Category: Recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe (Creamy Ranch Chicken)

slow cooker creamy chicken recipe, crock pot dump and go recipe

If you could have any super power in the world, what would it be?  Seriously.  What would you choose?  Super speed.  Time travel. Super human strength. Seeing the future.  Which would you choose.

I think I would pick super speed so I can get more done in less time.  I think that’s why I’m borderline obsessive with time management and productivity hacks.

As moms we want to get all. the. things. done so we can spend more time with our family, but all those things usually include some no so fun chores.  You know, like cleaning, laundry, dishes, and cooking for some picky kids.

Using the slow cooker is my secret weapon to sticking to our meal plan each week and making sure we’re not wasting food.  It really is the easiest tool in the kitchen to help with all the dinner pains most families face.  You, like me, might not actually enjoy cooking dinner after a long day at work.  You, like me, might think that it’s torture to come home and immediately have to start cooking when everyone else is relaxing and asking, “How long until dinner, Mom?”

slow cooker creamy chicken recipe, merelynne, meredith rines

So let’s make a deal – let’s start making dinner easy on ourselves by sharing super simple, super easy dump and go dinner recipes with one another.

Okay?  Deal.

Especially, when the temperatures start to dip and it’s chilly in the evenings that’s when you can start having a deep appreciation for your slow cooker.  Don’t get me wrong, summer is still the perfect time for using a slow cooker because it doesn’t heat your entire house up, but there is something special about using it in the fall.

Tweet this recipe.

easy slow cooker chicken recipe with three ingredients

Here’s what you need:

5-6 frozen chicken breasts
2 cans of cream of chicken soup with lower sodium
1 packet of ranch seasoning
1 Slow Cooker Liner (the best invention for your slow cooker!)

crock pot creamy chicken recipe, dump and go recipe idea

Directions:

Cook on low for 8 hours.  Pull Chicken out and shred.  Take about a cup of the juice and pour into a small bowl.  Add about 1-2 Tablespoons of cornstarch to the separated cup of liquid.  Mix well and add back to slow cooker.  Mix together.  Cook on high for 20 minutes or until sauce thickens.  Place about 1-2 cups of liquid on top of chicken.

Serve by itself, with rice or with pasta.  I also like to add cooked carrots to it, yum!

Check out some of my other favorite slow cooker recipes:

Taco Meat

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ranch Chicken and Potatoes

Low Carb Pizza

Ready for more?

grab your cross stress off your list guide (1)

Tired of feeling overwhelmed from all. the. things. on your to-do list?  Then grab my Cross Stress Off Guide.  This easy-to-follow exercise will have you feeling more relaxed, calm and ready to take on the world.  This guide is perfect for busy moms looking for ways to get more done in less time.  Grab yours HERE.

Weight Watchers Iced Coffee [Only 1 SmartPoint]

weight watchers iced coffee

Well this week’s Weight Watchers check in is going to look a little different.  You see, Strep throat hit me hard last weekend – like really hard.  Like, force me to sleep for almost two days straight and crawl my way into the doctor’s office on Monday.

I didn’t make it to my meeting, but instead of getting upset about missing my first meeting – I’m just grateful to finally be on the mend.  I usually get at least one case of Strep throat every other year, and of course, it’s always during the middle of summer.  Ugh!

To keep my momentum with my Weight Watchers posts, I thought I would share a go-to morning recipe with you.  If you know me, then you know my love and slight addiction to diet mountain dew.  It’s my coffee, it’s my lunch drink and it’s my all day sipper.  So bad for me, I know!

I’ve been working hard at replacing it with water.  In last week’s check in I shared how one of my goals was to drink two large insulated bottles of water a day.  Luckily, I’ve been doing really good with that.  But I’m still struggling with my mornings.

Since I’m not the biggest coffee drinker, I had to come up with something.  I had made coffee one morning and totally forgot about it until it was no longer warm.  I didn’t want to waste the coffee, so I just dumped it into a cup with ice.  Took a sip, took another sip and decided it was really good.

Enter in this simple Weight Watchers iced coffee recipe.

