Think-Ahead Thursdays

It's official, summer is O.V.E.R. Not the season of course, because it is still hot as blue blazes around here, but I have traded in my yoga pants for real-people clothes. At least for the next 10 months.
I am excited about having a routine and some structure, meeting my sweet new class, and reuniting with my fabulous co-workers, but I'm sure going to miss my sweet three each day.

I mean, look at this guy. Melt. My. Mama. Heart.

And I will miss these two sweet sisters and watching them play and color together for hours on end.

So this post is more like a "I'm Thankful I Thought ahead Thursday" because I'm back at work and we are starting to use our freezer meals.

I am going to cook some chicken enchiladas for a friend who just had a baby.

I will cook and shred my chicken over the weekend, so putting them together and making them will not take lots of time. I'm using the recipe off of the back of the can of green verde enchilada sauce. Easy peasy - but really yummy. Of course, I'm going to make three batches - one for us to eat fresh, one for my friend, and one to freeze.

I'm also going to make the Garden Veggie Soup again because I have lots of fresh squash, tomatoes, and zucchini that a sweet friend gave us from her garden. Plus, that soup turned out AMAZING.

Back to life. Back to reality. Hope to see you soon!

Think-Ahead Thursdays

I just finished writing out my grocery list for tomorrow's Kroger trip. As I made this week's list, I realized that this will be my last week of doubling meals to freeze, as this is my last week at home. One week from today, I'll be back to the daily grind and our sweet, sweltering, simple summer will come to an end.

Although the busyness of caring for little ones can make the day seem to tick by slowly, this summer has flown by faster than any I can remember. It seems as though the hours in between nap-time last an eternity, but while that angel-baby is sleeping, I'll find one of his blankets that have his sweet smell, and I am simply giddy about holding him when he wakes up. Goodness gracious, I'm going to miss this little booger everyday.

The days are long, but the years fly by.

But these two beauties get to travel with me to school each day, and I am grateful for the extra minutes of "girl time" we will get to have together each day. I am praying that I be able to cherish these fleeting days as they can easily turn into a blur of panicked mornings, trying to get all of us presentable, fed,  and in the car by 7am.

We are planning to take this next week slow and steady. I'm seeing lots of ice cream, sno-cones, pools, and PJ's in our next week together.

Maybe you can use a few of these recipes and spend a few extra minutes cherishing your last days of summer with those you love.

Next Week's Meal Plan  (You can read about my meal-making schedule here):

Meal 1 - Low-Sodium Beef Stew (recipe below) - Making double for a freezer meal
Meal 2 - Baked Tacos - Freezing extra taco meat

Meal 3 - Chicken Fajita Pasta - Making double for a freezer meal

*No extra meal this week because all of these recipes make large quantities and there should be plenty for lunches each day.

Sunday Night Dessert: Oreo Brownie Trifle - This dessert is incredibly easy AND incredibly yummy! The last time I made it, I could NOT keep the kids out of it! It is so good!! 

Low-Sodium Beef Stew
I do not have measurements or quantities, as this is a throw-together recipe that I made on a whim and it turned out to be delicious. It is one of Russ' most favorite meals!
-Beef Tips
-Celery (diced)
-Carrots (diced)
-Sweet Potatoes (diced)
-1-2 can(s) diced tomatoes
-onion
-minced garlic
-3 packs of Mrs. Dash Pot Roast Seasoning
-2 cups unsalted or low-sodium beef broth

Cook your beef tips in about 1 tsp. of oil. Save the liquid from cooking for your stew. Saute onions, celery, garlic, and carrots until onions are translucent. Add beef tips and sauce to the veggies along with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and all seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 4-6 hours. If using a slow cooker, let it cook at least 4 hours on low.

Think-Ahead Thursdays

Last week, I posted my thoughts Proverbs 31. My goal was to encourage all of you superwomen out there as you care for your families. I was overwhelmed at the number of texts, calls, and responses. So many tired mamas were telling me that they needed a scriptural reminder that through the piles of laundry, the sleepless nights, the sweeping of crumbs, and the drying of tears, that we are needed. We are valuable. We are being used to do mighty work in the kingdom.

In my efforts to help make your load a tad bit lighter, I am going to post my meal plans each week. I normally plan my next week's menu on Thursdays. I will try to post them each week, but this may turn into an every-other week post as life gets crazy again in August. 

