Crock-Pot Chicken Stew

Keep in mind with any stew you can add what ever veggies you have on hand. I keep a gallon size freezer bag in the freezer and when ever we have just a few spoonfuls of a veggie left over I dump it in; once the bag gets full I make stew or soup with it. It is cheap, easy, and reduces waist.


Crock-Pot Chicken Stew

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch cubes
2 large onions, quartered and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup baby carrots, or 2 large carrots cut into 1-inch slices
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper or seasoned pepper mix
salt to taste
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients, except peas, in the slow cooker/Crock Pot; stir well. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, until chicken is done and vegetables are tender; stir in peas the last 30 minutes.
Serves 6 to 8.

This Weeks To Do List

Lately I have been putting things off that need done and I know that if I do not get busy I will soon feel overwhelmed. I am hoping that by posting my to do list here I will feel a little urgency to get this stuff done and marked off.

Sometimes it seems like when I was working full time outside the house I was able to get so much more done inside and outside the house.

So here it goes in no particular order:

1. Clean up sewing patterns
2. Clean laundry room up (it's not dirty but it does need swept and some buckets I dug through need straightened up
3. Clip and put up extra coupons
4. Finalize Rays birthday party plans
5. Go through and clean out magazines (FLylady would be so upset to see my pile)
6. Vacuum out truck (I hate a dirty truck almost as much as Scott does)
7. Work on my website (inserting a shopping cart takes waaaaaay to long)
8. Fix linen closet (how do the towels go in straight and then end up all over the place?)
9. List items on e-bay
10. Finish up pile of aprons and list on e-bay
11. Start working on decorating plans for winter and Christmas
12. Work with Syd on her graduation plans. I want everything done by February/ March at the latest.
13. Grocery shopping: CVS, Walgreens, Target, and Kroger
14. Get the last of our winter things out, washed and ready to use.

Ok, I think that is enough for now. I plan to get started on the coupons in a few minutes because I have several shopping trips planned for later today.

Menu Plan Monday

This week I plan to get some extra stuff done around the house so many of my meals will be quick, easy and use the crock-pot. Thank goodness for Reynolds crock-pot liners!

Monday Lunch Eating out between shopping trips to CVS, Target, Walgreen's and Kroger
Dinner Roasted Lemon Chicken with scalloped potatoes, green beans and rolls

Tuesday Sandwiches and fruit
Dinner Black Bean Chili

Wednesday Lunch Quesadillas
Dinner Turkey meatball subs (these will be made in the crock-pot also)

Thursday Lunch grilled cheese with ham
Dinner Crock-pot Chicken Stew and French bread

Friday Lunch left overs
Dinner Parmesan Drumsticks, corn, and salad

Saturday Lunch Greek Salad
Dinner Fajitas and Spanish rice (I have the chicken cooked and sliced already in the freezer along with a separate bag of sliced raw onions and peppers)

Sunday
Dinner Crock-pot Pull Apart Chicken on fresh kaiser rolls, salad and fruit


Lemon Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 dash Salt
1 dash Pepper
1 teaspoon Oregano
2 Cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Lemon juice

Wash chicken, pat dry, season with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle 1/2 oregano and garlic inside cavity. Melt butter in large frying pan. Brown chicken on all sides. Transfer to crock-pot. Sprinkle with oregano and
garlic. Add water to fry pan, stir to loosen brown bits. Pour into crock-pot. Cover. Cook on LOW 8 hours. Add lemon juice in the last hour of
cooking. Transfer chicken to cutting board. Skim fat. Pour juice into
sauce bowl. Carve bird. Serve with some juice spooned over chicken




Pull Apart Chicken

3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C water
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp celery salt

1.Mix up all the ingredients except the chicken in the crock-pot. After mixed, add the chicken in. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours
During the last two hours of cooking, use a fork to break apart the chicken into strands The longer it cooks the easier this becomes.

2.Spoon this onto hamburger buns and serve.


