Easy crock pot shredded chicken tacos

This is the easiest thing ever and it was so yummy!!!

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

one packet of taco seasoning

One can black beans

One can of corn

one can of diced tomatoes with chilies

Chopped cilantro

 taco shells and desired taco topping

throw everything in crock bot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours! 

shred chicken with two forks and fill taco shells and top with whatever you like! I just topped mine with some extra corn,bean,tomato,and cilantro mixture and a little bit of cheese! 

To die for!

DIY dry erase boards! Cost less than $2.50

This was the cheapest and simplest DIY ever!

here is what you need:

Two 8x10 picture frames (I got mine from dollar tree)

Two pieces of scrapbook paper (On sale at Hobby Lobby . 23 cents a piece!)

A dry erase marker!

I just typed up "I love you because  on Microsoft word and choose a cute font, but there are also great printables on the web! Just google "I love you because printable" and there are TONS  of options on google images. 

Simply put the paper in the frames and hang!

The second one I left blank to just use to write down groceries and To Do's The glass on the frame works great as a dry erase surface! 

easy peasy

Smoked sausage chowder

This is pretty bad for you but SOOOOO delicious! 

three potatoes peeled and boiled  OR 3 cans of diced potatoes

4TBS butter

4 TBS flour

2 cups milk

dash of salt and pepper

1/2 lb velveeta cubed

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

paprika (optional)

package smoked sausage

first cut the smoked sausage into bite size pieces and brown in a pan. Once the sausage is browned put the cooked and diced potatoes in a casserole dish with the sausage. In a medium saucepan mix milk, salt, pepper, velveeta, butter and flour. let simmer until it has a sauce-like consistency. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and sausage in the casserole pan. Top with shredded cheese and paprika. Cook at 350 for 35 minutes!

DIY re-purposed palette coffee table

I saw a tutorial for this on Pinterest and I figured I could tweak it and make it my own. 

All you need is two palettes,sand paper (or a power sander), some nails, a power saw and stain!

step one: remove all the planks off one side of each palette (use crow bar or hammer)
step two: if the planks aren't already touching on the remaining side, remove them and re-nail them so there are no spaces between each plank. (I left one of the palettes how it was because the one on the bottom wont be used as a table surface, so it doesn't matter as much if there are spaces)
step three: use the power saw to cut off the remaining parts of the palette once the planks are positioned to be touching. make sure both palettes are the same size- cut as necessary.
step four: use the wood that was chopped off t make legs. We bolted ours to the bottom palette, but you could use whatever method you choose.
step five: place the table surface palette on top of the other one with legs! (we didn't attach ours. It sits in the living room as just one piece sitting on another. It made it easy for us to move it and there is no real point in attaching the two pieces unless you want to!
Step 6: sand and stain!

I will try to add step by step pictures later

Stuffed Jalepeno Popper Chicken

Jalapeno poppers are my all time favorite food, so when I saw this recipe I had to make it! My husbands hates cream cheese and I love It. I tried to limit the amount that went in his chicken breast. I found a similar recipe on allrecipes.com but I tweaked it a little bit and made it fit our family. 

half a package cream cheese softened1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced4 strips of bacon2  boneless chicken breast  bread crumbs for breading1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Cook the bacon in a skillet 
2. In a big bowl stir together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, and diced jalapenos.
3. Cut a slit in each chicken breast with a filet knife and fill with the cheese bacon jalepeno mixture. 
4. Roll the chicken breasts in bread crumbs to coat. 
5.Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook chicken breasts .
6. I threw mine in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 just to make sure the chicken was fully cooked

DIY pallet flag

Coming from a very patriotic military family , this DIY was a must!

For this I just disassembled a free pallet and then had my husband nail it back together so that the planks were touching and it had a rectangular shape. I wanted a rustic look so I left the edges uneven. 

I sanded and stained the whole thing a dark color and then measured out the stripes to fit the actual american flag.  

