Shredded Beef Tacos Crockpot Style

I've been using this recipe for taco filling for the last six years. It's a nice change from the normal ground beef tacos that we usually make. Every time I want to make these I always have to search for the recipe so I decided to post it here.

INGREDIENTS

*1 Taco seasoning packet

*2 TBS of red wine vinegar (can also use sherry vinegar)

*1 small can of diced green chilies

*2.5 lb London broil or chuck roast

DIRECTIONS

Place the beef into your crockpot.

In a small bowl stir together taco seasoning, red wine vinegar, and green chilies.

Spoon sauce over beef.

Cook on low until the meat falls apart easily with a fork (8-10 hours)
Take beef out and shred with a fork

Serve with taco shells or tortillas, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. salsa, and guacamole.

Tuscan Chicken and Linguine

Tonight I made my own version of this recipe and it came out pretty good.

Ingredients:

1 lb Boneless skinless chicken breast tenders

8 oz Cream Cheese cubed

1/2 Cup Pesto

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (with no added salt)

1 lb linguine

1/2 Cup shredded Italian cheese blend

Boil water for noodles

Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on med-high heat. Add chicken, cover. Cook 5-7 minutes on each side until Chicken is cooked through. Cut chicken in bite sized pieces and remove from skillet and set aside.

Boil Noodles.

Add cream cheese, pesto, and undrained tomatoes to skillet. Cook, uncovered on medium heat for 2 min or until heated through.

Return chicken to skillet. Cook and stir 1 min until chicken is coated and heated through.

Drain noodles and toss with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheese

I'm Raising a Little Houdini

Ever since Lucas learned to open his bedroom door a few weeks ago he is hardly sleeping. Curt will get up for work at 5:30AM only to find Lucas laying on the couch watching TV or like last night he will wake up 4 times during the night... which means I wake up 4 times during the night. This morning we were supposed to playgroup and make Christmas crafts and share freshly baked cookies... but since Lucas and I were up most of the night we ended up sleeping in and didn't get to go.

Any other morning Lucas would have been up before the sun came up so I never set my alarm. The plan was to get up, make cookies, and then go hang out with our friends. Lucas was so excited to make Cookies and decorate them we just decided to make them anyway and he had a lot of fun. Curt was pleasantly surprised to come home to freshly baked cookies since he is always complaining that I am always making things to take to parties or playgroups and never for him.

Lucas and I had plans to go to the mall and meet up with some friends to have dinner and ride the Christmas train and go to soft play. On the way there I am driving down the highway and when I look in my rear view mirror to see if I can safely change lanes I see Lucas with his back to me waving out the back window to other cars. Turns out tonight he figured out how to escape from his car seat. After I got him belted back in I spent the rest of the ride to the mall lecturing him about why he needs to stay bucked. I know it wasn't just a fluke that he got his belts undone either because when I parked and got out of the car to let him out he had already unbuckled himself again........

Making Carmel Apples

Make Your Own Pizza Party

We had such a wonderful meet-up today. Lucas got to make his own pizza and help a friend celebrate her 3rd birthday. The mom who hosted the meet-up made every child a beautiful apron for them to take home and even sent them home with their own rolling pin. My little chef was in heaven. The kids also shared together and there weren't many "toddler moments" at all. I guess our little ones really are growing up.

See more pictures here

Easter Story Cookies Part II

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. HE HAS RISEN! Read Matthew 28: 1-9.
Yeah, so I don't think we beat the eggs long enough. I guess that's what happens when you are trying to make the cookies with your kid, wash a load of clothes, and give your kid a bath all at the same time. It was still a lot of fun and they still taste yummy! We are going to start this as a yearly tradition though and maybe they will be a little better appearance wise.

Easter Story Cookies Part I

You need:
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup of sugar
plastic baggie
spoon
Tape
Bible

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Place 1 cup of whole pecans in a plastic baggie and have your child beat them with a spoon to break them into small pieces. Set aside. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. Read John 19:1-3.

Let you child smell vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add 3 egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into your child's hand. Let him taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears that were shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add the 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts.

