Crockpot Chicken Adobo

eople who have incredible ideas and then share them always amaze me. I am so grateful to them for sharing and it's one of the biggest draws in blogs (which you are probably already aware). Also, sharing blogs found is one of the great things about having a blog.

That's what I'm doing today with this most recent recipe I tried. Stephanie O'Dea decided to use her crockpot every day for a year. She's had some amazing recipes come from that time and she lets us know how she changed them, whether or not they worked for her family and little tricks to try to make the recipe all it can be. She shares many of those recipes and experiences on her blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.

She's still using her crockpot and has published a cookbook. That's another thing I love about blogs and creative people with amazing ideas. They are often able to capitalize on what they've come up with and to me that is the best of all worlds. People should be able to earn money by doing those things they love.

And so I come to the Chicken Adobo recipe.

It was soooo yummy. The chicken came out tender and juicy with such an amazing flavor, I can't begin to describe. This recipe is, most definitely, not just a keeper but moves to the front of my favorites list.

I will strongly suggest you follow Stephanie's advice in the post: put the chicken together with the marinade the night before. The longer that chicken soaks in all of those awesome ingredients the better.

My sincerest apologies for not having pictures of the finished meal. By the time that time came around, I had guests, study was going to start soon...there wasn't time for the camera. Trust me, though - it was YUMMY!

I'm a huge fan of the crockpot and since we host Bible study here in our home on Thursday evenings, I'm always looking for yummy dinners to try out in the crockpot. We feed a few of our fellow Lifegroup-mates on Thursdays, as well so the crockpot has the added feature of being able to cook for a large amount of people without my having to do a ton of work. It is the best company-server in existence, I think!

I hope you give this recipe a try. Enjoy!

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

Random Stuff

I was toodling a bit around blogland Friday night. Catching up with some blogs I haven't checked out in a while. Whitney, at Whisker Graphics, had posted this list from her mom on her site. You can read her post here (tells you she's not sure where her mother found "The List" but she's sharing it) but I've copied the list. I thought some of them were pretty entertaining and oh so very true. Like Whitney, I bold those lines that I relate to the most.

Enjoy...


1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary? (To this I will eternally say yes...the art of actually physically writing things such as letters, etc. should never die although I'm afraid they are starting to lose their appeal)

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. (Are you reading this Seattle Times?)

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear get dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

29. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’ll bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

30. My check engine light has been on for three months now and nothing’s happened. I’m starting to think that my car is just an attention w***e.

31. I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter? (I just have to go with because (1) flint & sticks are cheaper and (2) they don't make your breath stink...)

32. Sometimes I pretend not to remember details about people because having a good memory apparently equates to creepiness.

33. My GPS says “Estimated Arrival Time.” I see “Time to Beat.”

34. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

35. My keyboard needs a removable crumb tray like my toaster.

36. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

37. I wish it were appropriate to say to a complete stranger, “Excuse me, would you like me to show you how to discipline your child?”

38. I never understood why the Lions and Cowboys always get to play on Thanksgiving. Shouldn’t the Patriots play the Redskins, and then steal their stadium afterwords?

39. Double-Stuffed Oreos should just be called Oreos, and regular Oreos should be called Diet Oreos.

ahhhh... the wit some people were born with and those of us who weren't are left sitting here wishing we were.

And - not to be forgotten - Happy Labor Day, everyone. If you know a Union member, thank them for bringing us the weekend. And the 40 hour workweek. And paid vacation. And sick time. And...

Enjoy the day!

Sunday Strength

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.

Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD's unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.

~Psalm 32:8-10

Yummy and Easy (but beware the side effects)

My husband loves chili cheese dogs. They aren't high on my list of things I want to eat. However. When I found this recipe, I thought I'd please his inner child and see how they turned out.

In a word? Delicious.

You should try to use pretty good hot dogs (we used Oscar Meyer Angus Beef Franks) and as yummy a canned chili as you can find (not that there really is such an animal but...I tried). I went for Nalley's Walla Walla Onion chili with beans.