For the stars I googled an image of a star and then stenciled it onto some card board. Then I cut out the star so I could use the cardboard with the star cut out like a stencil. 

After the whole thing was painted I took some sand paper and roughed it up a little more!

DIY pallet wine rack

Okay, I'm not going to lie... My husband did the majority of the work on this one since it involved sawing and nailing... We basically just chopped a pallet in half completely and then used an extra plank to make the bottom portion so the wine dint fall through. . After it was assembled I sanded it down and stained the whole thing then sprayed it with a sealer. To finish it off I used a paint pen to write "Love and Wine...Better with time" 

Simple and easy plus we always get compliments! 

Mini shepherds pies

My husbands favorite food is shepherds pie! Every food is better when it becomes bite sized :) here's a yummy and easy recipe that is sure to impress!

• 1 can biscuits
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes (I used instant mashed potatoes)
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons granulated onion powder
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar

pre-heat 425

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and then put a biscuit in each cup. Shape the biscuit around each cup so that the middle is sunken just like a cup and the edges are covered.  throw the biscuits in the oven for about 6 minutes.

while the biscuits are pre-cooking, brown the beef in the oil then add the onions, salt, pepper, and garlic. When everything is nice and mixed together add in the flour. after it simmers for a few minutes add beef stock and vegetables to the mixture. 

Take the biscuits out of the oven and fill each cup half full with potatoes then top it off with the meat-veggie mixture. Finally top each with cheddar cheese and  put it back in the oven for about 12 minutes! 

Reuben egg rolls- healthy!

Aside from shepherds pie, Charlies favorite thing is Reuben sandwiches! In my attempts to switch up our meals and make them fun I tired this recipe for Reuben egg rolls! 

Its much easier than you would think. 

One package of frozen won-ton wrappers thawed

1 lb corned beef

swiss cheese (I used provolone because we aren't huge swiss fans)

One can saur-crout 

1/2 cup thousand island dressing

shred the cheese and meat in a large bowl and add in the thousand island and kraut. once everything is mixed together spoon onto won-ton wrappers and follow the directions for rolling on the package. 

placed on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes

yummy!

Garlic pesto chicken and tomato penne

Orion- dog shame!

DIY herb planter - mason jars and wood

this is a terrible picture... more to come

DIY elevated dog bowl holder from repurposed pallets

Easy DIY crock pot apple butter

This is PERFECT for fall gifts! my recipe made about four jars, so I gave the other three away to three friends :)

a dozen apples (I used red delicious)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1/2 cup water

THAT'S IT!

peel and core all the apples and chop into smaller pieces 

put apples, allspice, cinnamon and water in the crock pot. mix it up and keep it on low overnight! 

around 10 am the next day I took it out and threw it in our blender to make an apple butter consistency. 

P.S. your house will smell amazing!

Easy DIY wreath under 6$

I got all of my materials at Hobby Lobby!

TIP!- if you sign up for the Hobby Lobby e-mail alerts you get a 40% coupon for any non discounted item in the store every single week! Also if you download the Hobby Lobby app you can just show the coupon in your phone to eliminate printing or forgetting! 

The stick wreath was $3.99- with my 40% off it was $2.40

the letter "A" (for my last name) was .99

Hobby Lobby had flowers on special that week for 50% off and both flowers came on one stem. with the 50% off it was $2.49

that brings my total up to $5.88!!!!

(I already had the ribbon left over)

i just used some red paint I had laying around for the "A" and hot glued the flowers and letter A on! 

here's a cool trick.   take a stick on 3M hook and place it UPSIDE DOWN  on the inside of the door to hang!

wreaths can cost anywhere from $30- $60 at a place like Kirklands or Michaels! why not make a personalized one yourself for under 6$

Healthy energy cookies

These cookies are delicious and contain no eggs, butter, flour, or oil!

It's just three mashed bananas

 1/3 cup sugar free apple sauce

 2 cups of steel cut oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup raisins 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp cinnamon  

Bake at 350 for 15 min! Guilt free cookies!!