Mama's Fave Crock-Pot Meal

image credit

 I'm cookin' a roast & veggies in my pot today, but a post from a friend made me think of (and share with her) my favorite Crock-Pot meal, so I thought I'd share it here, too.  I hope you make it and love it!

Creamy Chicken Italiano
Jen's Version

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
10 3/4-oz can cream of chicken soup
4-oz. can mushroom pieces, drained (optional)

1. Place chicken in slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle dressing mix over chicken.
   
3. Break cream cheese into pieces and place on top of chicken.
   
4. Spoon canned soup on top of the cream cheese.
   
5. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  (If I use frozen chicken, I'll start the crock pot on low at 6am and it's ready when I get home at 5pm.)
   
6. When it's all done, I take the chicken out and use a whisk to mix what's left in the crockpot... chicken juices and the cheese mixture. It makes a GREAT sauce!
   
7. Chop up the cooked chicken and add it back into the sauce.
   
8. Serve over hot buttered noodles or rice.

Yumm-o!

Homeschool Moms' Winter Summit

This past weekend I attended the Homeschool Moms’ Winter Summit.  It was my first time and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.  Upon entering the Atrium at Crossings Community Church, I noticed the sweet, peaceful atmosphere.  You could tell some major prayer had gone into the weekend and the sweet Spirit of God had definitely, faithfully, shown up.  I expected to hear veteran and retired homeschool moms speak about their experiences and give their best wisdom, and that did happen, but I did not expect to take a swim in the deep things of God.  I mean, I had been to a homeschool conference before, but this was more like a women’s retreat.  There was PLENTY of laughter to be had, but the time we spent hearing, seeking, and speaking with the Lord were often, deep, and sweet.  The leaders and speakers were wonderful, real, honest women who shared their [great and small] successes, failures, and heartaches.  We laughed AND cried… a LOT.  It was a refreshing time in the Presence of the Living God, and, Lord willing, I will definitely attend again.

Life and Language Arts

This week we are back to school after being off for the month of December.  Our holiday season was much more relaxed since we didn't have to worry about school in addition to everything else.  My house is a mess (as usual), and the Christmas decorations are still up ('til Saturday), but we are back on the ball with lessons, including a whole new plan for Language Arts for the rest of this school year.

We've used Sonlight for just about everything since the very beginning, but the last year or so, I haven't been happy with the Language Arts (LA) program.  It frustrates me for some reason, and the kids hate it.  I stuck to it this year because I really wanted to like it, but finally decided last week that we really must change.  I mean, why punish ourselves day after day?  So, for the rest of this year we are using grade-level LA workbooks that I bought at Barnes & Noble for just under $7 each... plus Explode the Code phonics and some of the creative writing prompts from Sonlight.  We'll use Sonlight's spelling, too, since that's what we have right now.  The current plan for next year is for Seth to use Switched-On Schoolhouse for LA3, and for Caleb to use Lifepac LA2.  I just really like a concrete, straightforward LA curriculum better than Sonlight's natural learning approach.  Of course, we're still using Sonlight for just about everything else, so I'm still a huge fan!

Have a beautiful day!