Fall Days

I love these fall days. Gorgeous weather, leaves changing color, cool crisp air, and SOUP!!

I love to make soup, and my little guy loves to eat it!! I am convinced that he is a true "Comfort Food" eater. Anything that is considered down home cooking is right up his alley. This recipe is a favorite at our house, healthy and oh so easy to make. And that is what I consider a perfect recipe:) Hope you enjoy it too!!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can chili beans

1 can chicken broth

1 envelope taco seasoning

2 cans diced tomatoes ( I used 1 large can:)

1 can rotel tomatoes (or generic equivalent, these were .49 @ Target!!)

2 chicken breast halves ( I often use frozen)

Just put everything into a slow cooker, and stir. Place chicken in. Cook on high 3-4 hours. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Take out chicken breasts and shred with a fork and place back in your soup. Serve soup with shredded cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream. We like to eat this with Tortilla chips too!! Add a salad, and you've got an easy, healthy meal ready!! Enjoy!

Do you have any easy meal pleasers for your family! If so, I'd love to hear all about them!!

Keep your Hands Busy

An elderly friend of mine once told me, "Keep your hands busy to keep your mind out of mischief." Well, I sure should've remembered that last week when I was reading a blog and saw that an online retailer had 80% off shoes. If you know me well, you know how much I love shoes. Not just any shoes, I like the expensive ones that come with an incredible price tag!! Most of my readers are SAHM's just like me and can relate to denying yourself such luxuries and indulgences like a new pair of shoes!! Since having Ethan I've hardly bought any shoes. This summer was trying because all my sandals were really showing their wear... at least this is what I tell my wonderful husband;) And I ordered one pair in black and one in brown!!

I'm not going to lie!

Isn't that always a reassuring statement?!! As if to say, I lie sometimes but promise not to this time! Anyway, that's not the point of this post... but the point is, I've fallen off the green bandwagon and given in to the luxury and bliss of getting my clothes dried quickly! It all started because I could wait til the end of the day when the clothes were actually dry to fold them. Either I caught the humidity on a bad week here in good ol' Iowa or it just always takes that long. I still hang a load or two here and there, but maybe I was trying "too much, too soon." I guess it's a good thing I wasn't Amish!!

Loads of Fun!

When we moved to our new house it came equipped with a clothes line!!

I wasn't sure if I would use it, but have come to enjoy hanging my clothes on the line.
While there are a few things about line drying that really bother me ie. crunchy towels, I am finding my way around them. So, here are my line drying helpful hints!

- Sheets and other bed linens are great on the line. They are fresh smelling, dry quickly and dry nicely on the line.

- Towels line dried can be put in the dryer for 5-10 min. after they have been line dried to release the cruchies:) Thanks Christine for this tip!!

- No shame here we hang it all out on the line...although I usually put the undies in the middle and the bigger clothes on the outsides to help hide our unmentionables.

Poor Ethan has had his undies out on the line after an unexpected sheet changing and washing and his jammies and undies were involved:) Other than a few accidents he is really catching on to this potty training business... and his mother and her purse are very grateful;)

I even question whether line drying makes that big of an impact on the monthly utility bill, so this month I am challenging myself to line dry almost all of our laundry and see how much it saves. Between this and the unseasonably cool weather I think I am going to like September's bill:)