Great satisfaction and squealing abound whenever I am near. Patient, slow, and steady also describe my new lover.  And, best yet,  my husband approves and even encourages my new relationship, since it’s conception,  he loves what I’m now putting out.

Who has wooed me?  In the shape of an oval, that completes me?

Yes reader, I am in love with my Crock-Pot (aka my slow-cooker).

All jokes aside, I am seriously head over heels.

Over the last month I have experimented with several slow cooker recipes.

Today’s adventure, Crock-Pot Apple Sauce Chicken.

If you aren’t familiar with the Crockpot 365 Blog or Stephanie’s Book “Make it Fast, Cook it Slow”, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a moment to check them both out. I’ll wait here while you click on the link above.

Back? Pretty awesome, right?

::::

Crock Pot Apple Sauce Chicken

Inspired by: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O’Dea

•  4 frozen chicken breast halves or thighs (I used 2 of each)
• 1 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
• 1 small or 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped finely
• 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 TBSP brown sugar (optional)
• 1/4`- 1/2 tsp salt. (I used Sel de Cusine from The Golden Fig.)

The How To:
(Use a 4 quart crockpot)

1. Place the (I had frozen) chicken pieces into the crock.
2. Chop and add the raw onion.
3.  In a measuring cup, measure the applesauce and add the vinegar, garlic, and spices together. Stir. Pour on top of the chicken.
4. Give it a stir.
5. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. I started mine on high for about 90 minutes, until the chicken thawed, and then bumped it back to low.

Serve with rice or quinoa and a salad or steamed veggie.

Works for me!!!

{Works for me Wednesday}

   So, I recently joined Pinterest.  Oh my GOODNESS, there are so so many things on that I am interested in making, but let’s be honest, it’s just not going to happen until I have a bit more free time on my hands and some serious cash flow.  But, away I pin:  pinning it away for a future day with future extra time and future extra money, when my future kids are old enough to not need me to meet all their future basic needs.  :)

  However,  balancing 3 different school schedules from 2 different school districts, has taken its toll on this ol’ brain, and when I forgot a school thing for the 2nd time, I knew it was time to up the Organization around here. 

  My calendar sits on my desk in the office/playroom at one end of the house:

  My laundry room, where all the kids lockers and school notes live, is allllll the way at the other end of our very long, ranch-style house. 

(Check out our laundry room makeover here.)  

  It is just not feasible to run to my office as they walk out the door, to make sure I didn’t forget “Bring a $1 day” or  some other event written on my desk calendar. 

  So, as I was thinking about what to do, I remembered a pin I had re-pinned to my “Home Sweet Home” board, shared by Makes and Takes.

Here is what I did:

Bought a Poster frame at Wal-Mart for around $7.50, it was a nice big 18 x 24 one, but naturally I didn’t take a photo of it, so here is the crumbled paper from inside the poster frame that I pulled out of the trash can. Nice, right!? 

  The ”glass” (plastic) on these kind of poster frames will be perfect for writing on with a dry erase marker!  And they are much lighter than a regular frame for the hollow door I plan to hang this on.

  Next, I went to Hobby Lobby and got scrapbook paper at 50% off, spent around $3.  I picked brown, cream and deep red to match the laundry room colors.

I had Dale Spray paint the black metal frame a bronze color: this was free since we already had a can.

Then, I printed an empty Calendar page: found online for free.

  Next, I started working on paper layouts until I figured out how I wanted them.

  I decided to do a Calendar, Grocery list, To Do List and 4 Empty Squares: 1 for each kid.  I am excited about being able to easily keep track of each child’s needs for school that week, as they empty backpacks at the end of a school day. 

Here is the finished product:

(Yes, I am aware that I do not have pretty handwriting!)  LOL :)

Here it is in the laundry room:

  My new Organization Board aka “Brain Board” is on the door of the pantry, nice and accessible to me, but high enough to not get erased by little fingers.  Plus, clever Dale found me a WET erase marker for calendar dates and the children’s names, so when I erase notes, the “basics” don’t erase too.

  Cool, right?!  I was pretty proud of it!  {Pats self on back}

And all for around $10, too!  :)

Find 4 little Fergusons on pinterest here, and don’t forget to “Like” our BRAND NEW PAGE on Facebook!  YAY!

Below is a little bloop from our welcome page, come see us and help us grow!

