Food Friday - Super Easy Chicken Tacos

Chicken Tacos
adapted from Confessions of a HomeSchooler

We really love tacos in this house but, honestly, were getting tired of the regular beef tacos so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.  Throw in that it is a crock pot recipe and is EASY, well I jumped on board.  I followed the recipe almost to a tee - I only used 3 large chicken breasts and it gave us two full means AND THEN some.  My kids love this meal and so do we!!!

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 16 oz. jar of your favorite salsa
• Crockpot/Slow Cooker
• Tortillas & toppings of your choice  - we used cheese, lettuce, sour cream, chopped onion and, the second time I also made some lime-cilantro rice and that REALLY made these perfect. 

Directions:
Place thawed chicken into your slow cooker, and cover with 1 whole jar of salsa. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 7-8. About 6 hours in, use a fork to shred chicken and stir it around to coat in the salsa. Keep on warm until you are ready to serve!

Of Hot Days and Dirty Pools

I saw the picture above on a friends facebook page and almost died laughing.  How true is that?  WHEW it has been hot here in Michigan the past two days - hitting the mid-to-upper 90's is just crazy.  I'm really truly not complaining - in all reality, we've had beautiful weather, and the humidity hasn't kicked in too badly but heat it heat, right? 

So, this year we bought a "Wal-mart" kiddie pool with a slide.  It's a decent size for a kiddie pool.  My kids love it.  The other day, I was walking through the store and thought to myself, "Maybe I should get some chlorine stuff for the pool so I don't have to emptied it all the time . . .it would be crystal clear all of the time."  Then I thought, "Well, I had better get a pool vacuum too so I can clean it".  Which reminded me that I didn't have a filter and I, yes, I actually wondered if they made pool filters for kiddie pools.  When I told this to my husband, he said "Are you serious?  It's a kiddie pool!" LOL  What?  I love my pool.  Yes, I sit in it and so does my husband.  On Tuesday night, all four of us were out there, crammed sitting in this 24 inch deep pool (if it is filled to the rim . .which it never is so more like 12 inch deep pool) - the boys thought it was the best thing ever.  Josh kept saying "Oh, this feels so good" LOL.  I will say it doesn't take long for the pool to get icky.  The boys were outside this morning and peeked out at them.  The top of the pool looked funny so I went out and noticed that we had captured a herd of flying ants in the pool.  Gross.  When I went back out, both the boys and the pool were black.  They played in the mud.  Gross.  I've learned to empty the pool :-) 

We are already talking about moving up in the world of pools next year.  If I had a pool I could actually lay in, the only summer clothes I would buy would be bathing suits and cover-ups.  (And 1 shirt and pair of shorts for going out in public).  Seriously - I'd live in that pool.  In all honesty, I have a healthy fear of water and kids - they don't mix well.  There is a reason I only put 12 inches of water in that pool.  There is also a reason we won't be upgrading to anything that is taller than the boys - the pool situation will grow with them.  We plan on buying true swimming life jackets for the boys this summer for when we go to hotel pools or the lake.  Nate has zero fear of water so he needs one without a doubt.  Josh loves water if he can stand up in it or if he can hang on for dear life to one of his parents - so he needs one to protect him from something he is afraid of.  There are too many sad stories of kids and water, that is for sure. 

Anyway, I really didn't have anything else to post about today - I kinda cleared my "schedule" the past few days and just hung out with the kids - not doing much of anything except reading and "swimming".  It is supposed to cool off, for which I am thankful :-)

Decluttering - Phase 2

So, I actually have some photos to show you!  I'll start with some  before photos of what will be the Toy Room. 

 Isn't that a great view?  That is what you saw when you looked down the stairs.  It's known as "the pile" and I hate it!!

 This is the view at the back end of the room.  That love seat hidden back there is going to actually replace my couch in my living room (My couch is on its last leg and needs to go!).

These last two photos show the other end of the room and the base of the stairs.  That desk is staying for now.  We plan on using to to hold a TV/DVD player and the games.  Eventually, some day, I'd like to get a flat screen to hang on the wall and get rid of the desk but for now, it is a useful piece of furniture. 

Are you ready for some after photos???  Here's my disclaimer.  This is real life - I went right from clean to unpacking and sorting bins from the other side of the basement AND to kids discovering the love seat - it's a great place to play.  So no, this isn't "done" but it is an improvement!

 Notice how you can see the floor?  The cedar chest is now sitting at the base of the steps (with kids clothes sorted out on it)

And, other than the cushions and blankets on the floor - this area is all clean!  Now, this area is becoming my sorting area as I work through the other side but once it is done, I will post real photos :-)

Now, on to the next phase - the laundry room and the pantry.  Now, I have a disclaimer - I only had three days to work in the basement this week.  (Monday it was so hot and humid I did "desk"work and we had a family day on Tuesday) With that in mind, I didn't get quite as far as I wanted to but the laundry room is clean! 

