Happy New Year - Welcome 2015!

2014 has been such an amazing year full of family, friends, beautiful memories, 
celebrations, additions, great health and lots of love... 
I'm definitely counting our blessings this year and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us! 

Wishing all of my friends and family a very Happy New Year, 

I hope that you are ringing it in surrounded by those that you love!
Be sure to take some time to reflect on your year and 
remind yourself of all that you are thankful for!

To all of our First Responders working today/tonight (including my husband) - 

I'm thinking of each of you and praying that everyone returns safely 

to their families after their shifts tonight! <3 

Maximizing Small Closet Space

I want to kick myself for not taking a before picture of this closet! In one of our guest bathrooms, we have a small closet behind the door where we like to keep our bath towels, beach towels, sheets and extra bath products/toiletries that we've stocked up on. With little space in a guest bathroom and in an area that we rarely use, it's easy to throw things in the closet or on the shelves, without taking the extra few seconds to neatly place them - and then walking away. Over time, it definitely adds up! Also - with such a small space to begin with, a lack of organization really eats up the space quickly.

I feel like I'm always finding new ways or things to organize and I actually enjoy it! I organized this closet one morning while looking for new shower gel. I was in an organization mood (which has been happening a lot lately actually) and I decided to take the extra 20 minutes to tackle the closet! (And with organizing the closet, I wouldn't be sorting through a million things when looking for a product I need in the future). Now if only we could train our significant others to keep them so clean! ;)

Here are a few recommendations/tips that I have to maximize small spaces:

1. Folding Towels - Rolling towels as seen in the picture, takes up so much less space than before when I had the towels folded regularly into squares. Once we did the same with our beach towels too, it's amazing how much space was freed up! Also - it's so easy to just grab the roll and go!
2. Toiletries/Bottles/Packages - To organize bottles and smaller packages of products, I use smaller tubs to place on the shelves to put the items in. This keeps everything tightly together, and you can stack them easier to maximize the shelf space (our shelving is wire, so this was extremely helpful with the smaller bottles that would typically slide right through the wire shelving). 
3. Travel Size Toiletries - I use to keep a nice glass vase on the bathroom sink full of different toiletries for guests to use if they needed them (shampoos, shower gels, face washes, tooth brushes, etc.) I'd pick them up from hotels we've stayed in, or kept and never used the free sample sized products that come attached to regular sized products. Now, to make things less cluttered in the bathroom, I used a zipper pouch that sheets came in, to place all of the little bottles in there and neatly stack it on the shelf.
4. Consolidate - Do you have half used bottles or packages of certain things? Sunscreen? Cotton balls? Shampoo? Consolidate those items into one bottle/package/bag to avoid the additional room those products are taking up.
5. Location of Items - I placed each of the items on the certain shelves depending on how often we use or need to access them: 

Beach towels are all the way at the top - because those are only used during the summer months. 

Next, sheets and bath towels. I wash and replace all bedding weekly, and shower towels twice/week, so those I use more often than other items in the closet, and I placed those in the easiest place to grab (the middle!). 

Next, are the toiletries - those are on the lower two shelves/sections, as we only really use those items when we're looking to replace something that we've already used up, plus - some of those packages can be larger to store, so the bottom area has the most height to the storage area which is extremely helpful for taller products.

Next up on my organization to-do list is my pantry and the storage area under our master bathroom sinks! :)

Maryland Crab Soup

This has forever been one of my favorite soups! When I came across this recipe last summer, I became obsessed with making it! I've tried multiple versions and put my own twist on each, but I was never happy with any of the recipes that I had found until I came across this one. 

It's extremely easy and so yummy - I hope that you enjoy! :)

Maryland Crab Soup

Ingredients:

1 can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes

3 cups water

2 cups beef broth

1 bag of frozen soup vegetables

2 potatoes, cubed

1 onion, cubed

1 lb crab meat 

(claw meat is best to use for soup - and, it's the cheapest too!)

1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce

Old Bay Seasoning

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for the crab meat and Worcestershire Sauce in a large pot on your stove top, and bring to a boil on medium heat. (Note - I quadrupled  this recipe so that I would have a lot to freeze, so if you follow the ingredient list above - your pot will not look as full as this one).

