Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Meat

This is a crazy busy weekend as we host a car wash fundraiser, and get ready to travel out of town for a baseball tournament. Thanks to our slow cooker, we will come home to chicken tacos for dinner. It makes more than enough, so the leftovers will come in handy as we are packing for our trip over the next two days. This is my go-to meal when I'm in a hurry, and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

4-6 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed

1/4 cup salsa

1 package taco seasoning

1 can Rotel

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. In a small bowl, stir remaining ingredients together. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 6-7 hours if thawed, 8-9 hours if frozen. Shred chicken with a fork, stirring well to distribute spices and juices. Cook on low 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite toppings.

We use leftover shredded chicken for nachos, salads, and wraps.

Morning Devotionals

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
        ~Psalm 5:3

It is July, and I am pleased to say that I am still on track with my most important New Year's resolution - daily quiet time with The Lord. My goal was to begin my day with 10-15 minutes of reading from a daily devotional. Well, that has quickly been stretched into a much longer period of time. I try to always take notes and write down my prayers. It is so powerful to be able to look back through my prayers and see what God has done in my life in response to them. This daily quiet time has also drastically helped my attitude toward what lies ahead each day. It gets my mind ready to face whatever comes my way. There are several resources from which I read. Whenever possible, I get an electronic version of my devotionals so that they are always with me. Here are the ones I am currently reading:

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young - I am actually reading this for the second year in a row. I downloaded the Kindle version so it's always with me on my iPhone or iPad. 

Your Best Life Begins Each Morning, by Joel Osteen - I downloaded the Kindle version of this one as well. 

"Daily Hope" (Rick Warren) - is an app I downloaded to my iPad. I've been reading his daily devotionals for about 3 years, and they do not repeat! 

I find something that speaks to me from at least one of these everyday. Sometimes, the words seem to leap off of the screen, as if they were written just for me and what I'm going through at the time. The quiet house, my daily devo, and a cup of hot coffee create such a peaceful way to begin my day. 

BBQ Spare Ribs

I've always been intimidated by grilling, especially ribs. Growing up, my dad did all of the grilling, so I guess I just saw it as a "man's job," which sounds incredibly sexist...which I am not. I pride myself on not sticking to gender-specific roles in my marriage. For example, I cut the grass, and hubby cleans the toilets. I kid you not, he cleans the toilets!!

Anyway, back to the grill - Last night, I made the best dinner - BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables. Even my picky 7-year-old enjoyed it.

BBQ Spare Ribs
4 lbs of spare ribs, cut into servings
Grill Mates Mesquite Seasoning
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously season each serving of ribs in Grill Mates Mesquite Seasoning. Double wrap each with heavy duty aluminum foil, and place all of them on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours. Heat grill to about 250 degrees. Remove ribs from foil, and baste each side with BBQ sauce. Place each piece directly onto the grill and cook for 15 minutes on each side, basting once after turning.

Mashed Potatoes
8 potatoes, peeled and quartered
milk (about 1/2 cup, more or less to create desired consistency)
1/4 cup butter
salt
pepper

Boil potatoes in water over high heat for about 20 minutes, or until easily smashed with a fork. Mix with butter until small lumps form. Add milk, and mix to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix until smooth.

Disclaimer: I know that sounds a bit sketchy, but mashed potatoes really need to be cooked and mixed to the desire of the person eating them.

Grilled Vegetables
1 small red onion, cut into large chunks
1 zucchini squash, cut into half-moon-shaped pieces
1 yellow squash, cut into half-moon-shaped pieces
8 oz. whole white mushrooms, left whole
about 1/2 Italian Dressing (I use Hidden Valley Zesty Italian)
6 skewers

Wash and cut vegetables, and place in a large bowl. Pour dressing over vegetables, and shake to coat. Place vegetables on skewers (have your preschooler help you do this, and teach him about patterns). Place skewers on grill, and cook for about 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Best App to Keep Me on Track

I wear many different "hats" - Wife, Mother, Literacy Coach, Student, Teacher, Baseball Team Mom. There is so much to do that sometimes it gets overwhelming...ok, it's overwhelming A LOT of the time! During the school year, I leave my house at 6:15 in the morning, and often don't return until after 8:00 at night, thanks to after-school meetings and baseball practice. The Oldest plays travel baseball which means there is practice at least twice each week all year. We do have a few weeks off at Christmas and in August. 

Disclaimer: Please keep your opinions about overdoing it in the baseball department to yourself because he eats, breathes, sleeps, LIVES for baseball. Even on the hottest, stickiest, most uncomfortable days, he begs to practice. If the day ever comes when he wants to quit, we will let him...no questions asked.  

I digress - For a long time, I used the "sticky note" method to jot down my to-do lists. There were sticky notes on my desk at work, counters at home, and even on the steering wheel in my car! As one would suspect...I lost many of those little notes, and continued to forget important things. This past May, all of that changed when I discovered the Pocket Lists app. For $4.99, this little gem keeps me on track. It is a list of lists!!! I downloaded it to my iPhone and my iPad. It's the best $4.99 I've spent in awhile! As you can see, I have a lot to do, and there are only 29 days of summer break left for me!