Orange BBQ Chicken, Crockpot style

I love being able to throw a couple ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook for a while. And just like that, dinner is created with little effort on my part. Could this apply to other areas of my life?! Kidding.

Found a recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it. I've made it a few times now and it is a hit. Hubby loves some BBQ so it is an instant  hit in this house.

About 4-6 good size chicken breasts, left whole

1/2 a jar of Orange Marmalade (18 oz jar)

1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (18 oz bottle ) {I'm sure any other brand will do}

2-4 tablespoons soy sauce

Some seasoning to taste (I used an all purpose seasoning)

Spray the crockpot pan generously with non-stick spray. I've found it helps so much with clean up the more you spray! (Tip: Coconut oil works well with no coconut taste) Place chicken in and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours. Remove any excess liquid that is produced. Make sauce mix in another bowl and to chicken, while shredding chicken. Allow to cook on low for another 30-45 minutes. Add more sauce mix if you like a more saucy meal.

After making this nearly half a dozen times already in the past 2 months, it is a hit and super easy. 

Egg McBacon with Cheese {recipe}

On a cooking roll? Trying to fit in where I can and make ahead to plan and organize. Win for everyone!

Another Pinterest creation and a pretty genius one I might add. I am a big breakfast person so anything dealing with breakfast I will usually jump up and down screaming all over. Another thing I'm pretty excited about is planning ahead. Being a busy full time working mom, and shift working at that, anything to help me plan ahead and make easier and cut down on time, I'll give a solid high-five to.

Original idea via Pinterest 

What did I use?

8 eggs (plus a splash of egg white I wanted to get rid of)
About 1/2 cup total: chopped red bell pepper and chopped zucchini
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1 tablespoon Wheat Germ (I use this everywhere I can!)
8 pieces of bacon
6 English muffins
5 slices of cheese

(clearly I did not measure to make them all the same. Some have cheese, all had bacon and an extra piece for me to munch on while making!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray. I mixed the eggs with the veggies, wheat germ and salt and pepper in a bowl. Place bacon on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes in the oven BEFORE the eggs go in. Scoop egg mix into the muffin pan slots. Once the bacon has been in 10 minutes, flip bacon and put muffin pan in the oven for another 10 minutes. By time, the bacon was done and I found the eggs needed another 1-2 minutes.

I toasted the English muffins in the toaster. Placed a slice of cheese then bacon and then the egg. You could easily add some spinach, remove the cheese, etc. I used wax paper to wrap up the sandwiches. 6 total sandwiches between the Hubby and I, should last about 3 days. I plan to make these again and make some more. Storing in the fridge with just 6 should be fine for the next few days. Take out, pop in microwave for 2-3 minutes. Wah-lah! If I can make a big enough batch, I'll store these in the freezer.

Another Pinterest Win!



*Disclaimer: Egg McBacon is a name I just made up about 25 minutes ago. Not taking credentials from any big chain restaurant. And original idea for this recipe was not my own, I just made it and made my own twist on it. Thanks!

Pinterest Wins: Pancake Muffins

Instagram'd my Pancake Muffins

Found an idea on Pinterest and BAM...made it work. Pretty tasty. Didn't have anything too crazy for toppings but Chocolate Chips and Blueberries work wonders. 

The original Pin:

Source: theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com via Char on Pinterest

And here's how I did it.

Ingredients:

Pancake Mix (yep, I used box mix. Easy)

Toppings of choice (I used chocolate chips and blueberries)

Mix batter in bowl according to directions on box. If using a from-scratch version, it will work just the same. Preheat oven to 350* degrees, or according to box directions. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray. Spoon batter into muffin tins, about half full. The fuller, the more plump your muffins will be. Add toppings. Also would be good: Nuts, bacon, sausage...Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes, again according to box directions for Muffins. Check with a toothpick. Let cool. Eat up. Eat them all. Ok, maybe not all of them.

These are super easy. Can be made ahead of time and grab 'n go for breakfast.

You'll thank me later. Or thank Pinterest. Same thing.

Where did November go?

Gosh, it is nearly the end of November. December is right around the corner and the year is almost over. How can this be?

I haven't been too great at posting lately. I'm so irregular when it comes to posting. Here's a little Pinterest love and recipe that worked BEAUTIFULLY! Thought I'd share. I'll post some more later, after the house is clean. Wait, that chore will never be done. So I'll just post soon, promise ok?

Thin Mint Cookies (Think Girl Scouts, only cheaper)

Got this recipe from Pinterest.

Source: loveveggiesandyoga.com via Char on Pinterest

It worked great!

Ingredients:
1 roll/sleeve of Ritz Crackers
1 tablespoon Shortening
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon mint extract flavoring **Measure carefully. A little too much and you have cough syrup tasting, YUCK!

Melt chocolate and shortening. Shortening helps chocolate stay smooth and not get hard when melting. Once melted add in mint flavoring. Measure careful!! Dip crackers into chocolate and set aside to dry/cool. If you have enough room in your freezer I would suggest setting cookies on a plate to cool quickly in there. If you live in warm climates (Hello, I live in 115 degree desert Arizona!) I would NOT suggest doing this in the middle of July. The freezer helps.

I promise, these don't taste like Ritz crackers. Chocolate helps!

Hope this makes your weekend better!

Motivation & Inspiration

Some motivation & inspiration to start the day & week off right.

Source: Uploaded by user via Lindsey on Pinterest

Source: piccsy.com via Jana on Pinterest

A few quotes and help from Pinterest to get some great motivation and inspiration for the week.

Source: apartment34.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Anyone else a big fan of Pinterest? I like it and like exploring all of the ideas. Just don't have a lot of time to sit on there. 

Source: google.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Source: blue-dreams-revisited.tumblr.com via Agne on Pinterest

Sometimes I think we (using we as a generalization statement) get all caught up in the day to day hustle and chores and forget to stop and literally smell the flowers.

Source: y0unqq-wild-and-free.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

While looking at the big picture of things, I feel it is not necessary to get caught up in how to get there and what you have to do to get there and all the struggles with how hard, difficult and challenging it will be, but to focus on the now.

Source: goddamnyourebeautiful.tumblr.com via Cathy on Pinterest

Here's to a new day living in the here and now. 


Smile more.
Laugh twice as much.
Don't worry so much.
Say 'yes' to doing something new.


Have a great week!