Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

This is Hawaiian chicken, or as my family likes to call it- Deacon's chicken. Deacon is my cute little nephew that has horrible food allergies. There are very few things the poor kid can eat and he loved this so I think we were all happy with how this dinner turned out.  And let me mention that you throw chicken in the crockpot with just 3 ingredients! It's so easy and flavorful!

What you need:

2-4 chicken breast

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

Cook on low for 6 hours, shred and serve over rice

*if you use more chicken then I would double the juice 

Energy Bites

These energy bites are healthy, yummy, and fills you up. And who doesn't need a little pick me up in the morning, middle of the day or even at night? Because I always do!  Yay for something that gives you energy!

What you need:

1 cup dry old fashioned oats

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla extract

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  

Roll into balls.

Keep in fridge, makes approximately 20 balls, stays good for about a week.

Ritz Chicken Casserole

This casserole is the best fall comfort food!  It's just a few ingredients and it's so delicious!

What you need:

a package of egg noodles

3 cups cooked shredded chicken

8 oz sour cream

can of cream of chicken soup

a package of shredded cheese

1 stick butter

1 sleeve ritz crackers

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 glass pan with nonstick spray.

- Cook the egg noodles and place them on the bottom of the pan.

- In a bowl, mix together chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and cheese.

- Layer chicken mixture over egg noodles.

- In a ziploc bag smash the ritz crackers into crumbs.  Melt butter and add into bag and shake around.

- Sprinkle over the casserole.

- Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Apple Pie Crepe Filling

Crepes, apples and fall! Yum!  This crepe filling is so good that I'm tempted to go make crepes right now!

Peel and chop two green apples.  Put in a saucepan.  Add 3 Tbs brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar (optional).  Stir all together and let the spices soak in together for at least 10 minutes.  Turn on the stove and cook on low for a few minutes until apples soften.  Serve warm with crepes, powder sugar and vanilla ice cream. 

DIY multiple burlap wreath

It's September!  Which means it's time to start my fall crafts.  Burlap and college football scream fall so I put the two together to make this pretty wreath.  I always saw these wreaths all over Pinterest and was intimidated by them because they look so complicated, but after looking at a few tutorials, I found my own easy way of doing it and it turned out great!  

Go Utes!

What you need:

16" wire wreath

3 rolls of wired burlap in different colors- 30 feet each and about 2.5" in thickness

any accents you want 

Fold the end of a piece of burlap into fourths.

Tie in a know over the middle two wires of the wreath.

With the back of the wreath facing you, take the burlap and start weaving it through each frame making big enough loops.

When you're ready for another roll, tie it on like before and start weaving. 

Make sure you're bunching it close together.

 When going back to use the other burlap, twist it in the back so it will stay and weave it.

Keep going all the way around.

Add your accents and you're done!

Lemonade Ice Cream Pie

Ice cream, lemonade and pie.. 3 of my favorites!  This recipe goes way back, just scroll down and look at the recipe card that I found in my mom's kitchen.  I love that there aren't even any directions on it.  It just goes to show how easy it is!  Once you make this, you'll never have to look at the recipe again!

What you need:

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

1/2 can of lemonade concentrate (pink, lemon, or lime)

food coloring- matching the lemonade color

2 graham cracker crust (pre made of course!)

Let the vanilla ice cream melt all the way and add in melted lemonade (to taste).  Add food coloring and whip until smooth.  Pour into crust and freeze for at least 3-5 hours.  Serve immediately cause it melts fast!

Family Pictures2015/Kayden turning 2!

I can't believe my baby boy is turning 2 this week!  Kayden is the smartest, sweetest, cutest and most perfect little boy!  We are so grateful that we get to be his parents.  I love everything he does, from giving me kisses, saying thank you mamma, twirling my hair when he gets sleepy, singing songs, playing every sport imaginable, to even sending him to time out (because he loves it and it's adorable to see).  

This year for family pictures, I did something a bit different.  I didn't even want to try to start thinking about coordinating colors or go out shopping for new outfits, or try to be all formal- because that is not us.  What is us is that we love sports and we love our teams.  I thought what's better than wearing our favorite team? Um.. nothing!  I threw on my favorite Kansas Jayhawks shirt, Parker put on his sacred Utes polo and Kayd had to wear his "kick goal" shirt (REAL Salt Lake).  

So this is us- the Holt family!

And thank you to my good friend http://www.ourpolka.com.  Eden got so many great shots that I just had to share some!  

Happy Birthday to our beautiful blue eyed boy!