~T

4 little Fergusons

Chosen in Christ, Called to Influence

Family

Stories from the Fergusons home, where there is never a dull moment!

Read more!

Food

4 little Ferguson approved recipes that made the cut. Shared from our kitchen to yours…..

Read more!

4 little Fergusons Photography

A Stay At Home Mom, her first SLR Camera and a Passion to make life stand still.

Read more!

Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved

I got this recipe way back in college when the Home Economics Department at my college was having a Christmas Open House. I don’t make them every year because all of that ball-rolling is a little tedious, especially if you’re doubling the recipe. But they’re fun to make and they taste great. Sometimes the kids would help: this time Mittu helped. I wasn’t a great fan of gingerbread cookies before these, but I like that these are soft and chewy rather than hard and crisp.

Gingerbread Teddy Bears

1 c. butter or margarine
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. dark corn syrup, light corn syrup, or molasses
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Miniature semi-sweet chocolate pieces
Decorator icing (optional)

In a saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat til butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Pour into a large mixing bowl and cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, soda, and cloves. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture and mix well. Add the flour mixture and beat til well mixed. Divide the dough in half; cover and chill at least two hours or overnight.

To make each teddy bear, shape dough into about a 1-inch ball for the body, one 3/4-inch ball for the head, and six 1/2-inch balls for the arms, legs, and ears. On ungreased cookie sheet, place the 1-inch ball and flatten slightly. Place 3/4-inch ball next to (touching) the “body” for the head. then do the same for the arms and legs. Place two 1/2-inch balls above the head for ears. If desired you can pinch off just a teeny bit of dough for a nose, or use miniature chocolate chip. Use miniature chocolate chips for the eyes and either a navel on the belly or 3 “buttons”. Bake at 350^ for 8-10 minutes or until done. Carefully remove and cool.

If desired, pipe on smile, bow tie or vest or other decorations with decorator icing (1/2 c. sifted powder sugar and approximately 2 tsp. milk, blended to piping consistency, tinted with 1-2 drops food coloring). Makes 20-23.

This post will be also linked to “Works For Me Wednesday,” where you can find an abundance of helpful hints each week at We Are THAT family on Wednesdays, as well as  Women Living Well.

You still have plenty of time to make some lovely Christmas gifts!

All of these were found on the always-entertaining Pinterest.

{Bird Nest Necklace}

{Butterfly Paper Clip Bracelet}

{Paper Clip Earrings}

{Enamel Pine Cone Pins}

{Sterling Silver Spoon Ring}

{Baked Marble Necklaces}

{Shrinky Dink Rings}

{Button Bracelets}

{Fabric Scrap Necklace}

Are you making any gifts this year?

Run on over to We Are That Family for some great tips!

]]> http://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/saran-wrapped-christmas-tree/ Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000 4littlefergusons http://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/saran-wrapped-christmas-tree/    Welcome to Works For Me Wednesday!

I had a reader and friend ask me about my Saran Wrapped Christmas Tree and I realized that some of you weren’t with us last year for “The Big Reveal”. 

   I saran wrapped my Christmas tree for the first time in 2009, and had Dale haul it out to the shed, where it spent the next year sitting in the corner.  Every time I saw it, I prayed that no spiders or mice were living inside it, waiting to spring out in my house next Christmas when I opened it. 

  So last year, 2010, when no spiders, mice, or other yucky creepy crawlers emerged with my lovely tree, from under the abyss of layer upon layer upon LAYER of giant restaurant quality Saran Wrap, I decided this was TOTALLY the way to do this “Tree with 4 kids thing”.  Someday I imagine us all working as a family to decorate the tree, but until then, I’ll take this fast method instead!  :)  They like to help with the other stuff better anyways, like decorating their rooms or putting out snowman figurines.

  The only thing I did different at the end of Christmas last year, was I left ON all the breakables rather than removing them as we had done the year before, hoping none would get broken.  AGAIN, it worked.  I literally was done with my tree and the teeny bit of sprucing in 15 minutes this year.  NICE.

  If you can get your hands on some commercial size saran wrap and have a shed for storage, Saran wrapped, fully decorated Christmas trees are the way to go!  (we have a skinny tree by the way, not sure how you’d carry a full size one out your door)

    It may not work for you, but IT WORKS FOR ME!

