In the Kitchen Friday- Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole

Hi Lovelies!

Today I am starting a new series on the blog, called In the Kitchen Friday. Every Friday I will be sharing recipes, meal planning tips and strategies, and organizing tips for the kitchen. 

So, for today's In the Kitchen Friday I will be sharing one of my favorite recipes. Enjoy!!!

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

serves 4

Ingredients

3 - 4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced
        (about 1.5 lbs. or 4 1/2 cups)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp, cooled and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 green onions, sliced (green parts only for low-FODMAP/low-fructose)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces


Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" baking pan or casserole dish.
2. Spread half of the diced potatoes in bottom of pan. Place the diced chicken breasts evenly on top. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half the bacon crumbles, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and half the green onions.
3. Spread the remaining diced potatoes on top, followed by the remaining bacon, another 1/2 cup cheese, remaining green onions and another 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour heavy cream over top of casserole and then dot with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes. In the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and bake until melted. Serve.

5 Tips to Help You Keep Up with Laundry

I loathe laundry, like really hate it. It's one of those things I wish I could have someone else do it for me. Perhaps one day when I'm rich all of my laundry dreams will come true. I mean a girl can dream, right? To ease the pain of doing this daunting task, I have come up with 5 tips that have helped me keep up with the laundry and will hopefully help you do the same.

5 Tips to Help You Keep Up with Laundry 

1. Schedule it

Laundry is a household chore, plain and simple. So, you will probably never feel up to doing it. So to ensure that it gets done schedule a day and time that you will dedicate to doing the laundry. Some families have a day where they tackle all of the laundry for the week. Personally, I like to wash one load per day to avoid what I call Mount Washmore. I tend to do this first thing in the morning so that it starts washing while I am working on breakfast.

2. Recruit help

Don't place the entire burden of doing laundry on yourself. If your spouse or one of your kids knows how to do the laundry ask them to help. It will make things much easier on you.

3. Don't wash it.

There are several things that don't need to be washed after the first use. Have your kids wear their pajamas for a few nights before they place it in the dirty clothes pile. Let your towels dry so that they can be used more than once. Not only will you have less laundry to wash, but your clothes won't wear out as quick.

4. Put it away the same day.

Now, this is a great concept, but it's one I don't always follow. There are days that the clothes just sit in the dryer waiting to be folded and put away. Don't start a new load if you don't have plans on folding what already dried.

5. Sort as you fold.

What's the purpose of sorting first, then folding? I never understood this concept it's just an extra step in the process. Instead, fold or hang up clothes while you are sorting them in the process. I also find that folding clothes while I watch a favorite show makes the task easier to deal with. Once all the clothing is sorted out, have each family member put away their own clothes. Now, it may not be perfect, but it gets the job done.

So there you have it, 5 simple tips to help you keep your laundry sanity. What are some things you do to keep Mount Washmore at bay?

Revamping My Morning Routine

Hi Lovelies! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! We just hung out at home, played outside (when it wasn't raining), fixed some yummy meals and snacks and just had a good time.  This weekend I decided to re-vamp my  morning routine and it seemed to help quite a bit. I noticed that my mornings were not as rushed and I was much more relaxed. 

So, today's blog post is all about how to set up/revamp your morning routine in a way that works for you. 

Morning Routine:

 (1) Wake up

Take 15 -30 minutes to wake up, enjoy your coffee or tea, check out the news, or read. 

(2) Review your daily tasks (to do list)

Review your to-do list for things that have to be done that day. I usually spend 1-2 minutes reviewing my list in the morning to mentally prepare me for the day and to adjust my schedule if needed.  I also prepare my to-do list the night before as part of my night time routine ( I also use it as sort of a "brain dump").

(3) Make your bed

Beds take up alot of space and when they aren't made they tend to look like a whole lot clutter. Here's a simple solution: take 5 minutes to make your bed and I promise that your room will look cleaner and you will feel more relaxed.

(4) Prepare for dinner

Make sure all of your food items are defrosted and that you have all the necessary ingredients for the evening’s dinner.  Also you should consider how long it will take for you to make dinner and adjust your schedule if need be.  I usually take this opportunity to refer to my meal plan for the following night to see if I need to take anything out of the freezer to defrost or if I’ll need to stop at the grocery store.  This is also a good time to prepare your crockpot meal which is another easy way to streamline your dinner prep.

(5) Empty dishwasher or dish drainer

 Put your dishes away first thing in the morning so that you and your family can fill it up after breakfast and throughout the day instead of waiting to do all of it after dinner.  This is another task that takes all of 5 minutes to complete, and when it's done, you will feel better. 

(6) Workout, shower, and dress

After you shower and get dressed be sure to put dirty clothes in the laundry, put away your toiletries and makeup, wipe down the sinks and hang up your towel.

