Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

One of my "resolutions" is to cook at least one dinner from scratch every week (we are also adding in one vegetarian meal per week, and it doesn't count as my homemade meal). We eat a lot of processed foods around hear, mainly because they are fast, cheap and easy. But I decided with a little pre-planning Homemade doesn't have to be expensive! And with my brand new crock pot, it doesn't have to take a lot of time. So, with expensive and slow out of the way, all I have to do is find easy recipes and actually cook them!

I found the recipe here.
Ingredients
2 large chicken breast, frozen (I used 3, because that's how I separate my Zaycon chicken)
8 slices center cut bacon, chopped (not in stockpile, so I left out)
3 medium potatoes, cubed (I used about 2 dozen little potatoes that came with a Bountiful Basket before Christmas!)
1 pepper (allergic to peppers, so didn't add them)
1 can corn (with water)
1 can cut green beans (with water)
1 cup finely cut chives (allergic to chives, so didn't add them)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (not in stockpile, so I left out)
12 oz. egg noodles (used whole wheat heart healthy pasta instead)
1 teaspoon basil (I put in 1 TBS, because all the spice from the pepper and chives is gone)
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper (I put in 1 TBS)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt (we don't add salt unless we are baking)
64 oz. water (I used 1 carton Chicken Stock, and then filled the rest of the crock pot with water)
6 chopped carrots (not in original recipe)

Directions
Place frozen chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add potatoes, and then rest of veggies.

Add spices, chicken stock and water

Cook in crock pot on high for 4.5 hours, then add noodles.  Since I used whole wheat noodles, I cooked them separately and threw them in at the end.  But, if using egg noodles, add them to the crock pot and cook for 45-60 minutes more.

The finished product!

White Chicken Chili (SO FANTASTIC, FAST, and YUMMY!)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken (about 1.5 Chicken Breasts)
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans or 2 (15 ounce) cans navy beans
1 (15 ounce) can hominy or 1 (15 ounce) can white corn (I'm a huge fan, so I put in 2 cans of hominy)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can of chopped green chilies (I'm allergic, so we leave these out!)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped green onion (optional)
monterey jack cheese (optional)

Directions:
I double the recipe, and I have a medium round slow cooker.  It fits just barely.  In my large rectangular one, it could be tripled!

• Place chicken (I throw it in frozen) in a 4 quart slow cooker.
• Top with drained beans and drained hominy.
• In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chiles, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in the crock pot. (if I'm in a hurry I just throw this all on top and stir after about an hour or so)
• Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. (I can do this in 4 hours with frozen chicken on high, but it's better if you take the time to cook it on low)
• Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken, then stir in the sour cream (I just top individual bowls, it doesn't need it for flavor, it's delish without it!).
• Serve topped with green onions and jack cheese, if desired.

No Knead Bread

My aunt Dee taught me how to make this when she visited in 2011.

5 - cups hot water (hotter than bathwater, but not scalding)

4 - tablespoons of yeast

1 - cup oil

6 - tablespoons sugar

2 - tablespoons salt ( optional)

8-10 - cups of flour 

mix all ingredients together. should be sticky. stir down from the outer part of the bowl inward every 10 minutes for 1 hour. should be covered.

put oil in bread pans. put dough in bread pans, cover & let rise for 1/2 hour. makes 4-5 loaves

bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

can also be used to make : cinnamon rolls, biscuits

So, I don't know about you, but reading this, I would be LOST :)  Luckily, my Aunt came down and showed us how to make it.  So, here it is in picture form:

Add 5 cups hot water to a huge bowl :)

Sprinkle 4 TBSP yeast into water

Add 1 Cup oil

add 6 TBSP sugar to activate the yeast

It'll start doing this bubbly thing

add 2 TBSP salt, if you want (I like it better with the salt)

Start with 6 cups of flour.  Add up to 10 (usually it takes between 9-10).  After the original 6, add 1 cup at a time, until you are up to 9 cups, then add 1/2 a cup at a time.

 Stir until well mixed, forming a sticky ball

Cover and wait 10 minutes

After it's risen for 10 minutes, stir around the bowl once.

