My husband is one of those who has to have meat at every meal. In fact he eats leftovers for breakfast. He doesn't really like many breakfast foods, but loves dinner food so leftovers for breakfast is his usual fare.
Since we have been so busy and my husband really likes/craves/must have meat to live, I made a crock pot of slow cooked chicken breast last week which we enjoyed in many things all week. We had these taco salads, chicken salad sandwiches, panini's, and burrito bowls which were all fantastic and fairly simple.
I know a plate of shredded chicken isn't much to look at, but this is just to give you an idea of how much chicken I made. I slow cooked 5 chicken breasts all day with fresh ground salt, pepper, and garlic powder sprinkled over it (no measuring, just eyeball it). No need to add water, the chicken bastes itself in the slow cooker. Once the chicken is done, simply shred it and pour any juices left in the slow cooker over it for added flavor and moisture.
Our boys ate dinner at Vacation Bible School every night last week so we were able to get 4+ meals out of 5 chicken breasts. If the boys had been home for dinner, we would probably have only gotten 2 to 3 meals from this much chicken.
In case you are wondering how busy we have been, we have been incredibly busy around here. First, we have four children, including a nine month old who crawls everywhere and has decided he has outgrown naps. He is tired and falls asleep on little car trips around town or when he is nursing, but as soon as I try to lay him down in his crib, the crying starts. It is more like crying/screaming and he sits up the whole time. I have tried to leave him a while to see if he will give up and lay down for a nap, but he is persistent. He literally sits up and cries forever until I pick him up. Luckily he sleeps really well at night, but naps are hit or miss right now. I know this isn't a parenting post, but I will solicit your advice on this one.
In addition to being busy parents, we have done some traveling this summer and have more travels in our future. Packing for 4 kids (including a baby) is no small task. I am a list maker and my to to-do list is looking a little crazy right now. We are road tripping it and I am trying to be prepared for all of the things we will need to travel with kids. We'll see how it goes, maybe I will post our packing/traveling adventure with tips on what worked and didn't work. Any travel/packing tips are also much appreciated.
Making a taco salad is like painting on an empty canvas. You can make it however you like. I started with sweet potato and blue corn tortilla chips then added black beans, shredded chicken, fresh corn, lettuce, and diced tomatoes. We drizzled salsa verde on top before serving. You could also add guacamole, sour cream, fresh squeezed lime juice, shredded or crumbled cheese and of course salsa. So many delicious possibilities.
Ingredients: (To make shredded chicken) Chicken breasts (desired amount) Fresh ground salt and pepper Garlic powder If you want to throw in anything extra, go for it...maybe cumin or cajun seasoning...the possibilities are endless. Slow cook chicken breasts all day (until done) on low with fresh ground salt, pepper, and garlic powder sprinkled over it (no measuring, just eyeball it). No need to add water, the chicken bastes itself in the slow cooker. Once the chicken is done, simply shred it and pour any juices left in the slow cooker over it for added flavor and moisture. If you make extra, you can refrigerate leftovers and use for several days in all kinds of delicious meals. Ingredients: (For Taco Salad) Tortilla chips 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed 1 to 2 ears of fresh sweet corn, cut from the cob (can microwave a couple of minutes if you want it warm) Shredded lettuce (I use Romaine) Diced fresh tomatoes Shredded chicken (recipe above) For added flavor you may like: Guacamole Salsa or salsa verde Sour cream Fresh squeezed lime Shredded or crumbled cheese Simply arrange ingredients on plates to make taco salads. You might like:
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I know it's July and around 90 degrees everyday, but I had to turn on the oven for these delectable, chocolaty, amazingly delicious cookies with perfectly tender crisped edges and just right centers. I know, so modest, but cookies (and often their bakers, LOL) are not humble.
I like my cookies a little crispy on the edges, but tender in the center and these are spot on. I think about 10 minutes in the oven produced what I think of as the perfect cookie.
I love the combination of dark, milk, and white chocolate chips. I found bags of Nestle triple chocolate chips on clearance at Walmart and knew exactly what I was going to do with them. TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES!!!!!! Need I say more? My son actually made a batch of these without nuts for a 4-H food-a-rama. They were a hit and he is 9, so yes even if you don't have much baking experience, you can make these and they are so much better than store bought.
Look at that perfect crumb. I actually started craving these cookies when editing the photos late one night and raided my frozen stash. Did you know you can freeze baked cookies and they will taste as good as the day they were made? This way they are always fresh. Actually it's a bit of cookie control in our house or the boys would eat them all in one day. I froze several in containers in the freezer so that we can have fresh cookies again and again without having to go to any trouble or heat up the house. Although it doesn't help the waistline when late night photo editing cookie cravings strike.
Ingredients:
2 ¼ C. flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 c butter (2 sticks softened) ¾ C. sugar ¾ C. brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2 C. triple chocolate chips (mix of dark, milk, and white chocolate chips) 1/2 C. chopped macadamia nuts parchment paper 1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. 2. Combine in your mixer bowl: butter 2 eggs sugar brown sugar vanilla 3. Beat at low speed until creamy. 4. Slowly add flour mixture and continue to beat until combined. 5. Stir in chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. 6. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper 7. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. 8. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls (or use cookie scoop) onto cookie sheet. 9. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven and let cookies rest on cookie sheet for 1 to 2 minutes. Then remove cookies to a cooling rack. Recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies. Adapted from my favorite White and Milk Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies.
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Welcome to Home Ec @ HomeHi, I'm Faith, a former Family and Consumer Science teacher turned food blogger. I love God, my family, and food. You can usually find me in the kitchen preparing family friendly, homemade recipes and taking lots of pictures. This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesFan Favorites
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