Please feel free to come and snatch up these recipes each week. I can't take credit for any of them - I am just compiling all of my pinterest searches in one place. :)

If you read my last post, you will see that I only cook three days a week, and I have an "extra meal" for Russ' lunches. Below is next week's plan:

Monday - Mexican Chicken Soup

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Strawberry Salad (grilled chicken, spring mix, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, pecans, with a light strawberry-walnut vinaigrette)

Thursday - Salmon and veggies (I just season with brown sugar and garlic, and either bake or grill)

Extra Meal - Garden Veggie Soup 

*I order several low-sodium ingredients from HeartHealthyMarket.com

*I'm making lots of soup this week because they are easy meals to double and freeze.

We can do this, mamas.

In the meantime, does anyone know how to get vaseline of the carpet? This silly guy had a field day with a jar of it... 

Perfect Pot Roast + Weeknight Dessert

If you've been following this blog, you read here how Mr. Crawford has had a few medical setbacks. These setbacks have caused us to drastically change our eating habits. We are currently eating gluten free and very low sodium.

We've gotten through the gluten-thing pretty easily, as we've been working on that one for a couple of years now. The sodium thing is new and it is killin' me, yall. I am having the hardest time making meals with less than 500-600mg of sodium. It is in everything!!!!

So our meals consist of rice and beans. Literally. And Mrs. Dash is my new BFF.

I've been on the hunt for freezer meals to start prepping for the back-to-school madness. I found this great site. This chick has a gazillion freezer meals. Instead of doing them all at once, I'm trying to make one fresh and freeze another. That way I have a weeknight meal idea for now, and one in my freezer for later.

One of her recipes was for beef roast and carrots. I am normally not a big fan of roast, but the ingredients were super simple and the no-salt substitutions were easy.  Note: If you are using no-salt substitutions, like Mrs. Dash, you will need way more than one packet of seasoning to get some good flavor. See my notes below. :)

Also, she suggests to only use a shoulder roast and after making this I agree 100%. It was the most tender roast. Liquid only covered half of the roast while cooking and I kept wondering if I should add some broth or water, but I didn't and it turned out WONDERFUL! I am so glad I have another saved in my freezer.

I served this with brown rice and steamed veggies. This served our family of 5 for 2 1/2 days. The kiddos were pleased with it as well. :)


Slow Cooker Beef Roast and Carrot Recipe - Adapted from New Leaf Wellness

Ingredients:

• 2-pound boneless beef chuck shoulder roast (No substitutions!  This is the best cut of meat for the slow cooker!)
• 1-2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Chopped Celery
• Chopped Onion
• Garlic Cloves
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar - I used almost half a cup because my roast was HUGE
• one seasoning packet - (I used two packets of Mrs. Dash Pot Roast seasoning and 2 packets of Mrs. Dash taco seasoning)

Directions: Combine it all together and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you also know that I love any and all desserts. I found this recipe on, you guessed it, pinterest! It is Caramel Cobbler and it is by far the easiest dessert I have EVER made. I have made this several times because I normally have everything on hand. It is very easy to throw together and it is wonderful served warm with vanilla ice cream. 

This dessert has a bit of a special meaning to it because Russ' grandfather, better known has PawPaw, requested this dessert on a Sunday evening and he went to be with Jesus that following Wednesday. I am so thankful that I was able to fill his request one last time. Everytime I make it, I will always think about him. We miss you PawPaw.

Caramel Cobbler - orignal recipe from Call Me PMC

Ingredients

• ½ c butter (real butter)
• 1½ c self-rising flour
• 1½ c sugar
• ¾ c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla (or almond)
• 1½ c packed light brown sugar
• 1½ c hot water
• Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 stick butter in 9x13 inch pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk, and flavoring (vanilla or almond, both are excellent). Stir to combine, then pour over melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over top of batter. Carefully pour hot water over butter and batter. Do not stir. Cook 30 minutes until golden brown.

I hope this helps make meal planning a bit easier for you. And just because I have cute kids...

My Lyla, holding a ginormous bull frog!

New Adventures

I've never been much of an adventurer. I like for my days to be planned out. I make lists and I want them checked off by the end of the day. Mr. Crawford, on the other hand, couldn't be more of an adventurer and it makes for a good match...most of the time. :)

We celebrated seven wonderful years of marriage this past weekend. The Mr. took us to the most peaceful little place, Serenbe Farms. A friend of mine at work recommended it, and I wasn't sure what to except. I'm not a "farm girl" to say the least. But, good golly, I could move to this farm and never look back. Well, as long as someone else is managing the farm and I just get to look at it.

