Crock-Pot Baked Ziti!

By now you know how much I love my crock-pot. I used it for 75% (maybe more!) of the meals that I cook. Last night, our friends Carissa and baby Adelaide came over to visit, so I decided to throw some Ziti on. It's super simple and DELICIOUS!

Ingredients-
15oz Ricotta Cheese
1 Box of Ziti Noodles (Mine was 18oz)
1 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
2 Jars of Spaghetti Sauce
2 Cups of Shredded Mozzarella (Or any shredded cheese you have around!)
2 T Garlic Powder
1 Cup Water
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (optional!)


Instructions-

First, spray the crock-pot with cooking spray really well. Next take 1/2 of a jar of spaghetti sauce and pour it in to cover the bottom of the crock-pot.

Next, Add 1/2 of your UNCOOKED ziti noodles. In a separate bowl, mix together Riccotta, Mozzarella, garlic, and Parmesan and spread 1/2 of your cheese mixture on top of the noodles. Spread 1/2 of the can of tomatoes then pour 1/2 of a cup of water over everything.

Next, pour the remaining 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce on top. Spread another layer of noodles (the rest of the box) on top, then repeat the cheese layer and tomato layer and sauce layer (using the entire 2nd jar, you can use 1/2 if you don't want as much sauce). Finally, Pour your last 1/2 cup of water over the entire thing (this will help keep the noodles moist).

You can add more Parmesan or shredded cheese to the top for looks if you desire.
Cook on LOW in your crock pot for 4 hours or HIGH for 2 hours. I took a spatula and scraped the sides every 30 minutes or so just to make sure it wasn't sticking- but I had no problem getting it out in the end.


Serve with some delicious french bread and Italian Sausages!


For the Italian Sausages All I do is preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I lay the sausages side by side in a baking dish and top with red and green peppers as well as some onions. I then drizzle some olive oil over the top and bake for 45minutes (until they are cooked inside and out). It is best to take them out halfway through and flip them over so both sides get cooked evenly.


Delicious!

Sharing One of My Money Making Secrets...

Within the past two years I have stumbled upon many different ways to earn Amazon gift cards as well as other company gift cards. Each year, I have been able to pay for Christmas, Birthday and just because gifts with Amazon gift cards and not pay a thing out of pocket! Just last Christmas alone, I ordered around $300 worth of gifts for Darius and Lilah and it was all free thanks to my gift cards. One of my recent finds, that I have been participating in for about 6 months now is EXPOTV. All you have to do is sign up, create an account, and make video reviews of products you have around your house. It's so easy! I have reviewed things like Huggies Wipes, Baby Food, Household Cleaners, My Tv, anything! You get around 500 points per video and a $5 amazon gift card is only $600 points! All the way up to a $250 Amazon gift card for 30,000 points. There any many other gift card options in the store as well.  It's so easy to earn money! They also have special features called "Tryology" programs. Where they send you a free product to test and review. I have gotten a $45 Playskool toy for Lilah to review and some $30 L'oreal products as well. Sign up HERE to join and get started. Trust me, if you have a few extra minutes of your day you will be earning in no time! 

Dress Up Time!

Instead of napping yesterday- Lilah decided she wanted to play dress up and dance. I love her huge imagination! 

Such a cutie! 

Making Crayons!

Miss Lilah LOVES to color. She could do it for hours at a time. Unfortunately, like a normal 2 year old- she also eventually breaks almost half of the crayons she uses. Getting tired of picked up a million tiny crayon pieces,  I decided to try to make our own. 

First we took the paper off all of the broken crayons. Then we cut them up into small, (almost) even pieces. We then preheated the oven to 250 Degrees.

     Next, Lilah picked which ones she wanted and placed 5-6 in each heart. You can use any kind of oven safe tray- I had these little heart cupcake trays from the Valentines $1 section at Target.

 We placed the tray on a cookie sheet then put it in the 250 degree oven for 8-10 minutes (until I saw that they were completely melted). We took them out of the oven and sat them on a cooling rack to cool completely. This took a good 30+ minutes.

After they cooled completely, we popped them out of the molds. I was worried they would break, and one of them did. Thankfully, the rest of them were thick enough that they popped out into solid pieces. 

 Lilah loves her new crayons! It was so exciting to her that she made these all by herself. Now, every time one gets broken, we just throw it into a cup to keep until we are ready to make more! 

My Baby is Turning Two!

Just this afternoon while Lilah was napping it hit me, HOLY COW I have less than a month until Lilah's 2nd birthday party! Last year, I was a full time stay at home mom and had all of the time in the world to make cute decorations for her party- 

I made

Lollipop Trees and Centerpieces

I even made the cupcakes and icing all from scratch-

This year- is a different story! Now that I'm working I feel like I have no time to plan/create! I'm almost tempted to go buy the party store decorations, does that make me a bad mom? I'm even thinking of paying some one else to make her cake! Granted, she is local and has GREAT prices. I have seen so many cute ideas on Pinterest that I want to try, but haven't got started on them yet. I guess I need to get up and moving this weekend and get started. I definitely love these and want to give it a shot! I'll post pictures when I finally get them made :)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

Last night I went out on a limb and tried making homemade chicken noodle soup for the first time. Much to my surprise it was totally easy and delicious! 

