broccoli and cheese on the side. (I know my veggie serving is small...but since I serve myself last I get what is left!).  I got the broccoli for only $.19 too!  It was $2.39 for 1, on sale for BOGO (buy one get one free).  The way Harris Teeter does their BOGO is they charge you half price for each item, so they were $1.19 each, then I had a $.50 off of 1 coupon, that doubled to $1 off, making it just $.19!!  SO I paid a total of $2.17 for the 2 Progresso boxes and the broccoli and cheese!

Dinner was delicious and everyone loved it...even my picky eaters!!!  I can't wait to try the Basil Chicken one now, especially now that I know 2 boxes will be enough for all of us.  Definitely something I will buy again, if I find another great deal on it!

Ebates

I have GOT to tell you about this great site that a friend of mine introduced me to.  It's called Ebates.  Ebates is partnered with a TON of stores, what they do is you log into ebates, select the store that you want to shop online with, and click the link to go to that stores website.  Depending on the store you are shopping at you can get anywhere from 1-25% of what you spend BACK.  Now...if you are going to order X item from Bed, Bath, and Beyond anyways, why not log in through ebates and get 1% back (yes Bed, Bath, and Beyond is on their HUGE list).  I know 1% back isn't much...but it all adds up.  When you reach $20 in your ebates account, they send you a check (or you can select to be paid via PayPal).

I don't know about you, but if someone is willing to give me back some of money, for buying what i was going to buy anyways, I am ALL for it!  When you sign up, you get to pick a $10 gift card out (I picked the Target one).  Once you make a purchase at one of the stores, while going through ebates, that is $25 or more, they send you the gift card for free.

I currently have $7.72 in my ebates account already!  I got 1% back when I ordered the LeapPad2 for Riley through yoyo.com.  Then I got 2% back when I ordered a coat for Austin through Old Navy, and then, I got 7.5% back for ordering the kids costumes through Costume Express!!!  That was an exciting purchase, because I already buy their costumes from them online every year!!

With Christmas coming up, this is the perfect time to join ebates.  Especially for those of you who prefer to order online, rather then facing the crowds on Black Friday.  Not to mention all the awesome online deals you can find on Cyber Monday!  I love the idea of getting part of the money I spend back.

You can join by clicking the hyperlink above, or clicking my link below.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=eFFxSNsAx3hx%2BHGkkVTX9w%3D%3D

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches (Crockpot)

I found this recipe on Pinterest, I loved the fact that it was only 3 ingredients, and it was made in the slow cooker, bonus was being able to throw the chicken in frozen (because hey, sometimes I forget to defrost it over night!)

Every time I talk about having it for dinner, people ask about it and I type out the recipe.  I know it's a quick and easy recipe, but I figured I would share it here (and then I can just post the link!)

I didn't get any pictures last night when I made it, since I am still looking for the battery charger for my phone.

Here is the original post that I got it from on Pinterest (my pin linked back to this) http://myfindsonline.com/2012/03/20/crockpot-buffalo-chicken/

If you follow me on Pinterest I have this pinned on both my 'slow cooker' board and my 'pinned it tried it' board.  If you are not a follower, then click 'Follow me on Pinterest' in the top right of my blog!  What are you waiting for?

Now, onto the recipe!!

Ingredients:

3-5lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 packet ranch dressing
1 12oz bottle franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce


Directions:

Place chicken on crockpot (can be frozen).  Pour bottle of Franks over the chicken.  Sprinkle ranch dressing packet over the top.  Place the lid on it and cook for 4-6 hours on low.

When it's done cooking, remove the chicken and shred it (I use 2 forks).  Caution, the chicken will be VERY tender and will fall apart on you when you try to remove it!  Once it is all shredded put back in the crockpot and mix it all together.  Let it cook a bit longer to soak up some of the yummy juices.

Serve on a bun or a roll.  We usually add Provolone or swiss cheese to it.  For a side we usually have chips, or a side salad.