Once your soup is at a boil, reduce to low heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add your crab meat and Worcestershire Sauce. (Note - I like to wash and drain my crab meat before cooking with it). 

Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes and it's done! (If you have extra time, I'd recommend letting your soup simmer for more time - the longer the better!)

When it's done, you're ready to serve!

I mentioned that I quadrupled my recipe so that I could freeze a bunch, and give some as gifts - here is what my end result was! :)

Chicken Rollatini with Prosciutto & Cheese

I made this recipe last year with my girlfriend, Alison and we loved it! 

I came across the recipe again a couple of weekends ago while browsing through my recipe box, and wanted to make it again when I had time later in the week. It's delicious! 

This recipe was from Skinny Taste. I love their website - they have so many recipes to choose from and they're all primarily healthy! 

An added bonus - it gives you the nutritional breakdown for each recipe as well! :)

Chicken Rollatini with Prosciutto & Cheese

Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 chicken • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts

Calories: 168.6 • Fat: 6.4 g • Protein: 22.1 g • Carb: 4.6 g • Fiber: 0.7 g • Sugar: 0.0 g

Ingredients:

8 thin chicken cutlets

4 slices of thin prosciutto, sliced in half

4 slices of provolone cheese, sliced in half

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 lemon (juice)

1 tbsp of olive oil

1/4 onion, sliced

fresh pepper

Wash and dry your chicken pieces well. I had mini chicken cutlets (smaller than normal size) in the freezer and used those instead - so I had 11 smaller rolls in total (instead of 8 per the recipe). Combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in one bowl, and the lemon juice, olive oil and pepper in another bowl. I cut the prosciutto and cheese into halves, and sliced the onion so that all of my ingredients were ready for my rolls.

Once everything is prepped, you're ready to begin!

Start by dipping your chicken cutlet in the lemon juice/olive oil/pepper mixture.

Next, roll the cutlet in the breadcrumbs/parmesan cheese mixture.

I repeated these steps until all of my cutlets were coated and breaded. 

Once you have all of the cutlets ready, you're ready to begin your "rolling". Start by laying a piece flat, and place the small piece of cheese, prosciutto and a few onion slices on one end of the chicken.

Because my cutlets were smaller than normal, I had to fold mine in half, instead of rolling them like the recipe calls for with regular sized cutlets. 

Once you're finished rolling your cutlets, place them in a greased oven dish.

Sprinkle the tops of the rolls with any left over lemon/olive oil/pepper juice and sprinkle some of the remaining breadcrumbs and cheese on top.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees, and serve immediately.

Delicious! :)

Freezer Crock Pot Meals - Part I

After trying this out for the first time, I'm labeling this post "Part I", as I hope to try this with many new recipes throughout this winter! I was amazed by how fast it took to prep these meals, and how easy it will be when they're ready to be cooked! 

My sister-in-law, Sharon and brother-in-law, Chris are expecting their first baby in a couple of weeks - she's ready to pop! With Chris sick (and with a bum leg) this past week - I wanted to throw a few of these together so that they had some easy meals without the prep, to fix when they needed them!

On the menu:

- Buffalo Chicken

- Chicken Tortilla Soup

- Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

- Red Pepper Chicken

- BBQ Pulled Chicken

I also added in a few frozen containers of a huge batch of Stuffed Pepper Soup that I whipped up late last night as well! Click the link for the ingredient list and instructions to make the soup too :) [the picture below included the ingredients I needed for the soup, as well - so don't be thrown off when the count in the picture doesn't match the list below!]

