Crockpot Baked Ziti, BlackBean and Corn Salsa, and blanket up date!

Hello world! I am soooooooooo beyond ready for the National Counselors Exam, Comps, and the Praxis II to be over!!!I miss my life! I miss cooking and crafting. Ugh I have so much crafting I want to do. But the NCE is this coming Saturday and Comps a few weeks after that and I still haven't registered for the Praxis but it will happen this semester. I hope I pass all these exams because I never want to study like this ever again! Ugh! 

Well I have still be cooking. Not a whole lot of new things sadly. I have been making alot of things that I can make quickly so its usually stuff I know like the back of my hand. And alot of it is on the blog.... or frozen pizza. I did make a few new things lately. My friends and I were tailgating for an App football game and we all decided to bring food. I wasn't sure what to make for a while. I knew that I wanted to do something big and filling because I figured everyone else would bring sides. And I really wanted more than just sides. So I went to my trusty Pinterest boards! I came across crockpot baked ziti! It was so simple and so yummy! I will be making this again! 

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 (25 oz) jars pasta sauce

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 (16 oz) boxes ziti pasta

Directions: 

1. Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink. Stir in seasonings to evenly coat meat; stir in pasta sauce. Set aside. 

2. Mix 1 cup mozzarella, the ricotta and parmesan in a medium bowl. Spoon 2 cups of meat sauce into the slow cooker; top with 2 cups ziti. Drop half of the cheese mixture, by rounded tablespoons, over ziti; carefully spread over ziti using back of spoon. Layer with 2 cups meat sauce, the remaining ziti and remaining cheese. Add remaining meat sauce, completely covering all the ziti and cheese. Place lid on slow cooker. 

3. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours or until noodles are tender. 

4. Carefully remove lid to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle food with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella; let stand 10 minutes until melted. Serve directly from the slow cooker. 

*Use a crock pot liner! Reviews I read said otherwise you will hate your life when it comes time to clean the crockpot. I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and already the sides were starting to turn black. It still tasted fine I would just cook it on low and really keep an eye on it if you can. Also the cool thing is that you don't need to precook the pasta! Just dump it on in there. Some reviews said to rinse it in water before you use it so that is what I did. I'm not sure if it made the pasta any more moist or not but I figured it wouldn't hurt anything. 

The following Monday after that football game I was going to my practicum site. I usually go on Wednesdays but this Monday there were going to be some important meetings that I really wanted to observe. Woah baby did I get to see some great stuff that day! That Monday the ENCORE team (guidance, art, music and PE teachers) were all having lunch together. Something they try and do the first Monday of every month. What a great way to build community! I'm going to remember this! Well since I was going to be there I wanted to bring something too. My mom makes this salsa alot and it is always a huge hit! 

Black bean and corn salsa 

Ingredients: 

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen corn that has been thawed 

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

8 green onions sliced

3 Tablespoons Lime juice or 1 Lime juiced

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

1. Mix together in a dish and let sit in fridge until ready to serve. 

2. Serve with tortilla chips

*I used a green bell pepper because it is what I had. The color bell pepper doesn't matter. Use what you have. 

*Sorry I forgot to get a picture of the salsa. You just have to take my word for it that it looked and tasted yummy! 

The only crafting I have really had any time for is occasionally doing a row on my blanket before bed. It is really starting to look like a blanket! I am pretty proud of it so far! :)

Personal Space Camp and Superflex Game

Man on man this has been a crazy semester! I can't believe how fast the time is going. I know I haven't posted about a new recipe for a while but I sadly haven't been making too many new things. I have been making things I know how to make because by the time I get home I am too tired or in a hurry to do something new.

But I have been doing some awesome things at my practicum site! I have made a lesson plan for a second grade guidance lesson on personal space. It is actually two lessons because there is just so much you can do! My supervisor gave me the book Personal Space Camp to use with the class.  The plan is to read the book and then do a few activities with it.  One of the activities is a coloring sheet that I made myself and am very proud of.  I am also having the students role play ways to have personal space and ways to not have personal space. They are also going to be making space suits out of boxes and paper bags! That is part of why it is taking so long because I want to give them time to decorate their space suits. We are also going to talk about what to do if someone is in your personal space. If you are interested in my lesson plans let me know and I will gladly share.

I am also going to be doing a group for second grade boys on social skills. My supervisor had bought the Superflex Curriculum a few years ago and had not really liked it.  She had offered it to a practicum student a few years ago who was able to pick and choose a few things to use.  She also offered me the program to use. It is not really great for a school setting because it is 12 sessions that are kind of long. I will only get to work with my group for maybe 20 minutes at a time.  So I too just picked some things I thought I could use with the time I have. I also wanted to plan an activity that would keep them entertained and really engaged in what they are learning. So this weekend I made a board game! I based it around the Superflex characters and used strategies that they came up with. They have to roll the dice to see how far to move but in order to stay there they have to answer a card correctly. Here are a few pictures of the game.

* FYI- If you look at my board game it is a rather long game board. Because I only had my group (4 students in the group) for about 30 min we didn't come close to getting through the whole board. You might want to make it smaller or have a way to remember who is at what spot to pick the game back up next time. This worked great with my boys and this was the most engaged groups session I had with them. They also kept asking when they would get to play again!

Each card either has a "Unthinkable" character on it or a strategy. If it has an Unthinkable then they student has to name a strategy to defeat that Unthinkable. If it is a strategy card they have to name the Unthinkable they could use it against. 

This is the back side of the cards. 

My game board.

I printed out 6 Superflex pictures and glued them on different color paper to be our pieces. 

Cake Pops

I decided for the ECU vs. SCU game that I would make ECU cake pops. This was an away game for us so I knew we would at least have some down time at the hotel and would want something to munch on. I made a them out of lemon cake with purple white chocolate on the outside :)

Ingredients:

My finished product!

- 1 box cake mix (use any flavor you want)
- Things you need to make the cake according to the box
- 1 container of frosting that goes with the cake
- 3ish bags of candy melt (you can get it at craft stores. I used 2 bags of purple and not even half a bag of yellow for decoration.)
- candy sticks if you want

Directions:
1. Bake the cake in a 13x9 pan according to the box and let cool.
2. Crumble the cake and mix with all the frosting.
3. Form in to 1 or 2 bite size balls (Mine were way to big haha). Place on a cookie sheet with wax paper and put in the freezer about 10 or so minutes until not squishy.
4. Melt candy according to directions on package. Dip the balls in the candy and let cool.
5. Decorate as desired. Keep in fridge.

*There are several suggests on line on how best to dip and then dry the cake balls. I still have not mastered that part yet.

This was our view at the South Carolina game. I didn't take any more pictures because we lost so badly :-/ They did have a really awesome atmosphere. It was hard not to get pumped during their pre-game show! 

My first 5k!

Ok so I have needed to do this post for several weeks now. Can I just say this has been the craziest, busiest, and most stressful semester I have had in grad school. I think it is because I am taking my comprehensive exam and the National Counselors Exam (NCE). And my practicum class is really front loaded. So I think once I can get through October I will be ok.

So back to my first 5K. I ran in the MacNair Farms first annual 5K. My brother in law Jeff is actually the one who put it together has a fund raiser for the Athens Drive track team. (he is the head coach.) The race was an awesome trail run through the MacNair farms property. Parts of the race were in open fields, through the woods, along small farm roads. It was pretty cool. I really enjoyed the run. I ran the race in 38:36 which my Jeff said was really good for my first race. My friend Noah also ran the race. He got second in his age group! If you want to run a race let me know!!!I need to find another race to run so I don't loose motivation.

My Momma and I before the race!

Coming into the finish! I didn't feel like I was going to die so that is good!

Lemon Chicken

Hello everyone! I feel like I have been so bad about posting on my blog lately! It seems like every time I say I'm going to do it that night I end up doing something else! Well I have this lovely hour break between class and work so I might start working on my blog from campus haha!

Well speaking of campus it is my last semester of graduate classes! After this semester all I will have left is my internship! eek! I can't believe I am almost done. It is kind of overwhelming the thought of having to look for a job in a matter of months. Right now I am trying to focus on the three major tests I have to pass and then I will worry a little bit more about looking for a job. I don't know about any of you but I seriously HATE applying for jobs. So much anxiety. Even working on my resume makes me nervous because there are so many ways to do a resume! Ugh! At least this semester isn't looking like it will be too terrible class wise. I am talking research methods, gestalt therapy and my practicum class. Not to mention I will be in an elementary school one day a week observing and actually teaching/counseling students. Ok now I'm more nervous about the semester... Maybe I should just think about the delicious Lemon Chicken I made the other night for dinner.

I made this one night last week when my friend Elizabeth came over for dinner. I found the recipe of course on Pinterest. The website it actually came from is DisneyFamily.com. I have started looking at Pinterest to see what I want to make before I make my grocery list. Keeps me trying new recipes and helps me save money by not buying things I don't actually need. One of the reasons I loved this recipe so much is because of how light it is. When I saw that in called for frying the chicken I was a little nervous... but you don't really deep fry it so it is ok. It also reheats really well!