See how quick and easy that was?!  And it tastes amazing too!!!

Enjoy~

Pinned it, tried it, results!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was going to try some pinterest projects.  Here are the results of some of those projects!

First I did the Homemade Finger Paints.  This was pretty easy to do.  I used some empty baby food jars to store it in and then I used Wilton Cake Decorating Icing Colors to tint them.  I don't normally have food coloring on hand, but I have tons of the icing colors for my cakes.

Mixture after I put it in the jars, before I colored it all.  You can find the Wilton Icing Colors at Walmart, Michaels, and I am sure other places too.

All done!  Blue, purple, yellow, red, pink, and green.

I did paint a bit with the green, and then went and washed my hands.  It all came out easily.  I have yet to try it tho, with a kid playing in it forever and then washing it out lol.


Next I tried making the Mind Jar for Austin.  I followed the pin, and she had a great description, but she also linked back in her blog to where she first got it from.  The other lady did it slightly different (added extra glitter).  So I kind of did a little bit of both to make mine.

I used a mason jar that I bought at Michaels.  I know they seal air tight and I didn't want to take any chances!  I used just over 1.5 cups of warm water.  I added 2 tablespoons of orange glitter glue (Austin picked it out himself!).  Like she said, it did take a bit for the glue to melt, so I also stuck it in the microwave for 60 seconds.  This kept the water warm, since the glass stayed warm.  I added a touch of the wilton icing color in orange to the water, to make the water orange.  Then I added some orange glitter to it.  Note....add the glitter last, it settles on the top of the water (I learned this the hard way haha, I was still melting glue when I added the glitter!).

Here it is before you shake it up.  You can see the glitter glue part settled on the bottom (it doesn't completely melt away) .  If you look at the top you can see the extra glitter I added floating around lol.

Here it is all shook up.  I really like how it turned out, and Austin liked it too.  Hopefully it will help him some with his temper!


This next project was soooo easy.  I made the bookmarks with the paint samples.  I picked a few up at Walmart, Austin was with me so he picked out his 2, and I picked out 2 for Jaidan.  They were out of pink, so I had to get her other colors.  I bought some ribbon for $.97 (which will last me quite a while).  I bought 2 punches at walmart, but they kinda stunk, their selection wasn't very good.  When I went to Michaels they had a much better selection and I picked out 2 different ones.  They were all $.97, or $.99.  So super cheap, and re-usable not only for this, but other projects too.

All you do is use the punches to cut out the design on one side, use a hole punch on the top for the ribbon, then tie the ribbon through, super easy!.

Finished bookmarks with the supplies.  Music notes for Austin, hearts for Jaidan.  No more corner's being turned down by kids (yes Jaidan, I am looking at you!).


Well there you have it, results for things I pinned on pinterest and tried.  I do have a few other projects I am working on.  I will post those results when I am done with them.

How I make money from home

Hello friends! I have several ways that I make money from home. Some I have been doing for several months, some I have recently started. I'd like to share them with my friends and family. Using these websites I got my husband the brand new kindle touch for FREE ($99 value) using amazon giftcards and I got $55 worth of books for my kids for Christmas from Amazon for FREE also! You don't have to get amazon giftcards, that is just how I chose to get paid. I will start with the sites I have been with the longest. Here we go!

Swagbucks is the first website I use.  I started using them back in Jan.  I have earned $95 in Amazon giftcards from Swagbucks.  This is just doing it part time, heck, sometimes I go a few days without doing anything on it (I am a bit of a slacker lol).  People who spend more time on it actually earn $75 in amazon giftcards a MONTH!  My husband just started with them a little bit ago, because now they allow more then 1 account per household (it use to be only 1 per household) and he has earned $10 already.  There are several different ways to earn swagbucks.  You can watch SBTV, do surveys, find swag codes, daily polls, and of course, the main way...search wins.  You just do your searches using their search and you randomly win swagbucks.  They have an entire swagstore you can redeem your swagbucks in.  You can do paypal, several different giftcards, and all sorts of items in various different departments.  If you'd like to check it out, here's my referral link (or click the highlighted swagbucks above)   http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/norac


