Chicken and Noodles

A coworker makes the best chicken and noodles I have ever ate. They are melt in your mouth delicious! She makes her noodles from scratch-serious dedication. It's always such a treat when the crock-pot shows up in the staff kitchen on Noodle Day. We can all barely wait until lunch. 

I'm not as dedicated. I have never made my own noodles. This recipe is perfect to satisfy my noodle craving and leave me plenty of time to be crafty. I love that it can be made in the crock-pot or on the stove. It makes enough for seconds (or thirds) at dinner AND leftovers the next day. It comes from Kathie's Cooks and you NEED to make it!

Ingredients

• 1 (26oz) can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10.75oz) can cream of mushroom soup
• 4 (14.5oz) cans of chicken broth
• 2 c diced, cooked chicken breast (or 2-3 uncooked chicken breasts if you are cooking it in the crockpot)
• 2t onion powder
• 1t seasoning salt
• 1/2t garlic powder
• 2 (9oz) packages, frozen egg noodles

Directions-The Crock-Pot Way

• Cook the chicken in the broth in the crock-pot for 6 hours on low. 
• Take the chicken out and shred it.
• Put the chicken and the remaining ingredients, except for the noodles, back in the crock-pot. 
• About 45 minutes before serving time add the noodles to the crock-pot

Directions-The Stove-Top Way

• In a large pot, mix the cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth and chicken meat. 
• Season with the onion powder, seasoning salt, and garlic powder.
• Bring to a boil and stir in the noodles.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

We served ours with mashed potatoes and it was a HUGE hit in our house! This girl at 3 big helpings and requested it in her lunch the next day!

I love it when I hit a home run at dinner!

Weekend Wrap-Up & Make Over Your Monday

Phew! What a BIZ-ZEE weekend! It flew by and boy am I exhausted! 

We had lots of excitement around here this weekend. The most exciting news is that we added a new member to our family! No, not our baby (I've got at least another 5 weeks!), but a new baby cousin! My brother and his fiance welcomed their first baby into the world VERY early Sunday morning. They didn't know what they were having so it was so fun guessing and waiting to hear the news! Noa and I thought they would have a girl and Nate and Lo thought it would be a boy. Logan had decided that if it was a girl they should name her Peyton "Manny" and if it was a boy Justin Bieber. 

We'd like to introduce you to Jaxon Owen! 

I can't wait to get my hands on those chubby little cheeks!

Lo and I also got to spend some special time together this weekend. It was the Annual Mother-Daughter Tea for Girl Scouts. We had a great time. She was so excited to drink "real" tea and there were tons of yummy treats for us to nibble on. We even got to do a few crafts and the girls wore boas and did a fashion show. We even color-cordinated our outfits.

Sunday was the day of painting. I have not 1, not 2, but 3 pieces of furniture that I'm in the process of refinishing. I think every time I pulled my van into the driveway the hubby held his breath waiting to see what I had inside for him to move. I can't wait to show you the finished products! Fingers crossed I get them done this week. I need my parking space in the garage and my dining room back-both have been taken over with furniture!

...and for Make Over Your Monday...

How did you do on last week's challenge? Did you try something new? I'm still in the process of my new crafty project. I'm making my own chalk paint and I can't wait to try it out! I bought all the supplies yesterday and as soon as I get the two huge pieces of furniture finished and out of my dining room I can start on the chalk paint piece.

This week's challenge is to give a compliment (or two).  Letting someone know that you appreciate, notice and acknowledge them can make their day (and your's) so much brighter!

Have a wonderful start to your week!

29 Weeks

Baby Bundle Of Joy

With our new little one due to arrive this summer I've spent more time arranging, rearranging, organizing and cleaning our house than being crafty. My poor little sewing machine has been neglected and is starting to look a little sad. Luckily I was able to find a little time to make a special gift before our trip to California. My brother and his fiance are expecting their first child any day now. I wanted to make them something. I think handmade gifts really let the person know that you care about them. They don't know if they are having a boy or a girl so it needed to be somewhat gender neutral. As someone who doesn't like to find out the sex of the baby, I know that one can only have so many newborn blankets, sleepers and onsies that have ducks and frogs on them. My brother is a huge Colts fan so I thought it would be fun to bundle a few Colts baby items together. 

Butterbean is one of my favorite patterns from Bit of Whimsy Dolls. The facial features are all embroidered which makes them perfect for little ones.