Lemon Chicken
Ingredients: 
- 2 large chicken breast fillets cut into bite size pieces
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2-3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 4 thinly sliced scallions, to serve
- 1 large lemon, zest and juice (1/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions 
1. Put the chicken in a bowl with the soy sauce. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. To make the sauce, whisk together the lemon zest and juice with the sugar, water and cornstarch in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thickened, then keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Whisk together the egg yolk and cornstarch in a small bowl to make a batter. Toss the chicken in the batter and fry for three to four minutes on each side until golden and cooking through.
     * I had issues at this step. When I mixed the egg yolk and the cornstarch it just made a gooey mess not really a batter. After talking to some people they suggested having them separate. Like dipping the chicken in the egg yolk and then the cornstarch. If you try it this way let me know which works best.
4. Transfer to a plate and spoon the warm lemon sauce over the chicken. Scatter the scallions over the dish before serving.

* I chose to serve the chicken over some angle hair pasta. The lemon from the chicken added a nice light lemon sauce also to the pasta. I also did not add the scallions because being on a tight budget I don't worry to much about garnish.

PS- I am running in my first 5K on Saturday!!! eeekkk I'm so excited and also very nervous. I am sure that I will be able to finish the race I just hope I don't trip.

Pesto and Sun-dried Tomato Chicken

Hello all! So I am super excited to say that I am going to run my first 5k race on the 25th! My brother in law is the head track coach at the high school he works at in Cary. He is hosting a 5K as a fundraiser for his track team. If you are interested in running let me know and I will tell you how to sign up! I am super excited because a week after I finish my training for the couch to 5K. It is so awesome that I have stuck with it and using the program really helped! There were times I wanted to give up but I kept on pushing forward and I'm glad I did because it really has paid off. I have also been running with a friend who has helped to keep me motivated. I am going to try and keep running so that I don't loose the ability to run haha. I don't want to go backwards!

Ok so onward to what this post is really about. Pesto and Sun-dried Tomato Chicken!!! This is a recipe that I got from my Mom. It sounds hard to make or really fancy from the sound of it but it is really simple! I have made this one a few times before. One of the things I like about this is that you can make just as much as you need. I usually make two or three servings worth to have leftovers. But you could just make one or you could make eight it is really just based on what you need or want. I usually serve the chicken with saffron rice and broccoli.

Pesto and Sun-dried Tomato Chicken
Ingredients:
- Chicken
- Pesto
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Panko bread crumbs (seasoned)
- Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
- Pound Chicken in between wax or clear wrap
- Layer pesto and chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- Fold in half
- Dip chicken in Panko bread crumbs and parmesan mixture. I just eye ball it. I would say its like 2 part bread crumbs to 1 part cheese.
- Put on sprayed baking dish
- Bake at 350 for 45min to an 1 hour

Easy and Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas

Well I have finally gotten moved and summer school is finally over! I also have finally gotten a chance to buy real groceries again. I know that is a lot of finales but that is how these past few weeks have been. I feel like I have been busy but there isn't much to show for it. Hopefully I will get to do some crafting before classes start back.

Running is still going good. I can run for 25 minutes without stopping or walking. I am running my first 5K on August 25th. My brother-in-law is putting on a 5K to raise money for the high school track team he is coaching. If you are interested in running there is still time to sign up just let me know!

The first thing I have made now that I have more than ramen noodles was Chicken Enchiladas. I found the recipe of course from Pinterest. The website it came from is actually Food, Family and Finds 

Easy and Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients:

Got a little burnt on top but still tasted good :)

- 6-8 Corn Tortillas (Enchilada size)
- 1 pre-cooked plain rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 cup sweet corn
- 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided in half
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 10oz can cream of chicken soup
- 1  cup sour cream
- 1 4oz can chopped green chilies
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Fill the center of each tortilla with a handful of shredded chicken, a tablespoon or so of the corn, and a pinch of the shredded cheese.
3. Roll and place in the bottom of a baking dish with the seam side down.
4. In a pot over medium heat melt the butter. Add flour and whisk into a thick paste.
5. Add chicken broth, cream of chicken, sour cream, chiles, salt and pepper.
6. Whisk gently for about 5 minutes until warm and smooth.
7. Pour sauce over the enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes and serve warm.

*So when I made this I ended up only using about half of the whole chicken I shredded so I was able to freeze some. And my enchiladas were still very full.