6.30.2011

bbq chicken quesadillas

i've been on a quest to try some new recipes lately in hopes of accomplishing 2 things. 1) to use more fresh veggies in my cooking, and 2) to branch out a little and try some new stuff. i came across this recipe in a recent ALL YOU Magazine, and loved the idea of making bbq for sandwiches in the crockpot and then using the leftovers the next night for quesadillas. 2 for 1 -- yes please! :-)

so, here i am trying the step-by-step pictures for a recipe, and once again i feel like some of the pictures just look gross, but it tasted good, so...take my word for it. ;)

saute 1/2 cup diced red onion until tender, 5-7 minutes...

add 4 cups baby spinach...

cook, stirring, until wilted. season with salt & pepper...

this would be the 4 cups of spinach only now it's wilted...

drain & rinse 1 cup canned kidney beans...

mash with a fork...

add spinach mixture, 3/4 cup corn, 1 Tbsp chopped/pickled jalapeno, and 1 cup slow-cooker bbq chicken...

mix it all together...

spread 1/2 cup of filling on 1/2 tortilla, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp cheddar cheese and fold...

cook in large skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side or until brown...

Click here for printable version.
1/2 cup diced red onion
4 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper
1 cup canned red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup corn kernels, defrosted and drained if frozen
1 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno (i omitted this)**
1 cup slow-cooker barbecue chicken (recipe below)
8 taco-size whole wheat tortillas
8 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese

preheat oven to 200*F. warm a skillet over medium heat; mist with cooking spray. saute onion until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. add spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. in a bowl, mash beans with a fork. add spinach mixture, corn, jalapeno, and chicken. spread 1/2 cup filling on half a tortilla, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. cheddar and fold tortilla over. repeat with remaining tortillas. warm a large skillet over medium heat. cook quesadillas in a single layer until brown and heated through about 4 minutes per side. place on a baking sheet in oven to keep warm; cook remaining quesadillas. cut each into thirds; serve 4 wedges per person.

slow-cooker bbq chicken


i'll confess that i was a little skeptical of this recipe because the thought of adding italian dressing to my bbq just didn't seem right, but we all loved it, so give it a try!  Click here for a printable version.

24 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. chicken broth (i used water)**

put chicken in slow cooker. in a bowl, combine barbecue sauce, dressing, brown sugar, and worcestershire sauce. pour over chicken. cover and cook on low for 5 hours. remove chicken to a cutting board and shred with 2 forks. in a small bowl, mix cornstarch and chicken broth. stir into sauce in slow cooker, cover and cook until sauce is thickened and heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. return chicken to cooker, stir, cover and continue cooking on low for 45 minutes. serve chicken on whole-grain buns, over brown rice, or with baked potatoes...or my personal preference -- skip the starch and have a healthy helping of potato salad on the side. :-)

6.24.2011

day 24...love

she loves her pooh bear...and i love her...oh SO very much!

yep...it's me...i'm back. nevermind that i missed the photos for days 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23... i did say at the beginning that june was a crazy month for us. i should have known that i wouldn't actually be able to complete the photo challenge. but, i've really enjoyed the rest of you (C & L) who have been posting, and at least it's given me something quick to blog about when i don't have time for a *real* blog post. (of which i have about a million swirling in my head right now...)

so far this month, we've enjoyed a weekend out of town for me to attend my new sister-in-law's bachelorette bash and for G&C to have some cousin/aunt/uncle time; got up at 4am to drive 6 hours and help throw a 40th anniversary party for my in-laws; spent a week out of town hanging out with grandparents and preparing for my brother's wedding; participated in said wedding, and drove the 6 hours back home on sunday. i had NO idea how exhausting all of this (and all the unmentioned stuff like packing/unpacking/repacking, laundry (x ALOT), little sleep, emtional drain, etc) was until we got back this week and i've been dragging...

but, we did manage to run errands and get a few necessary groceries on monday (along with the unpacking and laundry), headed to the pool with friends on tuesday followed by a trip to the library to stock up on books and movies, at home ALL day on wednesday which was divine, a morning spent at the aquarium on thursday, and more grocery shopping today. looking forward to family in town next weekend and celebrating the 4th, followed by a week with cousins, and then time to celebrate a certain little girl's 2nd birthday. T.I.M.E. F.L.I.E.S.

so....here's hoping i can finish strong for the june photo challenge and get some of those more interesting blog posts up soon...

6.08.2011

day 8...sunset

it wasn't terribly impressive tonight...
but the clouds were...
so i did what any good mom (who was locked out of her house with a soaking wet and not-so-pleasant smelling toddler, and no phone) would do...
i took pictures of them...pictures like i had never seen clouds before...
what my neighbors must think of me...
read more about the June photo challenge HERE

see more photos at the Flickr group HERE

6.07.2011

day 7...a high angle

i had trouble deciding between the photo above and the photo below for my official photo, but the one above is a more artistic shot, I suppose...
we were gone over the weekend and the garden seemed to really take off...
suddenly we had tons of squash, zucchini, and cucumber blooms, baby tomatoes, green beans ready for the picking, lettuce ready for the picking, and even a baby pepper.
we only picked about enough beans for 1 serving, but we all shared and savored that serving.
hopefully, this is just the beginning of a good harvest. :-)

read more about the June photo challenge HERE

see more photos at the Flickr group HERE

6.06.2011

day 6...books

so....i spent the weekend with 11 other girls at a destination bachelorette party weekend...i set alarms to remind me to take the daily picture...i did...and i didn't take them. i was having too much fun! SO...here we are at day 6, pretending like days 3, 4, and 5 never happened...at least not for this photo project...there are other (incriminating) photos to prove that days 3, 4, and 5 DID in fact actually happen. but...here's the picture for today.

"Without a proper esteem and love for Christ Himself, and an understanding of His covenant love for His church, we will lack the motive-force to serve Him in the world. If our ultimate motivation for service to God is simply because we love people, we will never be able to sustain the call to service that God has given to us because the very people we are called to serve will break our hearts. It is only the grace of Christ that enables us to persevere."
~Ligon Duncan, page 64~

read more about the June photo challenge HERE

see more photos at the Flickr group HERE

6.02.2011

day 2...my favorite shoes

read more about the June photo challenge HERE

see more photos at the Flickr group HERE

if you'd like to participate, link up below...or let me know if this is not working...

6.01.2011

day 1...self-portrait

read more about the June photo challenge HERE

see more photos at the Flickr group HERE

if you'd like to participate, link up below...or let me know if this is not working...

June Photo Challenge

june is going to be a whirlwind month for us, so i feel a little crazy taking this on too, but it seems like fun. i may not be able to follow the rules exactly, as some photos may have to be taken more than a day or two in advance, or posted more than a day or two after they were taken...(and no, that is not the same thing...) for more details on the photo challenge, go HERE.

i've added the option for "linking" at the bottom of my posts, so if you want to participate, link up! :-)

my inspiration. . .

whenever anyone asks me about couponing, i usually direct them HERE to Collin's website. i have learned so much from her, especially through the videos that she posts. if you watch the video below and then look at her other videos, you may learn a little something too...and if not, you'll probably get a chuckle or two for the day 'cause she's just so stinkin' cute and funny! one of the things i like about Collin is she's a realistic couponer and not an extreme couponer. here's her most recent "coffee with Collin" video... (these videos are usually posted on mondays...what a happy way to end a monday...watch a collin video before bed!) :-)

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