Snow Day Fun + Chicken Taco Soup Recipe

Such a fun "snow" day for us. We played outside, laid around in our jammies and watched Mickey, and made our favorite chicken taco soup in the crockpot. Delicious and easy...right up my alley. Scroll down for recipe :)

Karson says "YOLO"

And then Karson takes a tumble, shocker (insert big eyed emoji here)

Cutest little mud stain tush around :)

"Karson we can't stay outside that long, it's too cold"

What I LOVE about this recipe is that you can mix up the ingredients with whatever you already have in your pantry. Since we were "snowed in" I used what we had in the pantry and didn't go out to the store.

1. Add 4-5 uncooked chicken breasts (or frozen works if that's all you have) in the crockpot. I add a teeny bit of garlic to the chicken, squeeze a lime over them, and add 2 tablespoons of butter. It will make the chicken juicy. Sometimes I'll chop up half an onion and throw it in there.

2. Cook for about 3-4 hours on high. After the first hour of cooking, add a can of salsa to the chicken.

3. After the chicken is cooked, it should shred pretty easily with some forks. If it doesnt, you can shred it up in a blender. Don't drain the juices....that's what keeps the flavor! Put back in crockpot if you use the blender.

4. What to add to the shredded chicken in crockpot: add a large can of crushed tomatoes ( or diced if you like it chunkier), a can of corn, a can of black beans, a can of enchilada sauce, a can of rotel with green chiles, and three or four taco seasoning packets. I have a big container of taco seasoning from Costco and I add a about 1/3 cup of seasoning. Okay, It sounds like a lot but this recipe makes a lot of soup!

Keep crockpot on high and let the soup cook for about an hour or so. If you want your soup more "soupy" you can add a can of chicken broth.

These are items I found in the pantry that we could have used...light red or dark red kidney beans, mexican stewed tomatoes, etc.

This is what I used

After I shredded my chicken:

After I added all the ingredients and let it sit for a while...

Leftovers :) we'll get about 2-3 more meals from this.

Life with 15 month old Karson

Little babe is 15 months old. It's weird that I've only spent 15 months with her, feels like I've known her all my life. Well the girl keeps us busy...and when I say busy I mean, following her around everywhere to make sure she doesn't fall. Doing everything we can to avoid going out in public with her (because she is WILD and wants to run around, not because we are ashamed of her ;)). Although this stage of life with her has been the most fun....it has been the most exhausting, in a very fun and good way. She runs everywhere and gets into everything, climbs up on anything, pulls everything out of cabinets and drawers, throws her food around, and surely I am missing a few more crazy things she does. But, she is also turning into such a loving and sweet little human. She knows when we pray before dinner and bedtime...she grins and is starting to bow her head and/or put her hands together. She climbs up in my lap if she's scared of something (it's rare) and gives me a quick cuddle. She's talks and says the funniest things. Whenever we say "good girl" to her or Callie she repeats..."goooooooo girlllllllll!!!"She loves books...loves them. It makes me so happy. She climbs up in the rocker and brings about 3 or 4 books up with her and just flips through the pages. It's pretty much adorable. We are SO lucky to have a perfectly fun and healthy Karson...and we don't take a single day for granted.

Like I say, the girl loves her books

Newest obsession: Climbing into boxes and waiting for someone to push her around

She's a smart little peanut

 And the dreaded 15 month shot visit...went great. Until the end of the appointment ;)

I could tell Eddie was a weeeee bit annoyed I whipped out my camera when we got to the doctor. BUT, he will be happy one day when he can look back on the tickle monster sesh he had with KJ.

Busy Bee...

Alright doc....let's do this!

After shots...daddy cuddles are the best :)

Weighing a whopping 23 lbs and 32.5 inches!

And we had a fun date this month where I taught Eddie how to use my camera..."taught" as in...I set up all the settings and all he has to do is press the button ;)

Squirming out of my arms

Always trying to hold daddy's hand...

Happy 15 months of life little love <3 We love you to the moon and back.

Valentines Day

We LOVE Valentines Day, especially now having a wild little tot running around. Of course my plans were to take lots of pictures, do some of our traditional baked treats, and give some goodies to KJ. Eddie and I love Valentines Day, but we don't go all out. We hate going out for dinner because of the long waits, crowded restaurants, and usually crappy service. Our little tradition has been making homemade pizza (obvi in a heart shape), drink some wine, and spend quality time together.

We started the day off with a new little spot, The Biscuit Barn. I think we'll add it to the list of favorite breakfast spots.

Karson creepin hard on the table next to us. 

Thankful for beautiful weather because this girl loves being outside, so outside we went.

I don't think she ever put her monkey down.

Love love love my Valentines. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have their love!

After a huge temper tantrum because we had to come back inside, we started to bake my grandmas famous Valentines Day cookies. My moms made them for us ever since I can remember. They're seriously the best...I'll add the recipe at the bottom of this post :)

My little baking assistant

Bath time shenanigans and story time before night night.

Oh, and then an hour later we heard crying from the monitor, run upstairs to find she had thrown up. I'm thinking that sugar cookie had something to do with it.

Bath number 2, carpet cleaning, and new PJ's...and she stayed awake a while longer.

 On the days my mom doesn't watch Karson, our sweet (and very crafty) friend Laurie watches Karson. We will forever cherish this sweet "painting" she made with the help of Mrs. Laurie! 

Valentines Day Cookies: 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

6 tablespoons non-salted butter (or you can go Paula Dean on this and do the whole stick)

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk or half & half

1 teaspoon vanilla

In one bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate larger bowl, beat butter and shortening for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, beat well. Add dry ingredients to the mixture and mix until dough forms. Cover and chill for 3 hours. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake on 375 for about 8 minutes.

Almond Frosting:

1 stick of non-salted butter (room temp., do not melt in microwave!)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (not imitation)

Tiny drop of vanilla extract

 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

3 tablespoons of half & half or milk

A few drops of food coloring you like