 Eventually, I have a photo idea I want to do on the walls - a way to display some favorite photos in a room I spend quite a bit of time in.

Excuse the shop vac - it travels with me as I clean downstairs :-)

There are few things left to do but it is one of those projects that includes three steps that need to happen at once.  1)Hang some more shelves in the pantry so I have room to store my jars/canning stuff 2)Move the bakers rack out of the water softener "room" 3)Move the chest freezer into the water softener "room".  WHEW!  It really isn't that bad; I just need my husband to put up those 2-3 shelves for me and I can do the rest.   Also, did you notice the big hole in the wall?  We had to do that in order to get the water softener in quite a few years ago.  Some day, I'll have my electrician move a big wire and we'll put a door in . . .but that is really on the bottom of the list :-)  On a different note - I also decuttered the bathroom this week.  That opened up some shelving which was nice.  Yes, I made another trip to Good Will!!

So what is on target for this upcoming week?

1)  The Bedrooms - I want to declutter what I can from the rooms.  I don't think there will be a lot but if I can clean out some older things/outgrown things that would be good.

2) The basement - Clothes Bins - I have several totes in the basement that house the kids clothes they have outgrown.  I have a friend who is adopting a boy from Ethiopia - she has three girls :-)  I offered her the clothes my kids have outgrown (and she said she wanted them!) so I need to get the bins sorted, pull out my favorites to keep, and pass them on to someone who can use them.  I will admit, it has taken me awhile to get to that point - baby clothes seem to bring back so many memories but then I realized that I have those same memories in photos so it's ok to let go of clothes that are just packed away anyway.  By cleaning out the bins, I will then have empty bins to use to start sorting the other things.  I also want to do something else I didn't get to last week and that is to get rid of the junk (large items) and also to take out big items that need to go to Good Will that are just sitting around.  That will open up lots more space.

Too Cute Not To Toot!

Welcome back to a post I love :-)  Yes, I still love looking for ideas to make.  I sure do wish I could find the time to make more of the ideas but sometimes it is just the inspiration of seeing an idea that makes you do something else creative :-)

This first idea comes from Gluesticks.  I actually came across this idea a week ago and it has taken me all week to find it again!  You may remember that I did quiet bags for the kids when we went on vacation.  Well, this vacation binder takes it step further and I really love it.  We don't plan on another family vacation until next spring but I might start snagging some of these printables now.

One Hundred Dollars a Month shares a recipe for sidewalk paint.  I really want to do this with my kids this summer plus I need to pick up some more sidewalk chalk - both are great summer activities.

 I love this TV stand from Too Crafty for My Skirt and love even more that she shares her plans.

The bookshelf idea from One Dog Woof is super cute.  I think it would be cute in our homeschool room to hold books for the boys to read each week.

When I saw this post at Inspired by Family Magazine for this book, I feel in deep "like".  My husband loves to have tickle fights with the boys - I think I will be picking this book up ASAP for bedtime reading :-)

This travel pillow is extra cute from Entirely Emily.  I love her pattern but just to be able to sew together a simple pillow for the boys would be great.  I hate seeing their heads fall forward when they fall asleep in their car seats!

Here's another cute travel game that would fit in the binder I mentioned above or in a busy bag.  It comes from A Home Made.

Summer Fun - Week 2

Welcome back to week 2 of our summer fun activities (You can read about Week 1 Here). 

We had another successful week of fun little activies - some of them planned and one, not planned.

Monday - I decided to sign the boys up for the summer Library reading program this summer so we drove to the Library and, after signing up, I took the boys to the children's area so we could pick out some books.  The boys loved it - they looked at books and played games for close to an hour.  Here's a little funny story for you.  Our library is actually an old mansion - here's a photo of the outside for you - -

Isn't it awesome?  The children's area is on the second floor and I have never been up there before.  The librarian asked if I would prefer the elevator or the stairs.  I figures the stairs - no big deal since my kids do stairs all of the time.  Well, let me tell you, I almost had a panic attack about half way up those stairs and I don't even have a fear of heights!  It's a winding staircase so as you go up and the steps start to wind around, they get skinnier and skinnier on one end.  I seriously almost had to sit down on my hiney and slide back down HA!  My kids did fine.  Now, when we were done getting books, we took the "scary" elevator . . it's the kind with the accordion door on the inside.  Trust me, as slow and scary as that box was, the stairs were 700x's worse :-) 

Tuesday - This was our family day :-)  My husband had the day off so we took the boys to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park.  This park opened last year and we had heard so many good things about it.  It did not disappoint!  You can get close to many animals, feed the birds and take a wagon ride out to see all of the other animals.  Here are a few photos from our day:

Wednesday:  My original idea was to make Moon Sand to play with but then I thought about it - the kids love playing in their sandbox so why would I want to "make" sand to play with inside?  Crazy me!  Instead we made Sprinkle Dipped Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Well, kinda.  I picked up the mini ice cream sandwiches and gave each of the boys a plate of sprinkles.  In stead of dipping their ice cream sandwich in the sprinkles, I ended up teaching them how to gather sprinkles on their tongues by licking their plates.  What?  It was fun :-)

Thursday:  This is the totally unplanned fun activity.  I've been cleaning up the basement to make one area the toy room.  The boys came downstairs with me to hang out while I cleaned and they discovered the love seat that is currently in the basement.  Well, they then spent all afternoon down there and had a blast being "allowed" to eat their snack on the "little couch".  I put away my plans for today and just let them play.