Ingredient List / Grocery List:

- Chicken Breasts (20)

- 1 bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce

- 1 Ranch seasoning packet

- 16 oz. can of refried beans

- 16 oz. can of black beans

- 15 oz. can of Rotel (or other diced tomatoes)

- 1.5 cups of Chicken Broth

- 1 Pkg of frozen corn

- 1 Pkg of frozen broccoli 

- 1/2 cup of Salsa

- 2 onions

- 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

- 1 cup of Rice

- 1 cup of Celery

- 1 bell pepper

- 4 garlic cloves

- 1 (15 oz) bottle of BBQ Sauce

- Olive Oil

- Crushed Red Peper Flakes

- Black Pepper

- Salt

To start, I found that it was easiest to prep all of the add-ins. I first washed and trimmed all of the chicken breasts and let them dry. While they were drying, I started chopping the onions, celery, pepper, and garlic cloves so that I could easily grab them to throw them in the bags when ready. Also - go ahead and cook your rice to have ready as well. 

(You'll want to follow the directions on the box/bag of rice to prep that).

For each meal, I also made note cards (shown below) with the ingredient list, date and instructions for cooking, to tape on the ziplock bags. (I used clear packing tape and it stayed perfectly in the freezer).

Also note - that after freezing each of these meals, 

you need thaw them before throwing them in the crock pot to cook!

Buffalo Chicken 

In a ziplock bag, throw in:

- 4 chicken breasts

- 1 bottle of Franks Hot Sauce

- 1 packet of Ranch Seasoning

Cooking instructions: Cook on low for 3 hours.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

In a mixing bowl, blend the following:

- 3 chicken breasts (I cut them in cubes)

- 16 oz can of refried beans

- 15 oz can of black beans

- 15 oz can of Rotel

- 1 cup of chicken broth

- 1 cup frozen corn

- 1/2 cup salsa

Once you've blended all ingredients, you can throw it in your ziplock bag and seal.

You can add crushed tortilla chips to your cooked bowl of soup, along with shredded cheese.

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

In a mixing bowl, blend the following:

- 3 chicken breasts (I cut them in cubes)

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 can, Cream of Chicken Soup

- 1 pkg of frozen broccoli

- 1 cup of rice

- 1/2 cup of chicken broth

- 1 cup of celery, chopped

When you've blended all ingredients, empty into a ziplock bag and seal.

For the day you prep this meal, you'll also want to add a 6 oz. container of plain greek yogurt and 1 cup of milk to the crock pot to make the dish more creamy.

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 6 hours.

Red Pepper Chicken

In a mixing bowl, blend the following: 

- 1 bell pepper, chopped

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- 4 garlic cloves, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 tsp crushed red pepper

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1/4 tsp salt

Add the above mixture to a ziplock bag with 4 chicken breasts. 

Cooking instructions - Cook on low for 3 hours.

BBQ Pulled Chicken 

In a ziplock bag, throw in:

- 4 chicken breasts

- 1 bottle of BBQ sauce

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 3.5 hours. 

Use two forks to shred the chicken when finished, to serve on sandwiches or salads.

That's it! You're ready to freeze everything :) For easy freezing, try to freeze each of the bags flat so that you can easily stack or stand them in your freezer once they're completely frozen. (We have to maximize the freezer space we have!) :)

I can't wait to try more dishes like this - I already have quite a few written down to try! :) Let me know if you try any of these and how you liked them. I love hearing and receiving all of your notes and feedback after you've made dishes that I've shared! :)

Three Years!!

Three years already! 

What a crazy ride it has been since everything started in April 2010. When we finally received our Transplant Date of 12/19/2011 - it's been a whirl wind ever since! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our stay at Hopkins! We had the most amazing staff and doctors (not to mention all of the amazing family and friends that came to visit us while we were there - I definitely don't think that they were expecting us to have so many visitors!), not to mention 3 guests sleeping over each night (shout out to Mom, Maddy and Eric!) :)

Thumbs up before surgery - 6 am

The lucky kidney (and my surgeon's initials)!

On my way to see Dad for the first time - 24 hours after surgery

Day 1 :) Finally back together!

Day 2 :)

 

Getting our required walks in at night!

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner was served like this in the Donor Suite!

Three years without dialysis, three years without sickness, three years full of family and friends, anniversaries, birthdays, grandchildren, marriages, graduations, events... so much! I'm beyond thankful for this day exactly three years ago (it will always be one of my favorites) and I can't imagine being without all of the moments and memories that we've had since then! 