Weight Watchers Iced Coffee

Here’s what you need for your Weight Watchers iced coffee:

4 oz. of your favorite coffee (I used Toasted Coconut from Walmart)
4 oz. unsweetened original almond milk
1 teaspoon sugar free French vanilla creamer
1/2 – 1 teaspoon Stevia
Glass of ice

Mix it all together in your glass and serve!

See I told you it was simple.

The best part? This whole drink is only 1 SmartPoint!  1 point!  Now if you’ve been doing Weight Watchers for any amount of time, you might be thinking that all these ingredients on their own are 0 points.  However, when combined and entered into the recipe maker it comes out to be 1 point.  I’ll take it!

Weight Watchers Egg in a Toast Cup – 2 PointsPlus Breakfast

weight watchers breakfast recipe (1)

Tired of the same boring breakfast over and over again? As someone who barely tolerates eggs (as in the only way I eat them are either baked all the way in the oven in a dish or scramble them with cheese).  I cannot stand eating basic scrambled eggs every morning.  I just won’t do it.  Actually I can’t do it.

I’m ashamed to admit how many eggs I’ve wasted by making a bowl of scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese just to toss them away, completely untouched.  I wake up hungry, grab some water and get ready for the day.  I always save time to make breakfast for myself and our son.  I cook eggs a lot of mornings.  While our son eats, I just stare at my plate.  Then it’s time to go and I haven’t even taken one bite.

It’s sad.

So now that I’m doing Weight Watchers again, I decided it was time to get a better handle on my breakfast.  Eggs are zero points, so I need to be eating them.  Plus the are filled with some crazy goodness!  I just needed to find a new way to prepare them – something different.

I remember years ago when I did Weight Watchers, I stumbled upon a recipe that was super simple and super easy.  I just needed to remember it or find it.  So I googled what I knew about it…

flatten bread and eggs for breakfast

That’s it.

Do you know what? The recipe pulled up! You got to love technology!

It was a Martha Stewart recipe from 2010 y’all and it was amazing back then, so I was willing to give it a shot.  Of course I had to do some tweaks to make it a little more Weight Watcher friendly.  But it took less than 7 minutes to prepare and about 10 minutes to bake.  Here’s what I did to make my version of the Weight Watchers Egg in a Toast Cup:

I grabbed two slices of bread and flatten them with a rolling pin.

Once flattened, I cut each slice into four equal pieces.  I sprayed my mini muffin tin with cooking spray and placed each piece of bread into it.

I baked at 375 for 5 minutes.  While the bread is baking, I moved on to the egg mixture.

I cracked open two eggs into a measuring cup.  I whisked with a fork and added 1 teaspoon of bacon bits.  You can also add in any veggies you want, but keep in mine they need to be diced pretty finely since using the mini muffin tin.

Pour the bread out of the oven and pour the egg mixture on top. Divide 1 Tablespoon of shredded cheese between the 8 muffin cups.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until eggs are done.

That’s it!

Super simple.  Now of course you can use a larger muffin tin and that would be about 1 egg per muffin.  This way you get four mini muffins for the same value – it appears to be more food, making me more satisfied.

The SmartPoints value is 2 for one serving.  The entire recipe makes two servings.

If you want to see more about this recipe and some other favorites, check out my Instagram page.  I have a stories highlight called WW.

weight watchers, weight watchers recipe

Ingredients Needed:

2 slices of whole wheat bread
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon bacon bits (or cooked turkey bacon diced finely)
1 Tablespoon shredded cheese
any other veggies you want, diced finely

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Flatten slices of bread using rolling pin. Once flat, cut each slice into four equal pieces.

Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  Place one small piece of bread into each muffin tin, being sure to cover the bottom.

Bake the bread for 5 minutes.

While bread is baking, mix eggs, bacon bits and any veggies together in a measuring cup or small bow.

Pour bread once it’s done.  Pour egg mixture into the formed bread bowls.  Evenly divide the shredded cheese between the muffin tins.

Bake for 10 minutes or until eggs are done.

Easy Low Carb Pizza in the Slow Cooker

low carb pizza, easy low carb pizza, slow cooker pizza, crock pot pizza, meredithrines, merelynne

Ever find a good dinner recipe and then make it nonstop over the next few months? Well… I may be guilty with this dinner. The best part? J loves it and hasn’t complained with it appearing in our weekly meal plan every few days. That’s how good it is!

