Whole Fryer Chicken {SLOW COOKER RECIPES}

Chicken is very popular around my house, but unfortunately the cost of it has caused us to limit how much we actually get to eat it.  I try to buy it when it is on sale so that I can freeze it and store it for later.  We enjoy eating the leg quarters (the cheapest chicken out there) and we also enjoy the whole fryer chickens.  By cooking the whole chickens, we actually end up having a bunch left over for the rest of the week for my husbands lunches.  This actually turns out to be a money saver in the end, especially if I can get a fryer chicken for less than $4.00 (this is when I stock up on them in my freezer!).

Cooking a fryer chicken in the slow cooker is one of the easiest meals you can make for your family.  It is also one of the juiciest ways you can cook a chicken.  This is one of my families favorites when it comes to chicken dinners!  The best part...all you need is the fryer chicken and the spices of your choosing!

Ingredients:

• Whole Fryer Chicken (unfrozen --- it is not advised to put frozen chicken in a slow cooker because the slow, low temperatures actually provide the right environment for bacteria to grow)
• Lemon Pepper Seasoning
• Parsley
• 1 sliced onion (optional)

Whole Fryer Chicken

**NOTE --- you can choose to "spice" your chicken with whatever spices you choose.  Sometimes I will use the following spice mix (found on "Enchanted Mommy") instead of the ones listed above (these are also VERY tasty!):

• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

Rinse the fryer chicken, being careful to remove the chickens insides and discard of them.  Place the whole chicken in to the slow cooker.  You can also line the bottom of the slow cooker with sliced onions if you want.  This is a good addition, but most of the time I forget to pick up an onion at the store so I am not ever able to do this!

Rinsed and ready for seasoning

Once the chicken is placed in the slow cooker, cover the entire chicken with the spices of your choosing.

All dressed up!

Almost done...you can see the juices it creates on its own

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-8 hours.  I have found that 7 hours is the magic number in my slow cooker.  Because all chickens and slow cookers are different, you will need to check the internal temperature of the chicken to be sure it is cooked all the way through.

***NOTE:  There is no need to add any sort of juice to the crock pot.  As you can see below, the chicken itself makes enough juice on its own (see above picture)!

All done!

As you can see it just falls off the bone!!

Serve with a side of rice and a veggie and you are good to enjoy a delicious easy chicken meal!

Give it a try and let me know what spices you tried with it!

Breakfast Burritos {FREEZER RECIPE}

Having 2 little kids, sometimes making breakfast really difficult.  Or at least I should say a good breakfast!  My son gets a bottle and my daughter gets cereal and some milk (her choice), but poor mom always gets a quick breakfast in between caring for the kids.  Most of the time, breakfast seems to occur around 10 a.m. after we have been up for 3 1/2 hours!  Because of this, I decided to scour the internet for a good freezer breakfast idea!  I stumbled upon "The Pioneer Woman's" version of Breakfast Burritos.

I did however make a few changes to the recipe.  Instead of using her version of potatoes, onions, and peppers, I decided to buy a package of Ore-Ida Potatoes O'Brien, which is essentially the same thing, just pre made...think smarter, not harder!  I also decided what to freeze them (directions for this will come at the end --- along with heating them up).

Ingredients

• 1 pound of breakfast sausage
• 1 package of Ore-Ida Potatoes O'Brien
• 12 whole eggs
• Salt an pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
• Flour tortillas

Ingredients

 Directions for Assembly

Start off by cooking the potatoes and the breakfast sausage according to the package.  This recipe is a multi-step process, but in the end, it is worth it to have several breakfast burritos awaiting me in the morning for the next few weeks!!

Sausage

Be sure to drain the grease from the sausage

Place sausage on paper plate or towel to drain excess grease

Potatoes

They are ready!!

Double timing it!!

Once the potatoes and the sausage is cooked, drain the sausage (if needed) and combine in to one skillet.  Combine the 12 eggs in to the same skillet and continue to cook until all the eggs are cooked through.

Eggs are added

All ready to be stuffed

Now lay out your tortillas and place a scoopful (or two) of filling in the middle.  Top with some cheese and begin wrapping.  I folded in the sides, then rolled the tortilla starting with the side closest to me.  I bought soft taco sized tortillas, and after making these I realized I would prefer the larger sized tortillas.  These will give me nice snack sized burritos though, so I am happy with the result.  I am not a big eater!

Getting stuffed!

Time for plastic wrap

This mix gave me 18 burritos (well 20, but my husband ate 2 before I even managed to wrap them!).  I probably could have made more, but I ran out of tortillas.  So we ended up eating the leftover filling in bowls topped with cheese...it reminded me of the breakfast bowl from Bob Evans!

Directions for Freezing

Once you have all the ingredients cooked and the burritos assembled, now it is time to prepare them for freezing.  Obviously you could just go ahead and enjoy them right after cooking them if you wanted to, but this recipe allows for them to be frozen as well (which was my intentions).

All ready for the freezer!

Directions for Re-Heating

Remove burritos from the freezer when you are ready to eat them.  You MUST remove the plastic wrap before microwaving the burrito...this step is VERY important!  ONE AT A TIME, place a burrito in the microwave and microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds.  Flip the burrito and microwave again on HIGH for 45 seconds.  This should ensure that the burrito is cooked fully.  Remember that microwave times do vary, so you may need to adjust your time if you find that the middle of your burrito is still cold after these times.

