Meal of the Week #7

Russian Chicken

In case you haven't realized... we love chicken. :) The first time I had Russian Chicken was in 2008 when Royce and I spent our summer working at the Inn at the Lake Bed & Breakfast in Lake City, Colorado (that was when & why I started blogging). We had a group of men come for a weekend retreat so, along with breakfast, their group also got dinner. Royce and I both loved it, but for some reason I haven't made it since! This recipe is really easy to prep, but takes some time to bake... also, it's kind of sweet so it needs to be paired with something that can tone it down. I think we served it with white rice and veggies at the Inn; I did wild rice and broccoli at home.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of chicken breasts or tenders

1 can of whole cranberry sauce

1 pkg of onion soup mix

1 bottle of Russian dressing

Place the chicken in a 9x13 baking dish. Mix all of the other ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the chicken. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

"Firsts"

We introduced Pax to a sippy cup last week. He's not crazy about the water yet... he took a few "sips" but really just prefers to chew on it.

He loved swinging!!

Other updates:

-Pax officially takes 2 naps a day... it took us a while to adjust the timing, but we finally have it.

- He LOVES to eat baby food and eats 3 little "meals" a day.

- I've realized that he gets a little cranky if we don't spend some time outside every day. This actually makes me super happy now that the weather is cooling off!

Meal of the Week #6

Monday night I tried Lemony Chicken with Vegetables and Parmesan from the mom-a-licious website (click here for the recipe). This was probably my favorite "new dish" thus far. I'm a big fan of lemon flavored anything but this won Royce's heart, which makes it all the better in my book!

I forgot to get parmesan at the store, so I used a mozzarella blend instead and it was great!

A few tips:

• It calls for 1 juiced lemon, I used 1 and a half.
• I used sweet potatoes and broccoli as my veggies... if you use sweet potatoes, cut them REALLY SMALL or boil them a little in advance. I thought mine were small enough and I ended up having to take them out of the baking dish and microwave them for a few minutes. Everything else cooked fine in the given cook time (15-20 minutes).

It serves 2-4 people and I think it'd be kid-friendly if you use veggies your kids enjoy!

Meal of the Week #5

Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers

YUM! My friend, Melissa, made these for us a while ago and we LOVED them (Mel, you really should have your own cooking blog)! I found the recipe online and I'm not sure if it's the same one she used, but I think it's pretty close. Whatever the case, with red peppers on sale 3 weeks in a row, this recipe was hard to pass up! You can find the recipe I used here.

Airplane

The cool weather makes it impossible for us to stay inside, so last night we had a little quality time as a family in the backyard.

Pax thought sitting in the grass was pretty great...

... until we brought out the camera.

And Samson didn't make things any easier...

However, the fussing was eased with an "airplane" ride.

This is one of his new favorites and a sure way to get some smiles and giggles...

... and you can count on that little mouth staying open the entire time. :)

We'll do whatever we can to see that sweet smile.

Going Green

To say I'm enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom might be an understatement.

Spending every day with this little guy brings a certain joy to my heart that I've never known.

Since I've been on a kick of trying new things, I decided to share our newest adventure...

Yep, the Mitchels are going green with cloth diapers.

After being SUPER blessed by nearly 6 months of Pampers given to us at a diaper shower, we decided to make the switch. It took me a while to decide if I wanted to do it, but the money saving factor won me over. I had so many hesitations and questions- particularly on dealing with the mess and washing them... but after 4 full days and several washings, I can honestly say it's much easier than I thought it would be.

{and seeing Pax in cute, colorful diapers is an added bonus}

Meal of the Week #4

This week's recipe is another from an old KRAFT Foods magazine. We really loved it! It's called Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake and can be found here.

Note: I recommend NOT using Fat Free Cream Cheese- it needs the real deal {or 1/3 less fat}.