Here is what you need- 
3 Large Chicken Breasts
3 large carrots or multiple small carrots chopped ( I had the small ones left over from a veggie tray I made for work!) 
1 medium onion chopped (this is optional)
3 stalks celery chopped (You can put as much or as little as you please with this)
8 cups of chicken stock/broth (I used Better Than Boullion again)
2 Tablespoons  of dried parsley (optional)
2 teaspoons of  garlic powder
8 ounces of noodles (I used bow ties!)

Directions-
Chop all of your veggies and place them into the crock pot. Take your chicken and season it to taste with salt, pepper and parsley. Lay the chicken on top of the vegetables in the crock pot. Pour your broth/stock over top of your ingredients and stir in garlic powder. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Boil noodles 20 minutes prior to serving and add to crock pot. Serve with delicious biscuits or sandwiches. 




This is so yummy and easy to make! Perfect on a cold fall night! 


Enjoy! 

Friday Night Dinner- Melt in your mouth chicken

One of my all time favorites that I was an absolute skeptic about is Melt in Your Mouth Chicken. It's easy and so delicious!

What you'll need:

Boneless Skinless Chicken (I prefer tenders but breasts work fine!)

1 cup Greek yogurt (or mayo, but I HATE mayo)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 t Pepper

1 1/2 t Seasoning Salt

1t Garlic powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray your baking dish well(I use a glass Pyrex). Mix together all of your ingredients and spread well over the chicken covering every inch. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese if desired ( I like to add more because it browns better!) Bake for 45 minutes - you want it to start browning on the top. 

I had leftover carrots and celery from the Cheeseburger Soup so along with the chicken I served brown rice topped with a simple celery and carrot dish. I used two bags of boil in a bag brown rice and followed the instructions on the pack. In another pot I added 2 cups of chicken stock and brought it to a boil. I then added a cup of chopped celery and a cup of chopped carrots and continued to boil until soft. It's delicious on its own or on top of the brown rice! Trust me, I HATE raw celery, but LOVE this!

Normally I would make my own biscuits to go along with it, but after a long day at work I decided to take a short cut and used canned ones.

This is a yummy dinner that is guaranteed to please! Even my picky toddler loves it!

Cheeseburger Soup!

One of my dear hubby's all time favorite dinners is Cheeseburger Soup. He has been begging for it and I have been trying to hold out until it was cold to make it. This week has been a cold and rainy week so it seemed like perfect timing. Lilah and I made a quick run to Kroger for the ingredients yesterday morning and fired up the crock pot! 

I have adapted this recipe from a few other people to make what we think is just perfect.

Here is what you will need- 

1 pound of ground beef (1/2lb is fine if you want less meat!)

3 cups of chicken broth (I prefer "Better than Bouillon")

3 cups of diced peeled potatoes (canned works just fine!)

2 cups of chopped carrots (canned works just fine!)

1 Bag of Frozen Pepper and Onion Mix (Kroger has these for just $1)

3 stalks of celery chopped

1/4 cup of flour (if needed)

1T of Garlic Powder

1 1/2 cup of milk

8 oz of velveeta cheese

1/2 stick of butter

Instructions-

Brown the beef in a skillet with celery. Drain.

In your slow cooker, pour chicken broth, garlic powder, peppers and onions, butter, carrots, and potatoes.

Stir in your browned beef and celery.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Stirring every couple hours.

30 Minutes before serving chop up velveeta into cubes. Add velveeta and milk to the crockpot. If you desire a thicker broth add in flour.

Let cheese fully melt.

Serve with hot sauce and/or bacon bits on top!

I also made delicious  Red Lobsdter garlic and cheese biscuits

to go along with it.  I found the recipe here-

http://www.saltnturmeric.com/2008/11/cheesy-garlic-biscuits.html

Back Again!

Wow, it's been too long! As some of you may know I went back to work part time January and haven't had much time to blog. It was so hard to leave my baby girl, but I love my job and still get to stay home two days a week with her. It's such a blessing!

 Don't worry, I'm still avidly couponing, cooking and crafting though! Mostly when Lilah naps or during my lunch break at work. Right now my big projects include:

Planning Lilah's 2nd Birthday Bash

and

Thanksgiving/Christmas Gifts/Crafts

They're both so exciting I can hardly stand it. There are so many ideas out there and thanks to Pinterest I want to make them all!

I'm excited to share pictures and ideas of both as well as some of the delicious fall recipes I love!