Quick Fix Friday: Slow cooker chicken

This edition of Quick Fix Friday is going to be in a word, quick.  I love, love, love this recipe.  This is my very favorite recipe for chicken so far.  In fact, I may never cook a chicken on the oven ever again!  This chicken was moist, juicy, and literally falling off the bone.  I had zero trouble taking this chicken off of the bone, which is a pretty big deal considering it usually looks like I was trying to beat the chicken into submission while hacking it to bits (really, ask my husband) while failing miserably to separate meat from bone.  This recipe is like my chicken cooking BFF.  So, here it is:

Slow cooker chicken

1 whole 2-3lb chicken, thawed
Salt
Pepper
1Tbsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp dried Parsley
Aluminum foil

First take aluminum foil and roll into 3 3-4 inch balls and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Then take the thawed chicken and rinse it with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.  Place the now dry chicken inside the slow cooker on top of the aluminum foil balls.  Now season the chicken(to taste) inside and out with salt and pepper.  Finally sprinkle the garlic powder and dried parsley over the chicken and place the lid on your slow cooker.  Put the slow cooker on high for about one hour, then turn it down to low and let the chicken cook for 7-9 more hours until juices run clear.  Let cool a few minutes and enjoy :-)

For His Glory,

Courtney

So Blessed...

My heart is so full right now.  The Lord has so richly blessed me.  I have so much more than I ever could have asked for, so much more than I deserve.  I have a wonderful husband who loves me, who loves our son and is an amazing father, who cares enough to put God first, who has a deep passion for God's word and a great love for people.  I have a beautiful healthy son despite all that could have gone wrong during my pregnancy or just after his birth.  Every time I look into that precious face or hold him in my arms, I know I am holding a miracle. Most of all, though, I have a savior!  A savior named Jesus, who left heaven and came to earth as a man, who chose to suffer and die for all sin, who rose again on the third day, and who has forgiven my sins and allowed me to have a personal relationship with Him!

There are so many more things I could list.  I could give so many specific instances of God's goodness, mercy, grace, and love in my life.  Right now, my heart is so full I feel it could burst!  I just had to share with you how a small piece of how great my God is and how good He's been to me.  Yes, there are parts of my life that are hard, but I have so much more than I deserve.  I am a sinner and deserve no more than punishment and death, yet here I am.  I am alive, I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful son, a wonderful family, dear friends, a chance to minister to others, and most of all, I have a Savior!

I have to marvel at how great my God is, how much He's given me, how much He is teaching me through His word and in prayer!  I would encourage you, take a few minutes just to think about all He's done for you.  Remind yourself of His faithfulness.

And if you don't know Him, seek Him out.  Get a Bible and start reading the New Testament, find a Bible-believing church and get in touch with the pastor with your questions, or even leave me a comment.

For His Glory,

Courtney

Quick Fix Fridays: Mom's 4 Ingredient Chili

There are so many different schools of thought on what good chili is and isn't.  It varies from region to region and (as my husband and I have realized) from family to family.  While I enjoy my husband's favorite recipe, when I start to get hungry for chili this is what I'm hungry for.  I grew up with this recipe and I haven't tasted chili yet that can beat it.

You'll need:

1 Large can tomato puree
2 cans light red kidney beans
1 packet of your favorite chili seasoning
1 lb ground beef
1-5 quart soup pot

For this recipe I start by browning the ground beef (seasoning to taste)in the bottom of the pan.  If it is especially greasy or watery, drain the meat.  Next  I add the kidney beans, tomato puree, and chili seasoning and stir together.  I allow this to simmer on medium heat until it is heated through and the beans are tender.  I usually serve this with saltines and cheddar cheese, but it's also great with tortilla chips or for making chili dogs.

I love making this recipe! It's so fast and easy, plus it makes me feel a little less homesick when we haven't seen family in awhile.  If you want something a little more sophisticated this is also a great place to start.  You can add some onions while browning the hamburger, you can substitute ground turkey for ground beef, you can add about 1/2 a cup of your favorite salsa, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

For His Glory,

Courtney

Quick Fix Friday: Slow Cooker Beef Roast

If you're like me, you're looking for quick, easy recipes.  Starting this week I'm going to start sharing some of our go-to fast favorites.  For those of you who read my post earlier this week on Meal Planning  this is the same recipe I used this week to make the roast and carrots that was on our meal plan.  I love this recipe because I can put it in the slow cooker and forget about it and my husband loves the leftovers(since he is picky about leftovers this is a pretty big deal).