Next up is Superpoints!  This is one of my favorites!!  This site is by invitation only!  I can post a few invite links, but they are only good for 7 days, or until they are used.  So you might have to actually contact me in order to get a token from me.  Basically with superpoints all you do is click the Super Lucky Button.  When you start off, you need to fill out your profile, this will give you 30 clicks a day on the super lucky button.  If you don't fill out your profile, you will only get 5 a day, and you just can't win very well with only 5 clicks a day.  Superpoints does start off a bit slow, getting a few referrals under you does help out.  When you get 2 referrals under you who fill out their profile then you become a gold member and you get 50 clicks a day on the super lucky button.  Also, every time anyone under you wins on the super lucky button you win the same amount!  NO CAP!  When you get 7 people under you who fill out their profile, you become a platinum member and you go up to 100 clicks a day.  I get 100 clicks a day, it takes me 20-30 mins to do my clicks.  That's all the time I need to spend on the website.  You also get a daily email from them with points in it, usually 1 or 2 pts, but sometimes 5, 10, 25, and once I even got a 75!  I just started in August and have already cashed out $60 in amazon giftcards!  Again you don't have to get amazon gift cards, they also have paypal, various other giftcards, and other rewards too.  My 11 year old son loves to click the button for me, so I don't even always have to do it, he sometimes does it for me.  This one is only 1 per household.  Here are a few invite tokens.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/dmop33

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/7hvu5d

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/zp6mpo

Next up is JingIt!  I don't have a referral code for Jingit, I can only invite people via Facebook, but if you are not a facebook friend, you can just go to http://www.jingit.com/ to join 8)  Jingit, you can earn up to $5 a week ($10 if you invite friends who join, so if you a facebook friend, ask me for an invite pls! I am still at only $5!).  All you do is watch short ads, and on occasion answer a few questions about the product.  You can either redeem your money through a music store, getting MP3's, or you can request a Jingit debit card (which is what I did).  Once you get your debit card, which is through US Bank, you can transfer your winnings rom Jingit onto the card and you can spend it where ever you want!  I just transferred my first $10 to my card today!  I only spend maybe 10-15 mins a day on this site, not long at all!

Finally, my newest venture!  This is one I found from a cafemom friend, and it seems a lot of my cafemom frinds are doing it.  It's called Varolo .  Now this one works a bit differently, you build your 'village' and the bigger your 'village' the more money you make.  You watch ads, and when you watch the ads and your village watches ads, that's how you make money.  If you do not have a village, then you can only earn entries into the jackpot drawing. So having referrals in this one is kinda big.  But you can earn money on up to 4 degrees of separation.  But as long as you and your village watch about 10 mins of ads a day you earn money, which you can get paid to you via paypal.  Every ad that you watch gives you 1 entry into the weekly jackpot drawing for $500.  I am really enjoying it so far, it's pretty easy to do, and like I said, not a huge time sink.  I'm looking to grow my village, so would you like to join me?  You can click the highlighted Varolo above, or use this link www.varolo.com/village/NoraC 

If you have any questions about any of these sites, please feel free to contact me, I am happy to answer your questions!!

New York Roast Beef

This is a great recipe I got from my mom. We all love it and it's very easy to make.

Ingredients

• 1 Beef rib roast or eye of round roast
• 1 T. cooking or olive oil
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. paprika
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 t. ground oregano

Directions

Rub oil over entire surface of meat. Combine remaining ingredients; rub over roast. Place meat in shallow baking dish with fat side up (I always trim the fat of all my roasts when I buy them before freezing)
Bake at 350* for 20 minutes per pound. The result will be a brown outer surface with an even rareness in the middle. Use a meat thermometer to cook to desired degree of doneness (i.e.rare, medium, well done).

