What's REALLY in your household products?

Had a brief ADULT (I know surprising) conversation the other day about what is in household products and cleaning products and the adult I was talking to had heard that some of these products were possible culprits for young girls "developing" faster than ever before.

I didn't start this conversation, nor had I done any research on the topic, but the person I was speaking with mentioned that carpet cleaners (mostly professional cleaners) and dish detergent were some of the worst products.

I will be completely honest, I have STILL have not done any research on this topic, as I am almost afraid to find out what is in my house!?! But of course the next day as I was loading the dishwasher, I stopped to look at the bottle of dishwasher detergent that we have to see what was really in it.  First thing I read "harmful if swallowed or put in mouth".  But we put it all over the dishes that we put in our mouth??  Granted it is rinsed (hopefully well) off the dishes in the dishwasher, that still made me think a little.  It also stated "Do not get on skin or clothing", but I guess just pray you have a good dishwasher that gets the stuff off of everything it washes??  And "Contains Bleach".  Maybe they all don't have bleach, but our particular brand happens to.  Maybe it's just me, but I am not sure I really want bleach all over my plate that I eat off of?

We have been having trouble with our dishwasher getting dishes clean, so if it can't get all the food off the plate, how is it guaranteeing that all the bleach and other chemicals are off of there too??

As I still have not done the research on this, it just seemed scary to me?  I plan to research it more, along with other household products before jumping to conclusions, but definitely makes you think a little bit!

Anybody do any research or have any info on this topic?

I hope to post an update if I find any interesting information!

Recipe of the Week: Cheeseburger Soup

And I didn't find it on Pinterest! :) (although you probably could if you searched for it!)


I happened to be watching TV during the day, which rarely happens...and as we put together a Winnie the Pooh puzzle I was listening to the Nate Berkus Show. Their guest was Chef Aaron McCargo and they were making foods that many pregnant women would instantly crave hearty meals.  Of course the next day I had to go buy all the ingredients to make this soup!  This will probably not be in my "diet" after I have the baby, so I thought I would make it now and enjoy while I still can!

*Note: This recipe is actually "Spicy Cheeseburger Soup", but being 9 months pregnant, didn't want to add the "spicy".  So check out the link for the original recipe if you like to spice it up a bit!

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup peeled, diced potato (1 medium all-purpose potato)
½ cup canola oil
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup finely diced onion
½ cup diced green bell pepper
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Italian Herb Blend
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ quarts beef broth
¼ cup beef bouillon powder
1 ½ pounds white American cheese, thickly sliced
¼ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts

Directions

In a large saucepan, put the potatoes and enough water to cover them by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Cover and keep warm.

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat slightly with a wooden spoon, until the beef begins to brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Add the onion and the bell peppers and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Add the flour, herb blend, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, until well mixed and thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the broth and bouillon powder, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until heated through, taking care not to break the meat up too much.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the slices of cheese, one at a time, and stir gently until the cheese melts into the soup and the soup becomes creamy. Add the scallions and the potatoes and cook just until heated through. Serve hot.

Doesn't look as appetizing as it really is! It was yummy, but a little salty for me! I also like "chunkier" soups so I would probably cut back on some of the beef broth next time.  We ate the leftovers over rice the next day which was really good.  We also have a TON left to freeze!

Let's Read!

Has TV taken over your life?? I have felt like my kiddo has been watching way to much TV lately.  I have been allowing it more as this pregnancy is exhausting and I sometimes enjoy just sitting for a 30 minute cartoon.  But she now will beg to "watch a show" several times a day.  I have also made the mistake of turning the TV on, or playing a movie on my iphone for her while she's eating lunch or breakfast (mostly to get her to sit still for 5 seconds and actually eat something!)  But I am now regretting some of these choices.

So of course as I browsed through Pinterest (while watching TV :) ) yesterday, I came across a pin of different ways to read more with your child, which led me to 10 Ways to Read More with your Child. The website has some great ideas for reading time, many of which were for independent readers, but others are great for all ages! The one that stuck out to me was number 8: Read to your child at mealtimes and snacktimes.  So today instead of TV or Iphone clips, I decided to bring a few books to the table with our lunch.  I read them to her while she ate, and to my surprise after we finished the small stack she asked me to read them all AGAIN!!! (I have to admit, I was really expecting her to say "Mom, can I watch a movie now?")

