November 30, 2012

Kiwi Crate Review

I first heard of Kiwi Crate through a friend. It looked interesting and like something Marley would enjoy, but at the time it was a little too pricey for us.  With Mike starting his new job, I decided to splurge on a monthly subscription for Marley. 

Her November box arrived the other day and she dove right in. It was the Carnegie Hall Making Music Crate.  Each box has 2-3 crafts in it. This one had a xylophone and rhythm bells.  The crafts are geared towards 3-7 year olds and each comes with instructions (with pictures)  Marley needed very little help from me once I read her the instructions. 


Getting started. Apparently Zeus had to check it out too. 








Done, now it's music time. 




She played a "song" and then immediately asked to do the next one. 





Done with the rhythm bells. Now it's time to rock out! (Marley loves rock n roll music so I'm sure she thought she was playing rock n roll) 



Overall, I think Marley really enjoyed this, and it only took her about 15-20 minutes to make both crafts. I'm excited to see the December one! 

Does anyone else subscribe to Kiwi Crate? If you want to try it out, they're having lots of holiday specials right now, and I have a coupon if anyone is interested.

Want to sign up? Just click here. 

November 29, 2012

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

Here's my latest Pinterest Recipe- Ranch Pork Chops


All you need for this is 

Pork Chops
1- Can of cream of chicken soup 
(original recipe says you can use 2 cans of cream of chicken or use 1 can and 1 can of water)
packet of powder ranch dip


Just combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. 

If I were you, I would mix the soup, water and ranch before adding the pork chops. I put the chops in first, but then it was a little difficult to mix up the other stuff. 



This isn't the best picture because I ate some first and then remembered I needed to take a picture. 


On the original recipe her sauce looks pretty thick. Mine, however, was very runny. I assume it's because I used a can of water instead of the 2 cans of soup. Next time, I will use 2 cans of soup and see if it's thicker.


Overall, the pork chops were very good and my family of 3 eaters ate all 7 pork chops (Mason does have 6 teeth, but he doesn't count yet)

November 28, 2012

Mexican Chicken Casserole

This week, when I did my grocery shopping I made my list from my pinterest food board so get ready for lots of recipes in the next week. First up is Mexican Chicken Casserole.


1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
1 whole chicken, cooked, boned, and chopped or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken (I used cubed chicken, but it would of probably been better with shredded chicken)
11.5 oz package flour tortillas
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the three kinds of soup, and chilies. Stir in the chicken.


In a greased 13 x 9- inch pan, layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture, beginning and ending with tortillas.


Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes.




I had two helping of this, but it wasn't my favorite. Mike told Marley this was probably the best thing I've ever made so apparently it is his new favorite!

November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving

My side of the family had our Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We had a good time, and the night ended with some games and some tears. 


Mason and his cousin Tristan. Mason is 20 days older and 3 lbs lighter. 


I didn't get any pictures while everyone was there because I was too busy stuffing my face. 



Playing some Disney Trivia. 

And this is how the night ended. It was close to 11pm and Marley was upset because Julia wouldn't play with her so she just sat in the toy room and pouted. =(


Mason crashed out fairly early on his great grandma's lap.