Chicken Cacciatore

This was a success!  On so many levels.  Not only did the kids actually eat this one and enjoy it, but I had no clue what I was doing and made it all up off the top of my head.  I'd heard of chicken cacciatore and even saw a few "easy" recipes about just using a can of your favorite marinara sauce, but I did a from scratch version without using a recipe from online.  *pats self on back*

Since I just threw it together, I don't have a recipe.  It's just chicken, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, onion and oregano.  I just started adding it all together until it looked/tasted right.  Then I poured it over the noodles I had on hand (corkscrews in this case).  Topped with some freshly shredded parmesan cheese, it was DELICIOUS!

 

Ben & Jerry's

Today I failed as a mother.  I failed at my one task in the afternoons that I absolutely cannot neglect - picking them up from school.  The worst part is that I didn't even have that panic moment of rushing out the door with no shoes on to drive the couple blocks to pick them up.  Nope.  I didn't even realize that I had forgotten to pick them until Brayden was ringing the doorbell.  They all three fussed at me and shamed me for not meeting them at the crosswalk like I promised.  The silver lining is that now I know all three of them know how to safely and quickly get home by themselves if the need ever arises.  Mommy forgetting is not a need though.  That's just a fail.

In an attempt to salvage any "Mommy of the Year" points I may have lost, I decided that ice cream for dinner would be a good idea.  Not only would I hopefully be forgiven of my mommy fail, but rack up a few extra points.  Who let's their kids have ice cream for dinner?  Mom's with a guilty conscious, that's who! 

Go to the store, pick our your flavor of choice, go home and eat it straight out of the carton.  Dinner done! 

Wanna know the funniest part?  Gabe is taking a bite of my ice cream just for the sake of me getting a picture.  He didn't want ice cream.  That child quite literally just won't eat anything!

Cheesy Chicken Noodles

This one went over surprisingly well - taste wise.  Unfortunately, I overcooked the noodles and burnt the broccoli, so that's why I got mixed reviews.  The taste of the meal itself was pretty good though.  Gabe picked out all of the chicken and ate it.  He still insisted on giving me a big fat thumbs down though.  He sure is lucky that I'm not very sensitive about my cooking.
 
I don't have an exact recipe for this.  My sister sent me a link to one she tried, but she said it was kind of bland and the reviews were just so-so.  I didn't have all the ingredients necessary for the recipe, so I just threw some random stuff into it.  I guess you could say that this is my first attempt at making something completely on my own.  I'm sure it's nothing unique and is probably in a cookbook somewhere, but I had to pat myself on the back for being creative on my own.  I'm pleased to report that it turned out AMAZINGLY delicious.  It was a really easy meal.

Cheesy Chicken Noodles - crockpot recipe

2 - large chicken breasts cubed
8 oz velveeta
2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 oz cream cheese
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of egg noodles

Combine all ingredients (except the noodles) into the crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve over cooked noodles.

Serves 6

No-bread sandwiches

I don't really know what to call these.  They were a success though!  Two thumbs up and Gabe's typical "I didn't hate it, but I won't admit that I like it" sideways thumb.  It was a pinterest idea.  In fact, the image of the food is the actual image from pinterest.  We ate them so quickly though that I forgot to snap a photo of our finished product.  They almost looked exactly like the though.  I did get some good pictures of Brayden and Alyssa helping.  They liked peeling them.  I cut them in half and scooped out the centers.  It was easy and fun.


I don't really have a recipe.  Just buy some cucumbers, cut them into manageable pieces, peel them (unless you like the skin), slice them in half and hollow out the centers.  Then you stuff them with whatever you want.  We had turkey and ham, cheese and miracle whip.  They were really delicious and surprisingly filling.