CREAMY RANCH CHICKEN + ETSY SHOP REVIEW

This meal turned out so easy and required minimal effort and ingredients! 

Ingredients:

1 package of dry Ranch dressing mix

1 package of Zesty Italian dressing mix

1 can of Cream of chicken soup
4 oz onion and chive cream cheese (half of the container)

3-4 chicken breast

Directions: 

- Mix dry ranch seasoning and zesty Italian seasoning together.

- Then mix the two with the cream of chicken soup and pour over chicken breast in crock pot.
- The last 30 minutes it's in the crock pot add in the cream cheese.

- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

I put my creamy ranch chicken over white rice, but you can do any type of rice or noodles.

I received this flag from Tammy over at Just Sew So in the mail last week and I love it! As soon as we moved in I knew we would need a garden flag for the front of our house. They are so cute and I think they just add so much. July 4th it right around the corner and I may or may not already have some of our patriotic decorations up. I just love them so when I received this flag I was beyond excited to add it to my patriotic collection. Like yesterday's sign, I can also pull this out for Memorial Day and Veterans Day. 

The detailing on this flag is absolutely incredible. I can't get over the flag ribbon on the loops and that adorable bow. Seriously, it's just too cute!!

She has so many cute things in her Etsy shop and for great prices! Pineapples are very popular this summer (I am obsessed with all things pineapples) and this pineapple garden flag is SO cute!!!!

You can find her Etsy shop, HERE.

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CREAMY RANCH CHICKEN + ETSY SHOP REVIEW

BLANCO QUESO DIP - APPETIZER

Matthew found this cheese dip recipe a long time ago and for years we have been using it. It's our go to recipe when we want restaurant style cheese dip at home and for dinner parties!

(source)

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb block White American Cheese (we usually get ours from the deli)

1/4 cup diced green chiles

 2 pickled jalapenos, chopped

1 ounce pickled jalapeno juice

2/3 cup whole milk

1/2 cup cold water

pinch of cumin (optional)

Instructions 

Toss all ingredients into a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, stopping

 to stir after every minute. 

The mixture might seem watery during the first few stirs, but should come together as a nice runny dip after all the cheese is melted.

Serve immediately as a dip with tortilla chips or as a sauce over your favorite Mexican dish. To keep warm pour into a crock pot and keep it on warm and stir occasionally.

**Reheat Instructions: Store any leftover cheese dip in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until creamy and hot.**

A small note in case there is anyone else out there like us. We don't like chunks of jalapenos or chiles in our cheese dip, so we just leave those out and add in extra jalapeno juice to give it that kick it needs! We also go without using the pinch of cumin. Just our preferences, but I thought I would share in case there is someone else out there who doesn't like chunks of stuff in their cheese dip either! ;)

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BLANCO QUESO DIP - APPETIZER

CROCKPOT POTATO SOUP - DINNER

I made this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It was really easy to make and turned out better than I thought it would!

Ingredients:

- 1 (32 oz) bag frozen hash browns

- 1 (32 oz) can chicken broth

- 1 (10 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup

- 1 (8 oz) cream cheese

- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

- 1 teaspoon basil

- 1 teaspoon garlic powder 

- 1/2 teaspoon parsley

- Bacon bits (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in crockpot

2. Stir together so that everything mixes well.

3. Place lid on crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or until potatoes are tender. 

4. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Garnish with bacon bits and extra cheese!

As you can see I used one of my slow cooker bags. I love these things and they make clean up so much easier. Of course I still clean my crockpot after each use, but this helps with stuff sticking to the sides and with leaving an odor in the crockpot. I have a had a couple of bags tear a little, but I think it's from where I was scraping food away from the sides, but even with the small tear clean up was very quick and easy. 

Add these to your next grocery list! They are usually in the aisle with the Ziplock bags.

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CROCKPOT POTATO SOUP - DINNER

CROCKPOT SAUSAGE TORTELLINI

During our snowy weekend I put our crockpot to good use. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE MY CROCKPOT. Seriously, it's great.

One of the things I made...I mean my crockpot made is this Sausage Tortelloni recipe! I made it a few weeks ago and we both loved it so I thought it would be a good recipe for a snow day.

