Snap Happy... I'M GUILTY!!!

I couldn't resist the frost!

Ayden on the steering wheel of the combine during wheat harvest summer '09.

MacKenzie was wearing my hubbies boots!

Ayden and MacKenzie's feet. Ayden was about a week or two old.

Clothes pins on the line. Ice of '07.

Ice of '07. The entire field just glistened.

Random fence on the way to Wilson Lake summer '06

This sunflower was on the side of a bridge. So I pulled over and walked halfway out on the bridge just for the picture! On the way to Wilson lake summer '06

My camera goes everywhere with me. Well most of the time. I like to take random pictures. I will be taking a ton this weekend and I will post some of the highlights come Monday. For now though here a few of my favorite pics that I have taken.

crock pot recipes again...

Before I get into the recipes I just have to say my hubby is a goofball and amazing! I couldn't decide what to cook him for dinner for our anniversary tonight. So I just asked him what he wanted. He informed me that grilled cheese and tomato soup sounded really good. Silly guy!

Zesty Italian Chicken ~

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Italian dressing, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp Italian seasoning, divided
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

Arrange chicken in a slow cooker; sprinkle with half each of salad dressing, Parmesan and Italian seasoning. Add potatoes; top with remaining dressing, Parmesan and seasoning. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hours, or on high setting for 4 hours.

Oh-So-Easy Lasagna ~

1 to 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
26 oz. jar Spaghetti sauce
8 oz pkg. bowtie pasta, cooked
12 oz container cottage cheese
16 oz pkg shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix together ground beef and pasta sauce. In a slow cooker, layer half each of ground beef mixture, pasta, cottage cheese and shredded cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours, or on high setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Stuffed Game Hens ~

2 ~ 20 oz Cornish game hens, thawed
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. pkg chicken flavored stuffing mix, prepared

Sprinkle hens all over with salt and pepper; stuff loosely with prepared stuffing. Wrap each hen tightly in a length of aluminum foil; arrange in slow cooker. Spoon any extra stuffing onto a length of foil and make a sealed packet; place on top of hens. Cover and cook on low setting for 12 hours, until juices run clear with pierced.

Missy's Easy Pork Roast ~

2 to 3 lb pork roast
1.5 oz pkg. onion soup mix
3/4 to 1 cup milk
2 slices bacon, halved

Place roast in a slow cooker; set aside. Mix together soup mix and milk and spread over roast. Lay bacon slices on top of roast. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours.

Creamy Chicken and Noodles ~

3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 ~ 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup butter, sliced
4 ~ 10.5 oz cans chicken broth
24 oz pkg. frozen egg noodles

Combine first 4 ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hours. One hour before serving, remove chicken, shred and return to slow cooker. Stir in frozen noodles; cover and cook on low setting for one hour. Serve in soup bowls.

Hearty Chick'n Dumplings ~

2 ~ 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
2 ~ 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 ~ 16.3 oz tubes refrigerated biscuits, quartered

combine first 3 ingredients in a slow cooker. Add chicken; cover and cook on high setting for 6 hours. During the last hour of cooking, remove chicken and shred with 2 forks; return to slow cooker. Add biscuit pieces to chicken mixture; stir to coat. Cover and cook on high setting for one hour.

I have lots of recipes for the crock pot. I absolutely love this cookbook I have. If you would like more recipes that have more than just 5 ingredients I can post some of those as well. More 5 ingredient recipes to come tomorrow!!!

Yesterday?! :D

I meant to post this yesterday, but I just didn't get around to it. I like to play with things and make meals out of them. Here is one that I have done many times with different meats to make a different variation of the same thing. I don't have an exact recipe to this b/c a lot of it I just eyeball.