Stir from the outside of the bowl, piling onto the inside.  Cover, and wait 10 minutes.  Repeat 6 times.

After you've stirred 6 times (10 minutes between each one) oil your hands (yep! Pour vegetable oil right on your hands).  Then take about 1/5 of the dough (sorry, I don't have pictures of this part... but my hands were covered in oil and dough!) and mold into a loaf shape.  Do this by using both hands, and folding the dough over on itself until it's smooth on top, and long :)

Place in well oiled pan (I used oil for some, and then when they didn't come out very easily I switched to pam for baking, and then oil.  The oil gives them a buttery taste, the pam lets it slide out of the pan easily!)  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.  (I spray pam the bottom of the towel, it makes the bread not stick to it).

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375.

There is a proper way to let the bread cool.  Did you know that?  I didn't!  I figured it out the hard way.
If you don't let it cool properly, it'll end up looking like this:

So, to let it rest in the loaf pans for at least 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Then, tilt the pans on their side to let the bread cool for at least 10 more minutes.

They'll slide out easily.   To allow for easier cutting, let cool completely. I never have been able to do that!  They taste WAY to yummy fresh out of the oven! 

Eat and Enjoy!  (I love it with Peach Freezer Jam!)

Decorating on a Dime!

Christmas is Expensive! And as you may know, my honey and I downsized so I could be a stay-at-home momma. This brought a dilemma about a week ago when I started thinking about how to decorate our place for Christmas. We don't have room for a Christmas village, or a tree, or really anything that's not already in our place!

However, the Bee (our daughter) is almost 2 now, so we wanted it to be really special for her. Last year, she was only 9 months old, and we moved right after Christmas, so we never decorated.

My goal this year was to decorate for less than $10! :) I spent less than $2!

Wrapping Pictures:

It quickly gives your already decorated walls a Christmas theme! Plus, it's really easy to un-decorate! It takes us less than 5 minutes to get it all down, even less if you have kids who are good at unwrapping! This is great not only for Christmas, but for birthdays and other events as well!

I choose color coordinating wrapping paper, or wrap them all in the same paper. You can get it cheap at Walgreens, or use leftover wrapping paper, from last year. This is stuff I purchased last year on a Buy 1 for $1.99 Get 2 free sale at Walgreens ($.66 a roll!). Wrapping all the pictures in the house, I used less than 1/4 of a roll of each paper, (spending about $.66!)

 

I did purchase some green ribbon at Target today for (they are regularly priced at $1), to jazz up the bows, and for the actual bows, I purchased some last year after Christmas ($.50 for 50 bows at Walmart! I love after Christmas clearance!).

We then hung some Christmas lights up (we bought them several years ago).


It's not a lot (but we don't really have room for a lot!), and my daughter is in awe over all the changes, and I love how just a couple of cheap touches make SUCH a huge difference, without costing much or being a danger to have around for our little Bee. :)

We also go (closer to Christmas) to our local Christmas tree stand, and ask for the cut off branches. They give them to us for free, and it makes the house smell incredible (one more year until we risk a tree!). Throw a few ornaments on arranged branches and you have a super easy centerpiece!

Quick Albies Trip

I love Albertsons!!!  A LOT!!!

I went shopping today, and was almost paid to walk out of the store with a car full of groceries!!

First thing first: I pre-paid for 20 of these.

I had special ordered them, but the warehouse was out, so they let me pay for them anyway.  Now, they'll keep ordering them until they come in, I'll keep my receipts, and when they arrive, they'll give me a call, and I'll go pick them up. It's basically a rain check on crack :).

I purchased them in sets of 4.  I used 4 $1/1 coupons and 3 doubles, saving $7.00 per transaction.  They were originally $4.29 each, on sale for $2.00, and I saved $7, so I paid $1.00 plus tax for 4 boxes.  THEN out shot a beautiful $4 catalina, good off my next purchase of $4 or more.  So, total for all 20 boxes, I spent $5.00, and received $20 in catalinas, for a profit of $15!!