(I don't think we beat our egg mixture long enough) Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give your child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in deep despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Green Eggs and Ham

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Dear Lucas (103 weeks),

We're getting closer and closer to your second birthday and I am getting more and more emotional. Tonight I got chocked up while I was reading you a bedtime story about a cow that wanted to be a ballerina. When it got to the part about her big break in New York I had to stop and take a deep breath before I could keep reading because my words were starting to get all shaky. I used to make fun of my own Mom for crying at movies and commercials and then here I am having trouble reading a children's book.

You beg to help me cook all of the time. To keep you from getting bored we ended up starting to make dinner before we even had lunch! I think one of the reasons that you are such a good eater is that you love to help cook and help taste. While I was shredding carrots for a pasta salad you keep sneaking little bites of them and going "mmmm" like you were eating the best candy you have ever tasted.

You are turning into quite the little chef. Tonight when we were making something else you opened up the egg carton, took out the egg, cracked it on the bowl and opened it... in your lap. I was pretty impressed that you knew what to do. It would have been perfect if you had held the egg over the bowl instead of your lap but that's okay, it is how you learn. I ended up getting out another egg and you watched me intently as I showed you how to open it over the bowl.

Your love of gardening is right up there with cooking. I am pleasantly surprised that your plants are still growing and not a single one has died! I think we need to get a bag of dirt and plant them in a larger container since they are growing so big. I need to start reading about growing herbs and vegetables so that we can grow things that we can cook with because I know you would think that was just the coolest thing ever!

Yesterday, out of nowhere you counted from one to three. Then all day today you had to count before you would do something except you went back to using "1, 1, 1, ready go!" You would count before you would get off a chair or before you went and hid behind the curtains. Your favorite game now is to hide from us. You've been enjoying hiding for a while but your hiding places are starting to get more complicated and you pull stuff out to hide behind instead of just hiding out in the open with your hands covering your eyes. It's really neat to see how your thought processes are growing.

Bugga, I love you to the moon and back!

Mommy

Dear Lucas (98 Weeks),

Today instead of our normal morning walk we tried out the YMCA. I left you in Child watch and went and took a water aerobics class and then got in the sauna for a while. At first when I dropped you off you ran right in the room and started to play but as I walked out I could hear you calling for me "mama? mama?" and it was hard to leave you with a bunch of strangers. You are allowed to leave your kids in the child watch for no more than two hours and I came back before then and as soon as you saw me you started to cry again. I'm thinking about transferring my gym membership to the YMCA since they have free childcare and Curves does not but I am a little worried that instead of getting used to it you will hate being left there! The workers said you did fine until another Mom walked in the door and picked up their kid, they said you thought it was me coming to get you.

Once I picked you up you were so happy to see me. You weren't clingy just happy to be near me and we had the best day. On the way home you made me singe the alphabet song and each time I would finish you would clap when I was done and then say "gain!" and want me to start again. After singing the alphabet five times in a row I tried to sing a different song and you protested loudly so I had to go back to singing the alphabet. When we got home it was sprinkling and you held your hand up to try and catch the rain drops. On the way into the house you had a very hard time trying to walk past puddles without splashing in them.

Last week your poor fish died. Your Dad thinks it was my fault because I have a habit of doing things like forgetting to water the plants... or feed the fish. In my circular reasoning though I think it is your Dad's fault. If he knows that I sometimes forget to do these things, why doesn't he do them? I'm not sure if you realized that your fish died or not. Monday we went to the fish store to buy you a new fish. I had plans on just buying another blue fish but wouldn't you know they had every color but blue. I ended up letting you pick out the new fish and you picked out a red one. Hopefully this one will outlive the last one.

Today you ended up falling and getting a pretty nasty bruise on your head. I think you inherited your Daddy's accident proneness. You did let me put an ice pack on the bruise for a little bit and you ended up holding it on there yourself for a pretty good chunk of time. Every once in a while you would call out, "mama, cold!" until you finally gave up and went back to playing.

I can no longer cook a meal without you wanting to help. When your Daddy and I try to cook at the same time it drives me crazy but I love cooking with you. Before we start cooking I always try and get out everything we need before we start so I don't have to leave you on the counter unattended. Now you don't even wait for me to tell you what to do. If I don't watch you closely you just start picking stuff up and dumping it in the bowl. One day I should just let you go and see what you create.

