The Mothership

This is a great dish if you ever have somewhere to go and then are having company over right quick. It takes very little effort and tastes amazing. I make a good amount of this because these humans eat a lot.  Ingredients: 6-8 chicken breasts 2 ranch dressing packets 1 taco seasoning packet 2 cans black beans, rinsed  2 cans of 10.5oz Rotel 1 pack of frozen corn or 2 cans 1 block of cream cheese 4 fresh limes  Optional ingredients: rice, cilantro, chips, avocado, shredded cheese, Cotija cheese, red onion Recipe: Put chicken into crockpot. Add all the ingredients except the cream cheese and limes.  Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 7. If it looks dry you can add a bit of water and a splash of cooking oil. Shred the chicken in the crockpot. Add the juice from the limes and the cream cheese.  Cook for 30 more minutes on high. This would be a good time to make rice if you are making bowls.  Serve over rice or inside tortillas or with chips, along with whateve...

I have been heavy on the vegetarian or healthier sides of my recipes. However, this cold weather makes me think of my mom’s pressure cooker pot roast and my mouth waters. We don’t do a lot of red meat in the house but when we do, we like it to fall apart and be super tender. I used to make mine in the crockpot and I just don’t like it that way - it seems to dry out. So I tried a few different recipes. And this is what I combined. DON’T be intimidated by the 3 hour cook time. It takes very little preparation and you can do many other things while it does it’s beautiful thing in the pot!  Ingredients : Cooking oil Carrots (2 cups) chopped into chunks 1/2 red Onion, chopped into bite size 3 celery stalks, rough chopped  Salt Pepper Garlic cloves (2-3) minced 3-5 lb chuck roast Red wine (1 cup) Beef broth (enough to cover chuck halfway) about 2- 15oz. Cans 1 can of diced tomatoes Oregano Rosemary Thyme Directions :  Pour some oil into a pot and heat o...

  You can prepare this fan favorite in under an hour by baking the chicken or you can cook it all day in the crockpot. The recipe below is if you bake the chicken and I will add a note at the bottom of what to do for the crockpot. Super easy midweek meal that can be versatile for leftovers. Ingredients: 3-5 lbs. chicken breast  Olive oil Salt & pepper 1 bottle of buffalo sauce 1 packet Ranch dip mix (in a spice envelope) 1 block of cream cheese 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese Romaine lettuce heads or leafy lettuce to hold the chicken mixture Sliced onions - if desired Recipe: Turn oven to bake at 400. Then place breast on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Then drizzle some olive oil on top of the chicken and then salt & pepper.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Take chicken out and shred it. I put my in a mixing bowl and let the mixer do the work.  In a 13x9 pan - I lined mine with foil for easy cleanup - put half the brick of cream cheese sliced into tabs...

  I don’t usually fold this laundry. I’m folding it out of love for an overwhelmed teenager. As I’m folding, I’m thinking about how the laundry pieces used to be tiny and the amount I used to fold was mountainous. Thoughts flood of how quickly that season of doing everything for them has passed. How now its even harder to change my survial responses to more of a listening response. While I was in that season of tininess, it took a daily dose of grace to remind myself that the moments are fleeting.  I find a shirt and of course, it is littered with words of empowerment, but most boldly stands the word PERSPECTIVE . As I have parented as of late, I don’t think I’d be winning any awards of compassion or understanding. Infact I hear quite regularly "I don't know...you don't understand." I’ve never done this teenager thing of raising semi-adults while I myself am headed through my own emotional roller coaster. I feel like I could wallow in self-pity for all the times I cou...

This dish is so easy. It took a total of less than 1 hour to put together, bake, and cool off so you can eat it. If you use regular pasta - I would bake it for an extra 5 minutes. My mom passed this recipe on to me and I doctored it a bit.  Ingredients: 1 - 16oz box of pasta (I used Chickpea pasta) 3 cups of water 5 oz. Spinach 16 oz. Of frozen meatballs (I used meatless) Sprinkle of salt 1 - 24 oz jar of pasta sauce 1/4 red onion, chopped Parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese or both - a couple handfuls. 2 cups of mozzarella  Fresh Basil or parsley for the top of the dish Recipe : Turn oven to 450.  Spray a 13x9 dish.  Place noodles, water, spinach, meatballs, salt, pasta sauce, spinach and just a handful or two of Parmesan or cheddar cheese into the dish. Give it a good toss to make sure everything is incorporated.  Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to give a good stir about every 10 minutes.  Take out and sprinkle on the two cups of mozz...

I'm always looking for a way to make something a little more festive, a little heartier.  I don't really care for just a plain hot dog and salsa is good, but it's always better with avocado.  I also generally eat a salad for lunch, but a lot of times, I don't have the time to chop everything right there on the spot.  So I make this salsa/topper (and I usually make a lot of it) and I can use it for various things during the week.  Preparation is key to me eating well during the week when things get so hectic.  Here are the various ways I eat this: on top of a hot dog/brat/sausage on top of a bed of lettuce as a salsa with chips (or just a fork) on tacos on top of a burrito Recipe for goodness: 2 avocados, sliced and cut into bit sized pieces 1 can of corn, drained OR 1/2 bag frozen corn 1 large tomato 1 red/orange/yellow pepper, chopped (just one, not one of each) 1/2 red onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 tsp. of Cumin Powder 1 tablespoo...