Can't wait to try some of the other ideas on the website! How do you incorporate reading into your day??

What are some of your favorite Toddler books! Here is one of our favorites right now: Ed's Egg By: David Bedford.

We actually got this book in a set with a few other fabulous stories from Alissa's Great Aunt for Christmas.  My daughter is absolutely in love with them. I am not sure where she got the whole set, but here is a website link to the publisher where they sell many of the other stories we have.  They also sell many of them on Amazon!

Happy Reading!

Easter Activities!

Easter is almost here, and if you're looking for some activities to do with the kids here are some ideas!

Geigertown Fire Company Egg Hunt! 

Saturday April 7, 2012 at 1:00
This event is completely free! There are different age group areas and TONS of eggs with great prizes! Come out and show your support for your local fire company and how much you appreciate all they do! Check out their website for more info on the Easter Egg Hunt or other events they have throughout the year!

Weaver's Orchard Egg Hunt and Easter Activities! 

Friday April 6th and Saturday April 7th, 11-2.  

Cost is $5 per child, but includes the egg hunt and many other activities for the whole family! They will also be offering hay rides.  Visit their website for more information on all the events going on this weekend! 

Easter Activities at Home! 

Since I had ALOT of time to spend with my toddler this week, I decided to put together the Easter Pack from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com.  .  I did this as a preview to the Letter of the Week program that I am planning to start with her shortly.  I wanted to introduce her to the system I hope to use when I start the preschool curriculum.  I was so happy with how excited she was about all the activities and that she was actually able to do all of them! We really had fun with it! There is still time this weekend to do any/all these activities with your kids! 

Just ordered these counting bears from Amazon, and she is obsessed with them! 

So of course we had to use the bears to do our Egg Counting (from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com)

She also enjoyed the coloring pages from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

We hid these number cards around the room and after she found them she had to put them in order to read her bible verse.  

"He Is Risen!" Puzzle

Had to wear the new bunny ears to work on her lacing card

You can find all these Easter activities and MORE at www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com.

Recipe of the Week: Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken and Honey Mustard

Found this recipe (along with a few others that I love) on the website 50 Easy and Delicious Chicken Recipes.

Here is a link to the recipe and directions from the blog Six Sisters' Stuff.  I figured I couldn't go wrong with Honey mustard, chicken, bacon, and lots of cheese!

Ingredients- Chicken breast, cheese, mushrooms, bacon, salt, honey, mustard, mayo, onion flakes, and cooking oil.  

Ours definitely doesn't look as fancy as the pretty picture from their website, but it was still yummy! Only recommendations I have are don't use hickory smoked bacon (unless you like that). I didn't enjoy the "smoked" flavor it gave to the chicken. I also would have added some extra mushrooms to it! But I finally found a meal that the whole family will eat!!! 

Check out Six Sisters' Stuff for more information about this recipe and some other fabulous recipes! 

Mac Help! Please!

Help!!! I am currently looking for anyone that might be able to help me with computer clean up.  I've kind of gotten in over my head in photos and movies on my computer and my Iphone.  I am always so worried about losing my pictures and movies that I save them in a million places and I am so afraid to delete them! So I currently can't really do anything on my Iphone because I have so many movies on it, and I have tried burning DVD's of my iphone movies, but for some reason some are missing.  We have so many different back up devices that we bought, more memory for our computer, and I am just not sure what to do with it all, or how to find out that I am really saving things there.  I am pretty clueless about Iphoto, IDVD, Imovie, Itunes, etc. and although I attempt to use all of them and can get some things done, I know there has got to be an easier/better way! 

Anyone good with this stuff that could possibly give me some quick tips so that I would be able to use my phone this weekend?? Or for longterm know of anyone/anywhere I can take my computer to to get help with this all. I don't really want to just drop my computer off to have someone do it for me, I really was hoping to kind of sit/talk with someone to figure out how to do it all on my own.  

Recipe of the Week: Marinated Tomato Bake...or something like that!