A few weeks back I shared our new favorite recipe over on my Instagram Stories. It was a pretty big hit, so I figured I would share the expired story over on Youtube. You can watch the video online or down below:

I found this recipe over on Recipes That Crock. I tweak it depending on what we already have on hand, which makes it one of the easiest recipes in the world.

Here’s what you need:

1-2 pounds cooked ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, or deer)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 14 oz. jar of pizza sauce
2 cups shredded pizza blend (or mild) cheddar cheese
any other pizza toppings you want

Here’s what you do:

Use a slow cooker liner or spray with cooking spray. Mix the cooked meat with the mozzarella cheese.  Spread on the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour pizza sauce on top of meat mixture. Spread pizza blend cheese to cover sauce. Top with other toppings.

If you’re using any other meat toppings make sure they are precooked.

Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Here’s where you can find the slow cooker I have.  I love it! The base is removable, which makes clean up a breeze! Plus it has four different temperatures – high, medium, low and keep warm.

Valentine’s Day Cookie Cake Using Boxed Cake Mix

4 Ingredient Valentine's Love Cookie Cake, lazy cookie cake, cooke cake using cake mix, cake mix chocolate chip cookie, meredithrines, merelynne

I’m going to show you the easiest way to make a Valentine’s Day cookie cake using a box of cake mix and two other ingredients. Your family is going to love this!

Hey Mommas! Valentine’s Day is only 2 days away.  TWO DAYS!?! Where has February gone? Heck, where did January go? I feel like we’ve been moving in warp speed lately. I feel like I’ve barely had time to breathe lately with all of the studying, working, being a Mom, and a wife that’s been happening over here.

I’m not complaining though.  You see, the truth is, I love being busy.  I cannot stand to have nothing to do.  Even when I was a kid I would bring home extra books on the weekends just to make it look like I was super busy – I never actually studied more or longer than I had to, I just wanted to look important.  Well these days, there’s is no pretending to our busy schedule.

I guess that’s what I get.

Well this past weekend I headed out of town for a review prep course for my upcoming exam, so I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to do anything sweet for the two boys in my life.  So I opted for a simple Valentine’s Day love cookie cake.

4 Ingredient Valentine's Love Cookie Cake, lazy cookie cake, cooke cake using cake mix, cake mix chocolate chip cookie, meredithrines, merelynne

J’s dessert of choice (well the only dessert he’ll actually eat) is chocolate chip cookies, so of course that made my decision super easy on what to make.  I did a little baking magic to turn the cookie cake into a heart, but I’ll show you that down below.

We wanted to keep this Valentine’s Day budget friendly.  We’ve been working extra hard lately to stick within our budget (no one’s perfect and neither are we).  I realized I had just about everything we needed to bake a cookie cake on hand, except chocolate chips.  Someone got a little chocolate craving one night and finished off the small bag we had in the freezer – oops!

I’m pretty proud of myself on this surprise though because J totally did not see it coming, which never happens! I’m the worst at keeping secrets from him.

Here’s how I created this sweet Valentine’s Day cookie cake:

Here’s what you need:

1 box white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Buttercream Icing or canned icing
Red food coloring

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, pour into greased pan.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. 

4 Ingredient Valentine's Love Cookie Cake, lazy cookie cake, cooke cake using cake mix, cake mix chocolate chip cookie, meredithrines, merelynne

Valentine’s Tip: To make a heart shaped cookie cake, I used one circle and one square pan.  I did not double my recipe, but you could.  I just opted for thinner cookies and started checking if they were done at around 15 minutes.  Once the cookies are fully cooked, pop out of the pan. 

Shaping the heart is really simple!  All you have to do is take the round cookie cake and slice it in half.  Then place the two circles on the square edges. You can take some icing to help hold it together. 

4 Ingredient Valentine's Love Cookie Cake, lazy cookie cake, cooke cake using cake mix, cake mix chocolate chip cookie, meredithrines, merelynne

For the icing I used my buttercream recipe and just used red food coloring to make it more Valentine-y.  You could also always use store-bought icing as well.

