Crock pot Chicken Tacos

Our family loooooves Mexican night. So much so that it happens at least once a week, maybe twice. I was trying to figure out some recipes to use my crock pot to lighten the load around here.  I found some great recipes on Pinterest (of course) but decided to mesh a few ideas and create my own take on chicken for tacos in the crock pot.
It was awesome!

Here is what I used:
     3 chicken breasts
     Salsa (probably equal to a jar) as well as some fresh tomatoes
     2 green peppers

I did not measure but used the following spices:
    Chilli Powder
    Ground Cumin
    Cilantro
I would also add onion, but did not in this batch. I was using the chicken to also make my little E-man's baby food so I left the raw onions out and used just a dash of onion powder. (He looooved his dinner!)

Cook on High 4-6 hours, or Low 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken prior to serving and stir in the juices.
It worked out really well and was perfect for our soft tacos/burritos. My husband, 3 year old daughter and my almost 11 mo-old enjoyed this! (I did rinse the chicken a bit prior to making his baby food.)
Anyway, this was very easy and a huge hit! 

:)

Blackberries!!!

 

Last summer, my mom and I planted some shoots off of my grandfather's blackberry bushes. Everything in my yard takes forever to grow or produce anything. The bushes have grown but most of the berries and shoots get eaten off by deer before I can do anything with them. 

This guy has a brother. They have been visiting my flowers for a long time. No more spots and now they have fuzzy antlers!

My mom's bushes however, have taken off. As a result, there were TONS of blackberries!!  Here's my baby girl picking some blackberries at Grandma's house. She could eat them right off the vine. :)




 We have really enjoyed them in the Harper household.  My husband REALLY enjoys this blackberry crisp.  Its a super easy recipe... oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and butter for a crispy top. I also add some cinnamon and nutmeg. If you would like the recipe just let me know. I'd be happy to share. :) 





Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Memorial Day weekend

I would first like to thank all of those wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to serving and protecting our country. Thank you for all of your sacrifices! 
To begin our long weekend, we spent Saturday and Sunday at Lake Louisa. My in-laws have a lake house (or three) on Lake Louisa, which is a small, fresh water lake in Central Virginia. Its a small lake, but packed with great people! Its definitely a perfect "get-away" and it is only a short drive!

 This was Ethan's first time in the water.  He decided to enjoy eating some sand first. :)

Daddy and Ethan

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My water baby! She would live in there if she could! 









After a long day of playing in the sun, Maddy fell fast asleep on Daddy. No worries, Daddy was wide awake. :)

Daddy and Maddy relaxing on the water.

Ethan and cousin Emma

 I decided to make some festive cupcakes. My assistant helped make them... and OF COURSE had to sample them to make sure they were OK to take!

Needed to make the red a little darker, but you get the point! :)

On Monday, we headed to Granddad and Grandma Locke's house for a cookout.  Maddy spent some time in the dragon pool.

    

Sweet Ethan and his beautiful blue eyes <3

Uncle Andrew and Maddy then put on a "musical" performance for everyone. 
As you can see, it was quite entertaining. Ah, if only I had captured this on video.  

Maddy stuck with the symbols.

Uncle Andrew was really getting into this jam session! 

A "special" breakfast!

Maddy asked for a "special" breakfast. So... I decided to make her mini cinnamon rolls. These are so easy and fun to make. Especially with little hands that like to help!!
Create a cinnamon-sugar mixture by using 4 teaspoons sugar and 2 teaspoons Cinnamon. *** I usually do not measure but usually have more cinnamon than sugar. Others prefer more sugar in the mixture. :)
Unroll one can of crescent rolls. Separate dough into 4 rectangles, pinching together all seams very tightly.  Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the 4 rectangles. Starting with the short side, roll them up tightly, remembering to pinch the seams.  Slice each roll into about 5 pieces and place into an 8 or 9 inch ungreased pie plate. I like to sprinkle any extra cinnamon-sugar on top. Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes. If desired, top with icing (1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 TBSP apple or orange juice ... or milk.)  And Voila! Mini Cinnamon rolls that are perfect for little fingers. :)

Another thought... I like to disguise vegetables into my food whenever possible. My friend, Sara, bought me a cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious", a while ago. It is packed with great recipes for disguising fruits and vegetables into your everyday meals. While I am lucky that my family will eat any fruit and MOST veggies, it still doesn't hurt to add an extra veggie or fruit to a recipe now and then! 
***My thought for this recipe is to spread some pumpkin puree to the crescent rolls before sprinkling the cinnamon sugar. You could even try apple, pear, blueberry or even carrot puree. Get creative!! :)

Easter cake!

As most people today, I am LOVING Pinterest!! I have found so many great recipes and fun activities. One of the easiest, yet most awesome things I have found so far was an idea for this Easter cake! Found the idea from here. Instead of cupcakes, I obviously used a bundt cake pan. I also added some lemon juice for flavoring in both the cake and icing. My daughter and I had a lot of fun making this one!  I'm definitely going to do one of these for the 4th of July (using red and blue of course). Or maybe even for the big Memorial Day bash at the lake!! Such an easy way to add fun color to any event!!