Friday:  We were going to do what I had planned for Thursday but Josh specifically asked to get his Fish game out that his Uncle Kel and Aunt Debby gave him.  Considering the fact that I was saving the Fishing Game for a rainy day activity anyway, I just used the game as our activity for the day. 

So once again, I chalk this week up as a total success.  Looking forward to next week :-)

Here is one last photo - do you know what those are?  Those are sunflowers!  Yep, they are popping up already.  (Excuse the weeds - not top on my priority list HA!)

Happy Father's Day!

First, I want to wish my Dad a very happy Father's Day.  I think he's a pretty good day - I mean he wore a WIDE Snoopy Tie long after it was in style just because I bought it for him :-) LOL  Plus I guess since he had 4 kids who all turned out pretty fair, I guess he has some good fathering skills ;-)  For real - he's the best dad around!!

We did something different for Father's Day this year.  I happened to look ahead at the weather this past week and we noticed it was going to be a hot weekend.  My husband said "Lets get a hotel".  Now, let me say that in all of the years we've lived in this house we have said, on those really hot weekends, "We should go to a hotel" but we have never, ever done it.  I went on Priceline.com, something else we have never done, and bid on a hotel.  We had a very small budget and that is what we stuck with - we ended up with a SUPER nice hotel and we were thrilled!  How is this a Father's Day Gift?  Simple.  Darryl had to work Saturday and today.  By staying in town at a hotel, he gained about 3 hours of time.  The boys and I ran some errands before meeting him for dinner, then we went back to the hotel and hung out, swam in the pool, ate popcorn and cupcakes and the boys got to enjoy their sleeping bags for the first time :-)

 The boys each picked out a new book at the bookstore and Darryl got to read them to them - the boys were very excited.

 Even more exciting to them was crawling into the bed, under the covers, and listening to the story. The first they did when we got to the hotel was crawl under the covers :-) 

Darryl is reading to them while they are in bed :-)  It was after this that we headed down to the pool for about an hour.  Once we got back to the room it took awhile to get the boys in their sleeping bags - Josh decided he wanted the floor but when Darryl got up at 3;30 to go to work, he ended up moving up  in the bed with Nate. 

Today, we are back home, Darryl is working.  As he says, he doesn't really put a lot of emphasis on days like this - to him a "designated" day is not always the best day to celebrate something - instead we just take time out to have fun and do things as a family when ever we can.  As the boys get older I'm sure they will make things for him but right now, the best Father's Day gift for both the kids and their dad is spending special times together!


Happy Father's Day to my Husband - he truly is an awesome dad who loves his kids beyond measure!!

Weekly Menu Plus

Welcome to my weekly menu post!  I also like to do a little update and throw out random things periodically in this post :-)  We had a great week - the weather was pretty much perfect making it easy to get things done.

I became reacquainted with an old friend this week.  Who, you ask?  Well, you need to ask "what" because it is Nestle Quik (Nesquik).  See, I love Chocolate milk.  I try not to buy it but . . well, I love it :-)  What I don't like is Hershey's Syrup in milk to make Chocolate milk so I finally gave in an decided to buy some Quik and see if it tasted ok.  Wow.  I forgot how good it is - it tastes "almost" just like the REAL Chocolate milk.  The good news is that it is a little better health wise than Chocolate milk - less calories, fat, carbs (especially since we drink fat free milk anyway!)  So yes, now I can have chocolate milk every day for breakfast :-)

It is supposed to be warm and humid this coming week so I am planning meals to try and keep the kitchen kinda cool - grilling and the crock pot :-)   My kids usually love bread with things . . .I have decided yet to serve some rolls/bread or not.  If I do that means I have to turn on the oven and I'm trying to avoid that in the late afternoon.  The salads I plan on making first thing in the morning so the main cooking is done before the house heats up too much

Here's what we are eating this coming week

Saturday - Eating out

Sunday - Chicken Tacos, Cilantro Rice, and Chips/Salsa

Monday - Hamburgers on the grill, Pasta Salad, Fresh Pickles, and Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Coke Chicken, Seven-layered Salad, Mixed Veggies

Wednesday - Beef Tips and Noodles in the Crock pot with noodles and left over salads

Thursday - Parmesan Chicken on a bed of greens with Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing and Grape Salad

Friday - I'm going scrapbooking so I have Chili Dogs, chips and left over salad planned (or Broccoli salad if the others are gone) for the "Boys".