Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Oh yum, yum!! Tonight for dinner I pulled out the Crock Pot and tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest Honey Garlic Chicken. 

I'm always trying to find Asian inspired meals that I can make at home in lieu of ordering take-out. So far, I haven't found any that really WOW me. This one finally did just that. 

Normally I would change a recipe from bone-in chicken breasts to boneless but I chose not to make the change this time. I also didn't get skinless but did remove the skin during the shredding process and did not serve it. 

The other change I made was that I did omit the red pepper flakes. Although Matt does like spicy food, it seems that whenever I use red pepper flakes he doesn't like the spiciness. Also, Emily is not a spicy girl....that is when it comes to food. I also omitted the garnishes. I know presentation is important but not when your hungry and when no one really cares that much about how their plate looks.

Oh the flavors were yummy although I can see where the spiciness of the red pepper flakes would be a good compliment so you may want to try it that way. For us, this meal got a 4 thumbs up and is pretty effortless to make, that is a win - win in my book.

Try it and let me know what you think.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Calvary's Hill - HCS Kindergarten Project

As most of you know, I voluntarily teach an arts and crafts class at my children's Christian school. Although the classes I'm working with are the 3rd and 4th grade, I've worked with all the elementary classes in the creating of the elementary abstract art cross bulletin board.

The week prior to their spring break the school extended the school day from 3 to 4 o'clock in order to make up for one of our many snow days. I took this opportunity to be of help to the Kindergarten teacher and conduct two arts and crafts class sessions with her 13 students. Having this be a "success" required the right project and proper preparation. 

When I saw this project on Pinterest, I knew this was the one. The only thing I decided to change was instead of using crayons, call me crazy, we were going to paint. Preparation was key to know how this project would translate in the class, so, I prepared a sample.

First, I painted a paper plate with green washable tempura paint. Boy, was I glad I tested this! I had used a regular paper plate and found that the paint saturation flattened the plate too much so I switched to a more "formed" paper plate. While that was drying, I cut out a template cross from a heavy card stock and traced it onto dark brown and red card stock. I cut these out for my sample and then traced onto the appropriate colored card stock all the crosses the kids would need for their "hills" (along with my normal 5 extra "just in case" safety pieces). Once the plate was dry, I used an Exacto knife to cut out the pop up section of the plate. Then, using brown washable tempura paint, I painted the roads, tomb and area under the crosses. The crosses I attached with double sided tape. On vanilla card stock, I printed out the title "Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus LIVES!!!" for a banner that was glued across the plate. 

With my sample ready, I was prepared for class. My plan for the first session was to just get the plate painted green. Anything additional would be icing on the cake.

Of course, setting up the art room prior to class was so very important to the success of the class. The kids were very excited to be painting and not only did they complete their plates but half of them were able to cut out their crosses too. 

Session one was in the books and it was a success. Just look!

Because I did this class with a session still left in the day, I was able to go ahead and cut the pop up hill in all of the plates in preparation for the next day's class.

At our second class, I had the tables prepped with brown paint so that step by step, together we painted the roads, tomb and area under the crosses. Once that was done, the students who didn't cut our their crosses already did so, and I worked with each student on adhering their crosses with double sided tape. Once their crosses were attached, they took a square title banner and a pair of decorative scissors to the table where they gave the banner a decorative edge. These they adhered with a touch of glue. 

Look at the amazing job they did! What a wonderful decoration for them to take home and remember what Easter is all about - the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. So very proud of the their work and their conduct during these classes with me!!!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

"Stained Glass" Crosses - 3rd Grade Arts and Crafts Class

With spring break just a week away and Easter happening at the end of their vacation, the 3rd grade arts and crafts class was in need of a "holiday" appropriate project. 

Several months ago when I found this project on Pinterest I knew I wanted to do it for the Easter season. The 3rd grade class just happened to be the class whose schedule fit perfectly for us to be able to create these. What was even better is they were finishing them the Friday before their break so we would be able to display these for a week before they took them home.
As always, I made a sample of the project prior to class and this particular project required a "bit" of cutting prep. Thankfully I had already purchased my new "professional" paper cutter so this portion although tedious was quite easy. Each cross required four 1/2"x 8" and twenty 1/2" x 3" black strips of card stock per student for both the front and back outline of the cross. When I do these types of projects, I always cut supplies for 5 extra students just in case a piece is dropped or lost during the assembling process. The tissue paper pieces I found pre-cut at my local JoAnn's. Whew! that was a big help! The contact paper I had at home on hand so I cut two 12 x 18 pieces from the roll for each student - one for the base and one to overlay once decorated.

