Crock-tober {a recipe}

I love to cook in my crock pot.

 isn't it great to throw dinner in at 7 am and not worry about it until dinner time?

 i use mine for slow cooking meat.

 roast or pulled pork, chicken breast

 taco soup, vegetable beef stew, chili.

my new favorite is seasoned pork butt

found this one at walmart 

opened the package with scissors
placed it in the crock pot, put the lid on

and cooked it on high for 6-7 hours
in my handy dandy crock pot
easy as that!
didn't add a thing.

turned it once after 4 hours
when it was done took it out onto a platter
and shredded it with two forks

threw together some sweet and tangy cool cole slaw

3/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

2 TBS white vinegar

stir until well mixed

then add in 1 pkg of precut slaw
chill for an hour

warmed up some small flour tortillas

and made 

pulled pork and slaw tacos

easy and inexpensive meal

takes about 5-10 minutes to prepare

winner!!

try it and let me know what you think.
happy crocktober!

meatballs and such

happy SPRING!!

making pioneer woman's meatballs for dinner.
some good ol home cookin' comfort food is in order in the curtis house tonight.

our poor yard... so many weeds.
adam planted the gardens this weekend.
monster weed!
tomatillos, okra, tomato, strawberry, green beans, blueberries.tomatillos are off to a good start.

this rosemary bush just grows and grows.
this little cutie lost his third tooth this weekend.

hello monday

the weekend is over. boo hoo.
on friday i made pioneer woman's spicy pop pulled pork. so darn good! i bought a pork butt shoulder roast at HEB. They had some really big ones or a few on the small side. I think the one i got was about 3-4 pound roast. cooked it for about 4-5 hours in the oven. It made plenty for the 4 of us for a few meals. the chipotle in adobe peppers give it the best spicy flavor. YUM i added some new artwork to the boy's room. i think they have outgrown the stage of taking it all down. fingers crossed kept cooper home on friday cause he was coughing and congested over night. it was fun spending one on one time with my boy. and he especially adores having my undivided attention.
i think he's ready to learn to tie shoes. however, he doesn't have any shoes that tie. so he's learning on mine. his bestie Alex at school learned how to tie his so he must keep up. so competitive, this one. deciding what to do with my collection of bottle caps

have a great week!

hello december

these cookies are SO SUPER GOOD! my new holiday favorite. thanks to Joy's Hope for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to make these for everyone I know. they are that GOOD!
Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker snickerdoodle cookie mix, found at Target during the holidays

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon water

1 egg

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 cup white chocolate chips


Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Open cookie mix. Set aside cinnamon sugar packet. Add water, egg and cookie mix to cream cheese mixture. Stir until soft dough forms. Add in cranberries and white chocolate chips. Cover & refrigerate 30 minutes.

Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake a 375º for 8-9 minutes until edges are set. Cool one minute then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!
sewing Barbie totes today
next up a Ken tote

fireplace weather on it's way. we are ready!

happy weekending!

chili recipe

I made this chili today. It is really good! crazy amount of ingredients... totally worth it!

1 lb pork shoulder (tamale meat), I used ground pork
1 lb bacon
2 lb stew meat
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 bottle beer
1 can beef broth
1 lb course ground chuck
2 lb pork sausage
2 small onions
1 bell pepper
4+ cloves of garlic
1 can green chilis
1 28 oz can chopped tomato, I used rotel
3 tbls chili powder
3 tbls cumin
1 tbls molasses
2-3 tbls chopped fresh cilantro
2 cans beans, I used pinto beans

Grind bacon in food processor, cook until done but not crisp. (My food processor bit the dust, so I chopped up the raw bacon into tiny pieces instead.) Drain and set aside reserving drippings. Dredge stew meat in flour, salt and pepper. Brown in 1-2 tbls drippings. Put tomato sauce, beef broth, beer and stew meat in slow cooker and cook overnight (low) or about 3 hrs on high until tender. Chop onions, green pepper and garlic an saute in 1/2 tbls bacon drippings until soft. Brown remaining meat. Combine all ingredients except cilantro in a large pot and simmer 1 hour, add additional salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro and additional broth or water if it is too thick before serving. Serve with cheese and sour cream.

Chili cook-off worthy! Not too spicy for the kiddos. If you like your chili spicy, add more chili powder. Enjoy!

today - this week

it's been a good week.
i delivered picture CD's to photography clients. this profession is such a blessing to this momma.
little coop got his first pair of glasses. he rocks 'em... i'm tellin' ya!

i found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. easy, no fuss recipe... just dump everything in one giant bowl and stir away with a wooden spoon. roll into balls and bake. the boys took some to their two teachers today. :) {recipe below}

i finished editing pictures of this tiny girl this week.
so adorable! those big blue eyes. i wonder if it would work if i started wishing i had a little girl? hmmmm {probably not} i'm pretty blessed with these two cuties.

happy weekending...

chocolate chip cookies
3 sticks of butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 TBS vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
As many chocolate chips as you'd like.


Throw it all together and mix it up.
Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes.
I like flat cookies so I rolled mine into balls and then smooshed them down with my hand.

tomatillo salsa

This salsa is amazing! Here are the cast of characters:

Raw radish (to taste) dice small
cilantro (to taste)
onions (to taste) we use red onion
tomatillos
jalapeños
avocado
Clean, wash, and boil the tomatillos and jalapeños together - wait till they change color from their natural green color to a tender green. Be aware that the tomatillos will cook faster than the jalapeños.
Blend the tomatillos and jalapeños together. We use the blender. They blend quick so only a turn or two is needed.

In a bowl, pour tomatillo-jalapeños mix, add salt, diced radish, cilantro and onions to taste. Mix everything well. Once you get it to the taste you want, then add the diced avocado and gently mix. Enjoy!!