I found this great football ribbon awhile back. It's perfect for a Colts taggie blanket.

 Soft flannel on one side and cozy minkee on the other.

 You can never have too many burp cloths around.

I was even able to find a Colts pacifier. 

Tie it all together and you've got a perfect one-of-a-kind, made with love gift!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I love how you can sometime re-discover old recipes. These used to be in regular meal rotation in our house. They are so delicious and the girls love to make their "lettuce tacos." I had a friend over earlier this week for a Mommy Playdate and I knew this would be the perfect meal. It's so yummy, but not too heavy. Served with a side of fruit, it makes a great lunch. For dinner we usually add rice and shrimp soup making it a nice hearty dinner. Delicious, kid friendly and super easy to make...a trifecta of meals!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Source: All Recipes 

Ingredients
1 pound ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken or pork...whatever you like best)
Boston Bib or butter lettuce leaves
1T cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1T soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2t minced pickled ginger
1T rice wine vinegar
Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2t Asian (dark) sesame oil



Directions

1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not to tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground meat in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, sesame seed oil and cooked meat; continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito.

ENJOY!

Cookie Cutter Shirt Tutorial

In February I saw {THIS} great tutorial for a Valentine's Day shirt by Make It and Love It. I loved that it was a different way to decorate a plain shirt. I love to applique things or use freezer paper stencils, but this crafty mom gets bored of the same old thing. I knew it was just what I was wanted for the girls' shirts for our trip to Disneyland. 

I gave you a sneak peak a few weeks ago. Here it is again:

They are super easy, and addicting to make! I made both in under an hour.

Here's what you need:

• knit t-shirt
• knit scraps of fabric (you could probably use cotton, but it won't stretch like knit will)
• fabric marker
• fusible interfacing
• your pattern
• thread that is a different color than your t-shirt
• sharp scissors (I used my embroidery scissors which worked really well)

Now let's get started...

Turn your shirt inside out and iron the fusible interfacing to the area where you will be placing the cut-out. I'm not sure exactly which number I used, but it was relatively thin. It keeps your shirt from pulling and distorting the shape when you are sewing.

Next you want to pin your knit scrap on top of the interfacing.

Turn your shirt right-side-out. Using your fabric marker trace your pattern onto the front of the shirt. Make sure your design is within the borders of the interfacing and the knit scrap.

With your contrasting thread, stitch on top of the line you traced. I used a straight stitch and increased my stitch length a little bit so that it would show up more. I started my stitch on the top of Minnie's head since I knew I could hide it with the bow.

Use a wet washcloth and remove your fabric marker line. Then GENTLY pull the knit scrap away from the interfacing. Use your scissors to cut through the t-shirt and the interfacing so that your knit scrap is exposed. I cut a little hole in the middle and then slowly cute around the shape. Don't cut too close to the stitch line, you want to leave a little border. I also turned my shirt inside-out and trimmed the excess interfacing and knit from the back.

There will probably be places where you can see the interfacing, but this can be easily fixed. Separate the interfacing from the t-shirt and knit scrap. It helps if you fold the shirt. Then CAREFULLY trim the interfacing close to the stitch line. This is where those embroidery scissors come in handy!

Add your embellishments and admire your work!

The girls loved their new shirts and were happy to wear them to the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

Make Over Your Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Did you have a good week? Our week was again full of organizing and rearranging. The hubby was VERY patient with his pregnant wife who on a whim pretty much took all the furniture from upstairs and wanted it downstairs and then wanted all the downstairs furniture upstairs! I didn't hear him complain once as he lugged heavy dressers up and down our stairs, though I'm sure he thought I lost my mind! Noa even helped me swap out closest and organize the baby's room. I'm really starting to feel the need to have everything organized before the baby arrives!

How did you do on last week's challenge? The Indy weather played a trick on us here-Noa and I were all set to weed and plant on Wednesday and then the weather turned cold and rainy. No planting for us this week, but the hubby and the girls did lots of weeding this weekend while I rested. I feel like the only thing that I grow well in my yard is weeds!!! I'm hoping for some better weather this week so that we can put some prettiness on our porch.

This week's challenge is to try something new. Maybe you want to try a new form of exercise or perhaps a new crafting technique. Have you always wanted to learn how to play an instrument? Now's the time. Or maybe this year you want to plant your own vegetable garden-Go for it! 

Word.

Have a great weekend! I can't wait to hear about all the new things you encounter!