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Frozen Waffle Recipe

easy freezer waffle recipe, freezer waffle recipe, waffle recipe, easy breakfast ideas, meredithrines, merelynne

When I was little my Mom would make breakfast for dinner.  It wasn’t often, but it sure was special.  My sister and I never knew when our favorite dinner was coming, but when she would utter those magic words “we’re having breakfast tonight” our eyes would light up.  It was the best!

As an adult, I’ve realized those were the nights my Mom was exhausted.  It must have been a long day at work and I’m sure having two kids, a house to clean and laundry to do didn’t make it any easier.  But she cemented my love for a flip-flop meal.

Now that I’m older, my love of breakfast hasn’t changed.  Breakfast food is my jam.  My all-time favorite breakfast food is waffles.  I’m not crazy about buying the store-bought kind because they always have extra ingredients that our bodies don’t need.  Plus they cost a ridiculous amount! I just don’t want to spend that kind of money on a monthly basis to feed my waffle habit.

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freezer waffle recipe, waffle recipe, easy waffle, easy breakfast, freezer waffle, homemade waffle, meredith rines, merelynne

Honestly, waffles are a staple for busy mornings. I pop them in the toaster while I get our son’s diaper bag ready for the sitter. Then he can eat on the way if we’re running really late or he can eat while I finish getting ready.  Either way – they aren’t really messy.  He doesn’t get syrup with them, so as an on-the-go type option, it’s perfect. 

Then the idea of making homemade waffles each morning was just too much to handle. Who has time and who wants to make the time? I sure don’t.  

So I found a good compromise.

A homemade frozen waffle recipe. Yep! I found a freezer waffle recipe then adapted it.  Which means I can have homemade, not junk-filled waffles each morning.

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freezer waffle recipe, waffle recipe, easy waffle, easy breakfast, freezer waffle, homemade waffle, meredith rines, merelynne

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They are delicious!  The best part?

They go instantly from freezer to toaster!

What? No thawing required?  That’s right!  You just pop these bad boys right into the toaster when you’re ready.

I like this recipe a lot because it makes enough waffles for 

a few weeks.  This recipe yields about 20-24 waffles, depending on how much batter you need to fill your iron.  

Here’s how to prep homemade frozen waffles:

First, turn on your waffle iron to heat up.

Then combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.

When the iron is nice and hot, shoot it with a quick spray of cooking spray to prevent any of the recipe from sticking.

Place a scoop of the batter onto the waffle iron.  For my iron, it’s about 3/4 cup.  I have this handy ladle that is exactly 1/4 cup so it’s what I use to scoop.

Cook until nice and done.  About 5 minutes.

freezer waffle recipe, waffle recipe, easy waffle, easy breakfast, freezer waffle, homemade waffle, meredith rines, merelynne

To Freeze:

I then placed my waffles, single layer on a cookie sheet and placed in the freezer.  You will need to flash freeze the waffles for about 20-25 minutes.  Place in a gallon-size freezer bag and place back in the freezer.

To Reheat:

Take straight out of the freezer and place directly into your toaster.  I like mine on a medium-to-dark setting, just because I like mine nice and toasty.  One cycle is usually enough in the toaster, too.  If they’re too thick for your toaster, then you can easily reheat in the microwave.

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Easy Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

Easy Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes, thanksgiving dessert, easy dessert ideas, dessert recipes, meredith rines, merelynne

This year, I’m all about taking back the holidays. No more self-induced stress over a dinner or worrying about something that is out of my control. 

I started this laid back attitude around Halloween. I choose an easy DIY NASCAR driver costume for our little man to wear and I decided not to dress in a coordinating outfit. I knew I didn’t have time to put something together and realized the night before Halloween I wanted sleep more than anything else. I opted for a camo shirt and called myself a fan. Ha!

Next I realized Thanksgiving could get a little stressful and chaotic for me. Work is usually a little busy this time of year and with J back in school I knew he would have finals coming up. I knew his school and my career were more important than a perfect Thanksgiving. 

Luckily my family agreed and we decided to have a potluck type dinner. Everyone agreed to bring a dish or two to help out so it wasn’t all on one person. I usually volunteer to bring stuffing and a dessert to family dinners. J’s family has an amazing stuffing recipe that is usually a knockout. So he makes that all on his own… Well the one year I offered to help ended with me shredding a wooden spoon in a blender with the food inside. So we had to start over and ended up being late. Oops! Now he makes that one all by himself.