(7) Make breakfast and clean up afterwards

Return all food items in the fridge, pantry or cupboards. Scrape leftover food in the trash and put your dishes in the sink or dishwasher.  Wipe down all of the counters, sink, stove and microwave.  Like your bed, the kitchen has a lot of counter space and when one counter is cluttered the whole kitchen looks messy.  Take just a couple of minutes everyday to wipe down those counters and appliances…you’ll be amazed at how refreshing it is to come home to a clean kitchen after a busy day at work.

(8) Get on with your day

Now that you’ve got your morning routine complete you can head off to work (on time of course), or to your home office if you work from home, spend time with your kids or take care of your priority tasks and errands.

So, my question is, do you have a morning routine? And how is it working for you?

Have a wonderful Monday Lovelies!!

~Angie

Happy Homemaker Monday {9/17/2018}

Hi Lovelies!

Good evening everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. We just stayed at home and relaxed. With that being said, please join me in visiting Sandra for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather.  I love this week's weather! Fall weather is almost here.

Right now I am... sitting at the dining room table typing this post. 

Thinking.  About finding an "Iron Girl" costume for my daughter.

On my reading pile. Right now I am reading Weep No More My Lady (almost done) and then it's on to Still Watch

On my tv. I'm watching some shows on Netflix and my Roku app and Amazon Prime

On the menu this week:

Monday- Sandwiches and chips

Tuesday- Taco Tuesday

Wednesday- Spaghetti, garlic bread, veggie

Thursday- Chicken pot pie, salad, and fruit

Friday- Pizza, bread sticks, salad

Saturday- Beans, fried potatoes, corn muffins

Sunday- Cheesesteak sandwiches, fries, chips and dip, snack foods

On my to do list:

Laundry
Kitchen
Vacuum and steam all carpets
Write and schedule blogs for the next two weeks (by end of the this week)
Update all cleaning zones in planner
Set up routines for morning and evening

Looking around the house. The house is clean. I just have a few dishes in the sink that need to be washed and one load of laundry to fold and put away, and one load of laundry in the washer.

Bible verse, devotional, or quote:

Fun Facts About Fall

Happy Fall Lovelies!

It's finally time to pull out the sweaters and watch the leaves morph into various shades of yellow and orange. Fall can be a gorgeous time of year, but do you know the history behind it? Well, my friends, I have compiled a list some fun fall facts to celebrate this time wonderful time of year! Enjoy!

 Fun Facts about Fall:

 Fact #1:  Americans typically refer to this time of year as “fall,” while the British use the word “autumn.” Both terms date back to the 16th century but before that it was called “harvest.

Fact #2:  Fall was called “harvest” because of the “harvest moon” that occurs when the full moon is closest to the autumn equinox. Before man-made lighting, this moonlight was essential to a prosperous harvest.

Fact #3:  Weight gain around this time of year may not only be due to comforting fall foods like pumpkin pie and cider, researchers have found that lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage.

Fact #4:  According to The Weather Channel, pumpkins are the most craved food during the fall. Although, if you’ve left the house anytime recently, this may not come as a surprise to you.  

Fact #5:  The yellow and orange colors you see actually always exist in leaves but they are overpowered by the abundance of green from chlorophyll. The amount of chlorophyll starts to decrease as the sun weakens and the days grow shorter.

Fact #6:  Red and purple leaves are only that color because of the presence of sugars and sap that are trapped within the leaves. These sugars provide plants with the energy they need to survive.

Fact #7:  Many birds will prepare for their winter migration during the fall. The distance they can travel is impressive; the Arctic Tern travels 11,000 miles each way for it’s annual migration. That’s no small feat.

Fact #8:  Evergreen trees such as pines, cedars, and spruces stay green because their leaves (needles) are covered with thick wax and they contain materials that prevent freezing when it gets cold.

Fact #9:  Men and women experience high levels of testosterone during the fall. This makes sense because more babies are conceived during the fall and winter. The cause is unknown but it could be due to lack of sunlight or even go back to ancient mating rituals.

Fact #10:  We can’t forget Halloween! Halloween takes place in the fall and comes from ancient Celtic tradition. They believed that ghosts roamed on Halloween and people would wear disguises in order to hide from these spirits.

Meal Planning Tips

Like many parents, spend a few hours a week (she's not involved in much right now) chauffeuring my daughter to her after-school activities, leaving very little time to cook at the end of the day. And of course, there’s the dinner crunch that happens as soon as we get home from her activities. She is starving and wants to eat as soon as she walks in the door. So, I’ve put together some meal planning tips that I hope will reduce the stress and help you get dinner on the table faster and more efficiently.