Be sure to visit Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas

Being Frugal Can Come Back to Haunt You

Yes, sad but true... being frugal can come back to haunt you and when it does it is not pretty. Remember those cute little kittens I told you about us finding? Well we only have two left and one will be living her permanently. Yes, as in this is its new home.

I was very clear from the beginning we would care for them until a home could be found, I NEVER intended it to be our home. So I know you are asking what does this have to do with being frugal? Everything!!!! You see my daughter has learned to thoroughly investigate everything prior to even thinking about asking us for it or to do it and these kittens would be no different.

She started in with how cute they are, how soft they are, how cuddly they are, and how much fun they would be; I smiled and nodded trying not to even touch the subject; this went on for about two weeks. Then last week she smiled tilted her head while snuggling one and asked what the chances of keeping one were. I gave her a sympathetic grin and said listen honey mommy likes them too but we have a dog, a really big dog and well dogs and cats do not mix. Oh, but she had found that indeed they can with gently persuasion and patience. Next is where the frugalness comes in... I said besides you know pets are expensive. You have food, toys, treats, vet bills, and shots the list just goes on and on. I should have known she would have an answer to that too. She smiles inocently and proceeds to say $500; the average cost is $500 a year to care for a cat she spouts out.

I laugh... Sydney dear, mom and dad are not spending that kind of money on another pet and I am sure you do not want to either, remember your car and college fund? Then its her turn to laugh.. I won't have to really spend that much, I will coupon it. (That's our term around her for anything we will use coupons on.) She had been scanning cat food prices and coupons and determined it will be very feasible to stock up on sales combined with coupons to get free food. Ok, food under control what about the vet? She had decided to use the low cost clinics that set up at the feed store for vaccinations and am area clinic does low cost spaying and neutering. That still leaves toys for the darlings. I should have know my frugal zealot would have that figured out too, her room now has an empty cracker box, empty thread spools and material balls strewn about it. I guess she is well on her way to caring for her baby and maintaining her family tradition of being frugal.


In all seriousness, I am very proud of her. We did not intend to keep one but they have won our hearts. Izzy will be staying and Gus will be going to live in the country with a friend of Sydney's from work as soon as he is about 8 weeks old.

Sydney has managed to stock up 4 bags of kitten food totaling 15 pounds for free thanks to the great deals last week at Petco, thanks to Kroger's triple coupons she received 8 cans of moist food for free and a cute litter box with a lid, liners and scoop cost her $10 on sale after her coupon. All in all she has done great and seeing her compare deals, read labels and put all that economics/financial math to work makes homeschool parents proud, proud enough to even let a kitten live here :)

It doesn't hurt that she looks pretty cute with them all snuggled up on her lap.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week went by so fast and meal wise was a flop, it seemed like every dinner was awful. They were edible but nothing came out like it normally does. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed.

Hopefully this week things will go better.

Monday salad and soup
Dinner Greek Chicken and rice. We had this planned a few weeks back but never made it

Tuesday Sandwiches and fruit
Dinner Stir Fry, egg rolls, and egg drop soup

Wednesday Lunch Quesadillas
Dinner Shepard's pie

Thursday Lunch grilled cheese and mixed fruit
Dinner Linguine with fresh tomato sauce recipe below

Friday Lunch left overs
Dinner Pizza and salad

Saturday Lunch Hot Dogs and baked fries
Dinner Creamed chicken and rice

Sunday
Dinner Crock pot pulled pork sandwiches, salad, and baked beans



Linguine with fresh tomato sauce

12 ounces linguine
4 each large tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic , minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 can ripe olives, sliced
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain

2. Meanwhile, combine tomato and next 5 ingredients. Drain pasta, and place in a large serving bowl.

3. Top with tomato mixture, and sprinkle with olives and cheese

Be sure to visit Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas

Sense and Sensablity E-patterns

Jennie Chancey owner of Sense and Sensibility patterns has just converted most of her patterns into ePatterns. If you have never been to her site you have got to get over there.

Her patterns are beautiful, elegant and best of all modest.

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