May 3, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Barbecamole! Crockpot Chicken Sandwiches

Barbecue chicken sandwiches are one of my favorite things to eat. I previously blogged about the recipe I use, here. They are just the easiest things to make. The chicken is simply made in a crockpot. Then it is shredded. Easy peasy! Lazy Dayzy!

This is the same recipe but I just added a little twist.

I had some guacamole in my refrigerator that needed to be eaten before it expired the other day.

I had some leftover shredded barbecue chicken that was suffering from the same timed fate.

And I had an epiphany.

Oh, man. Barbecue. Chicken. Guacamole. Barbecue. Guacamole.

Barbecamole!

I had had a guacamole barbecue sauce at an event in October and could not get the flavor out of my mind.

And that is how the following recipe was formed.

And that is how a new word was formed.

And that is why my thighs. Are formed. From gluttonous decisions.

Ingredients:

Shredded Barbecue Chicken from this recipe
One pack of chibatta rolls
A slice of havarti cheese for each sandwich you plan to make
One bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
Container of guacamole
3 Tbsp. Chopped cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to broil at 500 degrees.

MaKe the barbecue chicken according to the linked recipe.

Take the chibatta rolls (I have also used regular rolls and they work fine, too. The chibatta is easier, because it makes a flatter sandwich. This makes it easier to eat) and cut them in half. Add the shredded barbecue chicken to the bottom half of the roll and leave the top half open. Place a slice of havarti cheese on top of the barbecue chicken and then place the tops and bottoms on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet into the oven underneath the broiler for thirty seconds to one minute depending on your broiler. You just want the top half lightly toasted and the havarti cheese melted.

Remove the baking tray from the oven. Pour a little barbecue sauce onto the melted cheese. Sprinkle chopped cilantro onto the barbecue chicken. On the top half of the roll, spread a generous layer of guacamole.

Put the guacamole top bun onto the bottom bun that is covered in barbecue chicken.

Serve.

And listen to your happy thighs humming.

Oh, yum! Enjoy!

Barbecamole Chicken Sandwiches are my favorite.

I will be making this recipe instead of traditional shredded barbecue chicken sandwiches from this point forth.

Now I’m off to raid my refrigerator. What else can I combine? What do we think of ham and feta?

Hafeta?

Nah.

What about Jenni and McConaughey?

McJenniahey?

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!”

I like the sound of that.

P.S. I shared this on Cozy Little House.

And Savvy Southern Style.

And My Romantic Home.

February 6, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Amazon Prime Membership

I know. I know it is not technically a little thing. But it makes me happy. Unbelievably, weirdly, wonderfully happy.

Amazon Prime is a yearly membership in which you pay a set fee (as of this writing, it is $79, but that might change soon according to this CNN article) and get free two day shipping on most of their products on their site. Since I usually purchase all of our books from Amazon, this has been beyond wonderful. I will say this will probably not be worth the cost to you if you do not shop at Amazon a lot. Unfortunately, I spend a pretty good amount of funds there. I buy all of my beauty products, excluding make-up, (this is tricky, because I thought one of my products was covered under Prime, but I ended up paying $8 to ship one item. Make sure you check) from Amazon. I also tend to buy everyone’s toys through Amazon.

In addition to the two day shipping, I also receive unlimited streaming of many movies and television shows. The kids utilize this feature the most. Plus I have free access to their Kindle library. I do not use that feature though. You cannot hoard a paperless book.

On Life Hacker, there is a breakdown of the question, “Would I benefit from Amazon Prime?” It gives a better answer than I could, because they actually use math to make their decision. Imagine that!

I did write a post I have not published (and I am not sure I am going to, because one company earned an F) of the internet companies I used during Christmastime for gifts and Amazon was one of the few companies who earned an A+ from me. I think they do things right.

In the last five days, I have purchased three books. It is kind of like magic how quickly they have come. I have to stop myself from buying more just to see how fast they will get here. You mean you have to actually pay for the books? This isn’t really magic?

And now, Amazon has Sunday delivery! Yes, Sunday delivery! I am sure there are many differing opinions about this, but I love it. I have not taken advantage of this option (I guess I never shop on a Friday), but I might in the future. There are many articles stating this is a fantastic revenue venture for the U.S. Postal Service. Here is one of them from USA Today.

I bought “Fan Girl” on Saturday. I received it on Monday. I finished it on Tuesday. Now, that’s a beautiful thing! The situation of my house is, um, not so pretty.

I ordered “The Magician’s Elephant” and “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” on Monday and I received them on Wednesday. Unfortunately, housework did end up dominating and I have not started those books yet. But I know they are there. Cheering for me from the wings when others might not.

