Trying to catch...

Already 4 days into February and I am trying to catch up. Filed our taxes the last day of January, as well as Kolton started back at Day Nursery. He is still iffy about it, but once we leave he starts to interact with the other kids. He has been dealing with sinus infection and bronchitis since Sunday and I hope he starts to feel better soon. I hate seeing him sick. Well, I have decided to start a long "To-List" as well as a "Daily List" to hopefully catch up on projects around the house. Well, this is going to be short till I can catch up on these lists but wanted to show what I have cooked this past week.

First one was the beef enchilada bake --

Ingredients needed (besides the scissors and baby meds)

Prepared and waiting for it to cook:

Not the greatest, but was still good:

Recipe:

what you need

1

lb. lean ground beef

1

can (10-3/4 oz.) reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup

1-1/4

cups cubed VELVEETA® (1/2-inch cubes), divided

6

corn tortillas (6 inch), cut in half

1

can (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

make it

HEAT oven to 350°F.

BROWN meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in soup and 1 cup VELVEETA.

SPOON 1/3 of the meat mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; cover with 6 tortilla halves and 1/4 cup tomatoes. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat mixture, tomatoes and VELVEETA; cover.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through.

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Lately I decided to try Italian Chicken. Really easy and its a crockpot meal (added carrots half way through the cooking):

Kolton ate half a chicken breast, didn't care for carrots or the rice but he was eating.

Recipe:

Italian Chicken

• One bottle of your favorite Italian salad dressing
• 6 Chicken Breasts

Stick the chicken breasts in the crockpot and pour the Italian Dressing over them. Cook on high for 4-6 hours until completely cooked through. Serve over brown rice.

For variation, you can add in a bag of frozen veggies halfway through.

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

This is really good and makes enough for left overs. I highly recommend it.

Just some of the general ingredients:

Once placed in slow cooker, not a pretty sight but the ending is great:

The after math:

Here is the recipe:

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 4 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
• 6 to 10 cups water
• 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 Tablespoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 bay leaves

Brown ground beef and onion together until meat is lightly browned. Drain off excess fat. Add all remaining ingredients and bring mixture to a boil.

Cover and simmer for two to four hours. Check periodically and add more water, if needed. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Makes 18 to 20 cups of soup. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Welcome to the new year!!

Yes, I am 26 days late since the beginning of the year 2012. Been trying to get into a schedule but still nothing has been working as I want to sleep in as much as possible. I am tired daily so I know I need to work out and start eating right so I can start having more energy. My little man is 20 months old and I need to keep up with him. It is a change I need to consider for my family, even if I have a husband who is stubborn. I've been also trying to cut back on eating out so we can start knocking down debt. So far, we've used my tuition reimbursement money given from my employer and paid off all our credit cards.

What we paid off:

Capital One - $266.29

My Bill Me Later Account - $45.96

Andrew's Bill Me Later Account - $978.02

Sam's - $583.75

Best Buy $2002.94

I am still currently paying off a FingerHut account, but that was roughly $270.

Now, we are only down to loans. There is student loans, the amount I still owe McMurry, 401K loan, personal loan, vehicles, and mortgage. If we can just stay on a strict budget, I say we could probably be debt free in maybe 2-3 years. I am just looking at paying off McMurry, 401K loan and maybe half of the personal loan this year. Student loans looking at starting to pay partially but knowing it will be a long shot but at least take advantage of it. Vehicles and mortgage, I am hoping to keep what we have and maybe try to save enough so we can buy a bigger house or add on to our current house so we can have a master bedroom/bathroom and enlarge the kitchen. So many ideas, and just maybe prepare for baby #2 maybe sometime later on this year or next. Well, hopefully I can keep those interested with positive updates.