Tater-Tot Casserole

Tater-Tot Casserole
serves 4

What you will need:
*1 LB lean ground beef
*1/2 medium onion, chopped
*1 10 1/2 ounce can condensed cream of celery or cream of chicken soup 
*1 16oz package frozen tater tots
*1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*salt and pepper

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef, season with salt and pepper.
3. Add chopped onion, cook until tender.
4. In a casserole dish, combine ground beef mixture & cream soup. 
5. Top mixture with tater tots.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes till bubbly and Tots are golden brown.
7.Remove from oven & top with cheese, return to oven until melted.
8. Enjoy! 

Side note, this dish also freezed great if you want to make extra and throw some in the freezer for another quick meal later on! 

*When I made this for dinner I simply cut down the recipe a little bit so I would only make a smaller pan for Matt and I. Really its just what you think looks good or what you like, try it out and see what you think! 

Orange Chicken

 Okay I know I say this about every recipe but this is seriously the best orange chicken you will ever have.  I started making this a few years ago and have now mastered it! This is one you HAVE to try at least once, I promise you wont be disappointed.  Side note, I am not a fan of orange chicken at Chinese restaurants at all, they are to spicy for me and just taste funny.  These are not spicy at all and taste nothing like nasty restaurant orange chicken!
This recipe is perfect for an evening at home, you could even get someone to help you make it, which makes it a lot easier and is much more fun that way!

Ready for this awesomeness? Here it is:

3lbs Chicken breast (or however much you are making, I always do more because I am always making this for a ton of people at one time...)

Defrost the chicken then cut them into small squares 

Drop the cut up chicken and put it in a bowl with 1-2 beaten egg

After dipping chicken pieces in the egg, shake chicken in a bag of:
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 C corn starch
1/2 C flour
**I always double this because I like more breading.  Another trick I have learned over the years... After you cut up the chicken and put it in the bag with the flour/corn starch don't mix it up right away.  Put as much chicken in the bag before you shake it, this way the beading will cover it all without getting all nasty and used right away.  The less times you have to shake up the chicken the better they will be breaded. 

 

 You don't have to do multiple bags... Like I said I was making a ton!

 See how nicely breaded these are? :)

 

 Brown floured chicken in oil (any type will work we just like to use Coconut Oil) and place in baking dish (spray it before hand).  Remember don't eat the chicken, its still raw!

 

Combine all your ingredient for the sauce

 Next you are going to make the orange sauce:
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C chicken broth
1/4 C catsup
2T soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt

Combine it all in sauce pan, stirring occasionally (using a whisk works best)

Cook it until it comes to a boil

 Pour sauce over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Stir halfway through.

 

Serve over rice and ENJOY!!

 

That easy! Let us know how it turns out but I should warn you, once you have this you wont be able to stop making it!

Easy Italian Chicken

Okay folk, this is going to seriously be the fastest, easiest, yummiest thing you have ever made.  Are you ready for it? Here it is:

Ingredient:
Chicken Breasts (depends on how many are eating... I normally just do 2)
1 pkg Italian Season mix
1 can Cream of Chicken
1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese
Butter (I don't do this because it's fine without, why add the extra fat if it still tastes amazing?)

Cream cheese not pictured.

Put everything in the crock pot and turn it on low for 6-8 hours stirring occasionally (if your home, if not don't worry about it!)

** Don't even worry about defrosting the chicken just stick it in frozen and all!

***Serve over rice or noodles

Seriously that's it, what did I tell you easy right? Go a head try it out, tell us what you think!

Homemaid Laundry Detergent

My mom has been making her own laundry detergent for a while now and I am sick of having to buy Tide all the time so we decided to try it out for ourselves.  It was about $20 give or take for the stuff and lasts about 6+ months. I found the recipe HERE and it is sooo easy to follow but basically here it is. 

What you will need:
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the detergent isle

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (if you use Zote bars use 2 bars instead, Zote can be found at Home Depot)

2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle.

(this is optional)

**Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load. I know that does not seem like enough but this recipe does not have fillers like the store bought detergent so you only need 1-2 Tablespoons.**

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add a fabric softener or laundry crystals to each load.

I used these instead of  laundry crystals but you don't have to

 

 

 

 Grate the Fels-Naptha (I used a big grater but my mom will grate it like this then put it in a food processor as well, either works I just didn't have a food processor)

 Pour everything into a big bucket or some type of container, mix it up and your good to go!

 

Remember you will only need a Tablespoon or 2

 Enjoy!

St. Pattys Day

St Patricks Day is coming up and I have just the thing for you to do with your little ones! I thought this was so cute but because I don't have any children I thought I would share this with everyone that does, try it out and let me know how it goes!  Go HERE and look at the adorable scavenger hunt, with free printable' and everything.  This is something the kids will love and would be such a fun tradition to start. 

 

I found this one one of my favorite bloggers Pillow Thought she always have fun little things that are cheap and easy, and her daughter is just adorable!  Go check out her blog here at Pillow Thought

Pillow Fight!

I have a birthday at my house in 2 weeks.  My *almost* two year old LOVES to have pillow fights, so when I saw these on Pinterest I just knew I had to make them!

All I had to go off of was this picture. I couldn't find an actual tutorial or link anywhere, so I just mostly winged it.  I think they turned out pretty cute--for pillows on a FREE budget, that is! :)  They are not as clean and crisp as the above pillows, but I didn't have access to screen printing, nor did I want to spend hours.  I'm happy with my 'hacked' version! 

There was really nothing to these.  I pulled out some old muslin I had lying around and freehand drew swords and the various weapons.  I used regular tole paints to paint the images on, then cut them out, sewed, and stuffed.  I finished them up with a little bit of hand stitching and threw them in the dryer to set the paint and fluff the pillows.  Pretty cute! I think my little guy is going to love them!

*Side note...If I were doing this again, I would have been more careful to leave more white space around my swords.  I really like how there is an inch or more on the Pinterest picture. I wish mine had more white edging.

Thoughts for Thursday

 

I've thought about this a lot.  Failing isn't always a negative thing.  I've heard the questions asked, "What would you do if you knew you would not fail?"  It certainly gives you something to think about.  Embrace those things you have always been afraid of, if you fail, get back up and try again.