I am not gonna lie. It has been a tough couple of months in terms of health and some other things going on behind the scenes here. A new book just makes me happy. It takes me away. Being able to get a little bit of another world in the dreary mail, is real-life magic.

It’s the little things: an upgrade on Amazon that upgraded my life.

Have you upgraded to Amazon Prime? Do you think it is worth the extra money? I was a skeptic for so long, but I am now reformed.

I love it!

* This is just my review of Amazon Prime. I am not being compensated for this post. And, as with all of my reviews, your experience might differ from mine.

January 20, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

The Lazy Mom’s Salad

Who knew? Who knew my kids would have a fondness for spinach? Certainly not me.

I did not try spinach until about five years ago. I was terrified of the stuff. Here is what I knew about spinach that prevented me from trying it:

When eaten your body would become grossly disfigured causing monstrous veiny muscles to spontaneously burst out upon your arms.

When cooked it would shrivel away into a slimy green paste that resembled nothing of its former self.

It is green.

So I stayed clear of spinach. No thank you. “Olive Oil go rescue yourself and stop being so annoying. And, no, I am not eating spinach. Especially to save you.” There I said it. Oh, you know you were thinking it.

But I tried it as a salad. I loved it. It is so velvety and mild. I thought perhaps my children would love it, too.

And they did.

And they do.

More than me.

More than my husband.

More than Pop…

No, not more than him. Their bodies don’t combust for the stuff.

Thank God.

I won’t make a salad unless it is easy. Dinner is all ready so time consuming. Here is how I always make my salad, 3-4 times a week. We never get tired of it.

Ingredients:

5 – 6 oz. of prewashed baby spinach (best flavor I have found is Safeway or Vons O Organic) or prewashed romaine lettuce
1/3 cup Italian dressing (whichever is cheapest)
1/3 cup feta cheese

Optional for the less lazy:

Chopped red bell pepper
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Directions:

Dump salad in a bowl. Sorry. Forgot to take a picture of it in the bowl. But here it is before that step. All innocent. It doesn’t even know what’s going to happen to it.

Measure feta. Dump feta in the bowl.

Measure Italian dressing. Dump the dressing in the bowl. Toss.

And try not use the word dump while you are cooking. Just a thought. A suggestion. Don’t take offense or poke my eye out! “A-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!”

That’s it. Three ingredients. If this salad could talk it would say, “I am what I am and that’s all that I am. Or all that’s in me.”

You could also dump (Sorry. Couldn’t resist) in the optional ingredients at this point. But be warned that most kids don’t like the extra ingredients.

Now go ~~rescue Olive Oil~~ take a nap. Cause that was exhausting.

“A-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!”

January 6, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Easiest Tortellini Recipe

My friend, Kerri, made this for me awhile back. It is a recipe from Southern Living. I have adapted it just a bit. I loved it so much at her house.

I memorized what was in it so I could search the internet for the recipe. This is such an easy and delicious dish. I like to make it on nights I don’t have a lot of time to cook, but still want my family to have a homemade meal. It takes about fifteen minutes to make start to finish.

I added just a few things.

As I do. But if you want to follow the original recipe, just click the link above. I like it both ways.

Ingredients

20 oz. package of tortellini (I use Costco’s 24 oz. package and I use the whole thing)
1 16 oz. jar of Alfredo sauce with sun dried tomatoes (I believe Classico is the only brand that makes this)
1/4 cup white wine
1 14.5 oz. can drained petite diced tomatoes
1 clove minced garlic (I use one packet from the frozen pack)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I use one packet from the frozen pack)
1 pinch of dried red pepper flakes (1/8 tsp.)
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Optional:

2 cooked diced chicken breasts
1 Tbsp. Red pepper spread

First, boil water in large pot. Add tortellini and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the boiling water and cook pasta according to directions on package. Before draining, carefully reserve 1/3 cup water.

In a large skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium low . Sauté garlic for one minute (if you are using red pepper spread add this with the garlic).

Add Alfredo sauce to skillet.

Add wine to empty Alfredo sauce jar. Gently shake. Pour wine into skillet.

Add tomatoes and basil to skillet. Let mixture simmer five minutes.

Add chicken with the tomatoes and basil if you are using this.

Add drained tortellini. Mix in pepper flakes, reserved water, and parmesan cheese.

Stir.

Heat for one minute. Turn off heat.

Serve up this easy meal. And enjoy!

Thanks Kerri for making me this. It was so good! My family absolutely loves it.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

quick

Barbecamole! Crockpot Chicken Sandwiches

It’s The Little Things: Amazon Prime Membership

The Lazy Mom’s Salad

Easiest Tortellini Recipe