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

1-2 to 3 lb beef roast
2-envelopes of your favorite brown gravy mix
1-white onion, chopped
1-1 lb package of baby carrots
2-cloves of minced garlic
1-cup of water
salt
pepper

To make this recipe, I usually start the day before by getting the roast out of the freezer to thaw.  The next day I start by chopping up the onion.  I pour in the chopped onion and baby carrots in the bottom of the slow cooker and spread them out in an even layer.  Next I add the gravy mix, garlic, and water.  (The consistency and amount of gravy depends on how much water you use.  1 cup water=less, thicker gravy, 2 cups=more, broth-like gravy)  Then I place the roast on top of all this and season it with salt and pepper.  At this point it's time to put on the lid and start the cooking.  I turn my slow cooker on low and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

This meal is great on its own or with an extra side.  This week we ate ours with mashed potatoes. It is also tasty with some easy baking powder biscuits.  This hearty meal is a favorite in the wintertime, but I love it in the summer as well.  By using the slow cooker I don't have to heat up the house by using the oven. (This was extremely helpful since the temperature this week has ranged from 97 to 105 degrees) Hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we do :-)

For His Glory,

Courtney

Using the Time I Have Part 1: Meal Planning

Right about now I'm feeling pretty good about the start of my latest adventure in meal planning.  I've made some failed attempts in the past, so I'm excited that I planned my 4th and 5th week of meals last weekend.  It takes time to do the planning, but it simplifies life so much that it's worth every minute.  I'm so excited to share my reasons for meal planning with you and to give you a look into what my process looks like when I write my meal plans.

Aside from the reasons listed in my post Using the Time I Have: an Intro, there are three reasons that I decided I needed to get serious about meal planning:

1. Meal planning will save us money.

I don't know about you, but for me grocery shopping without a list can be a little dangerous for our budget.  Grocery shopping without a list while hungry is even more so.   This kind of shopping ends up with a cart half full of what we need and filled up with impulse items we don't.   I discovered both of these to be very true both for myself and my husband so I started making a list before grocery shopping. 

It was a step in the right direction, but we often ran out of what we needed for meal and were constantly making little trips to the store to pick up things we had forgotten.  This caused our grocery bill to slowly creep higher and higher.  Another flaw in the way I was constructing my lists was that I wasn't "shopping" in my pantry and fridge before going to the store so I would pick up duplicates of things we already had.  Honestly, one reason I decided to start meal planning is that I recently discovered we had not two, not three, but FOUR bottles of soy sauce.  While we definitely use soy sauce, there was absolutely no reason for us to have four bottles.  I ended up intentionally tracking down recipes that included soy sauce just to try and use some of it up.  

2. Meal planning will save me time.

At first, even I was skeptical that this would come to be a reason, but after having the last month of meals planned, I can honestly say it is definitely true.  It typically takes me about 1-2 hours to sit down and put together a 2 week meal plan and grocery list.  After it's put together though, I don't have to stress about what I'm going to make, what meat needs thawed, and I can work prep time into whatever the plan for the day is.  No more is "what's for dinner?" the all dreaded question.  I know already and I don't have to scurry about looking for a recipe and digging for ingredients in the cupboard before I can give an answer.  I can plan quick meals on the nights we will need to rush out the door, and the more complex meals can be planned for evenings that are more relaxed.     

3. Meal planning will help me feed my family better.

Living on our own and then working opposite shifts for a large part of our marriage has left both my husband and I with some very unhealthy eating habits.  We both want to eat healthier, but in order for any changes to take place I have to be intentional .  The biggest one I've been working at recently is making more fruits and vegetables a part of our diet.  If not during meal, at least having them in the house for snacks.(I especially love to get apples, we love them and they keep in the refrigerator for a relatively long time compared to other fresh fruit.)  We've also been trying to eat fewer frozen/prepackaged meals.  I won't claim we never do or promise that we're going to become a whole foods only household, but less sodium is definitely a good idea since high blood pressure runs in both of our families.  

Okay, now that you have my reasons I'll give you a quick play by play of what meal planning looks like for me.

First, I take a quick glance in the pantry and freezer to get a general picture of what we still have.  Then I gather up my favorite cookbooks and pull up my favorite websites to find recipes(allrecipes.com, foodnetwork.com, etc.) to scour for recipes.  I especially love Allrecipes because it allows you to add recipes to your list and will automatically make a grocery list of your ingredients in their exact measurements for you.