Spiced up mac n cheese ... or beefy mac n cheese or porky mac n cheese if you please :)



1 lb sweet italian turkey sausage (remove from casings and brown)

half of small onion chopped

clove of garlic

can of sweet yellow and white corn

12 oz elbow mac or rotini or whatever you have

velvetta (halfish of a block) cubed

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp butter



I brown the meat of your choice with the onion and garlic. I like the sweet italian sausage. Yesterday I used ground beef. Meanwhile boil water and cook your noodles to al dente. In a sauce pan add your butter, cheese and milk. Melt over low heat until you have a nice cheese sauce. When the meat is browned drain grease add corn to meat and continue to cook over low heat. When the noodles are done drain and add to meat mixture and top with cheese sauce. Mix well and serve. :D Not the fanciest meal on earth but my kiddos eat it up!!!



It was beautiful out yesterday afternoon. We played in the back yard. Our swing set is on its last leg of life. Soon we will need to invest in a new one. The one we have is from a cousin and their kids put it to good use. We've had it for 3 years and it has taken lots of wear. Our sandbox is in good shape and the kids have been having a blast in it lately. The garden has been worked through once. We have a lot more work to do before it'll be ready to plant things in it. :D Hope you enjoy the recipe. I'll try to get my pictures uploaded later.

what a crazy week...

It has been a little crazy around here lately. My wonderful husband is busy, busy with his farming stuff. I have been busy with SPRING CLEANING and packing! Today is our Anniversary and I have absolutely no clue what to make my hubby for dinner tonight!!! Ideas please???? For our anniversary we are taking a trip this weekend. We have never taken a honeymoon so I guess you can call our 4 day weekend, without kids our honeymoon. I am so very excited!

This is kind of how we have our trip planned. Friday we are leaving at 6am and heading to Colorado. My husband wants to visit the John Martin Reservoir. Next onto the Royal Gorge (I might have a panic attack just thinking about it!!) For those of you who don't know I am terrified of heights and don't do well with suspended bridges. LOL I am fine on solid ground when I am high up though. Next we are heading to Manitou Springs where we will be staying. Friday afternoon we plan to mosey around and look at different places. I get to show my husband the house I spent many trips at. My mom's best friend Loraine's house. She passed away 2 years ago, but her daughter now lives in her house. It is beautiful. Loraine baked and cooked from scratch! She helped me learn to love to cook and bake. :D The house is beautiful and the two very large front picture windows give you a GREAT view of Pike's Peak. Friday night we plan to meet up with Loraine's husband and her two daughters to eat a Fargo's in Colorado Springs. If you haven't ever been there I suggest you try it. It is a great pizza place. The women are all dressed in "old time" dresses. It's neat. Saturday we have reserved tickets to take the cog railway up Pike's Peak. I cannot wait til Kent reaches the summit and steps out to look. I have never road the railway up but I have driven it before. The view is absolutely breath taking!! Then I think we will venture onto one of the many other places we want to see. Here is the list b/c I have no clue what order we will visit them in.... Garden of the God's, Cave of the Winds, Dwellings, Cripple Creek and possibly Seven Falls and a few other spots.

Onto this Spring Cleaning thing. Wow I have went through our closet, the kids closet, all dressers and toys!!!!!!!!! Lets just say I got rid of a ton of stuff!!! I have two people coming to look at the kids clothes on Thursday. Yay! A little extra cash in my pocket and someone can benefit from the many clothes we have to get rid of. Some of the toys have went to my friends daycare and all of the baby toys are going to my friend in Colorado who is having her first child. :D Yay is all I have to say!!! :D

Peach Pie/Cobbler Filling

This is a recipe from one of my canning books....It was a huge hit this summer when I made it. :D hope it is something you all will like

This makes about four pint jars (I doubled the recipe when I made it)
1 cinnamon stick broken into pieces
2 tsp whole cloves
12 cups sliced pitted peeled peaches, treated to prevent browning and drained
2 cups finely chopped cored peeled apples, treated to prevent browning and drained
2 & 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup golden raisins (I didn't have these on hand so I didn't add them)
2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Tie cinnamon stick pieces and cloves in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine peaches, apples, sugar, raisins, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, nutmeg and spice bag. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat, cover and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Meanwhile prepare canning jars. Then ladle hot pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot filling. Wipe rim. Then center lid and place band on. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Crock pot recipes continued...