The recipe calls for 2 cans of chili with beans (but I used 3 - I found one can didn't cover the bottom of the pan very well), flour tortillas, hot dogs and 8 oz. cheddar cheese.

You take a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and cover the bottom with one can of beans. I covered it with a can and a half. Then, you roll each hot dog in a tortilla. I added some of the cheese in there with the hot dog. Place the rolled tortilla, seam down, in the pan on the beans. Then, cover with other can and a half of beans and cheese. Cover the whole pan with aluminium foil, bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and... voila! Heartburn in a pan.

But yummy heartburn.

I served it with a salad so I could feel a *little* bit better about the oh so incredibly NOT healthy dinner I served.

It's fast. It's incredibly easy and really, really good. So...in a hurry? Need a filling meal? Don't mind the potential for ah.. ummm... the beans to create music later in the night? Go for it.

You won't be sorry, that's for sure. (I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I remembered this time!)

Ah... Boys

This is what it looks like when your son "accidentally" grabs the "wrong" shirt...

No wonder God created women as helpers for men! :)

Day Would Have Been Four

I am here at work. Shhhhh... don't tell anyone I'm posting. Actually, it's not been that bad today. A few shuffle & hop kind of moments and only one semi-disaster averted. The good thing is, it's not Tuesday so I can handle this stuff today and come back to work on Tuesday knowing it's just going to be par for the course. I won't be trying to deal with the issues I need to handle AND a disaster. Add to that I don't have to come in tomorrow, all is well.

Mom is feeling better so...above all of that other stuff? That's the best. She isn't resting anywhere near enough, of course but who does? That helpless and can't do anything but lay around feeling drives almost everyone I know crazy. Add to that immense amounts of pain and you've got Mom. It wasn't so bad coming in here today knowing it meant she's at home getting much needed rest, regaining some of the light in her eyes. As often as I can help with that, I'm happy to be here.

Instead of talking about work today, I thought I'd share just a few shots from last night. I didn't take a single picture of the food, though. Go figure. Actually - that part of the story makes me giggle. Aaron wanted to take the food home and eat it there, because he hadn't changed out of his work clothes. So - we leave Dick's and head home. Halfway there, Christopher reminds us he's spending the night with friends so I can work today so we change tactics and eat in the car. I can't take pictures and drive so...no pictures of the food.

Considering how yummy it was, though, we'll go back soon...and get more.

Now, I say yummy in a nostalgic kind of way. There are better french fries, better hamburgers and better milkshakes out there but Dick's screams tradition. Constant, reliable, cheap, fun food that is more a way of life up here than it is "good." They haven't moved a location, remodeled a location or changed anything about their menu since they first opened in the 1950's. As a matter of fact, what got me thinking about this place was their announcement in the news the other day that for the first time in 30 years, they're going to open a new restaurant and are asking for the public's imput as to where it should go. Personally I say Lynnwood but...we'll see...

Aaron's birthday dinner was spent at a classic... a lot like him.

We loved it. We also managed to fix a problem in which we had been greatly remiss. Christopher doesn't remember ever having experienced Dick's! Oh the horror... Deluxe hamburger, french fries and Chocolate shake. The dinner of champions. We had to make sure he understood the importance of Dick's in one's life.

And he gets it.

Whew!!!!

Happy Birthday, Aaron. Thank you for indulging my craving on your special day (although, he really wanted to go there himself, he just didn't think of it first). I love you!

Day Three

oing to be a good one today. It's Aaron's birthday and the 3rd weekday of my staycation. Yesterday it POURED rain but we managed to run a few errands. Today, so far, we've baked a cake, Christopher is cleaning the bathrooms and then we're off to shop for a couple pair of jeans. School does start in less than a week. We need to wrap up the school clothes shopping.

Then... it's possibly back to work for me tomorrow. My mother, who is also our receptionist, works full time when I'm out. She's also battling cancer. So...her chemo has decided to do all sorts of whacky things and she ended up home today, in too much pain to work.

I hate cancer.

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische