Post-It Note Tuesday!

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 8 servings • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g

Ingredients:

• 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
• 15 oz can black beans
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
  
• salt to taste

Directions:
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.  

Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning to taste. Serve over rice or tortillas and your favorite toppings.

Note: This can be rather bland "as is". I put in chili powder, and added a taco seasoning packet. I also added a lot more cilantro than called for because I love it! Put in your chicken thawed, or it gets too runny! Also, I spooned over the mixture on the chicken when putting it on top. Better flavor that way!!! This was a big hit with my family. Enjoy!

So stinkin' busy, lol!

Ohmygosh! It's just been a whirlwind around here!! Go, go, go! So much to touch base on, so I guess I'll just start. So...in no particular order...

This is Captain. He lives across from us and visits often for treats.

He's real big on just lazing around, as cats do.

He loves me! He really loves me!!
Well the treats I give him anyway, lol!

Full happy tummy now!

Birdwatching

I went inside to get something to drink, and he stole my chair!

So I picked him up and plopped him on another chair!

He wasn't really thrilled about that...

But he's lazy and decided it was ok afterall.

Zzzzzzzzz......

So I read my book and Captain snoozed!
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The Honey Lemon bread was great! Here is the bread machine recipe for it:

2 lb loaf
1 cup, plus 1 Tbsp water
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
4 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp dry milk
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp quick active dry yeast

Place ingredients in your machine per your recommended manufacturer's instructions. I used the basic cycle, light crust.

Remember that I said I was making French baguettes?

They were seriously the best EVER!!! Ohmygosh good!!

But...I set off the smoke detector. It's really, really loud!

There wasn't even any discernable smoke!! But the egg I brushed the bread with didn't agree with it. So next time I'll turn on the vent and crack the kitchen window. Still, totally worth it. I'm a bread Goddess!!!
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Friday was a crazy busy day! Bella had school, but Thomas had the day off for a 4 day weekend. We ran around all over town....

Like to the mini mall, which had a jewelry store that caught my eye.

I wonder what could be in this box???

This is a really crummy picture of truly gorgeous jewelry!! I saw it and thought, that's mine!!! It's so wonderfully sparkly and I love it!!! LOVE IT!

Emisfero is in this mall and we got to take our time buying our favorite Italian goodies. They have a salami there that is pee-your-pants-good. We got three packages on Friday. Two are gone. 'Nuff said. We also got some cheese, pickles, veggies, fresh mozzerella cheese (which tastes COMPLETELY different than the crap we get in the states!!), all kinds of stuff. Their produce is so mind boggling fresh too! I saw plums with green leaves still on them!

The fruit salad was expensive, but worth it!

I'm not sure what these are. I thought they were prickly pears, but when I looked online they only show red ones. So, I'm not sure. But they're delish!!! They kind of taste pear-appleish. Very soft, lots of hard seeds, lightly sweet.

Just look at these beautiful pomegranates!!! I love Italy!

I also picked up this european toaster. We do have 110 plugs here, but it's recommended that for things that heat up a lot (like hair dryers, toasters, etc) that you get 220 appliances.

It is SO cool because...

It has these baskets that you can use for plain bread, OR to make a hot, toasted sandwich!! Plus, no more digging out that bagel or English muffin that gets stuck. Isn't that ingenious???

We also picked up some goodies for The Bella for Christmas as I'm wayyyyy behind schedule on shopping. Normally I'm done by August!
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At the PX, they are having all kinds of sales on summer stuff. This was the last Disney Princess bistro set.

I also got a cell phone. This is a pay-as-you-go phone, but I need an Italian number for the school to reach me if need be and if I need to get a hold of Thomas. The sales girl picked out the color (which I didn't care about) and said it was "hot". Whatever, Paris!!

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Bella totally loves school! She loves everything about it - her teachers, her new friends, playing outside for recess, eating lunches from home - everything! There is a meeting with her teacher next week, to go over the program, explain how it works, etc. I'm looking forward to it! I'm sure Bella has made an impression by now, lol!
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Here is Bella's bistro set in the back yard. She was thrilled!!

I moved things around a bit and LOVE how our backyard looks!! I've always wanted to have a gazebo and it's so handy to have nice shade when you're just out relaxing. It's such a peaceful place to read too!!!

I love it!!

I also:
* colored my hair, so that looks fabulous again!
* made a macaroni salad for the unit's BBQ, which everyone loved. It was nice to meet some of the other wives!
* set up our new bank's online banking and transferred ALL our bills to it and changed the phone number and address. Then did the bills on the 1st. That alone took me all morning!!
* received my last item that was backordered forever from Stampin' Up.
* received a big order of clothes I ordered online. It's so nice to have something DIFFERENT to wear as I've been wearing the same suitcase of clothes for almost two months. Boring!!