This is a picture of the restored farmhouse where we slept. This is not us, its a google image. :)

This is a picture inside the restaurant where we ate. Everything was made from scratch and all organic and natural...so good!

For us, this little retreat was only 40 minutes away through a backroads trip. We stayed in a restored farmhouse and ate the most incredible food that was grown and harvested right there on the farm. There is even a little community that self-sustains itself through the use of the gardens. Russ made us a warm fire and brewed coffee in the morning and it was glorious to be able to sit by the life, drink an entire cup of coffee, and read through scripture...quietly.

We talked about our sweet girls the entire time and both were ready to get them by noon the next day, but I can't tell you the last time I drank an uninterrupted cup of coffee, or had a quiet meal with my husband. It was much needed and I am thankful for the opportunity to slip away. I am so thankful for Russ. He isn't perfect, but he truly takes on the challenge from Scripture to "love your wife as Christ loved the church" (Eph. 5:25). He is a godly man and leads our family to walk closer to Jesus everyday. He's a keeper. :)

On another note, I started taking and selling an incredible new product, ViSalus. I met a wonderful gal at the gym who is extremely "fit" and she told me about this product. I watched a few videos about all of the nutrition packed into a single serving and I knew that I would love to add that to my daily routine. I was very skeptical at first, thinking that it might be just another protein shake, but I'm telling you, I have NEVER felt better in my life. I have so much energy at the gym, at work, at home, and I was turned into a believer within a week. The program encourages you to set a goal and take a "90-day challenge". My goal...a six pack! I've never had one, and I want one...BAD!

I was so pleased with the program that I decided to begin selling it myself, which has turned into a blessing for our family. I told you all in my last post that I was starting to work out 5 days a week before work and I can proudly say that I have stuck with it. Now, in combination with my ViSalus shakes, I am truly seeing changes and differences in my body and my energy level.  We have a group of teachers at school that have joined with me and in the first two weeks, our little group lost 19 pounds and over 19 inches!!! Isn't that amazing? If you are interested in seeing these same results or adding a whopping amount of energy and nutrition into your day, please visit my website http://www.alisoncrawford.bodybyvi.com/ Watch the video "What do I take" and it will show you all of the goodness in just one shake! If you would like more information, please don't hesitate to fill out the form on the site. I can even mail you a sample to try!

Because of my challenge, I'm really cleaning up our meals at home and trying to come up with healthy dinners that are as yummy as they are healthy. Well, I've got a recipe for Mexican Chicken Spaghetti that I think you will love. What I love is that it fed our family of four for THREE days!! We even had guests over on the first night and they raved about it.

Mexican Chicken Spaghetti
3-4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 package whole wheat linguine (cooked and drained)
1 bell pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
One small (I don't remember the ounces) package of 2% Velvetta - cut into cubes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Mexican rotel
1 can cream of mushroom soup (fat free)
Garlic

Saute your onions and peppers. Add your garlic to taste. Add the rest of the ingredients except your linguine. Once everything is mixed well, add your linguine and let it simmer for about 30 minutes on med-low. I served this with corn and a small salad. I can say it was even tastier the next day.

I hope you like it!

Fall Favorites

Wow! It's been awhile. Things haven't calmed down for the Crawford's but that is okay, too. We've been busy going and doing. I've been in the kitchen, but just haven't had time to post much. We did have two of my fall favorites since the weather has cooled off a bit. I'll share them with you in hopes that they might become your fall faves as well. :)

Southwest Soup
I have to start off by saying this soup was an accident. I normally always make Southwest Chili during the fall, which is just as good, but we didn't have the ingredients, so we ended up having Southwest Soup and I can honestly say it ain't the last time.

Ingredients
-Ground turkey or beef (brown and drain)
-1 can Mexican Rotel
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can dark red kidney beans
-1 can light red kidney beans
-1 can corn (drained)
-1 box beef broth
-1 jar of salsa

I put mine in the crockpot on low for 4 hours. It was wonderful and would be great with tortilla chips and melted cheese. Go for it. Hubs vetoed that decision for our house.

If you want to turn this into Southwest Chili, follow the same recipe but don't use the broth. Instead use a can of tomato sauce.


