North Carolina

Next Wednesday, October 2, I will have lived in the great state of North Carolina for TWO years.  It's crazy to think it has already been that long.  It's such a gorgeous state and I am so thankful to live here.  It's a nice mixture of country, but still enough city for me.  In my opinion, I feel like we live in the country, but Lance would like to seclude ourselves times about 100! haha   I used to think I would hate not living within 5-10 minutes of everything, but now I can't imagine ever living in a neighborhood again.  It's so nice to be spread out and have our own space. The only thing I really don't like about our road is the fact that the speed limit is 45 and most people go about 60.  I honestly get scared to get the mail if cars are coming because they fly by so fast.  Our road is also on the bicycle trail and I do not see how this people aren't scared out of their minds. Let me tell you, there are no sidewalks or streetlights where are live..these people are brave!

I absolutely love our little town we live in, Concord, NC- even though technically it's not so litte.  It's got the old historic downtown, but also spreads out pretty far with all of the "city" areas.  We live outside the city limits (see, country!) right on the edge of town. We are about 15 minutes from entering Charlotte, so the perfect spot to have the best of both worlds.  It's pretty much the same as Southaven is to Memphis.

Our favorite restaurant in downtown Concord.

Downtown Concord, NC

It's so nice to live near so many great attractions. We have TONS of vacation spots within 2-4 hours- Mountains or Beaches.  We have a HUGE mall, Concord Mills, that I rarely go to (sadly- but we do have a smaller one that's actually closer to my house anyways!) because the traffic is so insane. The Carolina Panthers play right in the heart of downtown Charlotte. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is also here in Concord (huge NASCAR people here.. not for me, but they do other fun races there to go watch).  There are SO many things here, that I don't even know the half of them.  It's definitely a great city/area to live in.. or to visit (come on friends!!)

Bank of America Stadium, downtown Charlotte, NC

 Not only have I lived here almost two years, but a month from tomorrow will be our big ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! In a way I feel like we have been married forever (of course in a good way!), but then again I feel like I was just planning.  It's crazy to think how fast this year has gone by.  They say the first year is the hardest, well considering I don't feel like it was hard at all.. I am super excited for the next 100! haha  I have been blessed beyond words and am so thankful each and every day.  I am over joyed with this amazing journey Lance brought my life to, and am so excited for all that's to come in the future! :)

Happy Thursday to everyone! xoxo

Crockpot Cookin'

So as I search for new recipes my key things are: minimal time and ingredients! haha I have given in a few times and made recipes that took forever and used a 100 different ingredients. To me it just wasn't worth it.  They were very good, but so are other, easy recipes. (Not enough time after work to spend half my evening cooking unfortunately.)

Lately I have made 2 new crock pot recipes that were very easy, and tasted great (all thanks to Pinterest!).  One of them is not the healthiest, but sometimes you can cheat a bit and enjoy a nice fatty meal. As I may have mentioned before, Lance believes the house will burn down if we leave it on while not home, so I  have not used ours much.  The past two Sundays I  have used it and was very pleased with both outcomes. First I will start with the chicken tater tot creation.



This recipe only has 5 ingredients.. awesome!

Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless, skinless breasts (diced)
32 oz bag of frozen tater tots
3 oz bag of bacon bits
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of milk.

All you have to do is the following- Spray the crockpot with cooking spray, add half the tater tots, half the cheese, half the bacon, all the chicken, rest of the cheese, rest of the bacon, and pour all of the milk over the top. Ta-da! Put the lid on and cook on Low for 4-6 hours. (did closer to the full 6).


This makes a lot, and I think lasted us maybe 3 meals each.  I added hot sauce to mine (I pretty much could put it on everything!) and I think Lance put a bit of ranch on his.  This is something that still tastes just as good after being refrigerated and reheated!

My second recipe I just made yesterday and it was FANTASTIC.  This is a much healthier option than above.  Skinny Spaghetti.  Now we have been using ground chicken in the past for a lot of things, so I knew this would taste fine. I know a lot of people have switched to ground turkey, but if you check the nutrition, ground chicken is even about 50%  better for you than the turkey.  In things like tacos, spaghetti, and even chili where the seasoning is the main taste, you can not tell the difference at all.  I'm sure more textured things like meatloaf, meatballs, ex, would not work as well.  We did use it to try and make "burgers" one time and it had the texture of a burger, but taste of a chicken sandwich.. very odd! ha  This ingredients list is a bit longer, but most are seasonings you just sprinkle in.  My husband has about every season known to man, so luckily I only had to buy very little to make this.  I also added a few things, so I will just list exactly how I made it.

There are 2 steps to this recipe. 

Step one you will cook the ground meat fully with the following:

1 lb lean ground turkey or chicken (I used chicken)
1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tsp dried sage

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• (Now on seasoning I don't really measure it, but kind of sprinkle in what I think looks about right! lol)

Step two you will mix the cooked meat in with all the other ingredients:

• 1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (no sugar added)
• 8 ounces (uncooked) 100% whole wheat spaghetti, about 2/3 of a 13.25 oz box, break into small pieces before adding to meat mixture
• 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp chopped (fresh) basil
• 1/2 container of sliced mushrooms
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix it all together in the crockpot and cook on Low about 2 hours.   We had for dinner last night, I packed it for our lunch today, and will also get one more meal for each of us out of it.

I'm sure I will make some more in the future, and will definitely post any ones worth sharing! :)

Happy Monday!!