Enjoy ~

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a great recipe I got from my dear friend Jaye. I had been looking online for a good recipe for it. Yet all the recipes I was finding only used chicken and salsa with some chicken broth and the cheese and chips. I had had this soup at restaurants before and it always had beans and or corn too. I wanted a recipe like that, I wanted a hearty filling soup. So I asked Jaye if she had a recipe for it, not only did she have one, it had all the things in it I wanted! I am sharing this recipe with Jaye's permission. This soup is "Nummy" as my 2 year old said when he was eating it lol.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced, less if it's too much

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 teaspoons chili powder

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth, or 2 chicken bullion cubes, which is what I use because I prefer the flavor

• 1 1/4 cups water

• 1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked

• 1 cup white hominy**

• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green Chile peppers if you want to add them

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained, I actually like to use a half can of black and a half can of light red or pinto beans

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

• 2 to 3 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces if you prefer the white meat, which for this soup its preferred

• crushed tortilla chips

• shredded Monterey Jack cheese

• chopped green onions, if you like

Directions

1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.

Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in corn, hominy, chilies, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and chopped green onion.

** That is Jaye's recipe as she gave it to me. I left out the hominy, because we're not fans of it. So instead I used 1 whole can of Black Beans and 1 whole can of Pinto beans, instead of a half can of each. We also didn't top with green onions, since my husband is the only fan of green onions...but he thinks they would be awesome on top 8)

Enjoy ~

Red Beans and Rice

This is a great slow cooker recipe I got from my mom. My mom is so awesome...I requested several of my favorite recipes she made when I was growing up, so she made me a cookbook of her recipes. She made one for my brother too and my friends Kris and Terri.

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

• 1-2lbs smoked sausage (I use hot links for extra kick)
• 1 med. onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped green peppers (optional)
• 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
• 2 cans (15 oz) red kidney beans (I use 1 light and 1 dark for presentation)
• 1-2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
• 2-3 Tbsp chili powder
• 2-3 Tbsp cajun seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Slice sausage and place in slow cooker together with onion, garlic and green pepper (optional). Cook until meat starts to brown. Drain grease from pot. Return slow cooker to base. Add all other ingredients and stir until blended. Cook on medium until done (2-3 hours). Serve over rice.

Notes

Season with chili powder and cajun seasoning to your own personal taste. I personally only use 1 tbsp of each because I use hot links.

Enjoy ~

Southwest White Chicken Chili

I found this recipe in my All You magazine. It's from the Campbell's Kitchen. It's super easy to make and everyone loved it! Well, except Jaidan who for some weird reason hates kidney beans (but she loves wax and green beans lol) The original recipe did not have pepper, but I added it to the recipe, it really needed it, even the kids added it the first time I made it, so now I make it with pepper.

Southwest White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (I use Olive Oil)
• 4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast Halves
• 4tsp Chili Powder (don't know why they didn't just say 1 Tbsp)
• 2tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Lg Onion Chopped
• 1 Med. Green Pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 10 3/4oz Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
• 3/4 cup Water
• 1 1/2 cups Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
• 2 cans (15oz each) White Kidney Beans (Cannellini) rinsed and drained
• 2 Tbsp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and green pepper and cook until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, stirring often.
2. Stir soup, water, corn, beans, and pepper in saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with cheese.

Enjoy~

Cherry Cream Pie

This is a recipe I got from my husband's Aunt Johnnie. It's his favorite recipe and I fell in love with it the first time I tried it. She gave me the recipe so I could make it for Josh whenever I wanted. It's super easy and yummy!

Cherry Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 9" graham cracker pie crust
• 1 8oz package cream cheese (softened)
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 21oz can cherry pie filling (chilled)

In Large mixer bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.

Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into graham cracker pie crust. Chill 3 hours or until set*.

Top with cherry pie filling.

*It can take up to 5-6 hours to set sometimes. Make sure the pie is set before you put the fruit filling on top, or it will sink.

Enjoy~