A Very Merry Hahn Christmas!

We definitely had a great Christmas! The highlight of Christmas was meeting our new nephew Elijah John who was born on November 25th (or Black Friday). He was a well behaved boy and waited until all of our Black Friday shopping was completed before entering this world and I must say, he is still a very well behaved little boy! Very happy baby! Here are some pics of our Christmas.

Hello!

Chubby Baby Cheeks!

Nakie Baby!

All bundled up on Great Grandma's lap!

Hahn Christmas in action

Grandma's gift from Elijah

Elijah's pile of gifts

Jolie opening Elijah's gifts

It says Grandpa's Litte Sidekick

My brother with his son

Cody and Eli in his Christmas outfit

Aunt Erin and a tuckered out nephew!

Merry Christmas!!!!

2 Coffees And A Puppy Latte Please!

Yesterday we were in Starbuck’s drive-thru line and the girl at the window saw Charley in the back seat and asked us if she wanted a puppy latte.  I was like, “what is a puppy latte?”  And she went on to explain its a little whip cream in a tasting cup.  LOL!  So Aaron and I both got a cup of coffee and Charley enjoyed her puppy latte.  That really cracked me up!  Our little floofball with her puppy latte… how spoiled is she?!?!

First and Last Santa Visit

We took Charley to see Santa and now looking back… I wish we wouldn’t have.

At Jordan Creek Mall they have a Pet Night with Santa. What a fiasco! Charley was a little out of control with excitement of all the people and a new place, luckily there is a dog bakery in the mall so Aaron ran to get some treats to help keep her somewhat tamed. The line felt really compact making it hard to control Charley since she wanted to make friends with the dotsons behind us in which they didn’t want to make friends with her. The line was long, we waited an hour! Charley was fighting me with the berets in her hair and kept pawing them out. My patience was really wearing thin.

When we got up there, we find out it is $30 to get a pic with Santa, what a RIP OFF!! If it wasn’t for the last hour that we had already put in, I would have just said forget it.

Charley was not smiling for the picture and was biting at Santa’s beard. I was ‘pitting’ out my sweater and Aaron was ready to go. Santa didn’t look that thrilled either. Needless to say, that is the first and last time we will be seeing Santa at Jordan Creek!

Cheesy Chicken and Potatoes

Thank you Kraft magazine for a great crock pot recipe I tried last weekend. Of course I was ecstatic to find I can use my favorite kitchen appliance for this, my handy-dandy crock pot.

I thought the chicken kind of had a rotisserie flavor to it which I wasn’t expecting and was delish!

Ingredients:
1 chopped green pepper (HYDE TIP: buy a bunch of peppers, chop them, bag them in one cup increments, freeze them, we use peppers in so many meals, it really does save time to prep them in bulk)

1 bag of small red potatoes, sliced thinly

4 chicken breasts

1 tsp of Paprika (I probably used twice as much, I just shook a bunch on)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

4 oz of Velveeta Cheese

Place peppers in bottom of crock pot. Spray with cooking spray. Cover with potatoes. Top with chicken. Sprinkle paprika over chicken. Top with soup. Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken and veggies from crock pot. With sauce in crock pot, add Worcestershire sauce and stir in cheese until melted, pour over chicken/veggies.

I’ve lately discovered that Pacific Foods carry a soup line that is gluten-free and organic. I’ve used their cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups in several recipes and recommend the brand. It comes in a really cute box that has a cleaver way of opening and is affordable. Super Target and Hy-Vee carry this brand.

Beef Stew (Yes I said BEEF)

There is only one meal in my house where beef is allowed in a recipe and that is my beef stew recipe (well actually it’s my mom’s recipe I had growing up). I don’t eat the beef in the stew but I love the flavoring and aroma that it gives. Now settle down… the beef does not go to waste; Aaron eats every bit of it.

I have tried other beef stew recipes purely out of curiosity and my mom’s version is hands down the best and actually the easiest one too! And what I really love is that I can use my crock pot… there is no better cooking I love more than crock pot cooking!

• One bag of red potatoes – quarter up (in big chucks) most all the potatoes and lay half down in the crock pot

• A package of stewing meat already diced up and put on top of potatoes

• Layer next almost all of a package of carrots

• Top with remaining potatoes

• Mix one dry envelope of Lipton Beefy Onion soup with 2 C. of water and pour into crock pot. Add 2 more cups of water. Add 2 beef bouillon cubes and cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Yummers in my tummers!  A good one for December!