Meal Planning Tips

• a meal plan for the week based on your family’s scheduled activities. There will be days when you have more time to cook, and other days when you have almost no time. Even if you don’t follow the meal plan exactly, having an idea of what you want to make will take a load off your plate the rest of the week.

• Order your groceries online and have them delivered to your home. Once you have your weekly meal plan, come up with a shopping list for the week. I’ve saved about 2 hours a week in driving and shopping time by ordering groceries online usingWalmart's grocery pickup service.
• Make a double batch of recipes that freeze well. Roast two chickens and freeze one (save the bones for chicken broth). Chili and meatloaf freeze well, and are easy to make in a double batch.
• Repurpose leftovers. Turn leftovers into a “new” meal by transforming them into a different meal, e.g., use leftover roast chicken to make chicken quesadillas, Chicken Burrito Salad Bowl, Buffalo Chicken Salad sandwiches, Chicken Chili, or make fried rice with leftover meats and vegetables.

Meal Prep Tips

 Prepping parts of recipes ahead of time and taking a few shortcuts will help you get dinner on the table faster.

• Marinate meats the night before for quick and tasty baked or grilled dinners. Try this Baked Peruvian Spiced Chicken or Grilled Asian Flank Steak, for example.
• Make a batch of Stir-Fry Sauce, prep vegetables and marinate meats the night before for quick stir-fry dinners.
• Use a food processor to chop vegetables. Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms and bell peppers can all be chopped in a food processor to save time. The trick is to pulse them until the desired size is achieved. You can chop multiple vegetables in the food processor by pulsing the hardest vegetables first until they’re chopped, then adding the more watery vegetables like onions and bell pepper and pulsing them. This works great for chili, bolognese sauce and soups when you want smaller pieces of vegetables for the recipe.
• Start dinner in the morning using your slow cooker. The slow cooker has been my best friend on many days when I know I’ll be out of the house the entire day.

Cooking/Serving Dinner

Getting dinner on the table quickly can be a challenge when you have a hungry family. Here are some additional tips that have helped me feed my family almost as soon as they walk int he door.

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• Turn on the oven or put a pot of water on the stove to boil as soon as you walk in the door. This is a big time saver if you are baking/roasting something for dinner, or if you’re making pasta for dinner. While the oven is heating up or the water is waiting to boil, you can get the vegetables/side dishes ready.
• Make rice or grains in a rice cooker and keep it on the warm setting. A rice cooker is the perfect companion to a slow cooker because it keeps rice/grains warm for several hours (my rice cooker is supposed to keep rice warm for up to 12 hours), so it’s ready to serve when you get back home from after-school activities.
• Keep food warm in a slow cooker. Even if you cook something on the stovetop earlier in the day, you can transfer it to a slow cooker so that dinner is warm when you get back home from all the after-school activities.
• Pressure cookers are big time savers. On days when I get a late start on dinner, the pressure cooker cuts cooking time to about 1/3 of the time it normally would take. Almost anything you make on the stove or a slow cooker can be made in a pressure cooker. I don’t have an Instant Pot, but it’s supposed to have a pressure cooker setting. Give this Pressure Cooker Lentil Chili a try.
• Frozen vegetables work in a pinch. Frozen vegetables actually retain more nutrients than old vegetables. Frozen peas, edamame and corn work well.
• Serve raw vegetables. A simple salad or raw carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber spears and bell pepper slices are great vegetables that don’t require any cooking.  If I’m short on time, I’ll just chop up some romaine lettuce and top with shredded carrots or cherry tomatoes for a simple salad, or cut up some raw vegetables and call it a day.

I hope you find these meal planning tips helpful. Please feel free to share your own meal planning tips in the comments section.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hi Lovelies!

I have heard several renditions of this particular song and this is still my favorite, and I didn't know that John Denver wrote the song. Love it!

Good night!

Happy Homemaker Monday {9/3/2018}

Hi Lovelies!

Good evening everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend. We actually had a great weekend. We went to see Incredibles 2 with the kids on Sunday and then today we decided to take a trip to Wichita Falls to do some shopping. With that being said, please join me in visiting Sandra for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather.  I love this week's weather! So much cooler than past weeks. Even though there is a chance of rain all week I still love the temps this week.

Right now I am... sitting at the dining room table typing this post. 

Thinking.  How I should be studying.