I end up making a dessert or two to being over. This year I’m keeping it simple and opting for a classic recipe.  One I’ve made hundreds of times and know it always works. I usually like to experiment with a new one, but this year in honor of keeping my stress minimized I decided against it.

Here are some of my favorite go-to desserts I’m thinking about making:

Copycat Pizza Inn Chocolate Chip Pizzert 

pizza inn chocolate chip dessert pizza recipe, pizza inn chocolate chip pizza recipe, chocolate chip pizza, pizza inn copy cat

Skinny(ish) Apple Pie with Cinnamon Roll Crust

apple pie, cinnamon roll crust, easy apple pie recipe, apple pie recipe, skinny apple pie, weight watchers apple pie,

Red Velvet Crackle Cookies

red velvet cookie recipe

Easy Cinnamon-Sugar Pull Apart Bread

pull apart bread recipe

How To Save Extra Tomato Sauce

Save Extra Tomato Sauce, how to Save Extra Tomato Sauce, tomato sauce, freeze food, how to freeze tomato sauce, how to freeze tomato, meredith rines, meredithrines, merelynne

Friends,

I have a confession to make. I posted this dinner tip to my youtube channel awhile back and I totally forgot to share it on my blog (shame on me!). So I figured today was a good day to do that.

Do you ever create a dinner to look over and discover extra tomato sauce, pasta sauce, tomato paste leftover? Well we do and it happens way too often. I just hate throwing good food away (which is why we have a weekly leftover night). It just bothers me.

I discovered something amazing after doing an experiment one night. You can freeze all that leftover sauce and tomato paste. Yep! It’s amazing.

All you do is distribute the leftovers into an ice cube tray or a muffin tray then place directly in the freezer. By next morning you’ll be able to pop them out of the tray and place in a freezer bag. Just label and you’re good to go.

Perfect.

Now if you really want to help with dinnertime you can even season the sauce before freezing. If you typically use the sauce with the same spices then go for it.

You can watch my quick video online or below:

 

Avocado Chicken Salad – Keto Lunch Idea

simple avocado chicken salad, keto recipe, keto lunch idea, keto meal idea

Lunch is the hardest meal to plan for – I get so bored with the usual lunch ideas.  I have been thinking long and hard about new recipes that are simple to prepare.  

I came up with this easy avocado chicken salad the other day and I love it.  I may or may not have made it a few times since that day, too.  

This avocado chicken salad is even keto friendly, which is great since I’ve been trying to eat more of a ketogenic diet (some days are better than others!).  All you need is a bowl, fork and 5 ingredients to make this yummy dish.  

Check out this quick video of how I made it!

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Avoid the Lunch Burnout

How To Avoid The Lunch Burnout

Now that we’ve survived our first No Eating Out Challenge, it’s time to shake things up a bit.  Every time we try to pack lunches we do so good for the first week or so and then we start slipping.  I know it’s because we’re getting bored with what we’re bringing.  The same thing (or variation of the same meal) every day can get old.  

We have been working hard to avoid the lunch burnout and have found a few recipes that we rotate.  I wanted to share these quick lunch ideas that you can take to eat cold OR heat up.

egg roll in a bowl

This egg roll in a bowl has been one of my favorites to make.  I typically will make a big recipe on Sunday and then measure it out to last all week.  I’ve eaten it warm and cold, and either way is tasty.  

This turkey club roll-up is a great low-carb idea.  I tend to add a little more avocado since I like it so much.

Justin even made this Big Mac salad and it was prefect.  All you have to do is brown the hamburger on Sunday or one evening during the week.  You can even pre-make the dressing and store in a container until you’re ready to eat.

fried chicken salad

One of the easiest meals to make is this fried chicken salad.  You can make it super simple by buying fried chicken from the store to use or even make your own.  Since switching to low-carb we’ve made these yummy chicken tenders that work perfectly.  

whole30, avocado lime salad dressing recipe

I’m also a huge lover of salad so I’ve been known to make this Avocado Lime dressing to top mine, too.  It’s easy to make and can keep in the fridge all week.

What are some of your favorite lunches to avoid the weekly burnout?  Leave a comment letting me know!