Once I've found enough recipes that sound good and that include ingredients within our budget I begin writing out 2 weeks worth of dinners. I do this with our weekly schedule in mind.  For instance, on Wednesday nights we have prayer meeting so I usually do something quick, on Fridays we rarely have any commitments so I can plan something that I know takes a little longer or something new that I'm not sure how long it will take me to pull together for the first time.  I also put breakfast and lunch options on my meal plan, but these aren't quite as much for specific days as they are a reminder of what we have in the house to eat.

After getting the meals planned out I go through each day at a time and write down all the ingredients I will need only omitting things I'm absolutely sure we have on hand.  Once this is completed I go into our kitchen and "shop" in our pantry, fridge, and freezer.  Any items on the list that we already have or that I need to modify quantities on are marked off or edited. After finishing the grocery part I go around the house and look to find out what other items need to be added to the list as well.

This is what one of my finished meal plans looks like:

Sunday-Tacotot casserole
Monday-Roast with onions, carrots, and potatoes
Tuesday-Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic toast, and corn
Wednesday- Hamburgers and sweet potato fries
Thursday-Baked chicken breasts and couscous
Friday-Maple apple chicken burgers and baked beans
Saturday-Chicken fajitas with chips and salsa

Breakfast/snack Options:
Instant Oatmeal
Cereal
Granola bars
Pop-tarts
Apples
Baby carrots

Lunch Options:
Leftovers
Ramen noodles
PBJ sandwiches
Soup
Pintos beans with cheese and white rice

Finally all that's left is shopping at the store.  Having such a detailed list has really helped us stay in budget and cut down on impulse buys.  The first shopping trip we took after I started meal planning we saved nearly $100!

While I usually plan two weeks at a time, realize you could do this weekly or monthly as well depending on how it will work best with your family.  Also, remember to be flexible.  Life happens and even our best plans need to be modified.  Sometimes days need to be shuffled around or something needs to get dropped so leftovers don't go to waste.  I hope this will be as helpful to you as it has been for me!  

For His Glory

Courtney

Using the time I have: An Intro

Any one who knows me very well will tell you, "Courtney is a procrastinator."  (My family, my college roommate, and my husband all know this very well) And I'll admit it, it's true.  For awhile I embraced it and found many reasons to explain it away.  I very often used the excuse that I was just busy, that I didn't have time until the last minute. I've come to realize that's just not true.  I have time, I just don't always use it wisely.  And while that realization came to me over a year ago, it hadn't really inspired much action.  (Sure I got organized enough to finish up my degree, but even that could have been done better.) Along with being a procrastinator, I'm not super organized and I fail consistently at time management.  These aren't my favorite qualities are some of my least favorite qualities about myself.  Becoming a mom and realizing that I really don't want my son to pick up my bad habits has been the kick in the pants I needed.

I've also been convicted that, even though I don't have a "boss" as a stay-at-home mom, I am commanded in God's word,

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men"                    -Colossians 3:23 NASB

I want to be an excellent wife and mother.  I want to serve my family well.  I need to begin to be a master of my time instead of allowing other things to master me.  This is going to be especially important, as I become more and more convinced that homeschooling our son and any other children the Lord blesses us with is going to be a big part of the future.  I know every season looks different, I know a large part of the current season is going to be planned around my son's needs, but most of all I know what God's word says.

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." -2 Corinthians 12:9a NASB

While I'll continue to blog about other topics as well, I'm starting a journey that will help me use the time I have more wisely.  If you would like to follow me, I'll be posting at least 3 more parts to this series.  Coming up in Part 1:  Meal Planning.


For His Glory

Courtney

Paul's Birth Story

On Monday November 28, 2011, we went to our regularly scheduled perinatologist appointment.  At this appointment, the doctor checked our baby's growth as well as what had become the routine look at the fluid level and placenta.  After seeing that the baby had not grown significantly since the previous measurement, the fluid level had continued to decrease, my blood pressure had suddenly started to spike, and my placenta was still(for a reason still unknown even after a full pathology workup after our baby's birth) aging faster than it should have been, we all agreed that the best decision would be to go ahead and induce me.  My appointment had started at 9, by 10 I was admitted and in a hospital gown with an i.v. started.  As they admitted me, Dan let family know that today was indeed the day.  My mom (who had come for the weekend and gone home just the night before) rushed back to Omaha to be there with us during labor and delivery.

Waiting to for them to rupture membranes and start Pitocin.

Dan and I were so excited! We would meet our little boy soon :-)  I was also nervous.  This was my first baby and I hadn't even had so much as Braxton Hicks contractions up until this point.  We had registered for the hospital's prenatal class, but the one we had signed up for would have taken place the weekend after our baby was going to be born now.