Another Pinterest find, I don't have the link to the recipe or a name for it! But it was REALLY good and healthy! I also don't have amounts for any of the ingredients, I just sort of winged it!

Ingredients:
Tomatoes
Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon juice
Spinach
garlic
Salt
Shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
Directions:
Marinate sliced tomatoes in balsamic vinegar for 3-4 hours (or longer if desired). Place on foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, saute spinach and garlic with a dash of salt and lemon juice.  Put spinach on top of tomatoes and sprinkle with cheese.  Broil until the cheese is golden brown!




Click the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button below for links to more great recipe finds!

25% OFF Oldnavy.com

Since a recent visit with her cousins, my daughter has been asking me to get her "blue flip flops like Nicole's".  She wants to be just like her older cousin.  So I have been searching for blue ones all over.  Found some at Target that had zebra print with them and thought she would love them, but of course they were not solid blue "just like Nicole's".  I figured Old Navy would have to have them since they have flip flops in every color of the rainbow and they are cheap! So I finally made it to Old Navy to find these darn shoes....and of course they barely have ANY flip flops, let alone light blue ones in her size.  

After calming the storm from not being able to find the flip flops she HAS to have (and remember she's only 2 and 1/2!!!), I told her I would look on the computer to see if I can order them for her.  And with my luck they happened to have light blue flip flops in her size at Oldnavy.com.  They have butterflies on them, but I am praying she will be ok with that! And as I am shopping, I realize they are also having the 25% off promo going on! So of course I then bought her a few more things, some things for post pregnancy, and a few things for baby boy so I could also get free shipping! 

Spend $50 you automatically get Free shipping, use the code SPRINGSAVE to get 25% off (30% off if you spend at least $100, i think).  Pretty sure you can also mix and match things from Gap and Banana Republic in your order too! 

Happy Shopping! 

Letter of the Week

A few weeks ago I decided that baby girl needed some more structured play/learning time at home.  We had always been running so many errands and going to all different classes that we weren't home all that much! So this winter, to get some sanity back and save some money, we spent more time at home.  I started to feel like she was always entertaining herself by simply emptying her toy bins in every room, constantly calling for me, or watching WAY to much TV.  

So I decided to do a search for some kind of "letter of the week" or beginner preschool activities that we could do each day/week.  I wasn't really sure what I was looking for, but just wanted to see what was out there to just give her a little time each day where she has to sit and focus on ONE thing (she tends to struggle in that area a little bit).  And I just happened to stumble upon an incredibly amazing program that I am soooo excited about! 

Erica, from Confessions of a Homeschooler, has created a "Letter of the Week" program that (in my opinion) is absolutely phenomenal.  

According to her website "This curriculum is a full 26 week core program for preschool students (ages 3-4). Included are weekly lesson plans that cover all the subjects a preschooler needs and more!" I can't imagine the amount of time she put into creating this program, as well as MANY other curriculum programs that she shares on her site.  She offers many of her printables free on her site, but I chose to purchase the entire program on CD for 3 reasons: It is inexpensive, you don't have to download/save the files on your computer (my computer is almost completely filled with photos), and after seeing all the work she put into the program, I felt she really deserved the credit (and money) for it! Don't get me wrong, as a teacher, I am all about sharing ideas/resources/etc., but if you take a look at this program you will see why I wanted to pay her for it! 

I received my CD within a few days (thank you!) and immediately got started with planning how/when/where I was going to use everything.  I don't plan on homeschooling my kids, although the thought is still in my head, I just wanted something a little extra and fun to keep her busy when her baby brother arrives.  I have only prepared the vowels so far, as  I quickly found that preparing all the materials is ALOT of work, I can't imagine having to create them all, then print, cut, laminate, organize. I also have not printed everything, but picked and chose different activities for each letter/week. I am hoping to spend the next several weeks before baby arrives, hopefully finishing the entire alphabet! It definitely gets easier to organize once you learn what all the activities are and how they are used! Baby girl has gotten her hands on some of the finished products she found in my office and asks almost everyday is she can "play" with them.  Makes me even more excited to really jump into the curriculum with her.  