Taco Soup
Before you skip over this recipe because you think you already have a good recipe for Taco Soup, think again. This really is the BEST recipe for Taco soup I've ever had. Plus, it is a one - dish wonder and incredibly easy. I wish I could claim it, but I can't. I first had it in college from one of my best friends. It was her mom's "famous" recipe. Russ and I honestly make this probably once every other week during the fall and winter. He asks for it in the summer, but I refuse. That is hotdog weather...sorry.

Anyway, it really is AMAZING! Make it, you will love it!

Ingredients:
-Ground beef (brown and drain)
-1 jar picante sauce
-1 can stewed tomatoes
-1 can mexican rotel
-1 box beef broth
-1 box rotini (I use whole wheat)
-cumin (to taste)
-garlic (to taste)
-Salt & Pepper (to taste)
-shredded cheese
-tortilla chips

Mix everything together except chips and cheese until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Put chips in the bottom of your bowl. Pour the soup on top. Put some cheese on that goodness. Eat it up!


Pumpkin Muffins
I've written about this recipe before. Two ingredients: Spice cake and pumpkin. Mix, bake, enjoy. But, I have discovered a new amazing muffin mix that makes these easy muffins something I want to serve for every meal. If you have a box of Cinnamon Streusel Muffin Mix and a can of pumpkin, make these muffins. They truly are wonderful.

 Maybe because it is a muffin mix and not a cake mix, but these might be the moistest muffins I've ever had. Seriously, I can't say enough about how amazing they are. And easy. Bonus!!

Finally, Halloween has come and gone. My girls were adorable as a bumble bee and a ladybug.

These are the only pics because sweet little Lyla fell asleep about 10 minutes into the Trick-or-Treat extravaganza.

I will share these cute little treats I sent with LR to school. I made these before as easter pops, but just coated them with Halloween sprinkles instead. Two year olds love sprinkles and marshmallows, so it was a hit.

I hope you and your family are enjoying some fall favorites this year as well. :)

Seriously behind...

I am seriously behind in the land of blogging. Life at the Crawford household has been insane! This week in particular has been wild. We've had ear infections, doctor visits, parent/teacher conferences, wedding rehearsals, and weddings. So tonight, Lyla and I are in our PJs while Russ and LR are at the football game. I think this is the first time in 8 days I've sat down for more than a meal...ahhh!!!

I don't mean to complain, I'm thankful for it all....every. busy. minute.

On a brighter note, a few weekends ago I made these amazing muffins that I found on pinterest. I love muffins but I'm always worried about the sugar content, even in the whole grain ones that we like. Yall, these muffins were seriously so good. And incredibly healthly. Now, I did eat three at one sitting, so I don't know how healthly that choice was, but they were good. We are not so big on super sweet anything for breakfast, so we cut the sugar in half. Honestly, I think we could have even used less. They were very hearty and filling and made me feel like super women ( i wish) :).

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats (I used steel cut oats)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat or non-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. If you plan on eating them straight out of the oven, give the liners a spritz of cooking spray so the muffins won’t stick.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg in a medium bowl. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture, stirring until just moist. (Don’t over mix them! The batter will be thicker than your average muffin batter.) Carefully fold in blueberries.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups. Bake at 375°F for 16-18 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

More radical, more food

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am reading the book Radical, by David Platt. I can only read a few pages at a time because it sends my brain, or maybe it's my heart, in a tail spin. It's an easy read, but it is incredibly challenging to my little comfort zone. So, without getting into great detail, I wanted to post a paragraph that stuck out to me as I was reading today.

..."Wake up. Wake up and realize that there are infinitely more important things in your life than football and a 401(k). Wake up and realize there are real battles to be fought, so different from the superficial, meaningless "battles" you focus on. Wake up to the countless multitudes who are currently destined for a Christless eternity." (page 15)

That last sentence is so challenging. I mean, do I really ever think about that?? That there are people that I know and love that could be heading for a CHRISTless eternity! I'm such a victim of worldly thinking...

Let me know what you think,

Switching subjects completely....

We had this for dinner this week and it is a good, go-to recipe when your short on time.

Southwest Chicken
2 cups brown rice, uncooked
2 cups water
1 can black beans, drained
1 can mexican rotel
1 can cream of chicken soup.
*Mix all of that together and spread in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. We we had it this week I was out of black beans and used a can of hoppin' johns and it was really good too.
Place thawed chicken breasts (chicken tenders work great too) on top of mixture.
Pour one jar of salsa on top of chicken.
Bake for  35 minutes on 375.
Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Check back this weekend...I'm making Chocolate Coffee Cream Cupcakes!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited??