Around 11 they checked me and I was 1 cm dilated and 90% effaced so they went ahead and started the Pitocin.  Not much later they went ahead and ruptured my membranes. I had so little fluid, that the resident and the nurse were only "pretty sure" they were ruptured.  I spent most of the afternoon in bed chatting with Dan and my mom and watching t.v. while the contractions got started.  By late afternoon the contractions were starting to get uncomfortable and I was getting antsy laying in bed so the nurse asked if I wanted to spend sometime on the birthing ball.  I spent awhile on the birthing ball and it did help.  After awhile on the birthing ball I wanted to get up and walk.  Before they let me walk, they checked me again.  I had progressed to 4 cm and fully effaced.  Dan, my mom, and I spent some time walking laps around the ward.  It didn't take long for the contractions to intensify.

As afternoon began to turn into evening my contractions progressed to the point that as we walked, I would have to stop and breathe through it while holding onto Dan.  As they became stronger, they also started getting closer together.  I decided I wanted to be back in bed.  While laboring in bed, the contractions continued to be intense to the point that all I could do was focus on breathing through them.  They also got very close together.  I had probably 30 seconds or less between contractions(if that's inaccurate that's definitely how short it felt to me).  It was at this point we called the nurse to let her know I wanted an epidural.  At coming into the room and seeing how much my countenance had changed since starting to walk she decided to check me again. I was 5 cm dilated at this point.  Between 6 and 7 pm the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural.  Oh sweet relief!!! The epidural was AMAZING!!!!  They encouraged me to rest and I actually fell asleep for a couple of hours.

Not long after I woke up, the nurse came in and checked me. I was almost completely dilated, there was just a little left on one side, so they had me in a couple different positions to get it to complete and to get the baby to move down.  After spending some time doing this, they had me try a few pushes, but they noticed that each time they had me push, the baby's heart rate would dip.  The nurse called my doctor to let her know what was going on.  It wasn't too much later that my doctor arrived and took a look at what the baby's heart rate was doing.  She told us that he wasn't liking pushing, but she felt comfortable going ahead and keeping an eye on it and start pushing.  I don't remember exactly how long I spent pushing, but I do remember how amazing it was to watch my baby crown in the birthing mirror as I pushed.  Finally at 10:49 pm Paul Cortez David was born 5 lbs(the exact weight he measured on the ultrasound that morning) and 18 and 1/2 inches long!

Face to face for the first time!

Meeting Daddy!

Paul Cortez
5lbs. 18 and 1/2 inches long

After examining the cord, my doctor told us it was no wonder he hadn't liked pushing because there was literally a knot. They also sent my placenta to pathology to see if they could determine why it had aged faster than it should have(at my 6 week appointment my doctor said they couldn't determine a cause).  After cleaning us both up they moved us from labor and delivery to our room upstairs.  After all the hard work of giving birth and being born we were both exhausted.

The next day quickly became an adventure.  Being so little, he didn't want to wake up to eat and he was dropping his temperature, but seemed to be doing okay otherwise.  By late afternoon, his temperature seemed to be stabilizing so the nurse took us to give him his first bath in the nursery.

Not a huge fan of his first bath

After his bath, we swaddled him back up with warm blankets and brought him back to the room.  When we got back to the room, the nurse checked his temperature and it had dipped again.  She said she'd give him a half hour, but if it wasn't back up by then she'd need to take him back down to the nursery to be in the warmer.  When she came back to check it, it was still low so he had to go to the nursery.  Not to long after she took him to the nursery, he had his first noticeable apnea.  It happened twice in less than an hour.  Just as family was arriving to meet him for the first time, they came to tell us they were moving him down to the NICU.  Dan and I walked down with him and a doctor came to let us know what was going on.  Between Dan and I, I remember polishing off the box of kleenex that was in the room.  We were both so worried about our little guy and it was heartbreaking to see him with tubes and wires hooked to him.

In his isolet

It took 8 days for him to be released from the hospital.  For Dan and I, those were some very long days.  Waiting for Paul to start eating regularly, gain weight, regulate his temperature, lower his bilirubin level, stop having apnea, and pass his car seat test.  We definitely felt all the prayers that were being offered up for both of us and for Paul.  Finally, on December 7, Paul got to come home with us.  It was both exciting and surreal that we were finally taking our baby boy home with us.

Riding home in his car seat.

Sleeping in his bassinet at home for the first time.