GrAb BoWl/BaSkEt!

How many of you moms need an easier way to pack lunches, or provide snacks in a rush, or are busy with a baby/toddler while another kid is pulling at your leg saying "I'm Hungry"?
I'm just preparing for baby #2 and can already see myself pulling my hair out when I'm trying to feed or change or provide for the baby and my 4 year old is tugging at me for a snack. And right now at 4:30 in the morning my pantry gets raided when I'm scrambling for some snacks to take with me to work to get me through the next 12 hours. And being hypoglycemic with this pregnancy, snacks are a must throughout the day. This was the best thing I've added to my pantry, it's making work mornings a lot less stressful, it makes my 4 year old feel like he can be more independent when he's asking for a snack, he can just go in and pick one out. It adds a lot of space getting rid of the boxes that all these things are in. And yes, I bagged those animal crackers individually, and it was totally worth the 7 minutes it took me to separate a 2 pound bag because now my 4 year old will actually eat them. When they are in the huge bag, they go stale sooner because the bag is not sealed, and I was always putting them in a little bag or bowl for him anyway. This way, they are already prepared and we can grab them on the way out the door or whatever. Things in my "Grab Bowl" this week:

Fruit Snacks
Animal Crackers
Goldfish Crackers (you can buy the big box and separate them the same as the animal crackers, or buy the snack bags like I did)
Fruit Roll Ups
Granola Bars

I'm going to throw together some "trail mix" in those snack sized baggies as well sometime in the next week or so. You can put whatever you'd like in the trail mix, or buy the already made trail mix and separate it into the baggies. I'll be using:
Nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds)
Raisins or Craisins
M&M's
Marshmallows
Maybe some chex corn cereal or cheerios?

It doesn't take much time or effort at all to just throw some items in a bowl or basket for your kids or even yourself to be able to grab instead of standing in the pantry hunting. Especially when you've got things like 2 pound bags of animal crackers, goldfish, or a bag of trail mix. It's just easier if it's separated into snack sized portions and ready to go! And honestly you can do it in a half hour while your kids are at school, napping, or at bed time =) It's easy and worth it!

Easy Chicken Bake

I noticed this recipe on the back of a box of Stove Top Stuffing and the picture looked really yummy, so I thought I'd try it...and I'm glad I did! It was a really quick, easy, & tasty meal!

1 pkg (6 oz. box) of Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, & drained

::Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside
::Mix chicken, soup, sour cream & veggies in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with stuffing
::Bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

I liked this recipe because it was easy, it was quick, and it required minimal ingredients that you would usually have on hand. I loved how creamy the chicken & veggie mixture was, underneath the moist, yet not mushy stuffing. I let it set up for about 10 minutes after taking it out the oven, before serving and it was the perfect texture!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

My sister told me of this recipe, I don't have it written down, I just made it from what I could remember and it turned out really good. The only thing I'd change is I'd serve it with rice instead of noodles, and I added a veggie =)

Chicken Tenders (sis uses the frozen ones, I just bought about 1 lb)
4 oz cream cheese (half of the 8 oz bar you buy at the store)
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (no water or milk added)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (no water or milk added)
whatever seasonings you'd like I used:
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Lemon Pepper
Seasoning Salt

Throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook on low for about 6 hours (if you use chicken breasts I'd do it for 7-8 hours)
Just before serving the chicken cook your noodles or rice (I used macaroni noodles this time and it was okay, but I'd save some of the soup, sour cream, cream cheese mixture to mix into the noodles, they were a little dry) I also boiled some carrot match sticks with my noodles to give it a little color and to get my 4 year old another serving of veggies for the day =) That's it! It's easy, and yummy!!!