Hawaiian Haystacks

I grew up eating Hawaiian Haystacks, it was one of  my favorites! Back in the day though, the only toppings I ate were cheese and crispy noodles! This version is made a bit healthier, and there are no cream soups so it's all from scratch and still super easy to make. I used pineapple, cheese, green onions, tomatoes, and crispy noodles. Some people use raisins, dried cranberries, and olives, so go crazy! 

You can enjoy this meal any time of the year, I live in Phoenix so in the heat of summer this is actually perfect, and still so good in the middle of February, but then again I like to eat cornbread and chili in August so maybe I don't know anything. ANYWAY..

Start out with butter and  coconut oil and melt in a sauce pan, add flour, and salt & pepper. Stir for a few minutes until its thick and lovely. Next turn up the heat then add chicken stock and stir until it thickens again. At this point add sour cream, garlic, and dry ranch seasoning OR dry italian dressing.

Add shredded chicken breast, and serve over brown rice, or you can put the chicken and gravy in the crock pot until you're ready to serve it. 

2 chicken breasts, shredded 

2 tablespoons of butter 

2 tablespoons coconut oil 

 1 can chicken stock 

salt and pepper to taste 

1/4 cup sour cream 

2 tablespoons dry Italian or ranch dressing mix

1 tsp minced garlic

enough steamed rice for your family, 3 cups usually does it for us

toppings:

crushed pineapple

cheddar cheese

crispy chinese noodles

green onions

sliced grape tomatoes

olives

raisins

dried cranberries

enjoy! 

xoxo, Michelle

The Best Crockpot Seasoning: McCormick Grill Mates

I LOVE these!

I'm sure they are wonderful for the grill...

But they are so perfect for a crockpot meal.

There are so many different flavor options and they are on sale so often!

Switch up the meats and veggies you put in and the possibilities are endless.

I've done smoky applewood with shredded pork, Brown Sugar Bourbon with little steaks, Island wood fire grill with pork chops, Baja Citrus with chicken... seriously there are so many ways to use these handy things.

This time I'm going to show you what I did with the Zesty herb packet (my favorite one), russet potatoes, and green beans.

No matter which packet I use, I do the same thing, just with different veggies and meats to keep it interesting ;)

Ingredients:

1) 1 packet of McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning

2) Your choice of meat (this time I did 5 frozen chicken tenders)

3) Veggies of your choice (I did the frozen green beans from costco and added potatoes as a starch because I LOVE potatoes in the crockpot!)

4) Water

5) Vegetable, canola, or olive oil

Directions:

1) Place your meat in first, then layer whatever veggies or starch you want on top.

2) Mix together seasoning packet, about 1/4 cup oil, then fill the rest to the 1 cup line with water

(make sure to mix it good, I also add a shake or two of salt and pepper)

3) Pour mixture evenly over the top of everything in crockpot

5) Cook on low for at least 4 hours. I like letting it go a little longer so the flavors really soak into everything. I stir it a few times periodically while it's cooking so nothing burns on the sides and it all has it's turn to soak in the seasoning. Yum!

And that's all! Serve it up and enjoy!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos

We've all said it before, but I'll just go ahead and say it again!

Who doesn't love their crockpot??

It makes life on the go SO easy!

This 5 ingredient shredded chicken was so flavorful and easy to do.

Another trial turned success!

We sure love tacos over here!

Ingredients:

1) 5-6 chicken tenders or 3-4 breasts

2) 1 cut up bell pepper of your choice

3) 1/2 cup chopped white onion

4) 1-2 chopped cloves garlic

5) 1 full jar of salsa verde

Directions:

1) Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. On top of that add onion, garlic, and bell pepper

2) Pour jar of salsa verde on top of everything and cook on low for about 4 hours.

3) Remove chicken and bell peppers and strain excess liquid. (Unless you like soggy tacos.) Put chicken in a bowl and shred. Then add to a taco shell with your favorite toppings!

(we make our taco shells over here by cooking corn tortillas in vegetable oil and then sprinkle with salt. Yum!)

Ta-da! That's all friends!

Go ahead and get ready for taco Tuesday next week ;)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

My Weekly Meal Plan

So I've been meaning to do this for a while now and then monday would sneak up on me, and I'd wait until the following week and blah blah blah. Anyways, I'm doing it now and I want to keep doing it every week but I'm not making any promises :) Some things you should know about me- my house is almost always messy, I'm awful at folding laundry, I grocery shop way too often, and I really hate cleaning my kitchen floor. BUT one thing I take pride in being good at is my weekly meal planning, and really, it makes my life so much easier. Who wants to think of what to make for dinner EVERY NIGHT?? It's a pain. I've learned that thinking about it one day a week is so much better. My goal is to share with you my meal plans and maybe give you something new to add to your menu, and you can share with me too, cool? Cool.