Ingredients:

- l lb of sausage or ground beef (I used ground beef)

- 20 oz Buitoni Frozen Three-Cheese Tortellini (I used Sweet Italian Sausage the 2nd time I made it)

-  32 oz Chicken Broth (I always buy the low/reduce sodium kind)

- 2 cans diced tomatoes (Basil, Garlic & Oregano seasoned kind)

- 1/2 t Garlic Powder (not pictured)

- 8 oz cream cheese

- Grated Parmesan (Optional. And not pictured) for topping

Directions:

Step 1:

 Take your cream cheese out of the refrigerator and let it sit while you are browning your meat.

Step 2:

Add the tortellini to your crockpot.

Step 3:

Add the diced tomatoes. I actually puree the two cans of tomatoes because we don't like chunks of tomatoes :)

Step 4: 

Add in the Chicken Broth.

Step 5:

Add in cooked meat.

Step 6:

Add in garlic powder and cream cheese in chunks and give everything a good stir.

Step 7:

Cook on Low for 3 1/2 - 4 hours or High for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

Here is a picture of it when it was about half way finished

And here is a picture of it when it was finished

So easy and so delicious!

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CROCKPOT SAUSAGE TORTELLINI

CROCKPOT BEEF ROAST - DINNER

Today I am going to share with y'all one of Matthew's favorite meals, crockpot roast beef!

It is probably one of the easiest meals I can make and my crockpot does all of it. I just fix a few sides to go with it and then it's time to eat! I also use crockpot bags so cleanup is REALLY easy. If you haven't discovered crockpot bags yet then get some the next time you go to the store and you can thank me later! 

Ingredients:

- 2-2.5lb beef roast

- 1 package of brown gravy mix, dry

- 1 package of ranch dressing mix, dry

- 1 package of dried Italian salad dressing mix

- 1/2 cup water

Directions:

- Place roast in crockpot

- Pour each package over roast

- Pour water around roast

- Cook on low 8-9 hours

I made this soon after we got married and Matthew has requested it multiple times, so I always make sure to keep those three dry mixes in our pantry. The ranch and Italian dressing mix both come in boxes of 4, and the brown gravy comes in single packs at .50 each. Can't beat that!

I usually fix mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and green beans with this roast, and we always have leftovers for a couple of days- which makes for perfect lunches! Follow along on Snapchat (shelbycoats), I'm usually snapping away while I make dinner, and I love following other bloggers to get dinner ideas.

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CROCKPOT BEEF ROAST - DINNER

Caramel Apple Spice

One of my favorite drinks from Starbucks is their Caramel Apple Spice. I'm not a big coffee drinker and I hardly go there because of the prices. I discovered this drink there last year around Christmas and decided to try it and it was GREAT. It's also cheaper than their coffee drinks ;) Although it is cheaper it's still more than I want to spend on a drink. I have found many recipes on Pinterest for this drink but never tried any until last night. I decided I would try THIS recipe since it looked pretty simple. I also had bought a gallon of  "apple cider" at the store to try hoping it would taste somewhat similar...it didn't. It was just plain apple juice lol. So I still had this huge thing of apple cider apple juice in my refrigerator and I didn't want to waste it. This recipe calls for six cups of apple juice so it did the trick!   Not going to lie, it tastes pretty close to Starbucks!! The lady who found or created this recipe is a genius!!   Here is her recipe:

6 C apple cider (or apple juice)

4 T caramel syrup (the ice cream topping, but not the magic shell kind)

2-3 cinnamon sticks (or 2 t ground cinnamon)

5-7 whole cloves (1/2 t ground cloves)

The dark pieces are the cloves.

Mix all the ingredients together in the crock-pot and stir the caramel syrup in well so it doesn't stay at the bottom. Leave it in to crock-pot for 4 hours on low.

Easiest recipe ever!

  I put it in the refrigerator after it was finished and then warmed some up this morning and brought to work to sip on this morning!

 

This is what I woke up to this morning...our little bit of snow. The schools were actually out and I laughed until I saw the roads. I am assuming the city wasn't expecting snow becuase they didn't treat the roads last night like they usually do so they were pretty icy this morning, and I'm sure the back roads were even worse. Better safe than sorry, I suppose!

 

Happy Tuesday! Hope y'all are staying warm!!

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Caramel Apple Spice