Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
2lb raw boneless chicken breast, sliced thickly
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp chicken grill seasoning
½ tsp black pepper
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, beans, corn)
1 can refrigerated biscuits

Place chicken in slow cooker, cover with onions, seasonings, and soup.
Cook on low until chicken is no longer pink (about 4 hours).
Add frozen vegetables and cook at least one more hour.
Cook biscuits in oven according to package directions.
Spoon chicken mixture over warm cooked biscuits.

Red and Brown Blocks Afghan

Finished November 2012 – I really like how the alternating colors worked out.

Yarn: Caron Soft Nutmeg and Bone with rotating Autumn Red and Off White in a 4 red/1 white; 3 red/2 white; 2 red/3 white; 1 red/4 white mirror repeat pattern
Hook: G
Pattern: chain multiple of 4, turn 3, single crochet 2, chain 2, repeat as needed (block pattern)

Green and Purple Blocks Afghan

Finished Dec 11th – I don’t know that I really like the colors (green and purple together are not my favorite) but it matches the bedroom and I wanted to use up the lavender yarn.

Yarn: Caron Soft Dark Sage, Sage, Sand, Off White, Lavender Blue and Perfect Plum
Hook: G
Pattern: chain multiple of 4, turn 3, single crochet 2, chain 2, repeat as needed (block pattern)

The more things change…

I started this blog years ago as a project for my national board certification while teaching high school.  With the rise of social media and my busy schedule, the blog never really took off.  Now, while searching for a way to keep my recipes and craft info accessible to me “in the cloud”, I came back to this blog.  Welcome to those who stumble upon it!!  But, even if it’s just me here, at least I’ll have my recipes in one spot 🙂  And, if anyone is wondering about the app status mentioned a couple of years ago – times change!  I now use the app Wunderlist to track to-do’s, grocery lists, and packing lists.  On a daily basis, I access information on an iPad, iPod, android phone, Dell laptop, Dell desktop, iMac, and MacBook Pro.  Cloud storage and universal access are a must!!

Red Hot Cinnamon Caramel Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, cold and cubed
1 ¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
¾ cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinnamon
3 cups Quaker oats
¾ cup red hot cinnamon candies
1 cup Kraft caramel baking bits

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and sugars in mixer and mix on medium until creamy.
Mix in egg and vanilla.
In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Add flour mixture to mixer by spoonfuls.
Add oats to mixture. Add this after the flour to minimize clumping on the bottom of the mixer bowl.
Add red hots and caramel bits to mixer.
Scoop out onto baking sheet using a tablespoon or batter scoop.
Bake approximately 15 minutes (I always rotate cookies half time on bottom rack and half time on top rack so the bottom and top of the cookie bake evenly).
These cookies should be baked on parchment paper and lifted when cooled or the caramel will stick.

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, cold and cubed
⅔ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups granulated white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 ½ cups flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups Quaker oats
1 package of Craisins dried cranberries (6 ounces)
1 package of Baker’s white chocolate, chopped or ½ package white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and sugars in mixer and mix on medium until creamy.
Mix in egg and vanilla.
In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add flour mixture to mixer by spoonfuls.
Add oats to mixture. Add this after the flour to minimize clumping on the bottom of the mixer bowl.
Add cranberries and white chocolate to mixture.
Scoop out onto baking sheet using a tablespoon or batter scoop.
Bake approximately 15 minutes (I always rotate cookies half time on bottom rack and half time on top rack so the bottom and top of the cookie bake evenly).

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups butter, cold and cubed
2 ½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup granulated white sugar
4 eggs
4 tbsp milk
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
5 cups Quaker oats (1-18 oz tub)
12 ounces dark chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and sugars in mixer and mix on medium until creamy. Make sure butter is cold, if it is warm, cookies will run and thin in the oven. Make sure to use real butter or cookies will be more likely to run and cook unevenly due consistency of the oils in butter substitutes.
Mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.
In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
Add flour mixture to mixer by spoonfuls.
Add oats to mixture. Add this after the flour to minimize clumping on the bottom of the mixer bowl.
Add chocolate chips to mixture.
Scoop out onto baking sheet using a tablespoon or batter scoop.
Bake approximately 15 minutes (I always rotate cookies half time on bottom rack and half time on top rack so the bottom and top of the cookie bake evenly).

Sugar Cut-out Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
Powdered sugar (for icing)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and sugar in mixer and mix on medium until creamy.
Mix in egg and vanilla.
In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
Add flour mixture to mixer by spoonfuls.
Roll out and cut as desired.
Bake approximately 15 minutes (I always rotate cookies half time on bottom rack and half time on top rack so the bottom and top of the cookie bake evenly).
Icing: slowly add water by the teaspoon to powdered sugar until desired spreading consistency is reached

From apps to the cloud

I’ve gotten away from using this blog in favor of facebook. But, since facebook is too bogged down in other information to adequately deal with classroom ideas, I’m going to try to increase use of this blog. I’m not sure how this will go, but we’ll give it a shot!

Last year, I posted info about some apps. Funny thing is, those apps have not stood the test of time. As I have progressed to daily use of 2 iPods, an iPad, a MacBook Pro, a school MacBook, and a Dell PC I’ve found it better to use web/cloud based solutions. And, among those, simpler is better!

To keep organized, I use the following web-based (and free!) solutions:

To-Do: http://teuxdeux.com/list

Sticky Notes (for fluid lesson planning): http://listhings.com

Concept Mapping: https://bubbl.us/

Tools in the Cloud

Here is the link for the “Tools in the Cloud” power point.

Tools in the Cloud pdf on Google Docs

Please let me know if you have any questions!