...I have had the most insane week!  Working an extra day of hygiene, night sewing classes, preschool tours, make-up music classes, scheduling surgery (hand surgery at that*), and now I'm feeling SO sick!  

The crockpot is my best friend when I'm super busy and not feeling well.  Using the crockpot allows me to save time (never more than 15 minutes of prep time) and energy when it comes to preparing dinner, AND I can relax and let the crock' do the work!

What You'll Need:
1 crockpot
1.5-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used tenders --it doesnt really matter what cut you go with; use what you like best!)
3/4 cup sour cream 
2 quarts chicken stock
2 cans drained black beans
1 can corn
1 can crushed tomatoes 
1 can diced green chiles
1 can diced jalepenos
5 corn tortillas, cut into small pieces 
5 minced garlic cloves
Salt, Pepper, and Chili Powder to taste


Toppings:
Avocado, sliced
Black Olives, sliced
Cheddar Cheese
Crushed Tortilla Chips

6.  Twenty minutes before eating, take whole chicken pieces out of the crockpot, and shred.  Put the chicken back into the crockpot AND add your 3/4 cup of sour cream.  Stir and let cook for 20 more minutes.

7.  Serve with sliced avocado, black olives, cheddar cheese, and crushes tortilla chips**

*You must be wondering about my hand surgery.  Unfortunately, I have bilateral tendonitis in my thumbs -- the right one being more painful.  I've had three cortisone shots in my right thumb, and two in my left thumb within the past year.  The hand specialist will not give me any more cortisone, so surgery it is.  I will be having my right thumb worked on November 25 with a 4-6 week recovery.  I am so sad because I will not be able to crochet or craft for that long!  
**You also must be wondering why I haven't added in any cilantro.  It's because I absolutely cannot tolerate the taste of cilantro.  There are few food that I dislike, and cilantro is top of the list (along with mushrooms, feta, and goat cheese).

I use the crockpot at least 1x/week because it's SO easy, but mostly because I love to say set and forget.  It annoys my husband when I say it, and I secretly love to annoy him =)

When I know that I'm going to have a pretty busy day (and will be too tired to think about cooking dinner), I devote 15 minutes in the morning to preparing something in the crockpot.  That way I won't have to worry about dinner, I won't have to eat Taco Smell (our crutch when it comes to we have nothing for dinner tonight), AND the house smells so good the whole day.  What's not to love?!

How To:
1.  Make sure your children have something to do for 15 minutes while you prep.  You'll have yucky raw chicken hands for a little bit and you don't have to chase them.  In my case, I prepared my daughter her breakfast first, then went to preparing the meal while she was trapped in her highchair. 

3.  Unwrap the chicken and rinse under the sink.  I technically don't know why I rinse the chicken, but my husband told me to do it.  After rinsing, pat dry.  Ooooh, and make sure to take all the giblets out from the inside (yuuuuuuuck!).  Thankfully, mine were wrapped nicely in plastic packets so I didn't have to touch the suckers.  Ew.

4.  Rub salt and pepper all over the outside of the chicken.  Add different spices, as well.  Whatever floats your boat.  Remember, this is your chicken, not mine.  But salt and pepper work just fine, too.

5.  Place the chicken in the crock first, breast-side up.  Here again, I don't know why the breast-side should be up.  My husband claims blah, blah, blah.  I always put mine in breast-side down (mainly because I forget), and it turns out just as good.  So, just place it in whatever way you like best.  Then dump the chopped apples, onion, tomato, lemon (ah, finally you see my lemon!), and rosemary on top.  Turn on low and cook for 7-8 hours.  Set and forget!

6.  Pick apart the chicken and serve with a couple of yummy sides (in our case Basmati rice and peas).  Enjoy!

I thought it'd be fitting to do an Italian family recipe for my first Sometimes on Sundays blog:

Red Italian Stew & Dumplins' 

Enough said, right?  In my family, it is.  Just stay the word stew, and we'll all pile into our cars to sit at my grandparent's kitchen table to be served some of this good red stuff.  It really is that good.

What You'll Need:
Crockpot
Sauce Pan
Olive Oil
Flour 
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Garlic
Stew Meat (Beef)
White Onion (2 medium size)
Celery (4 Stalks)
Baby Carrots (1 bag)
Potatoes (any kind will do -- I used fingerling)
Zucchini/Squash 
Tomatoes (any kind will do -- I used cherry)
Beef Broth (8 oz)
Tomato Sauce (16 oz)
Bisquick
Milk

How To:
1.  Start by chopping your onion, celery, carrots, squash (I used yellow), potatoes, and tomatoes into rustic pieces.  In my case, I left my baby carrots whole, my fingerling potatoes whole, and my cherry tomatoes whole.  No one is judging you on your chopping skills. Do what size feels right.  I like mine to be big and chunky. When finished, set aside in a large bowl.

2.  Pour a generous amount of olive oil in a large saucepan and turn on high.  While the oil is warming, chop your fresh garlic and set aside.  Coat your stew meat in salt & pepper seasoned flour. Place chopped garlic and coated stew meat in saucepan and brown.

(Make sure your children have something to do while prepping the stew.  In my case, I gave my daughter a bowl full of chopped strawberries.  She was content for the 15 minutes it took to prep!)

3.  Place browned stew meat into the bottom of your crockpot.  Place all chopped vegetables on top of stew meat in the crockpot.  Pour the can of beef broth and the can of tomato sauce on top of vegetables and stew meat.  Add another can full (or so) of water in the crockpot, making sure the pile of goodness is almost covered with the water.  Don't put too much water in because it will dilute the goodness.

4.  Turn crockpot on low and leave to cook for 7-8 hours (or high for 4-5 hours).  

5.  Thirty minutes prior to chow down, follow the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box to make dumplings (2 1/4 cups Bisquick mixed with 2/3 cup milk).  Randomly drop balls of dough in the crockpot.  There doesn't need to be any pattern to the way you drop the dough.  Just spread out the dough balls.  Cover and cook for 20-30 more minutes (depends on the size of dough balls you made).

6.  When dumplings are puffy and scrumptious looking, you are done!

7.  Serve with a nice Italian salad, and you are good to go!