On my reading pile. Right now I am reading Weep No More My Lady

On my tv. I'm watching some shows on Netflix and my Roku app and Amazon Prime

On the menu this week:

Monday- Chicken nuggets and rice

Tuesday- Taco Tuesday

Wednesday- Beans, fried potatoes, homemade corn bread

Thursday- Mississippi chicken with potatoes and a veggie

Friday- Pizza pockets, bread sticks, salad

Saturday- Chicken and dressing with mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and cheesy green bean (I'm in the mood for some Thanksgiving food)

Sunday- Beans, fried potatoes, homemade corn bread

On my to do list:

Laundry
Kitchen
Vacuum and steam all carpets
Write and schedule blogs for the next two weeks (by end of the this week)
Update all cleaning zones in planner
Set up routines for morning and evening

Looking around the house. The house is clean. I just have a few dishes in the sink that need to be washed and one load of laundry to fold and put away, and one load of laundry in the washer.

Bible verse, devotional, or quote:

46 Lists to Make When Life Feels Chaotic

I’ve always loved lists.

Have done since I was a teenager and wrote journals full of lists on everything from my favorite songs of the year, my all-time favorite movies, books to read, and my extensive bucket list. Lists were fun!

As I grew older, I turned to lists to get things out of my head, you know, like a brain dump type of list.  Be it to-do lists, goals for the year, things to pack, or bills to pay. Writing lists down on paper helped me to dig myself out of many procrastination loops and to decrease the clutter in my head. Lists gave me room to FOCUS and actually get things done.

There’s one thing that has never changed, and that’s the fact that lists help me deal with life when it gets overwhelming, because it does! Even for the most organized of us! I’ll be honest with you and say that I’m totally overwhelmed at the moment.

So here’s 46 ideas – 46 lists you can make when life gets overwhelming.

Some are just plain fun. Some are serious. Once you get started you may not be able to stop!

Regardless, when you’re ready to sit down and start ‘listing’, have fun with it. Crack out the colored pens and a nice notebook just for your lists.

1. Books you want to read in your lifetime
2. Books you have read AND loved AND would recommend
3. Books in series – I read a lot of series and often get lost midway, so keeping lists helps me keep track on what book I’m up to in said series. I also hate reading books out of sequence, so this helps me avoid any spoilers!
4. Things you are grateful for this week
5. Things that make you happy
6. A feel-good playlist. List songs that make you feel good
7. Things you love about yourself
8. Things you love about someone else
9. Your own list of writing or journaling prompts
10. Self-care ideas
11. Your travel bucket list – include the places you have been and take pleasure in ticking them off!
12. Bills to pay and due dates – map out a plan and prioritize those bills baby!
13. Your to-do list. Get everything out of your head and onto paper!
14. All of the things you have accomplished this year – so far
15. Things you have achieved in life – so far
16. Your happiest memories – so far!
17. Inspirational quotes
18. Recipes you want to try
19. A meal plan for the week – easy meals that are quick to throw together and won’t add to your feeling of overwhelm!
20. Restaurants and cafes you want to try out
21. Your all-time fave movies
22. Movies to watch. Why not include some classics?
23. Movies that make you laugh
24. TV series to binge-watch
25. Your all-time fave songs / bands / singers
26. Gift ideas for _____
27. Things you want to learn
28. Hobbies to take up
29. A house renovation list
30. Plan to decrease the clutter. List things to throw out!
31. A shopping list
32. Useful advice / words of wisdom for when times get tough
33. Your fave places and spaces
34. Your Christmas wish list
35. Things to pack when you go on holiday
36. Phone numbers and addresses. You’ll thank me the next time you have an issue with / break / lose your phone!
37. Ideas of things to draw or paint
38. Questions to ask your doctor the next time to see them
39. Key dates for the year – birthdays, appointments, concerts, public holidays, holidays, and more
40. Songs to download or add to your playlist
41. Appointments you need to make, like checking in with the good old dentist
42. Articles to read
43. Itemize all of your valuable possessions
44. Who are you favorite people in the wide world?
45. What are your values and why? 
46. Your priorities for … life? The year? The month?

Here’s some tips for your ‘to-do’ lists

• Set aside a special pen for checking completed items off your list
• Buy some pretty stickers and give yourself a sticker for checking everything off your list.
• Set yourself a reward for doing everything on your list. It could be a glass of wine, a new top, or a massage!

Happy Listing!!!!

 

September 2018 Goals

Happy September friends! It’s ALMOST socially acceptable to have all the pumpkin things, and put that fall decor out. Football season is here and the temps are starting to somewhat cool down. And school is in full swing! It’s time for me to share my September goals with you guys.

 Personal Goals

• drink more water
• practice yoga 3x a week
• eat more fruits and veggies
• walk 10,000 steps every day
• Complete one Bible study

Family Goals

• Take a special trip
• Create a better after school routine
• Revamp morning and evening routines
• See a movie with the girls

Blog Goals

• Post at least 3x per week.
• Make a new list of blog post ideas
• Schedule posts until the end of the September
• Create an editorial calendar for the fall (in progress)
• Start a food blog (in progress)

What are some of your goals for September?