Mexican Chicken Pasta

In an effort to create another crockpot meal that would get us through a few dinners without being the same old meat & canned soup, I came up with this mexican-inspired bowl of goodness. A dinner packed with the protein of black beans and chicken but still easy on the palate for the kiddos. Also pretty low fat when using light or fat free options as we did. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size cubed pieces
2 cans Campbells condensed cheddar soup
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/3 cup milk (I used fat free)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can corn
1 can mexican Rotel
1 small can green chilies
2 tbsp chopped jalapenos (I used regular sliced ones from the jar) OPTIONAL
1 packet taco seasoning (partial packet to taste)
1 packet ranch seasoning (partial packet to taste)
1 box wheat pasta

Serves 6-8 (My husband and I have eaten it for three nights in a row with some leftover and my husband has a healthy appetite. This pot may go further for your family.)


Mexican Garlic Bread

1 loaf french bread
butter or vegetable spread
garlic powder
onion powder
cumin

Directions:

Saving the black beans for the last hour of cook time, dump all ingredients into crockpot & stir well. For the seasoning packets: we like spicy dishes and I used only about 1/2 of each packet. You can always taste before serving and add more if you like.

Cook on low for 7 hours. I added the can of black beans about an hour before serving. I also turned the pot on warm for about 30 minutes before serving which made the sauce thicker and perfect for serving over pasta.

For garlic bread:

Using a large bread knife, slice 1 inch thick rounds of french bread. Coat with as much butter as you like and sprinkle generously with garlic powder, onion powder and lightly with cumin. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 to 8 minutes. We light ours soft without much brown on the edges so you may want to bake for a little longer!

Shot of garlic bread before baking to gage seasoning.

Etsy Baby Shower!

Etsy has an amazing opportunity for new moms and moms-to-be by providing a Virtual Baby Shower. Only a limited amount of mothers are chosen and guess what? I was picked! (Thanks again Courtney for sending me the info, XO.)

Etsy shops that cater to baby and mom volunteer to create personalized gifts to send to these mommies. The shops that were assigned to this mommy-to-be are an outstanding group of talented women. Let me introduce you to each of them and have my chance to Ooo and Ahh over the gifties they have "showered" me with. :)

Crochele Handcrafted
(click link to be directed to her shop & facebook fan page)
Facebook Fan Page

Her shop announcement begins with: Welcome to Crochele, where all products are made with the highest amount of care and attention to the smallest of details.

Michele's beautiful items are exactly that, crafted with quality, talent and care. Her giftie was the first I received and I was thrilled. Here's Michele's gift to me and Beau Isaac, a sweet beanie for his itty bitty head.

Do yourself a favor and head on over to her shop. She has a beautiful selection of baby items that would be the perfect gift for any mommy-to-be.
















SteadyJane
(click links to be directed to her shop & facebook fan page)
Facebook Fan Page

This shop has a great sense of fun, humor and whimsy. The second Etsy baby shower gift I received were Tiny Ties for our little guy. When I opened this package a smile spread from ear to ear. Our Beau will certainly be the best dressed baby on the block.

Check out her shop for more Tiny Ties, including precious little bowties. Below, the ties made especially for Beau - a perfect mix of naughty and nice: Puppy dogs and flames!


















LittleSideKick
(click link to be directed to her shop)
LittleSideKick Blog

The last gift I received was too perfect for words. I didn't tell Christina that our baby room theme would be monkeys, but wouldn't you know I opened up my third Etsy baby shower gift and saw the most adorable Monkey Hat peeking out at me?

Christina has a precious selection of hats, clothing, toys, burpcloths and more for baby, handcrafted with much quality and creativity. Have a look below at the hat I can't wait to put our little guy in and then head on over to her shop. You won't be disappointed!


















All of my gifties were packaged with care and though they were for baby, each package itself was so beautiful and fun to unwrap it felt like Christmas for me. As an Etsy shopper, this is just one of the reasons I love shopping with handcrafted businesses. They not only take extreme care and pride in their work, they also tend to the details.

