With a Side of Hope

Hi Everyone!  It’s Thursday, December 2nd, which happens to be Mike’s Birthday!  YAY!  He is finally 26 today!  Yes, I am older than him.  I’ll be 27 in March.  I’m dating a younger man.  Haha.  I have been with Mike since he had his 21st birthday.  It’s hard to believe I have been with him for so many birthdays already.  Time goes by so fast!  The one year we celebrated his birthday in Disney World.  That was fun.  I think that is one of the most magical places to be when you are celebrating something special!  Tonight, we are going to Mike’s parent’s house for dinner.  Happy Birthday Mike!  I hope you have a great day and I love you lots! 

Last night when I came home, dinner was already prepared!  I had dinner cooking in the crockpot all day.  I was pretty excited about that because when I opened up the front door, it smelled amazing in the house!  I knew I ready for a great tasting dinner!

Slow-Cooker Tex Mex Chicken (adapted from Kraftrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch-wide strips (****I used the boneless breasts whole because I wanted it more shredded)

2 Tbsp.  (1/2 of 1-1/4-oz. pkg.)  Taco Seasoning Mix  (****I used an entire taco seasoning packet)

2 Tbsp. flour

1   each green and red pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips (I did not use peppers because I didn’t have them)

1 cup frozen corn (I used an entire bag of frozen corn because I didn’t have peppers)

1-1/2 cups  Salsa

1 cup Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese

Directions:

TOSS chicken with taco seasoning and flour in slow cooker. Stir in vegetables and salsa; cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours).

STIR just before serving; top with shredded cheese.

Ingredients

My salad

My dinner plate

Tex Mex Chicken

Let me tell you, make this now!  This turned out incredible!  The chicken had so much flavor.  It tasted good to put it on a chip like a nacho!  Mike thought this was by far the best thing I ever made in the crockpot!  We are definitely going to be adding this to our rotation!  What an amazing dinner!  Plus, it was part Mexican, my favorite food!  Delicious!!

Instead of using sour cream, I used Oikos Greek Yogurt.

It was great!  The perfect substitute for sour cream.  I totally recommend using greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  It’s much healthier for you.  Plus it tastes the same way!  You can hardly tell the difference!

After dinner,  I got working on a birthday cake for Mike!  I went the simple route and used a box mix.  His request was dark chocolate cake with chocolate Funfetti frosting.  Chocolate overload if you ask me!  Haha!

Ingredients

I used applesauce instead of oil.  I never cook with oil.  I think applesauce is a great substitute when baking.  It makes the cake come out even better!

Cakes Baked

Mike's Birthday Cake

Side view of cake

I think it turned out pretty good!  I messed up the writing and sprinkles a little bit but it’s a homemade cake.  What do you expect?  I would love to take a cake decorating course.  I think that would be so much fun.  I love baking cakes and frosting them.  It was a tease smelling chocolate throughout the entire house.  I debated on letting us have a piece but I decided to wait until we get home from his parents house to have a piece.  I know they are most likely going to have a cake but I wanted to make one of my own for Mike to have at our place. 

This morning I have my usual for now.  I had peanut butter puffins cereal with soy milk, banana and pumpkin coffee.  Like I’ve been saying, I’m not going to post a picture.  It’s boring looking at my usual breakfast.  I like it though.

Time to get back to work!  See you for lunch! 

Filed under: Uncategorized