 Then, I had also pre-ordered 30 cans of pineapple. I had the bee with me, and she was getting hungry, so I purchased the bananas too. 
Pineapple Original Price: $2.39 each, on sale for $1.  I had 10 $1/3 coupons, so I rang them up in sets of 9.  When you bought 4, you got a $1 catalina.  So, I doubled 3 $1/3 coupons, saving $6.  In the first transaction, I had the bananas, so I was able to use a $4 catalina from the TGI Fridays meals, and got 7 Bananas, 9 cans of pineapple for $.50 (the bananas were $1.50).

Then I repeated it with no bananas, and had a $3 bill, used my 2 $1 cats from the first pineapple transaction, and one I had previously.  So, it was all free (well, tax)!
I repeated it again, doing the same thing.  It was free again!

Then I got creative!  I had 3 more cans of pineapple to buy, and I needed milk, and batteries.  So for
3 cans of Pineapple
1 gallon D Milk
1 package Oreos
and 1 8 pack batteries,
I used 3 $1 coupons (on each for the milk/oreos, batteries, and 3 cans of pineapple), doubled them all, and used 2 $4 cats from the TGI Fridays.  I paid $.17!!!

Then, because my honey doesn't like catalinas sitting around (because more often than not I forget to use them) I went shopping again!  I had one set of doublers left, 2 $1 catalinas and 2 $4 catalinas.  I bought another gallon of milk, another package of oreos, and 5 packages of Turkey Sausage, on clearance for $1.99 (from $5.49).  I doubled my $1 catalinas and another $1/1 milk and cookies and saved $6, then used my 2 remaining $4 catalinas, and ended up owing $1.13.

So, for $204.60 worth of groceries/batteries, I paid: $6.80. The milk alone was $5.87, so basically, I paid for Milk and bananas!!!  Every thing else was free!!!  YAHOOOO!!!  A savings of 97%!!!

Couponing Again-Building The Stockpile

It's been a while since I've coupon-ed (well, at least since I've posted about it)...

Today, I hit up Fred Meyers, Albertsons and Walmart.  We've been living off our stockpile for a while, so this trip was more about building back up my stockpile.

Fred Meyers-$41.07

20 boxes of Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese $.69 each 

-used 1 $.75/1 coupon

10 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup $.49 each

-used 2 $1/5 coupons

10 cans Cream of Chicken Soup $.49 each

-used 2 $1/5 coupons

 20 cans Del Monte Vegetables $.49 each
2 Large Eggs, 18 count  $2.00 each (store coupon, not pictured)

Albertsons- $2.36

I ran this in 4 transactions, 2 of each.

Mini Oreo's 2 Go $1.00
Skim Milk $2.49

Rhodes Warm and Serve Rolls $2.50

Doubled $1/1 Nabisco and Milk
Doubled $.75/1 Milk
Doubled $1/1 Rhodes Rolls

Final: $.49

Mini Oreo's 2 Go $1.00
Whole Milk $2.69

Rhodes Warm and Serve Rolls $2.50

Doubled $1/1 Nabisco and Milk
Doubled $.75/1 Milk
Doubled $1/1 Rhodes Rolls

Final: $.69

Walmart - $29.92

4 Tillamook 2 lb Loaf $5.96 each

used 4 $1/1 Cheese, 2 lbs, doubled (saved $8)

2 C&H Sugar, 4 lbs $2.82 each

used 2 $.75/1 C&H Sugar, 4-5 lbs, doubled (saved $3)

2 Minute Maid OJ, $2.98 each

used 2 $1/1 Minute Maid OJ, doubled (saved $4)

2 Jif Peanut Butter, $4.68 each
used 2 $.55/1 Jif, doubled ($2.20)

8 Yeast 3 Packs, $1.04 each
used 4 $1/2 Yeast 3 packs, doubled (saved $8)

2 Kraft Parmesan Blends packs, $1.78 each
used 2 $.75/1 Parmesan Blends, doubled (saved $3)

1 Idahoan Hashbrown, $1.25

used 1 FREE product coupon from All You (saved $1.25)

All coupons can be found here.

