Casey's Kickin' Chicken Chili

My hubby makes delicious white chili...I like to call it "Casey's Kickin' Chicken Chili." He actually doesn't follow a recipe and just does it all as he goes, but here's the recipe I came up with based on what he told me. I tried making it earlier this week for the first time without him, and it turned out great. Enjoy!

Casey's Kickin' Chicken Chili

-4 cooked & shredded chicken breasts

-4 cans white beans (Northern and/or Navy)

-2 cans chicken broth

-2 cans green chile peppers

-1 onion, chopped

-3 cloves crushed/minced garlic

-crushed red pepper (to taste)
-salt & pepper to taste

Sautee onion in oil.

Add garlic after onions have sauteed for a few minutes.

Add remaining ingredients.

Simmer at least 15 minutes, while stirring occasionally. The longer it simmers, the better!

Serve with shredded cheese & sour cream if desired.

Grocery Shopping with Coupons

Today I had a successful grocery shopping trip with one of my best friends,Lauren. We have started couponing together every week. It's great because we get to hang out and we get to help each other find the best deals! Today I got all of my groceries for $34. I will be buying some meat from Food World because the prices were too high on ground chuck and chicken breasts at Publix today, but even after that I will still be under $50 which was my goal for the week! Yea! 

Here are some of the great deals I got today:

*FREE Smart Balance Milk with the purchase of Smart Balance Buttery Spread (which was only $.40 after BOGO and coupons)

*FREE Yoplait Yoplus Yogurt (BOGO plus coupons)

*$0.10 for Post Trail Mix Crunch cereal (BOGO plus coupons)

*$0.90 for Tropicana 50 (BOGO plus coupon)

I also purchased $11 worth of fish and shrimp, of which I will be getting $10 back through a rebate on fresh seafood. So, after the rebate comes, I will have actually only spent $24! Woohoo!

Other items I purchased today without coupons include turkey from the deli, fresh produce, canned items, toiletries, and more. 

Menu Plan Monday with Recipes

Another week is here already! Wow spring break went by way too fast! Here is our menu for this week with recipe links. Check out all the great menu plans at org junkie.

Monday - Spicy Rapid Roast Chicken

Tuesday - Baked spaghetti

Wednesday -   Beef & Broccoli  (Didn't get to make this last week)

Thursday - White chicken chili (will post recipe later this week)

Friday - Date Night

Saturday - Tilapia with pimiento sauce

Sunday - Chicken divan

Sleepover with our nephews

Thursday night our 2 sweet nephews, Andrew (5) and Avery (7 months) spent the night with us. It was the first time that we had both of them for the whole night. We were a little nervous when Andrew said he wanted to come too b/c Casey had schoolwork due that night and had to work early the next morning, but it worked out great. We had the best time! Everyone slept through the night. Andrew is the best helper and big brother, and Avery is such a fun, sweet baby. We played, watched movies, and ate lots of sweets. It has become a tradition that Andrew has ice cream with his breakfast at our house...something I'll probably never let my own kids do but what are aunts for?! Haha! I guess Chris & April can repay us for that one when we have kids and they get to play aunt and uncle. Here are a few pics from our fun sleepover!

Sweet Avery in his car seat

Andrew with his funny face waffle 

We made chocolate chip cookies and chocolate pudding!

Roasted Chicken

Today was a fabulous day. My hubby had the day off, so we got to spend the day together which is my favorite thing to do! This afternoon, Lauren taught Paula and I how to make a roasted chicken. This was my first experience cooking a whole chicken, removing the "goodies" and all. :) It was absolutely delicious. Here is Lauren's wonderful recipe (from the Barefoot Contessa). 

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

1 (4 to 5 pound) roasting chicken

1 large yellow onion, sliced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, quartered

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

6 cups (3/4 inch) bread cubes (cut from french baguette)

*Remove giblets/neck from chicken & wash inside and out. Remove any excess fat & feathers.

Toss the onion with a little olive oil in small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top & sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt & pepper. Place lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of chicken dry, brush it with melted butter & sprinkle with salt & pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string & tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Roast at 425 for 1.25 - 1.5 hours or until juices run clear when you cut between leg & thigh. Cover with foil & allow to sit at room temp. for 15 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

I am joining Menu Plan Monday at this website. There are over 400 women who participate. I'm really enjoying looking at other ladies' menus and recipes. Here's what's on our menu this week.

Monday - Roast with celery, carrots, and mushrooms

Tuesday - Chicken and rice casserole

Wednesday - Dinner out with family

Thursday - Roasted chicken, mixed veggies, salad

Friday - Beef & broccoli, brown rice

Saturday - Beef cabbage bake

Sunday - Baked salmon, asparagus

Yummy New Recipe

I just made this really yummy cashew chicken for dinner tonight. Casey and I both loved it. It was pretty easy to make, much cheaper than getting Chinese take-out, and just as good. I added a little minced garlic and ginger to the marinade. Next time, I plan to also add celery and water chestnuts. I'm trying to branch out in my cooking and make lots of new recipes. You can find the recipe for this dish here. I discovered this website this week...lots of great recipes to try.

Marvelous Monday

Yesterday was a really great day, full of surprises. I thought Marvelous Monday was very fitting as our reading vocabulary word yesterday in my 2nd grade class was "marvelous." It came from Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. In case you're not a teacher or don't have school-aged children, yesterday was Dr. Seuss's birthday so we are celebrating Dr. Seuss Week. It is one of my absolute favorite times of the school-year! I'll try to post some fun pics of Seuss stuff later this week. 

Dr. Seuss now shares his birthday with a very beautiful little girl named Lorelei Posey. One of my dear friends and former roommate, Kathy, gave birth to Little Miss Lorelei yesterday morning! She arrived 2 weeks early, so it came as a surprise to get the text from Kathy Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:48 AM letting us know she was at the hospital and that sweet Lorelei would be here soon! Damaris, Kathy, and I lived together for the last 2 years of college and had such fun together! Kathy is extra special to me b/c she introduced me to my amazing hubby. 

The last adventure came right after we left the hospital room. Damaris, Ryan, and I were stuck in the elevator in the parking deck at Brookwood for approximately 28 minutes. :) Surprisingly, I wasn't scared. If that's not proof of God delivering me from fear, I don't know what is. It was quite an exciting day!

"Behold, children a gift of the Lord..." -Psalm 127:3a

Snow Day!

So I hadn't posted in months and now I've done 2 posts in 2 days! I thought I should catch up since I'd been a bad blogger. We woke up to snow this morning which is a big deal in Alabama! We were so excited! Casey & I had fun playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other. Then we brought out our sweet labs, Turk & Miley. They were too funny! Turk tried to catch snowballs in his mouth when Casey threw them. That was my favorite!