Sweet Mexican Chicken!

Here is a YUMMY recipe for an EASY Mexican chicken.  You can use the shredded chicken in burritos or tacos, on salads, quesadillas, etc.  It is delicious!  It has a sweet flavor (not SPICY) if you like things a little more mild.  It could be compared to the taste of the sweet pork at places like Cafe Rio, but it's chicken... Try it, you'll LOVE it!

Mexican Chicken:

4-6 chicken breasts

1 can green enchilada sauce (choose your spice level)

1-2 cans El Pato tomato sauce (1 can with 4 chicken breasts is perfect)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 onion, diced

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.  Shred & leave in sauce! 

That's it!  Easy, huh!  I love a good crock pot recipe that I can start early in the day and not think about again until dinner.  The El Pato Tomato sauce is easy to find.  At my local grocery store it is right next to the regular tomato sauce - at Wal-Mart I think it is on the ethnic food aisle.  So, check both spots!

Mother's Day Ideas...

My cousin asked for a couple of mother's day ideas she could do with her YW.  Here are a few:

Single Serving Pie in a Jar {from Our Best Bites}.  Pie is the new "it" thing this year - no more cupcakes!  Or so they say anyways!!  Don't these just look yummy though??  You can freeze them & just pull one out & bake it for a delicious treat!

Or how about these felt flowers {from The Fickle Pickle}.  They can be used as a broach on a sweater or bag or as a hair clip.

Or maybe a simple hook board - love the mason jar too!  This can be found at Shanty2Chic...



Mother's Day is May 8th - which is just around the corner!!  Good time to start thinking about gifts...

Teacher Appreciation Week...

Most schools will be celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week soon.  Here are some fabulous ideas I've come across.  Not sure which ones I'll be using, but they are all really cute...

Teacher Appreciation Subway Art {from eighteen25}

Teacher Treat Box {also from eighteen25}

*top of box

*inside the box

Teacher Treat Jar {again, from eighteen25}

ALL the directions, how-to, and printables for the above, can be found at eighteen25!

Thanks for Helping me GROW flower {from nobiggie}

There are a few ideas to get you started... or to at least get your mind going!  I know there are a ton more cute & clever ideas out there.  I'll try to do another Teacher Appreciation post soon, so stay tuned!

BiRthDaY WeeK!

We are in the middle of our CRaZy birthday week (thus my lack of posts!)!  My 3 year old little girl turned 4 and thinks the world revolves around her now- which it does most of the time!  Funny how much more grow-up she thinks she is now that she's 4!  She had a little princess & pirate party with a few friends from preschool...





Then it was the "family" get together to celebrate her 4th & my almost 10 year old's b-days.  Ironically they were both due on the same day, May 1st, but ended up being born a week apart.  So we usually end up celebrating with family right between their birthdays and then call it good for both of them! 

Later this week he will celebrate with a couple of friends...just hanging out - maybe a pizza, a movie, some wii playing, etc.  Not a real PaRty by any means, but that's OK!

When I saw those Angry Bird cupcakes on The Crafting Chicks (I posted about them a couple of weeks ago), I knew I wanted to make them for my 10 year old's birthday - so I did for the family get-together.  The cousins LOVED them.  They were easy to make and turned out pretty fun!

For my 4 year old's party, I knew she'd have more boys than girls - so I was on the lookout for a Princess themed party that would work.  I ended up with the Princess & Pirate party from Sweet Craft Cakes.  Check out their blog & store in Etsy.  They have the CUTEST custom party printables & ideas and are very reasonably priced.  The printables turned out awesome!  It made the party totally come together & work perfectly!

Project Ideas...

Can't wait to use my Silhouette to do these kinds of things:
{1} subway art -

{2} monogrammed Easter pails (from Brown Paper Packages) -



{3} personalized gifts like these (also from Brown Paper Packages) -




{4} and other things like paper crafts, etched glass, temp. tattoos, vinyl, etc. (pictures from eighteen25):



I think I'm going to like this little machine...

Happy Day...

Couldn't be happier, cause at approx. 3:45 p.m. the doorbell rang, and this was sitting on my doorstep!  Thanks UPS man!!  Can't wait to try it out...

Lemony Goodness!

If you like lemon, you gotta try these cookies.  They scream Spring & are so delicious.  I found the recipe at food.com but it turns out it came from a lady in Salt Lake.  Funny!

Lemon Drop Candy Cookies

2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. butter flavor Crisco
3 lg. eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon extract
4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
zest from one lemon
1 6 oz. pkg. of lemon drop candies, crushed
glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream sugar, shortening and eggs.  Add vanilla & lemon extracts.  Stir in dry ingredients, lemon zest and crushed lemon drops.  Roll into 1 in. balls, flatten slightly and bake on parchment-lined baking sheet for 10-12 mins.

Let cool slightly on pan 1-2 mins.  Make glaze by mixing powdered sugar & lemon juice; then brush lightly over cookie tops.  Let cookies cool completely.

ENJOY!!

Just a Suggetstion...