Some things that are finally going our way:
* Our truck is here!!! I hate being without a vehicle!
* Thomas got in his debit card and pin for our new bank and I got my pin. I should have my own debit card any day now.
* Our internet was "hardwired" to the house Friday afternoon. I haven't plugged the computer into it yet as I'd have to move the dining room table wayyyy across the room, but supposedly it will now be faster and more reliable. Cool beans!
* Our front door blinds, which we've been waiting for since we moved in, are on order and should be in momentarily as well!
* And best of all...OUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS ARE IN ITALY!!! They arrived at port on Thursday! Two containers, the size of train boxcars, arrived in Vicenza on Friday, but neither of them were ours. Italians don't have labor day, so although the transportation office will be closed, the people moving the containers should get it up here (it's about 9 hours away or so). So...we should have our stuff sometime next week!!! MY BED! MY STAMPING STUFF! MY BED!!!!!! Woooo Hoooo!

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but that's the way it goes when you don't blog for a couple of days and are on the move non-stop, lol! I'm looking forward to a very quiet, and relaxing rest of the weekend as we were out all day on Friday and I've been cooking, cleaning and doing laundry most of today. I just wanna plop on the couch and watch a movie tonight!!

Pineapple Salsa!

Isn't this pretty???

From Pampered Chef:
2 plum tomatoes (I used Roma and it was fine!)
1/2 small red onion
1 - 4 inch piece of seedless cucumber
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper
1 medium pineapple
1 lime (I just got juice instead!)
1/2 tsp salt

I recommend doubling this recipe!!

1. Hull and removed seeds from tomatoes. Dice tomatoes, onion and cucumber. Chop cilantro. Combine all in a bowl. Cut jalapeno in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Finely chop and add to the bowl. (Note: the seeds add to the "heat" so I did keep some and add it to the ingredients!)

2. If you have a Pampered Chef pineapple wedger - it's fabulous!!! If you don't, then remove the outer skin, top, bottom and core of fresh pineapple, and be jealous of those who DO have one, lol!!! If following this recipe, use half the pineapple - if doubling use the whole thing. Dice pineapple. Measure 2 Tbsp of lime juice and mix with pineapple and salt. Add to bowl of other ingredients, and mix thoroughly until combined. Serve with lime tortilla chips!!

The only thing I did differently was to add a tad more cilantro because I LOVE IT!! This is amazing salsa and after 20 minutes or so in the fridge, it's ready to eat. Yummy!!!

Date Night Friday

Yay!! It's Friday already - wow! Thomas has the day off from work, but Bella has school....so we're makin' the most of it!! Not exactly sure what our entire plans are, but know they include lunch at Atlanta Bread Co. and some shopping at Hobby Lobby, lol! I know, I'm soooo predictable, lol!

If you need some yummy dinner ideas, I just picked these up from Kraft Foods. They sound easy, cheap and delicious!!!! Make it a Fabulous Friday everyone!!!

Fresh Broccoli & Chicken Pasta Toss

What you need:

2-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked

3 cups fresh broccoli florets

1/4 cup Light House Italian Dressing

1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomato-basil spaghetti sauce

1 cup 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

COOK pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water the last 3 min.

MEANWHILE, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook 5 min. or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Stir in spaghetti sauce; cook 5 min. or until chicken is done, stirring occasionally. DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Add chicken mixture; mix lightly. Top with cheese.

BBQ Beef -Filled Biscuits

What you need:

1/2 lb. extra-lean ground beef

1 small green pepper, finely chopped

1 small red pepper, finely chopped

1/3 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

1 can (7.5 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup KRAFT Mexican Style 2% Milk Finely Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

BROWN meat with peppers in medium skillet. Remove from heat. Stir in barbecue sauce.

SEPARATE biscuits. Press 1 biscuit onto bottom and up side of each of 8 muffin cups.

SPOON meat mixture into biscuit cups; press into cups with back of spoon. (Filling will be mounded.)

BAKE 10 min. or until biscuits are lightly browned. Top with cheese; bake 3 to 4 min. or until melted.

Reposting: Making pumpkin seeds!

Click to enlarge!

Daily Menu 9-9-09

Breakfast

entree: choc chip bar
protein: 2 MSF sausage links
fruit: small pear

Lunch
entree: minestrone soup
salad
protein: FF turkey breast

Snack
mozzerella sticks
gala apple

Dinner
entree: lasagna with meat sauce
veggies (2): green beans

Dessert
fudgey brownie (my recipe)
green grapes

Sorry no pictures today! No new foods and camera was upstairs, lol!!

Daily Menu 9-8-09

Breakfast
entree: cinnamon swirl bar
protein: 1/2 cup EB and 1 MSF sausage link
fruit: grapes

Lunch
entree: Pasta parmesan (really good!)
salad
protein: 3 oz. shrimp

Snack
mozzerella sticks
peach

Dinner
entree: swedish meatballs (REALLY good!)
veggies (2): stir fried sugar snap peas

Dessert
BBQ soy chips
dinner fruit: apple
dinner fat: peanut butter