~T

This post linked to:

Works for Me Wednesday

I’m sure most of you have heard of Elf on the Shelf. It is adorable and looks like so much fun!

I’ve thought about joining in the fun, & even looked for an inexpensive elf when I was out shopping.

One thing kept holding me back though –> I don’t want to encourage my children to delight in naughty behavior. While all in good fun, it is just not compatible with Jesus as the center of our holiday.

I put my thinking cap on & came up with Be an Angel.

We already had the angel bear in the pic, but you could also use an angel ornament or print one out.

It will make a debut tomorrow morning in our December Advent Countdown Box.

The rules are simple: Secretly do something nice for a member of the family & leave the angel bear behind.

That person could then do the next nice thing & leave it, but I have a feeling that in our family there will be some sneaking around & snatching of the bear in a race to serve each other. Exciting is always better, right?  ; )

I plan on incorporating some of the silliness of Elf on the Shelf (like making snow angels in the sugar, or a cotton snowball fight), but hopefully our angel will be a little more well-behaved.

There are tons of angel ideas on Pinterest if you want to make your own.

Update: I am curious – is the phrase “Be an angel …” used in other parts of the country, or is it a Southern (or Texan!) thing? Example: Be an angel and hand me those chocolate cranberries before you rub yummy cake-scented lotion on my feet. : D  Chime in!

Run on over to We Are That Family for tons of great ideas!

Btw, I’ve had this idea brewing for a couple of months now, but just last night I cam across The Christmas Angel. I don’t know if it is the same idea, but you might check into it if you want to purchase a set. (not affiliated)

As per my dreaming session, I wanted to do at least one Works for Me Wednesday post this month.  I got to thinking about what exactly works for me…thinking I have nothing innovative to offer.  But then I have recently began something that I am kinda excited about.  The freedom and “peace” I had when I simplified my work wardrobe was really such a good feeling…and meal planning has always been a struggle and stressor for me.  I work four days a week and two of those are longer days…so lunches are needed four times and dinner is needed twice.  I have played hit or miss for a while now.

Then, I went to a book club meeting and the subject of lunch came up.  One lady said she has the same lunch every day and has now for 5 years.  She said it was fairly healthy, cheap, and easy.  I borrowed the idea, and so far it works for me….I love not having to think about it.  You may think it sounds boring….but when she said she has the same thing every day and has for 5 years….I figure I can give it a try.

So….here it is….my daily lunch:

• tuna mixed with a little dijonnaise and relish….I eat an entire can of tuna, which cost me 64 cents (not sure how much the condiments cost but not much)
• pretzels….a big handful to eat with the tuna….a bag of pretzels cost me $1.58 and makes way more than 4 servings worth but not sure how many because the extra become snacks and go in other lunches…I am guessing it would make at least 10 servings making it about 15 or 16 cents worth for the daily lunch
• yogurt…so many ways you can do this… I really like this way or you can make your own….or I found some for $1.88 for 4 which is about 47 cents at each lunch
• apple…depending on the apple you choose, they run about 50 or 60 cents per apple

I went to the store to buy laundry detergent this morning, and there on the shelf was a high dollar coupon. Someone had been playing Coupon Fairy!

Many of us are feeling the economic crunch during this giving season. It doesn’t cost anything but a few seconds of your time to be a Coupon Fairy.

Here are some simple Coupon Fairy tips:

• leave coupons on the shelf next to the product
• pin coupons to a community bulletin board
• leave behind Catalinas that you won’t use (Catalinas are the long coupons that sometimes print out at the register)
• not a couponer? give your inserts to a neighbor/co-worker/friend/relative/church member
• pass along special one-time-use codes for online websites – you could give away through Facebook or your blog

Have you ever been a Coupon Fairy? Add your tips in the comments!

Run on over to We Are That Family for some great tips!

  If there is a recipe on my site that is “yours” and I have not cited you as the source, first let me apologize, it is never done intentionally.  If I find a post on a fellow bloggers site, I am SURE to link us up!  In fact, most of the time I’ll email you and say, “I am sharing a recipe of yours today! Thanks for a keeper!” 

   2nd, you have to remember, I have been collecting recipes for over 10 years, some from emails, some from family recipe cards, some I have no idea where they came from….the source is NOT always passed along with the recipe to me. 

The fact of the matter is: 

People love food and they love to share food…PERIOD. 