I plan to use a similar system to Erica's Workbox System to organize our materials each week.  I bought a 5 drawer shelf from IKEA and plan on putting 3 or 4 activities into each drawer for the week.  Baby girl can then take out her box for the day and work on the activities, either on her own or with my help.  This sounds so good on paper, but we'll see if it works or if I keep myself organized enough to actually do it.  I am hoping after I put the work into the printing, cutting, and laminating, it will motivate me to really stick to a schedule with it! 

Speaking of laminating, I also love using my new laminator from Walmart.  It only cost $25, and is so easy to use! Thanks for the recommendation, Erica.  

There are so many great ideas for all ages in Erica's lesson plans and on her website, www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com. Even if you don't homeschool or plan to, I highly recommend checking it out! She is pretty amazing and also provides links to so many great products and other great websites!  

Recipe of the week: "Man-Pleasing Chicken"

Of course another Pinterest find! I am completely addicted to Pinterest, which is one of the reasons my blog has been so quiet! I should probably title this "recipe of the month".  But here is the recipe for"Man-Pleasing Chicken"! (I think I actually enjoyed it more than my man, though)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)
1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
salt/pepper

Mix mustard, maple syrup, and vinegar in bowl. Place chicken in baking dish, salt and pepper chicken, pour mixture in pan coating the chicken. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes, basting once or twice throughout.

We ate ours with sweet potato and broccoli! So easy to make and really yummy! Enjoy! 

Easter Activity

12 Days of Easter

Can't take credit for this one! Found this awesome activity on Pinterest and all the details for it from the family volley blog.  

This activity looks great for teaching the real meaning of Easter in a fun way. I of course haven't tried it yet, but wanted to post this in case anyone else was interested in trying it out this year! I am thinking my 2 and 1/2 year old might be a bit young for it, but we'll try it and save the materials so we can do it again in a few years if it doesn't work out this year! Started getting all the materials together so we have it ready to start 12 days before Easter.  

There is a different scripture hidden in an egg everyday, along with a small item that helps explain the bible verse and how it relates to the Easter story.  It is simple to prepare and you don't need many materials! I won't list them all here, check out this link for all the details and bible verses! 

Do you have any other fun Easter activities to share?? Would love to hear about them! 

The "not so crazy" coupon lady....

A few months ago,  I decided I was going to jump on the "coupon" train.  Ordered a Sunday Paper and started clipping...for about a month! haha  Just isn't really for me I guess. Or maybe I am just not organized enough.  I still like to use coupons for everyday things I buy, laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, but I don't really know how/like to go crazy looking for the best deals, where coupons are doubled, etc. etc. I'm more of the "one stop shopper" and will pay a few cents extra if it means I don't have to drive all over creation and pull a toddler in and out of the car!

So needless to say I ended up with quite a few expired coupons over the last few months! I hated to just throw them away, so when The Krazy Coupon Lady posted on Facebook that expired coupons could be donated to Military Families I thought that would be a perfect thing to do with my expired coupons.
Spent a few minutes cleaning out my coupons and sent them out to the KCL Overseas Coupon Program.




Split the coupons into "food" and "nonfood" piles and sent them on their way.  (ABOVE is the East Coast Mailing Address).  Check out this LINK for more information on how to send your expired coupons to Military Families serving our country.

Also, if you know of any local organizations, military, food banks, etc. that have programs like this, please let me know!

Or if you are in any kind of coupon "swapping" club fill me in on that too! We only use specific coupons from our Sunday paper and end up throwing so many away! Would love to share them with you or anyone else that may want/need them!

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I am one of the lucky people that share a birthday with Dr. Seuss! And Oh, What a birthday it's been! I spent my last 2 birthday's in Florida visiting my family, without my husband :( And of course he surprised me down there both years with Spa days, which were totally amazing! I didn't really think it could get much better, UNTIL TODAY!

Was first surprised by my husband waking up and telling me he took the day off to spend with us! That alone would have been all I needed for my birthday, but he had some more surprises up his sleeve!
He got us a Babymoon! :) :) And our last hurrah before our Baby boy arrives includes a Flyer's game and a weekend in Philly, hotel and all! Soooo incredibly excited, have not had a "date" with my husband since our Anniversary, in AUGUST!!! He has even scheduled the babysitters for the weekend at the end of March!!