Happy Three Dad, I love you more than you'll ever know!

Dad & I last weekend:

National Kidney Foundation

Dr. Dorry Segev (my surgeon!)

Favado App - Comparing Prices & Saving Money for Free!

You know that I'm always up for saving money, saving time, great sales and planning ahead!

I always compare the weekly store circulars when planning our weekly meals and grocery shopping lists, while also planning which coupons I can use too. I came across this app earlier this week and I'm so excited to try it out this week to prep for my weekend grocery shopping trip! I wanted to give everyone a preview because if you're like me and compare weekly circulars, and research which coupons are available to use - this App will save you so much time and more, as they've done all the work for you! :)

To start off, download the free app "Favado".

Once you've downloaded the app, you have a ton of things to do - set your favorite stores, favorite items, etc. You can browse the sales, make your shopping list, store coupons, etc. You can also sign up for email alerts when certain products are on sale. Here's what the main menu looks like.

When in the sales menu, you can browse a ton of different options to narrow down your product search. At the top, you can see the top 4 grocery stores that I selected - Giant, Harris Teeter, Safeway and Wegmans. I also have a few other favorites selected, but this will narrow it down for my groceries. Also - you can see that it will list the Top 10 products at the moment, Your favorited items, or you can select to view all of the sales that are posted.

If I was looking for Campbell's Cooking Creams (like the Cream of Mushroom soup that I use for my roasts in the crock pot) you can see it listed below for 80 cents. The red paperclip means that there are coupons available for this item.

Once you click on the item, the app will show you the sale price, and will list any possible coupons that you could use at the time for this product. Right now, there's a printable coupon (with the link for you to access and print that coupon). The price at the bottom (60 cents) shows you what you'd be paying if you used any and all possible coupons. How awesome is that? If the coupon isn't printable, it will indicate where the coupon is or in which circular to find it.

And that's it! Easy as that and the app is completely free. I like that you can set your favorite stores and items so that you don't have to waste time browsing through the different categories. Although - when you have time, it's definitely helpful to see what else is out there and on sale! :)

Happy shopping! 

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Simple and so easy!

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken breasts, thawed 

- 1 bottle of BBQ Sauce

Place your 4 chicken breasts on the bottom of your crock pot and top with your bottle of BBQ sauce. We used Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ sauce that we had in the pantry, and it was amazing! Set your crockpot on Low for 3.5 hours. 

Once your BBQ Chicken is ready, you'll want to turn off your crock pot and start shredding your chicken with two forks. When you're done - this is what it should look like!

You can make sandwiches, sliders, or use the chicken to top your salads - there's so much to use it with. This is what we had on Sunday for dinner - it was easy to throw in the crockpot while tackling things on our "To Do" list! :)

DIY Chalkboard Gift Tags / Ornaments

Another DIY Chalkboard Craft! 

(Because who doesn't love chalkboard crafts?!)

While browsing through Michaels for little items for a crafty present that I was mailing, I came across these cute little guys in the wooden crafts section. With Christmas right around the corner, I immediately thought that I could spray them with chalkboard paint to use them for something crafty. 

I already had the chalkboard paint, so all I would need were the actual pieces to paint. They were originally 29 cents each and I ended up getting 5 of them for 87 cents total with a 40% off total purchase coupon. A fun craft for less than a buck!

Materials:

- Chalkboard paint

- Chalk or Chalk Markers

- Old piece of Cardboard

- Raffia / Twine / Ribbon

To start, you'll want to lay the wooden pieces on an old piece of cardboard.

Next, you can spray a thin layer of chalkboard paint. Let them sit and dry for about 20 minutes. Once one side is finished, you can flip them over to spray the back. I ended up doing 2 layers of paint on each side for a nice, thick coat.

Once they're dry, you're ready to start decorating! 

Here's one that I made and added raffia to:

(The back says "Love, Eric, Brooke & Tucker" and "2014")

You can use them for a gift tag:

And then that person can use it as an ornament :)

They're super cute and I love that you can re-use them for another purpose 

vs. simply throwing away once you open a present.