Save time by using your slow cooker!

I know with a busy life getting dinner on the table can take some real time managment skills.  It can also be a challenge to cook something that everybody likes.  I tend to serve chicken frequently because my family likes it, it's healthy and it's affordable. When it comes to feeding my kids I might as well be feeding an army. 

I'm always on the look out  for a new chicken recipe to keep it interesting but I don't want anything that is too time consuming either.  I really want to share this recipe that I got from Mr. Food.  They have a catagory for dishes that you cook in your slow cooker which is a great time saver!  This recipe is delicious, easy and once it's in the crockpot you are free to go about your day. No fuss, no muss.  Thank you Mr. Food.com!

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 2 cups chopped cooked rotisserie chicken
• 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken and mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can cream of celery soup, undiluted
• 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms, chopped
• ¹/2 teaspoon pepper
• ¹/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 (8-ounce) packages shredded Italian three-cheese blend
• 16 ounces bow-tie (farfalle) pasta, uncooked
• 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
• ¹/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Drain spinach well, pressing between paper towels to remove excess moisture. Stir together spinach, chicken, and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 package of cheese blend.
2. Arragne 1/2 of the uncooked noodles in a lightly greased 5-quart slow cooker. Spread 1/4 of the chicken mixture over noodles, and sprinkle with 2/3 cup cheese blend; repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, chicken mixture, and cheese blend. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese and walnuts.
3. Cover and cook on LOW setting 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until noodles are done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

WHATEVES!!!

When my kids were little they were so cute!  Bright eyed, eager to please and they did as they were told.  My kids are now 12 and 13 and sometimes they are just not as cute as they used to be.  If I hear "whateves"  just one more time I'm going to go through the roof.  I'll say for example, Sebastian please be home by dark.  Sebastian replies "whateves". I reply OMG!!! Then there's my daughter Summer. I'll say to her "can you please clean up the mess that you left in your bathroom (she changes clothes at least 50 times per day).  Guess what she says, yep that right.."whateves". 

I think back to when I was a kid and I am sure that if I replied to my mother with "whateves" my life probably would have been cut quite short.  I have mentioned this to my children and they just look at me as if to say "what was wrong with your mother"?

This lack of respect among teenagers these days is running ramped.  I know that I am not the only parent  that deals with this.  I don't know what it is that has caused the problem.  I'd like to blame it on the Internet and rap music but I really think it goes back to the genius who invented the "time out". 

I never did spank my kids or yell at them for everything thing they did wrong growing up. I always put them in "time out." That is what a good responsible parent would do right? Of course it is!  My mother had a different approach to the whole thing.. it was called her flyswatter.  My mother could straighten you up real quick with that thing! Believe me, whatever it is that you did, you certainly thought twice about doing it again.  I always had a healthy respect for mom, even as an adult when she would ask me to do something I did it. 

I'm not saying that we should beat our children, of course not! My mother didn't beat me either.  It did sting a little bit though. Sometimes I just feel like the problem with my kids is that on occasion the consequences just weren't sufficient enough. 

Now when they're in trouble and I have that look on my face, I can clearly see that they aren't exactly shaking in their Jordans! I guess that all that I can do now is love them, keep talking to them and pray a lot!