Shop with any of these talented Etsians and I know you'll feel as spoiled as I do.

I want to extend my thanks and a big squishy prego-hug to each and every one of these amazing artists.

Crochele Handcrafted
SteadyJane
LittleSideKick

Love & suppport to you always,

Mom, Dad & Baby Beau Isaac

Trunk Show - June 8th - 10th

My 3rd Facebook Trunk Show is starting tomorrow and I thought I'd leave you with some information before the madness commences...

A portion of the proceeds for this Trunk Show will go to GulfAid. GulfAid raises money to help families that have been affected by the BP Oil Spill. As most of you know, I'm a Louisiana girl and this tragedy has struck close to home. I may not be a huge organization but it is important to me to do what I can for those in need and I'm proud that I have customers like you to help me in my efforts.

For those of you that are new to shopping Jillry, here's a run-down of what to expect:

~ Loads of new jewelry will be posted throughout the day this Tuesday through Thursday. If you see a piece of jewelry that you would like to purchase, simply leave a comment under the photo to claim it as yours. "Mine", "I want this", "for me please" - anything of the sort will do.

~ At the end of the day on Thursday, the trunk show will officially end. If you are ready to check out, simply post a comment to the Jillry Fan Page wall. You may also leave a comment before Thursday evening if you are ready to check out early and would like to beat the rush.

~ Payment: I accept Paypal. Once you a ready to check out, I'll need your email address to send you an invoice. If you do not have a Paypal account you can still pay your invoice with a debit or credit card. This is a safe and secure process. If you would rather send check by mail, we can also arrange to check out that way.

~ Shipping: I usually ship the day after payment is received. However, the longer you wait to check out the further along in the line you'll be and it may take up to two days before your order is shipped. Purchases are shipped in the order in which they are paid for.

QUESTIONS? Simply post your questions to my wall or shoot me an email at JillryLove@gmail.com.

!!!!!CUSTOMER APPRECIATION SURPRISE!!!!

All customers shopping in this trunk show will be automatically entered into a JILLRY GIVEAWAY DRAWING. The giveaway? Two lucky customers will receive $20 gift certificates to Jillry. These GCs can be used in my shop online or on Facebook for their next purchase. (Cannot be used on current trunk show purchase.)

To earn more entries in the giveaway:

1. Share the Jillry Trunk Info with your friends on Facebook! You can hit "share" underneath any of my wall posts regarding the Trunk Show or "share" the Trunk Show photo folder once its up. Please be sure to post a note to my wall telling me you've done so. You can also share the link to this blog post.

2. For every $25 spent in this Trunk Show you receive an additional entry.

Thanks for your continued support of Jillry! See you all tomorrow. :)

Monkeyin' Around

Since we finished the baby's room on Saturday, Jason and I have peeked in to look at it exactly 746 times. Its hard to believe we've already painted and arranged his room. Its also hard to believe how much we love it. All we have left to do is create some wall decor for the final touches.

Cornflower blue and monkeys. We think its the perfect shade of blue; soothing and a great color for him to transistion into when he grows out of his baby furniture.

Here are the before and after shots.

Before:














After:
(Click on photo to get a bigger shot)

What a fun, fulfilling weekend. J and I registered on Friday during the downpour, while everyone was at work. Afterward, we went to Sammy's for an appetizer lunch: fried alligator, spinach and artichoke dip, jalapeno cheese fries and buffalo wings.

It was a pregnant girl's dream lunch. We picked up the bedding Mom and Dad got for us, so before heading home we stopped in the local hardware store for paint. So glad we did. With it storming all weekend, we stayed inside and got things done. Including a nap or two. :)

Every little step in this pregnancy has me more and more excited to meet our little guy. Next week we will go in for the 4D sonogram and get to see his little face. Until then...