One of the best things I did regarding this project was go and set up the class room before the students arrived. After all each piece of contact paper, had to be laid out on the table for them to be able to start their project. I also taped a piece of exposed contact paper on the chalkboard so that I could show the kids step by step where to place their black strips to make the bottom outline of the cross. Once they completed that step, they were able to fill in the middle portion with the tissue paper squares in whatever color design or pattern they chose. When the middle was completed, the students then glued with a glue stick the remaining black outline pieces on top of the black underlining outline covering any color squares that overlapped. This step although not necessary makes a clean finish to the backside of the cross.
The kids were all able to finish this portion during class. After the class, I took the second piece of contact paper and carefully laid it over their creation sealing the two pieces of contact paper. Once I was done with this step, I then cut the excess contact paper away leaving a small edge.
I can't tell you how pleased I was with their work and the joy it gave me to be able to display their artwork in the school hallway. I didn't want to just put these on the wall as the "stained glass" effect would not be visible. So, with the loan of some ceiling clips, a paper clip and black pipe cleaner, their crosses were hung from the hallway ceiling around the overhead light so that the light would pass through the crosses.

Once again, the kids did a great job!
As always, thanks for stopping by!

5 Star Cheeseburger Casserole

Wow! I can't believe I'm back on track and have cooked dinner 3 nights in a row. What is even a bigger shock is that the last three meals have all been successes. 

Tonight's dinner 5 Star Cheeseburger Casserole was located at the website Bakerette and the recipe can be found here.

As you know, I usually follow recipes as close to the original directions as possible making very few tweaks on the first try. I did make two alterations to this recipe. 

I've been trying to eliminate some gluten from our family's diet so when it comes to pasta I've been substituting with gluten free options. I had some left over Ronzoni spirals and Barilla penne (both gluten free) that I combined to make the 2 cups of required uncooked pasta. Couldn't tell the difference! 

The other alteration was in the tomatoes. I had planned and shopped for this meal last week and I did not want to waste or have to make a separate trip for fresh tomatoes, so I bought a can of 14.5 oz Del Monte petite diced tomatoes to replace the "required" Roma's. I did drain and rinse the tomatoes using the entire can in the recipe. 

This recipe was so easy and quick to make. The pasta cooked while I prepared the beef and was ready to be combined at just the right time. 

Now I have to tell you the ketchup, mustard and pickle really help to make this meal taste like a cheeseburger. It wasn't really saucy, which I liked, and you could taste the individual ingredients used. 

As I write this, Dave is still at work so he has not eaten this meal yet so I can't give you his reveiw. However, Emily said "it tastes like a cheeseburger" and gave it a thumbs up. Matt, well he still hates visible tomatoes, so once he picked them all out his served portion, he gobbled it up. He liked it but thinks I should leave the tomatoes out next time. Not going to happen! Matt can pick them out the next time it is made.

My opinion -  this was yummy and pretty healthy. I used a lean beef this time, maybe I'll try ground turkey breast the next time. 

The recipe does make a  13x9 casserole dish so I may half the recipe next time seeing we aren't that much of a leftover family.

Try it, tell me what you think.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Paper Strip Easter Eggs - 4th grade Arts and Crafts Class

Several weeks prior to Easter, the 4th grade arts and crafts class used their creative abilities to make "framed" paper strip Easter eggs. 

I found the original idea of course on Pinterest here. 

Prior to this class,  I spent quite a bit of time prepping the supplies needed. I printed out the egg template provided at the original website. The base paper and shimmer "frame" paper were items I already had in my home craft supplies. As for the paper strips, I had a "slab" of coordinating decorative card stock and packages of coordinating colored paper on hand that I used cutting them into 1/2" x 8" strips. 

Being a crafter, I already have two paper cutters here at home. However, they are not made for the amount of paper I have found myself cutting as of late. The one cutter is an older Fiskar model and the blade I had on hand was dull making the paper strip edges frayed. My other cutter, although cutting clean edges, makes a horrible noise when cutting, like nails on a chalkboard. Thankfully I had another day before class so that night I took the plunge and upgraded to a more "professional" paper cutter.  Best buy ever!!!

With the papers strips cut, template copied onto the card stock backing and "frame" papers and the sample project in hand, class was ready to begin.

First, using the egg backing paper as a guide, the students laid out the design they would create with the decorative and colored paper strips. After they made their design, they then glued the strips on top of the egg template. For the frame, I used an Exacto knife to cut a portion of the egg center out and then the students used scissors to cut out the remaining portion of the egg. 

Because we only had one class to complete this project and the paper strips were just glued, I chose not to have the students adhere the "frames" during class. As a matter of fact, I took the kids "eggs" and "frames" home, let them dry and then adhered the frames with Super 77 adhesive. 

One of the best parts of this project was that they were able to be displayed in the school hallway for a few weeks before the students took them home at the start of Easter break. There is nothing like seeing the pride students have when their work is displayed. Once again, they did a great job! 

As always, thanks for stopping by!