Bugga, I love you to the moon and back,
Mama

Dear Lucas (96 weeks),

This week has been a huge improvement over last week. You didn't whine nearly as much and best of all you didn't throw up or get sick. I think you went through a growth spurt sometime last week because you woke up one night at midnight demanding to eat and within 5 minutes you had eaten a blueberry waffle, three handfuls of shredded cheese, two strawberries, and a can of black eye peas and then went right back to bed. This week we got to start going on our walks again. Before we get back in the car I let you out of your stroller to explore. Today you wanted to pick a few flowers.

Today was the first time that we were at the park and you didn't head straight for the water. Maybe your newly found sometimes fear of the water is a good thing. Instead you walked around picking up rocks and watching ants run around the ground. We tried to find the ducks but we couldn't. You told me they were "night-night." When I told you it was time to go you started to walk in the opposite direction from the car. I told you "this way," and you turned around and followed me repeating "this way, this way." Out of nowhere you are starting to put little sentences together. It's pretty amazing that not even two years ago you were this baby blob that just laid there and didn't really do or say anything.

When we left the park we went to the grocery store to get a few things. I used to avoid taking you to the grocery store once you could walk because you hate sitting in the cart! Recently I've started putting you into the big kid carts that look like spaceships or cars and you love to help "drive" the cart around the store and I am able to shop for more than 30 seconds without you trying to escape from the cart.

When we got home you helped me cook a special treat for your Aunt Lori and Uncle Tony. They came over to stay with you while you took a nap so that I could meet two friends I used to play Volleyball with for a late lunch. You love to "help" and "cook" and those are two of your favorite words lately. You are getting better at asking us for help instead of just crying or throwing a tantrum when you get frustrated with something.

Since lunch went a little later than I expected, I ended up picking up McDonald's for you and Daddy for dinner at your Dad's request. You were so excited to see a little box decorated with the characters you saw in the Shrek the Third movie you saw last week. Your Daddy sat you on his lap and set up a little table with your food. While you were eating your nuggets I asked if your Chicken was yummy, you smiled at me and held up a nugget and made "bok bok" chicken noises. I just started laughing. I didn't even know you knew "what a chicken says."

When you got bored with your nuggets you asked your Daddy for a bite of his sandwich. When he held it out for you to take a bite you ended up taking the whole sandwich from him. He ended up having to ask you to share bites of it from him. I could not stop laughing. You have the best Daddy in the whole wide world.

After dinner you wanted to read. You asked for the "Puppy book." When I found the book you were talking about we climbed up in the rocking chair. Just as I opened the book and started to read you beat me too it. You took the book from my hands and started to read to me. You would "read" each page and then pause and turn the page and then start "reading" the next page. When you finished "reading" me the book you handed it back to me and it was my turn to read to you. I could actually understand some of what you were saying. On the pages where the little Puppy is helping his mommy cook you would say "cook" and "help" you also pointed out "night night" and "ball." It was really neat to be read to for a change.

Bugga, I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy

The Next Emeril?

Tonight before bed Lucas wanted to read a book. He went to grab one and came back with a cookbook. He sat on my lap and flipped the pages and pointed to the pictures of the different dishes and said "cook, cook, eat" to each one. Then when I asked him if things get hot when they are cooked he started pointing again at the pictures saying "cook, cook," and then he would pause say "hot! and then blow on the pictures before triumphantly yelling "eat!"
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By the way last night was awesome! I enjoyed my very first night away from Lucas. I did take one of his spare baby blankets to sleep with last night and I hugged it while I slept all night long.

Cookie Monster

Super Bowl Sunday

Tonight was Italian Night at Lucas' Grandma Andrea's house. We all cooked together. I made Wedding Soup and Curt and his mom made Lasagna. We also had bread, salad, and Alfredo cheese tortellini. Even the little guys cooked, Steven and Lucas made mini pizzas. (see the video here) I think Lucas ate most of his dinner while he was making it.

Also, since I know you were wondering this was Lucas' favorite Super Bowl Ad and I think this was mine.