Total Cost Before Coupons: $140.93
Total Cost: $73.35

Total savings: $67.58 or 48%!

My Life-From the Bee to West Nile Virus!

My last update was about my depression.  Well, it turns out that it's not just depression.  Sure, that's part of, but the main part is that when I was in Denver, CO in July, I got West Nile!  Yep!  27 mosquito bites later, and one of them managed to give it to me!  It's not the dangerous kind where you end up hospitalized, but the safe kind where you don't even know you have it... it's the middle one.  It takes between 2 and 6 months to get out of your system!!  EEK!!

Craziness, right?  Some days I feel completely normal.  Thankfully those days are coming more and more often! (I had two this month!), but most of the time I'm tired.  Really tired.  Bring the Bee's toys in, stay in bed, and don't do anything except feed and change the Bee until my Honey gets home tired.  But it's been a while since I had a day that bad!  YAY!!

The depression is part of it.  One thing I didn't realize about depression is how all encompassing it is.  You not only have the physical pain that comes with it, but you also have nothing.  Not a desire to do something, not any energy, no desire to see friends or family, etc.  Depression is selfish.  It's all consuming.  But, it's also not something that is avoidable.  I think everyone in the world gets depressed from time to time.  Could be work, could be family, could be friends, could be all of it, could be none of it.  It's just want happens.  We live in a fallen world, and it sucks.  Life is hard, sad, and impossible without God. Thankfully, I have God.  And he got me through it!  Sure, I'm still sad, sometimes.  Sure, my immune system is weakened, so I'm sick more often.  But, being as depressed as I was has already been used for His good.

I have been blessed to be able to see what's going on with my dad in a different light (prayers for him are still appreciated!  He starts his (PRAYERFULLY) last dose of steroids on Saturday and then his last dose of Chemo 30 days after that.) and offer insight to those closest to him.  I couldn't imagine fighting this disease with depression.  The Chemo and steroids make him so sick to begin with, and  then being depressed on top of it!  The fact that he actually gets up every day and fights (even if only for a few minutes) is amazing!

The Bee is now 19 months old!  We had her pictures taken for her 18 month birthday (well, okay, we did it for my 29th birthday! (they are the pictures scattered throughout this post)  It's amazing how much she has grown.  She's happy, cheerful (unless she's not, hehehe) and so amazing!  She blows me away with how much she's learning and loving and growing!  You can't walk out the door (even to take out the trash) without several bye bye hugs and kisses.  Fish lip kisses!  They are the sweetest thing!  And she love her sweet "friends" (stuffed animals, baby dolls, and little people!) giving them kisses and "hug" all the time.  And what's more amazing?  My 19 month old shares :).  You just have to ask her for something, and she'll joyfully pass it over!  Mostly she loves her Daddy and "Dog Dog".  Ember is so patient with her, with the constant desire for a hug and kiss. 

The Bee's favorite animal is still the giraffe, which she now calls "Raff".  Her favorite thing in the world to do is go to the Boise Zoo and feed Julius the Giraffe.  She could spend all day there, but at $3 per piece of lettuce, we limit it to 3 pieces!  Luckily she's still free and Thursdays are half price!  We're probably done with the zoo until it gets warmer.  Julius can't come out unless it's 40 degrees or warmer, so unless we have another warm streak, we are gonna hang out until summer :)

She's started naming her stuffed animals, with her Lambie being "Manny", her lady bug pillow pet is "Bug", a tiny white dog is "Woo Woo" (her sound for barking) and the latest addition, a while polar bear named "Rarrr".

Going over to my parents house is great fun for her, not only because Grandma ma and Papa are there, but because that's where "Giget" (my parents dog, Gidget) lives.  She has a great time at the other set of grandparents too, and is in love with all the bears and Grandma and Grandpa Bear have out... Plus, the baby toys and doll house amaze her! 

My brother in law is getting married this spring, and Jeremiah and I will go from having 2 nieces and 2 nephews to having 4 nieces and 2 nephews!  I'm so excited for him and his lovely bride! They are such a sweet couple.

Well, I think that's about it... you're all updated and informed :)