Monday: Sloppy Joes
Tuesday: Teriyaki Tacos (Taco Tuesday!)
Wednesday: Sausage and Veggie Bake
Thursday: BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Friday: Chili (Halloween!)

Sloppy Joe Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped, any color is fine. 
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp mustard (I like a spicy/sweet mixture, but regular is fab too!)
3/4 cup Ketchup
3 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Brown that ground turkey with onions and peppers, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve on whole wheat buns.

Teriyaki Tacos:
Ingredients:3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup teriyaki sauce or merinade
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper 
1 bell pepper
1 onion
crushed pineapple
shredded cheese
Uncooked flour tortillas

Add chicken, 1/2 cup of the sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and crushed red pepper in your (beloved) crock pot, and cook on low for about 6 hours. Once the chicken is cooked, shred it and add the rest of the sauce. In a skillet saute your onion and pepper with a little olive oil and butter. Top your chicken filled tortillas with peppers and onions, then cheese and pineapple. Logan asks for this meal at least once a week.. so you'll probably see it again!

Sausage and Veggie Bake:
Ingredients:
kielbasa sausage (or any kind you like, I get this at costco and the price is tough to beat)
3 large golden potatoes
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 zucchini
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tbsp minced garlic 

brown your sausage in a skillet with olive oil (technically you can skip this step, but I like some char on my sausage) in a greased 9x13 pan, add your sliced veggies and top with garlic and crushed red pepper. Add sausage on top (along with any juice) and give it all a good toss. Bake at
375 for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender

BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potatoes 
 Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup bbq sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
frozen sweet potatoes
garlic salt
brown sugar
butter

Marinate the chicken in a bag with bbq sauce, mustard, and garlic for about an hour. You can either bake it or grill it, I usually use my grill pan but do whatever tickles your fancy! For the potatoes just bake according to the directions and when they're done, toss with a bit of garlic salt and brown sugar and butter.

Chili:
1 packet of McCormick chili seasoning
1 lb ground turkey
3 cans of various beans (red beans, pinto, and white are what I like)
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Throw all that in your crock pot on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 5 or 6. Top with sour cream, cheese, and fritos. Serve with corn bread, yummmmmmm!

Well, that was fun. Enjoy!

xoxo,
Michelle

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
• ¾ cup ketchup
• 3 teaspoons brown sugar
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly.
3. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

- See more at: http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/2013/06/homemade-sloppy-joe-recipe/#_a5y_p=1287759

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe

I think we can all agree that crockpots are amazing. Especially when it's super hot outside, the last thing you wanna do is turn your oven on.

This is another one of our favorites and it's SO easy!

 It's originally posted from The Six Sisters

Ingredients:

1 (10oz) jar sweet and sour sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2lbs. frozen meatballs (I get the huge bag at Costco and throw in about 24-25)

1 medium red bell pepper, cubed

1 medium green bell pepper, cubed (I only had 2 red on hand)

1 medium onion, cubed

1 (20oz) can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place all ingredients inside and stir gently. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Serve over rice. (Because mine are fully cooked frozen meatballs, I always cook on LOW for 5 hours) Enjoy!!

Stay Classy,

Creamy Crockpot Chicken and Artichokes Over Angel Hair

Hunter and I both really LOVE this simple meal.

We like just about anything creamy.

It's another one of those, "hmm what do we have in the pantry? Sure, I'll just throw those together" recipes that ended in a total success!

It really is SO easy, and so quick to throw together in the morning before you head out for work.

I love my crockpot. I especially love coming home to dinner already made.

This last time I made it I paired it with some rosemary bread and butter under the broiler and salad.

Hunter had two HUGE servings.

Dude can eat.

And there was still some leftover for me to bring to work the next day :)

Win for both of us!

Ingredients:

5-6 frozen chicken tenders

1 (14.5oz) can garlic diced tomatoes

1 can artichoke hearts

1 cup sliced olives (more or less depending on how much you like olives. we love 'em over here)

2 oz. cream cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

2 handfuls angel hair pasta 

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning 

Directions:

1) Place frozen chicken at the bottom of your crockpot

2) Pour can of tomatoes and can of artichokes over chicken with all the liquid from the can. Add all seasonings over that.

3) Cover and cook on low heat for at least 5 hours. I'm gone most of the day, and Hunter is gone even longer so I usually let mine cook for about 7 and it doesn't burn. 

4) Take the lid off and shred the chicken using 2 forks. 

5) Add olives, cream cheese, and sour cream and stir it all up. At this point it is done and can be served but this is about the time I cook my pasta so I turn it to the "keep warm" option until the pasta is done.

6) Dish it up! Pasta on bottom, tons of artichoke chicken goodness on top of that, stir, and enjoy!

And that's that! 

I know the pictures make it look... interesting, but I promise it's good! And, a favorite over here.

All my love,

Aleigh Joy