These burritos are great for on the go kids, a semi-healthy after school snack, or a quick semi-healthy breakfast for mom or dad in the morning!  You can get as creative as you want with these burritos...adding veggies to the mix before freezing or enjoying them with sour cream or salsa after re-heating!

Go ahead and try them!!!  Then leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

Ekobrew Cup, Refillable K-Cup {PRODUCT REVIEW}

Like most stay at home moms, or moms in general, my morning coffee is a MUST HAVE as part of my morning routine!  Prior to having kids, coffee was more for enjoyment rather than for necessity.  Well apparently my cousin was smart enough to think ahead and provided me with a coffee maker as my baby shower gift...quite clever if you ask me!  After about 2 years of use, or overuse I guess, it kicked the bucket!  That was when my gracious husband decided to surprise me with a Keurig K-cup machine!  I absolutely love it!  At the time, it was GREAT because I only wanted one cup of coffee before heading off to work.  I wasn't in need of more than one cup.

Well fast forward a year later, and a 2nd child, to where I became a stay at home mom.  This new situation showed me that one cup of coffee wasn't going to be enough on most days!  However with the staggering price for k-cups, I wasn't sure if I was going to afford to keep using my Keurig machine.  So after much research, I decided to invest in a reusable k-cup for my Keurig!  Who knew that those really existed!  Actually, after purchasing and using it, I am honestly surprised that the makers of k-cup are still in business.  I guess it has to do with the fact that they are convenient (use and throw away, rather than use and wash) and the come in so many more flavors when compared to your traditional ground coffee.

After reading the reviews on Amazon for several brands of refillable k-cups, I decided to go with the Ekobrew Cup, Refillable Cup for Keurig K-Cup Brewers.  Out of 2,999 reviews, it received 4 our of 5 stars and was priced at a stellar price of $9.99 (plus I received free shipping as an Amazon Prime member).  This price is what I would pay for about 17 k-cups at our local grocery store.  So basically if I could make 17 cups of coffee with this cup, it would be worth the cost!

Ekobrew Reusable Filter

Once the product arrived, I was eager to try it out and see if it really was worth the price!  I was addicted to my k-cups, however I was not addicted to the price!  I went to Target and had my ground coffee ready to go!  So now for my review:

Pros

• The obvious savings ($9.99 plus a can of coffee makes about 240 cups of coffee compared to $9.99 for 20 cups of coffee)
• Environmentally friendly --- no more throwing out single serve cups
• The ability to still be able to use your favorite ground coffee (which actually does come in a variety of flavors just like the k-cups)
• Strength - you can adjust the strength of your coffee because you are able to put in as little or as much grounds as you want (this can be done with k-cups as well to an extent because you are able to adjust the size of your cup)
• Wash & Reuse --- simply pour out the grounds, rinse it, and you are ready for a second cup!
• Dishwasher Safe - pop it in your dishwasher once a week for a deeper cleaning (I put it in the basket for baby items on the top rack)

Cons

• Strength - this can also be a negative because it takes several tries to figure out just how much grounds you need for the perfect cup of coffee --- I used their recommendation and it made a VERY strong, black cup of coffee!!!
• Possible leaking - This is only the case if you leave coffee grounds on the lip of the cup so the lid won't close properly

So as you can see, in the 3 short weeks I have had this cup, I have found way more pros than cons when it comes to this cup!  It is amazingly convenient when it comes to my morning pick me up!  I am curious to see if it would work with hot chocolate!  

Have you purchased a reusable k-cup?  If so, what kind and did you like it?

It Only Takes $5 Dollars to Save a Life

As I was doing my daily perusing through blogs, I came across a blog post that really hit me.  As a mother of 2 young children, I am actually really glad I stumbled upon this blog entry.  I am saddened for the great loss this family has endured, but the greatest gift we can give this family is to be educated on the dangers of furniture not secured to the wall.  As you will notice in this post on "Love, Light, Laughter and Chocolate," the dresser in their daughters room was not a tall dresser (read the full post here as she recounts the events of the day).  It was a shorter dresser and their 3 year old was still able to get on it in such a way that it fell on top of her.

No parent wants to experience the loss of a child, especially when freak accidents like this can be prevented.  If you have any furniture in your child's room, whether it is a dresser, a tall dollhouse, or a bookcase, head to your local hardware or home improvement store and buy a few "l brackets" or "corner brackets."  You won't regret spending the $5 to help save your child's life.  

Below is the tall bookcase in my daughter's room which was bracketed by my husband on both sides.  I couldn't imagine my daughter being crushed by this bookcase.

One of the L brackets

Tall bookcase in her room

Welcome to the World of Sweatpants!!

Welcome to "Living My Life in Sweatpants!" Here I will share my life as a stay at home mom and include ideas for crafts, lessons with your kids, recipes, and other household/everyday living ideas that I think will be useful to other people! I love reading blogs, and thought to myself "Self...let's start a blog too...maybe someone will find what I have to say useful!!"

I hope that you find something in this blog that will be useful to you and your family! I look forward to creating my first "craft" post tomorrow! I will provide a tutorial on "Felt Flower Hairclips." I love to craft and cook so you should find a ton of tutorials on this blog :) Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to meeting my readers!

On the right side you will find a place to give updates by e-mail (every time I post you will be notified) and you can also become a "follower!"  Look further down the blog on the right side to find the button where you can follow my blog!  Until next time!!

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