And the surprises didn't stop there! He had the day planned with The Lorax movie tickets and lunch at The Movie Tavern.  I had never heard of it, but it has now become one of my new favorite places! Lunch served to my comfy reclining chair while I watch the movie! Yes please! Would have loved to top it off with a Margarita or glass of wine, but refills of water at the push of a button worked just as well! :) And baby girl loved her first trip to the movie theater! Not sure we should have started her out there, she's probably a little spoiled now!

I recommend the Thai Chicken Flatbread! So Yummy! 

I had such a great day with my little family! And even had a whole chocolate cake waiting for me when I got home!

Thank you hubby and baby girl for such an awesome birthday! I'm one of the luckiest people out there! <3

Snowman Stamping!

Last weekend my husband was away and it did snow a little on Saturday so we decided to spend the weekend in the house, just my baby girl and I!

I have to say, if I don't do another craft for a few weeks, that would be ok with me! Most of the crafts we did were pretty simple, stickers, markers, scissors, make Valentine's.  But when she got bored of them, we decided to paint a little!

Since I am not creative at all, I of course used the internet to find a cute craft for us to do. Busybeekidscrafts.com had this great Snowman Stamping craft idea. So we tried it...we had fun, but they definitely didn't turn out like the pretty picture from the website!

Didn't have any white paint so we improvised and used finger paint

We let the paint dry and added all the snowman accessories with marker the next day!

Alissa's Snowmen

Mommy's snowman

I love FREE stuff!

Just got this Melissa and Doug Stacking Train for FREE! 

Thanks to the Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program from Huggies! For more info on how you can earn points towards free stuff, check out this blog post! 

A Valentine's Day to remember....

Valentine's Day 2012...one I probably won't forget for awhile... :) And I made sure to take many pictures so that I really won't forget it!

After being alone with a 2 1/2 year old 24/7 for the past 6 days as well as being 28 weeks pregnant., The only gift I really wanted for Valentine's day was one night of not doing dishes after dinner and not having to read bedtime stories. (Don't get me wrong, I love reading with and putting my baby girl to bed, but sometimes you just need a break, and she needs to get used to Daddy putting her to bed since very soon Mommy won't always be able to.)  I did get both of those things for Valentine's Day...but my husband (and daughter) had a few other surprises in store for me. 

It was great to have an extra 2 hours with the hubby in the morning. Since he didn't get home until 2 AM he stayed home with us for a little in the morning.  We exchanged our Valentine's and Daddy attempted heart shaped pancakes, somewhat unsuccessfully before he left for work.    

My first big surprise came when I took my daughter to story time at the library... 

I have been blessed with a fairly well behaved little girl and we usually make it through story time without incident. (well except for her not being able to sit still very long and walking all around the other kids) Today, however, I experienced what was really one of the first big meltdowns I had to deal with in public.  Of course the meltdown occurred because she wasn't allowed to pick her own shaky eggs from the bag she got whatever shaky eggs the teacher gave her.  (yep that's my little girl).  We got through it, but it was the first time I was really not able to calm her/redirect her quickly and easily.  

My next surprise was my surprise dinner....

I had planned on cooking for the hubby, but never made it to the grocery store cause baby girl took an early nap.  So I decided to have him pick up Chinese Food on the way home.  I called in my very specific order (prego's are a little picky with food :) )  But told him to double check when he got there cause I wasn't sure they understood me.  And apparently they did not.

I ordered Shrimp Chow Mein and I got some kind of Garlic Chicken and cabbage dish??  So my loving husband shared his Chicken and broccoli with me!

The third surprise...
A few days ago I had mentioned to the hubby not to buy me flowers, if he wanted to surprise me with something I really wanted chocolate covered strawberries :)  Well he had already ordered my flowers so I got some beautiful roses, but he decided since he couldn't find chocolate covered strawberries last minute, he would make some for me....And after ALOT of time/work on his part, this is what I got...

Love you honey! :) We didn't have all the necessary instruments/ingredients to make them...but they still tasted good and of course I ate all these and then some!