Here's a fun Family Home Evening idea...  Or as my 3 year old calls it, "Happy Home Evening!"  I used to try to correct her but then I thought - why??  I'm glad she thinks it "happy" to be together as a family.  Hopefully she'll still think it's "Happy Home Evening" when she's a teenager!  Anyways, here's a fun idea if you need IDEAS for Family Night.  It's a SUGGESTION BOX!  You place it somewhere in your home where everyone has access to it and place some blank slips of paper and a pen nearby.  Then when anyone has a FHE suggestion, an idea for a lesson, or something else they'd like to do - they can write it on a paper and slip it in the box.  Whaalaa!!  Instant FHE ideas!  Makes my job super easy, cause all I have to do is look through the SUGGESTIONS Monday morning and then plan our FHE around the idea.  Perfect!  Plus when it's their idea, there are no complaints or whining!  Love it!

My 7 year old suggested a Family Night at the Temple Visitor's Center.  Perfect!

RUN for your life!

FIVE running items I would like to purchase... 

{1}  The Saucony Fastwitch 5!  Love these shoes.  They are a racing shoe and weigh just ounces.  They're supposed to make you FAST.  They are meant for racing!  I bought them to run the marathon in and ended up running several other shorter races in them as well.  They are my favorite shoes - hands down!  I would wear them everyday for every run.  My Fastwitch 3's are well worn and totally done.  I don't know if they made me any faster, but they made my runs feel effortless - for real!  I can't wait to get my hands on a new pair!

{2 & 3}  Pearl Izumi running shorts and tank.  Aren't these cute??  And they are so functional!  I love running shorts with POCKETS - but not too many brands add good pockets to their shorts.  One little zip pocket in the back, big enough for a stick of gum, does not count!  I want several pockets...good zip ones that stuff won't fall out of and easy-to-get-in ones that I can put a tissue, etc. in!  Well, look at these awesome shorts...  Good length, good color, good pockets (4 total)!  I want a pair!!
The tank top is super cute too!  I have seen it in person at a local sporting goods store & it looks awesome.  Haven't tried it on yet, but have high hopes for it!  It looked long enough (which is my biggest complaint with most running/exercise tops) and it didn't look super form fitting.  I'll have to run down to the store and try it on.

{4}  While exercising/running you should consume 1 oz. of water every 15 mins.  I am not so great at following that rule, but if I would, I know it would make a huge difference.  I have had several small hand-held water bottles and love them for longer runs.  They really are a MUST for a longer run, especially in the summer and in these desert temps I run in!  This little bottle is 7 oz. and would be perfect for a 4-8 mile run.  It is made by Fuel Belt.  It comes in several cute colors too!

{5}  I want a good running watch.  Not a gps or garmin type watch... just a watch that will let me know how long I've been out!  This is an awesome watch and comes highly recommended by other runners.  It can time laps, splits, etc. if you want to keep track of those things & it's water resistant (for those fun runs in the rain).  It's pretty inexpensive at just under $50.  It also comes in several cute colors... but I love the PINK!

Well, now I need a little money & then I'll head on over to my favorite online running store (where all of these items are found): http://www.runningwarehouse.com/ and make a few purchases!

A Few Things...

Man!  My little one has been a little under the weather...  He's also been struggling putting on weight, so when he's sick & not eating - well, it's kinda difficult!  The last few days I've been focused more on him than anything else, so blogging has had to be on the back burner!!  But, I've had lots I've wanted to post.  So here are a few things:

First, another great (well at least i think it's great) chicken recipe. 
This is easy & quick.  So when I'm runnin out of time and haven't had a chance to think about dinner yet - this is usually what we end up with.  But it's SO tasty, nobody minds at all!

Winger's Sticky Fingers Sauce
3 TBS. Franks Hot Sauce (no substitutes!!  has to be Franks!)
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 TBS. water

Mix ingredients and heat in a small sauce pan til sugar dissolves.  Pour over baked chicken tenders (I use the Tyson breaded chicken tenders from Costco).  Turn tenders over a few times to coat well.  Also, the sauce is thin when you pour it on, but it thickens on the chicken after just a minute.  That's it!  YUMMY!

We like to dip them in ranch - just like at Wingers...  You can also use the sauce other ways - like mix it with ranch to make the Creamy Amazin' Dressing for salads or wraps.  We make sticky finger wraps all the time too!  You can also cut the coated chicken tenders up and put them on a salad, etc.  The possibilities are ENDLESS!  Try it - you'll love it!

Second, my BABY! 

He is 5 months old today!  Crazy how time flies.  He has struggled putting weight on, and I, of course, have struggled getting the baby weight off!  Wish I could magically transfer a few lbs. over to him!!  Wouldn't that be nice?!  But, I love this little guy to pieces.  5 things I love about him: his smile, including his cute as heck dimples;  his dark brown eyes (all my other kids have blue); his wispy Mohawk;  love the way he holds on to my fingers like he never wants to let go; and, I love snuggling with him after the BIG kids have gone to bed !  I can't get enough of him..

Last for today:
I came across this AWESOME website where you can purchase really cool stuff made by fabulous people here in UT.  It's kinda like etsy, but with only sellers from Utah.  So you can buy from local vendors, and if you're currently living outta state but are missing crafty/fun/delicious stuff from Utah - look no further!  There are some great stores on this site.  LOVE IT!  Check it out at http://www.simplyut.com/.