   I have been turned in for copyright infringement over a cookie, A COOKIE!  to a favorite recipe site of mine.  I have taken care of it, and they understood my side of the story.  They were actually VERY nice about it, saying sorry she is being threatening, and to please not let this stop me from continuing to share recipes on their site. 

  Contrary to what this woman said, I just want you to know I have NEVER EVER claimed to have invented the recipes on my site, I don’t enjoy that side of recipes. Sure, I’ll tweak a recipe, but I don’t like to start from ground zero and create my own, EVER.  Not my thing.  So, when I share a recipe with you, its because we have found a “winner” at our house, end of story. 

  I am sad people have to take such self-seeking paths, like scowering the internet for “Their Recipe” to see if they were mentioned as the creator or not.   Since there are 417,000 sites with this particular cookie mentioned, that is a lot of time and work to contact all those people to make sure they are giving her credit, and using threatening comments and hateful words to demand it, REALLY?!  Asking nicely sure goes a lot further!

  Here ‘s the thing about recipes, they all come from someone, sometime “inventing it”.  I can give you our FAVORITE casserole from my Aunt Regena, and credit her because she gave it to me, but who knows how many people ago the recipe was created!  I can give my best friend credit for Bestie Banana Bread, but who knows how many years ago the inventors name was dropped, as recipe passed from friend to friend! It is my understanding, that copyright laws protect the recipe INVENTOR, not the recipe share-er.

  After Dale shared this verse with me:  Romans 12:18 “Do all you can to live at peace with everyone….”  I knew what I was being asked to do, so I linked up my blog to hers to keep the peace, even though she was not the one that gave me the recipe.  If I have to scout out recipe inventors just to share our “keeper” recipes on here, I am done with the food part of this blog! That is WAY too much to ask!!!!! 

  Anyhow, lets all choose happy sunshine, and get on to the regularly scheduled post!!!! :)

I’ve always wanted to do a Works For Me Wednesday Post, but most of the time I can’t think of anything clever that works for me.

  Then it hit me…..LAUNDRY! I can tell what works for us with laundry x 6 people;  5 who are VERY VERY messy, but I will not name names or anything…..daledestinytylanaverypaxton.

  Sooo, I’ve tried folding laundry on the dinner table, super annoying to deal with in the supper/homework rush.

  I’ve tried folding laundry onto the living room furniture, which worked great until kids 2, 3 and 4 arrived. After that, I ran out of furniture!

  I’ve heard of people folding on the bed, but if you know my house, you know that my laundry room is a bazillion feet away from the master bedroom. 

  So, instead, I just take a few extra minutes after the dryer is done, to stand there at the dryer door, and fold directly into the 6 baskets on the laundry room floor.  Each person has their own basket, so once the last load is folded, it’s totally ready to go to each child’s room, to be put away as part of after school or weekend chores.

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

The stuff you see flopped over the edges are hanging clothes, they will get put on hangers ASAP.  This is a very wrinkle free way to do laundry since it goes straight from the dryer to neatly folded in, or draped over a basket.

  Also, don’t give into temptation to re-start the dryer just to give yourself some more time (GUILTY!)….did you know that running your washer and dryer accounts for around $30 of your electric bill as it is?  Also, did you know if you shake each item out before you throw it in, that it will dry better, faster?! (Thanks for the tip, Mrs. Baker!)

  This method may not work for you,  but it works for me!  (which is why they call it “Works for ME Wednesday” instead of “Works for YOU Wednesday”!)  :)

~T

This post linked to:

Works For Me Wednesday

Well, today I repurposed a plastic plate and made a temporary earring holder.  It stores nicely on top of my cosmetics basket in the bathroom cabinet.

Works for me!  Find out what works for others at We are THAT Family.

I cook most nights and usually bake something during the week so my measuring spoons get a lot of use. I also like to have several sets of measuring spoons which is so helpful when you are doing a lot of baking.

Instead of storing them in the drawer with the rest of my cooking tools, I have removed them from the rings they come on and put them in a little flowerpot I have. The flowerpot was given to me by my daughter a few years ago for Mother’s Day. It originally contained a plant which I more than likely killed within days. I have a talent for that.

This makes finding the spoon I need hassle-free. Plus the pot is a cute keepsake from my daughter that I get to use daily.

For more fabulous ideas please visit We Are THAT Family.