The weekend finally!

So its been another week....a better week...a refreshing week. I've gotten a good amount of rest (which is still not alot but more than before...any little bit is an improvement) Nate and Tucker and I have had alot of fun. I started swapping on http://www.swapmamas.com/ and it has officially become my new obsession. Its like shopping but without spending a ton of money...just the cost of shipping. And since I was going to get rid of a bunch of stuff anyways, its fun to get something in return. So far I've swapped some clothes, a purse, pair of gloves and some jewelry for baby clothes, baby washcloths/towels, skirt, shirt, and toy for T. I think I'm making out pretty good. I find myself hunting through the house with my camera looking for junk to swap...like I said, I'm obsessed. I've also spread the swapping fever to my mom, sis, and friends. Ooh its contagious!!!

I've also tried harder to accomplish some more things this week. Aside from cleaning out some boxes and stuff (for swapping) I've gotten some cleaning done (the whole kitchen in one day!) and I've tried out my new crock pot (thanks Mom and Dad) with a chicken chili recipe from my sister. Unfortunately for me, Shannon can throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and have it turn out delicious and when I asked her for the recipe it was more of a "dump it" type soup....with no actual recipe....So she gave me the list of ingredients that she generally uses and I kinda had to "wing it." So I went to the grocery store and bought the stuff and came home and pretty much dumped a bunch of stuff into the crock pot, turned it on, and left it to simmer and stew until Nate came home.

Fast forward 3 hours later....

Nate said it smelled really good (which is usually a good sign) so I tasted it and proclaimed, "this stuff is delicious!" And it WAS! So here's all the stuff I threw into the crock pot:

6 or 7 Frozen chicken tenders (yes, frozen)
Frozen corn (not sure how much b/c I just emptied the bag)
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 little can tomato paste
2 cans water
Handful of chopped onion
Squirt of spicy brown mustard
Dump of dry mustard (maybe about a tablespoon???)
Brown sugar (about a 1/8 to a 1/4 cup)
Pace Salsa (1/4 cup about???)
Salt/Pepper
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Celery Salt
Spicy Mrs. Dash (Nate's idea)


So I think that is it....I was really proud that it turned out so good! Nate loved it (which is good, because he had to eat it!) And he is kinda picky sometimes and wouldn't have finished it if he didn't like it. So I passed the test- the bowl was empty :)

So the confidence booster was just what I needed so I decided that I'm going to try a couple new recipes every week to practice my cooking skills (going all Julie/Julia) and I will post success stories and good recipes I find. Today I'm tackling rice pudding. Easy, but new to me. Nice to get to spend the weekend at home with my boys and hopefully soon, a big bowl of warm, cinammony rice pudding.