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Crockpot Angel Chicken

.... i don't remember where i originally found this recipe but it is here as well....and the pic looks a bit more appetizing....i must say this dish is quite bland looking but tastes wonderful!! i know you are supposed to eat with you eyes first but maybe this time you just start with your eyes closed :)

.... this is a "short" crockpot recipe....not something that needs all day, just a few hours....i like to do this on my off day when i can put it on around 12 or 1pm or on sundays when i wake up, then it is ready for lunch after church....

Crockpot Angel Chicken

Ingredients
1 8-ounce package fresh button mushrooms, quartered **
1 6-ounce package fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced **
4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter
1 0.7-ounce package Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 10 3/4-ounce can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine (if you are not one to keep wine at home you can use broth)
1/2 of an 8-ounce tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion
Hot cooked rice or angel hair pasta or egg noodles
Snipped fresh chives (optional)

Directions
1. Combine mushrooms in a 3-1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker; top with chicken breast. Melt butter in a medium saucepan; stir in Italian dressing mix. Stir in mushroom soup, white wine, and cream cheese until melted; pour over chicken.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.
3. Serve chicken and sauce over cooked rice, angel hair pasta or egg noodles. Sprinkle with chives, if desired.

** i am not a fan of mushrooms....i don't mind the cream of mushroom soups but just to eat a mushroom or add them to a recipe ~ no thank you! so, needless to say...i skip that part of the recipe and it turns out just fine!....i included it in the recipe for those of you fungus eaters who don't mind a shroom or too :)

.... i hope you enjoy .... Bon Appetit!

my boy...

yesterday & today audrey has had the opportunity to get to know some of her new friends from school better and enjoy some playdates.....which in turn meant that grant & i had some playdates together.....these chances don't come around often.....it was so weird with just one kiddo around in the afternoon....and much more quiet....ahhhhh....we played trucks, we read books, we had lots of fun....as a matter of fact, grant had so much *mommy time* he felt the need to park himself under my feet in the kitchen while i was trying to cook.....i would step on him, trip over him ~ if any of you have seen my itsy bitsy teeny weeny kitchen you will understand ~ and say a few, umm, kind words to ask him to move.....each and every time he would just look up at me with those big blue beautiful eyes and laugh, laugh, laugh....he couldn't get enough of me....and i kinda enjoyed it :)

i was a bit more tired today so grant had more alone play time.....he does great! a few noggin shows later and mommy got a few minutes of rest.....not that i would EVER let a tv babysit for me, oh no ~ not me.....hahaha.....ok, just stopped laughing...yup, i'm human and sometimes max & ruby and wonderpets are life-savers! he fixed up all his stuff.....maybe he's an engineer in the making! or a farmer by looking at the hat :) i have thoroughly enjoyed my two afternoons.....grant looked up at me today and so sweetly said.....i love you .....melt . my . heart !

though there is the one little bit of temptation he is having a hard time dealing with....and i am too.....candy corn.....so fresh & chewy & yummy....they were meant as a little decoration....but come on! who can pass up candy corn?! every once and a while i would look back and catch his chubby little *porkchop* hand in the candy :)

opa!!

the 37th annual greek festival was wonderful again this year.....i really should eat there everyday they have the festival just to be able to try all the different foods....yum-o!! we devoured our lunch of pites, gyros & greek salads....

audrey & grant heard all the music and wanted to go watch all the little ladies dancing.....so neat!
we checked out some of the traditional toys, jewelry, pottery, etc....beautiful pieces!
then we checked out the kid's favorite part of all......the desserts.....there were tons to choose from!! we went with the baklava & chocolate baklava..... chewy.moist.sweet.honey.nutty.phylo heaven!!

i love having the opportunity to introduce our children to different cultures.....it is so fun to watch them experience all the new things....plus, what a great opportunity to each some amazing food!!

an apple a day....

apples, the 5 senses & johnny appleseed.....what a combo?!

i had the honor of being able to volunteer in audrey's class yesterday.....it was a day all about apples...they have been learning about the 5 senses and johnny appleseed, whose birthday is today.....so we did a little apple tasting in audrey's class......apple butter, applesauce, dried apples & apple cider.....after the tasting the kids were able to chart on the promethan board ~ just another piece of amazing technology at their school ~ their favorite apple item.....audrey's was the applesauce :)

happy anniversary....

to RichardsFamilyof4...the blog!

it is hard to believe that about one year ago today i was doing quite the same thing i am this beautiful *sunny* morning.....watching the today show....what does the today show have to do with me blogging???? everything. that particular morning they were airing a segment about this phenomenal woman and her amazing husband who had been critically injured in a plane crash.....her family was there, bright and early, telling her story to all who would listen.....nienie is a blogger.....and not just any blogger....an unbelievable blogger ....her sister cjane is also an amazing, talented blogger....these ladies mesmerized me....i began reading about nienie, i actually started at the beginning of her blogs and read all the way back.....it took me a few days to say the least.....when i was finished reading about this phenomenal woman i was inspired....i was inspired to blog, inspired to be a better mother & wife, inspired to be a better christian, inspired to be a lot of things.....so that is when i began my blog with this very first post here.....

i think i've come a long way since then.....though for the most part this blog is just a place to keep my family & friends all over updated on our little lives, but for myself it has become a bit of therapy for me.....it is an outlet for writing, a hobby, a love, a creative moment, a way to decompress from a hectic day, relaxation, a love....i have been blessed to come across many, many wonderful blogs and women through this whole experience....many of which are listed on my blogrolls on the bottom left of this site...visit them, see what they are doing too.....it's an amazing *blog* world out there...