Fabulous 4th!

We had a fantastic 4th of July! I love it when holidays fall on a weekday. The hubs gets an extra day off and it feels like Saturday all over again! We started our celebration on Sunday morning. My oldest nephew, Ben, got baptized. I am just so incredibly proud of him. I pray that he spends his life seeking after the Lord with his whole heart. I'm so proud of his parents, too, for leading him and pouring into him. It was exceptionally special because he asked Russ to do the dunkin'! Russ was beyond humbled and it definitely touched his heart.

We spent the afternoon with my family for our annual "fish fry". It was filled with good food & family....just can't get much better!

We started our 4th off right with a big breakfast. I made hearty whole wheat waffles (recipe below) and they were incredibly easy and delish! Even LR said they were "so good waffles". I originally got the recipe off of cooks.com.

After breakfast, this party of 4 went to the parade! LR enjoyed it (or at least all of the popsicles) and Lyla got hot and fell asleep.

We spent the remainder of the day with family and took in the fireworks after the girls were both way too tired! :)

I hope your fourth was filled with family, friends, and fun!

Hearty Whole Wheat Waffles
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (you can substitute this with honey or even applesauce)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix and pour into your hot waffle iron. It makes about 8-10 waffles.

Yum.

I love food. If you haven't figured that out yet, well, I do. I really do try to eat very clean and healthy, but I'm not going to lie, I have a sweet tooth. It takes every ounce of will power I have not to bury my face in the bowl of M & M's we have for Lily Rain every time I walk by it. I'm always looking for "guilt-free desserts" that make me feel better about my indulgences. So, Russ and I have developed a plan - we eat our "sweet treat" on Sundays. This helps me look forward to it and work hard not to mess up during the week.

So, I have a wonderfully healthy & easy dinner recipe and a "healthy" dessert. :)

Tonight we had burritos, or 'ritos, as LR likes to say. They are VERY tasty and might be a little high on sodium, but very nutritious and low fat.

In a skillet, brown a pound of ground beef or turkey. We used 93% lean ground turkey. Drain it and add chopped up peppers to the mix. I buy the prechopped jazz because I can't stand cutting and chopping. Add 2/3 of one jar of salsa and a can of Mexican rotel tomatoes. Let that mix sizzle up.

Preheat your oven to 350 and put a little bit of your left over salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Spread it around just to lightly coat the bottom. Take tortillas (we used whole wheat) and spoon 3 large tablespoons of the mix onto the tortilla and roll it into a burrito. Place it seam-side down onto your baking dish. Make the rest of our burritos. Top them with the remaining salsa and as much Mexican style cheese as you wish. You could even leave out the cheese for an healthier option, but let's not get out of control here :)

Bake your burritos for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy! This is really good with spanish rice and corn. We LOVE the streamfresh southwest style corn with this.

And isn't this the cutest little kitchen helper you've ever seen?

Now, for the best part....drum roll please....4th of July Strawberries!

See, I told you it was healthy!
I saw these on, you guessed it, a baking blog (grin and bake it), a while back and just knew I had to try them. Well, I needed a snack to take to the lake with my girlfriends tomorrow, so I thought this would be perfect. I feel a tad bit guilty because my good friend, Christine, is trying really hard to eat right and work out. She told me she was bringing watermelon and hummus. Boo. But like I said, it's strawberries, sooooo healthy!

I had quite a bit of candy wafers left over from my pretzel bites the other day, so all I needed for these glorious little berries was blue sugar! So, all four of us piled into the car to go to Hobby Lobby on the hunt for blue sugar! Too bad it was LR's bedtime and she was a little bit dramatic during the whole event, but we made it through it. And when you see how cute these are, you will agree that it was all worth it.

Melt your wafers in a bowl. Make sure your bowl isn't too shallow because it makes it hard to dip the berries. Wash and dry your strawberries. Make sure they are really dry or the chocolate won't stick to it. Put your blue sugar in a bowl. Have a place ready to set your strawberries.

I just put mine on a baking sheet. It's easy as 1-2-3. Dip your berries, then dip the trip into the sugar. Set aside to dry. Boo-ya! "Healthy", easy, wonderful, cute dessert! This little treat honestly took 10 minutes to make. I hope you try it and I hope Christine isn't too mad at me. :)