We will laugh about this day for awhile! But I was so thankful to spend the night with my two loves! (3 if you count the kicks, flips, and pokes coming from the baby boy in this belly).

28 weeks! 

My sweet baby girl enjoyed her Valentine gift and she must have said "thank you mommy, I love my new scooter" about 100 times while she scooted around the house.

Hope you were all surrounded by love and good times this Valentine's Day! 

Gift Review: Hot Dots Jr.

Another great gift my daughter received for Christmas was the Hot Dots Jr. Card and Pen set.  I ordered them from Toys to Grown On Website.  I got her the complete set, with 4 sets of cards, and she absolutely loves them.  The number and alphabet cards are still a bit hard for her, (recommended for ages 3-7), but she has mastered the shapes and colors.

You simply read the directions on the card, find the answer and press the corresponding black circle with the dog pen.  The dog responds by telling you if you are correct or incorrect in various ways (barking, "that's great", vibrating). They now also make other pens! It's really amazing how the cards work.

They are fun, a great "calm down" activity, and educational! I hope to get her some of the other sets of cards as she gets older.  These would also be great for the classroom (if I decide to go back there one day :) )

Hot Dots cards are made by Educational Insights.  They make some really great educational games and toys great for home and the classroom! Check out their website for other great products!

Recipe of the week: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-garlic green beans

I actually didn't find this one on Pinterest...but it showed up there a few days after I did a google search for it! I had some green beans to use up and didn't want to make my usual olive oil and garlic green beans so I decided to look for something else.  I used this recipe from Real Simple, with a few modifications based on the reviews.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced (I only used one lemon)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound trimmed green beans
• 8 small red potatoes, quartered
• 4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin, about 3 1/4 pounds) (I used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cause that was what I had)
• 
  
•  

Check out the link above for what to do with these things! I also added a little Rosemary to mine cause I like that with my potatoes! But after very little work, this is how it turned out! 

 I thought it was a bit to lemony, but my husband liked it.  I would probably just use a little lemon juice in the mix to toss the green beans and chicken and not put the lemons on the bottom of the pan.  The green beans also got a little soggy from all the juice.  But overall, easy to make, and pretty good.  

Another Christmas Gift Review: Leapster 2!

This is a little belated, but I figured people were probably not looking for new toys/gifts right after Christmas.  With Valentine's Day and Easter approaching, I thought I would share some more of the great products that Santa blessed us with this Christmas! You can read about Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel here.

The "Pocono Santa" brought Alissa a Leapster 2!

She absolutely loves it! When she first opened it, I was afraid she was going to become addicted to it because she would not put it down. Although, she still loves it, she is thankfully not "addicted"! We have only tried out 2 games so far Pet Pals and one of the shape game downloads. I have been meaning to download a different game onto it for her, but just haven't done it yet.  Plus my husband set it up for her the first time around and I am not exactly sure how he did that! It came with one FREE game download and Santa brought Pet Pals too. She is still learning how to use it (as am I) and some of the activities are a bit difficult for her still.  The Leapster is meant for ages 4-8 so that makes sense. But I love that she enjoys the games, challenges herself with it, and spends time figuring out how to play it on her own.  She actually amazes me with how she can use technology all by herself. I usually take it with us when we go shopping and it keeps her entertained (at least until she sees a toy on the shelf that she wants to look at instead).  The cartridge games are a little expensive, but I have heard you can use them on the Leap Pad also when they get a little older.  

  

Recipe of the week: Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Of course my new favorite place to find recipes is Pinterest, since I HAVE to have every food that I see on there.  Decided to try this Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili.  And I am so glad I did.  (For the sake of my time I'm not going to rewrite all the ingredients and directions on here, follow the link to find all that info, believe me it's worth it!)

Pretty much throw everything in the Crock Pot and let it cook! Just need to shred the chicken 30 minutes before it's done cooking.  I topped it with lots of cheese and some fresh cilantro, which I thought made the dish!

That's how ours turned out! I, of course, added a TON of extra cheese.  We ate this with tortilla chips instead of rice.  And I got to spend the day at the library and running errands with my little girl while this amazing dinner was cooking in my new Crock Pot! And I still have 1/2 of this frozen for when my next craving comes along!