moving right along.....because, how could i not ~ on my anniversary and all ~ include some pics of my kiddos :) but not just any pics.....see, i've been learning a bit about photo editing....man, do i still have a long way to go.....it is so fun to see what a pic straight out of the camera, that i thought was pretty dang good, can turn into...i have been using this site, picnik, for my editing....i chose that site for two reasons 1) it came highly recommended & 2) it is FREE.....i would LOVE to have photoshop, but i will have to wait....also, i have learned how to make my pics a bit bigger too....this site is awesome and has lots of great tips for all us amateur photogs....i still have a good bit to learn about that too.....

tell me what ya think....

here is big man....straight out of the camera

here is big man.......edited

here is sweet girl......straight out of the camera

here is sweet girl.....edited

i don't know about you guys but i am LOVING those edits.....so vibrant!! so neat looking!!

.....this weekend could possibly be pretty laid back for us...ahhhh, so nice! i think we are heading downtown to the greek festival at some point for a plate of delicious, yummy food.....yup, there i go again talking about food :)

................

here it is my first installment of posts ALL ABOUT FOOD......whoohoo :) i have affectionately titled these posts Kelly's Kitchen but i must include a disclaimer ~

most of the recipes i will include are not my own, i will always let you know where or how i found them......but all the recipes will be something i have cooked, cook on a regular basis and absolutely love!! most have all been trialed on my family, friends & co-workers......every once in a while i may post something that i actually came up with on my own.....those will be few, i tend to just tweek already existing recipes......

Bon Appetit!!

Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream

from Southern Living

Ingredients
1 (20-oz.) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli*
1 (16-oz.) jar sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce
2 tablespoons white wine
2 medium-size fresh tomatoes, chopped**
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Garnish: fresh basil strips

Preparation
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a medium saucepan. Pour wine into sauce jar; cover tightly, and shake well. Stir wine mixture into saucepan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil, and cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with pasta, and top evenly with 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Garnish, if desired.

*1 (13-oz.) package three-cheese tortellini may be substituted.
**1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, fully drained, is what i usually use ~ much easier.
Note: I used Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli and Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce.

For a bit more substance, I will also add either two cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast diced or one package of the pre-cooked chicken strips.

This recipe quickly became a favorite of mine! It is so incredibly easy and presents absolutely beautiful. Plus, wow ~ it is delicious!! It is also a great meal to serve a crowd. Just double it and you could honestly feed at least 6 people!

Marguerite Cleveland, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Southern Living, JULY 2007

comfort...

food, that is.....yes, a post of all words.....mostly about food.....shocking, random, just plain out . of . control.....

tonight for dinner i made my ultimate comfort food.....probably one of my all-time favorite meals....pot roast, mashed potatoes, something green ~ tonight it was sugar snap peas, but broccoli & green beans also fill the spot, & bread of some variety......wow, yummy!!

i have loved this meal for a long, long time.......i fondly remember my mom making it for me as a child.....much better than the hamburger helper, tomato soup with grilled cheese or boiled hotdogs that we more frequently ate :) ok, so that was a total ploy to aggravate my mother.....hehehe, you guys think it worked?!?! my mom is a great cook....our family meals are always scrumptious & plentiful.....

getting back to the savory, tender roast with creamy, buttery potatoes and sweet, sugary snap peas and homestyle biscuits......wow, i am so getting hungry again.....anyhoo.....as i sat at dinner tonight and looked around my table, i was comforted...... comfort in my food, comfort in my beautiful children, comfort for the blessings in my life.....and comforted knowing they loved my ultimate dinner as much as i did.....audrey was soppin' up her potatoes with her meat ~ just like her momma....grant actually ate most of his dinner....that is huge for him lately.....brett, well, i'm sure he loved the fact that i am on a better roll of cooking real dinners more often.....

so, what comforts you???
please, do share :)

in my *spare* time i thought i would start a weekly post about food.....surprise, surprise, something about eating.....food, meals, entertaining, party planning, cooking, nice dinners are all things i love to eat, do, plan, learn from, talk about & blog about ~ as i am sure you all can tell from a good majority of my posts....

let's see how i do......come back tomorrow for my first installment from..... Kelly's Kitchen

rained out....

today was supposed to be my work's family park play day......but seeing as we have apparently moved to seattle ~ we got rained out! we did try & managed to play for all of five minutes before the bottom fell out.....again.....i was bringing popsicles for all the kiddos that came to play so, to make the best of a wet situation, we opened the back hatch of the car and let grant & audrey enjoy a treat while we *hoped* the rain would blow over.......but . it . didn't . oh well, we need the rain dearly, so we'll try again another day......

the birthday girl....

strawberry shortcake

wishes isabella a...
happy 7th birthday!!
isabella and her momma,
my sister lisa

isabella and grammy

isabella had an awesome birthday party...... strawberry shortcake slumber soiree.....there was karaoke, pizza making, yummy birthday cake, strawberry soda, pin the jewel on shortcake, manis & pedis, makeovers, story-time, the hanna montana movie & cozy, cuddly slumber~time.....

my sister thought of everything.....including awesome goody bags for the little princesses to take home.....we were so excited to help isabella celebrate her birthday on saturday!!