Here are some more recipes... I hope you are finding some things that you like.

Mom's Chicken Italiano ~

2 to 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 10 oz. cans golden mushroom soup
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 cup onion chopped
1 t. dried basil

Arrange chicken in a slow cooker. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hours. Cut and shred chicken into bite-size pieces before serving.

Italian Sausage & Penne ~

3/4 lb. hot Italian sausage links, cut into bite-size pieces
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
6 oz. pkg. penne pasta, cooked

Stir together all ingredients except pasta in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours. At serving time, stir in cooked pasta.

Fix & Go Swiss Steak ~

1 & 1/2 lbs boneless beef round steak, cut into serving size pieces
1 & 1/2 oz. pkg onion soup mix
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
cooked rice

Arrange steak in a slow cooker; sprinkle with onion soup mix. Pour diced tomatoes over top. Cover and cook on high setting for 4 hours. Serve over rice.


Chicken & Cornbread ~

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
6 oz pkg cornbread stuffing mix

Place chicken in a slow cooker and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients together; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours.

Easy Special Pot Roast ~

10 oz. can cheddar cheese soup
10 oz. can golden mushroom soup
10 oz. can french onion soup
3 lb beef chuck roast

Mix soups in a slow cooker; top with roast. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, turning roast halfway through cooking time if possible.

5 ingredient or less crock pot recipes

So my friend well I think she is our cousin actually lol Debbie asked for crock pot recipes. So here is what I have.......

Italian Pot Roast ~
2 to 3 lb beef chuck roast
4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 T. oil
2 - 14.5 oz cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
optional; cooked egg noodles or mashed potatoes

In a skillet over medium heat, brown roast in oil on both sides. Place roast in a slow cooker; pour tomatoes over top. Cover and cook on low setting for 10 to 11 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, stir in mushrooms; cover and heat through. If desired, serve with cooked egg noodles or mashed potatoes.


Chicken Cordon Bleu ~
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 to 6 thin slices cooked ham
4 to 6 slices Swiss cheese
10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk

Place each chicken breast in a plastic zipping bag; pound to flatten. Top each with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese; roll up and secure with a toothpick. Arrange rolls in a slow cooker in layers. Mix soup and milk; pour over chicken. cover and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours, until chicken is no longer pink inside. To serve, remove toothpicks and arrange chicken rolls on serving plate; spoon sauce from slow cooker over rolls.


St. Paddy's Corned Beef ~
3 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
3 lb flat cut corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 to 1 head cabbage, cut into wedges

Arrange carrots in the bottom of a slow cooker; place corned beef on top. Sprinkle with on quarter of seasoning packet contents; discard rest of seasoning. Pour broth over all. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, or on high setting for 5 to 6 hours. Add cabbage wedges, pushing down to moisten. Cover; cook on high setting for an additional 2 to 3 hours.


Easy Kielbasa Dinner ~
10 to 12 new redskin potatoes
16 oz. pkg. sauerkraut
1 t. caraway seed
1 T. light brown sugar, packed
1 lb Kielbasa, cut into 2 inch pieces

Peel a strip around the middle of each potato; place potatoes in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place sauerkraut on top of potatoes, rinse sauerkraut bag with a little water and pour into slow cooker. Sprinkle caraway and brown sugar over sauerkraut; arrange Kielbasa pieces on top. cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours.

Nacho Chicken & Rice ~
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 10 oz. cans Cheddar cheese soup
1 & 1/4 cup water
16 oz. jar chunky salsa
1 & 1/4 cup long cooking rice, uncooked

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for about 5 hours, or until chicken and rice are tender.


4-Ingredient Chicken Chili ~
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pkg. Monterey Jack cheese, cubed
16 oz jar salsa
3 15.5 oz cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

Cover chicken breasts with water in a saucepan; simmer until cooked through, about 20 to 3o minutes. Reserve broth and shred chicken. Add reserved broth and chicken to a slow cooker; stir in cheese. Add salsa and beans to chicken mixture. Cover and cook on low setting for one to 2 hours, or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Fiesta Chicken Pronto ~
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
10 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 T. taco seasoning mix
1/4 cup salsa

Arrange chicken in a slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on high setting for 3 hours.

Hope you guys like these. :D I will post more later!!!!

we love warm weather!!!

We have been enjoying the warm weather. My hubby has broke the ground on my garden. We had to move it from the normal spot due to our new puppy. Ali will be 12 weeks on Saturday. She is a pure bred black lab pup. :D She's sweet. Anywho we've been playing outside as much as we can. Looks like its going to be super cold again come Saturday. Possibly a snow storm. Moisture is welcome, but at some point it will have to dry out so the farming stuff can get done.

Kent has been super busy at work. As everyone wants all their tractors and things worked on before it decides to fully warm up. He is also buys with his farming stuff. His Dad and him have pulled a motor out of a combine and have been working on it and now Kent is busy getting his sprayer ready b/c the alfalfa ground is needing to be sprayed Thursday or Friday before the moisture comes back to visit us. Soon I'll be on the swather doing that in the afternoons to help him out.

This week is Spring Break so we've been enjoying having Kenzie home during the day. She can be a real big help or a lil stinker. We've had a mix of that, but today she's been a big help. :D Thank goodness! She is excited that her best friend gets to come play all day Thursday. I can't wait b/c it is suppose to be 70 out and that means the kids can play in the back yard and I should be able to get a few things done in the house. YAY!!

I have been craving pizza. So I saw a recipe for Caramelized Onion and Prosciutto pizza. Yep this is going to be a must have around here for Kent and I.... I can already tell. Maybe I'll make it this weekend... and make the kids a pepperoni pizza b/c they might not like the heavy onion. Hope your week is going well. Here is a picture of the kids new potties. I'll try to get the garden pics and stuff up soon as well.

Whats for dinner??? Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This is a huge hit at our house...

2 12.5 oz cans chunk chicken (or freshly baked chicken) I happened to not want to bake today
1 apple cored, peeled and diced (you can leave the peel on if you wish.. my lil one chokes on it)
1/3 cup grapes ... cut them in half before adding to chicken and apples
1 stalk celery finely diced (we omit this due to my sons food allergy... but I love it with the celery)
1 handful of sliced almonds
1/3 to 1/2 cup light miracle whip
1/2 tbsp Mrs. Dash Original Blend

Mix ingredients well and serve on toasted whole wheat bread! I will try to post a picture later! :D

slacker... who me? say it isn't so...

Well it is true... I have been slacking big time. No blog since Feb 25th? Wow! I have been busy and under the weather. Been fighting some crud for about 3 weeks. Well I thought the cough was just hanging around. Ugh I was wrong. I woke up Friday morning with chest pains and couldn't breathe. I of course made a trip to the doctor. The conclusion was that I had an ear infection, pus pockets on my throat and bronchitis borderline pneumonia. Since the shot and weeks worth of antibiotics didn't kill it I am now on a steroid, antibiotics and 3 days worth of out patient iv's. Thankfully tomorrow is the last day of iv's. They stuck me 4 times before they got and iv. I told the girl I would come back the next day if she didn't get it on the 4th try. :D Thankfully for her and me both that it worked.

Onto other business. Ayden and Baylee are trying to potty train. I will post pics later. They have cute frog potties. Kent is hitting his busy season. They are on overtime at work and things are really picking up at the farm. Lots of things to do to get all the machinery ready for swathing, baling and of course harvest.

The best news of all... our wedding anniversary is the 24th of this month. We are leaving the 26 through the 29th for a weekend getaway to my favorite place on earth... Colorado! Someday I will talk Kent into moving there. He has never been to Colorado. We will be going up Pike's Peak. He will never want to come home after that! :D We never have taken a honeymoon so this is kinda like a mini honeymoon for us! Yay! And with that I will call it a night. I'm pooped! :D