Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of March 21st

Here I am a day late for Menu Plan Monday....again.  I just can't seem to get my act together after a busy weekend to get my menu plan ready and posted.  I'm wondering if I need to start planning monthly instead of weekly. 

Last week, although I posted a plan, it didn't get followed.  Joe went wild boar hunting last weekend.  Grace and I spent the weekend shopping and going out to dinner with Grace's Aunt Barb.  It was a fun, but exhausting weekend.  Grace and I just aren't used to the much activity after being stuck in the house for this long and cold winter!  It took all of us most of the week to recover.  So, the last thing I wanted to do was cook last week.  We only followed a few of the meals from last week's plan:  the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos, the leftover night and the birthday party!   :)  See, no cooking!  I did make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner one night and thawed out some homemade chicken noodle soup...after that, the rest of the week is a blur!

We were busy again this past weekend.  Our nieces came over to hang out and play with Grace for a few hours.  They played in the yard for most of the day.  Pushing Grace in the swing or pulling her in the wagon.  When Joe got home, we made a trip to Toys R Us to get a birthday gift for our niece's 2nd birthday.  We don't go to the toy store often, so I was really excited to see Grace's reaction to seeing so many toys in one place.  Well, she was so tired from playing with her cousins that she was so mellow through the entire store!  The only thing she really had much of an opinion on was a hula hoop! 

On Sunday, we went to our nieces 2nd birthday party!  Grace had so much fun running around with the other kids!  She napped in the car on the ride there and when we pulled up to her Grandmom's house, she spotted the bounce house peeking over the fence right away!  She couldn't get through the house to the back yard fast enough! 

Just before we left the party, she discovered the trampoline further back in the yard and really had a lot of fun jumping on that too!  So now, I'm having trouble deciding what to get Grace for her birthday!  I had a few different ideas in mind and a trampoline wasn't one of them....until the other day! 

Yesterday was errand day, since Joe was off from work.  It was such a rainy and dreary day and we all really just wanted to stay home and relax, but we were up and out first thing in the morning and back in time for naptime.  We all took a nap during Grace's naptime yesterday.  Even Remmy! 

When naptime was over, I made dinner.  I made all of Grace's favorites: chicken, noodles, peas and corn.  After a week of not cooking, I think we all really enjoyed having a home cooked meal! 

Here's what I have planned for this week: 

• Monday:  Oven-BBQ Chicken, buttered noodles, peas, corn. 

• Tuesday:  BBQ Chicken Salad Wraps, baked beans, oven fries

• Wednesday:  Lisa's Old-fashioned Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies.  This is a carry-over from last week's plan.  I took the ground beef out of the freezer last night, to ensure that I don't skip over this again this week.  I have such a hard time remember take stuff out to thaw for dinner. 

• Thursday:  Navy Bean with Ham Soup.  This will use up the last of the Navy Bean soup that I made during Christmas week.  With Easter on it's way, I know we'll have leftover ham again soon.  Just in time to restock the freezer. 

• Friday:  Pasta and scallops.  MMmm!  I don't really follow a recipe for this dish.  I just saute some veggies (spinach, peppers, onions, carrots) in oil with lots of garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, toss in the scallops and cook until they are done then toss with some cooked pasta.   This dish is great with chicken too, but we're using scallops since it's Lent. 

• Saturday:  DiGiorno Pizza and Hoops House Party!  I'm so excited to be hosting a House Party for DiGiorno!  We've invited some family and friends to come over for a pizza party!  We'll be serving up some DiGiorno Pizza along with some salads and snacks!  I'll post more about this next week! 

• Sunday:  BBQ Chicken Enchiladas.  I ordered some Butch's Smack Your Lips BBQ Sauce the other day since I'm all out.  I really can't wait to try this recipe posted by Debbi over at Debbi Does Dinner... Healthy and Low Calorie!  We love BBQ sauce and we love enchiladas!  Never thought to combine the two!  Mmmmmm! 

So, that's my cooking plan for the week.  I need to start thinking about Grace's birthday...she'll turn two in just about 6 weeks!!!  I also want to start some spring cleaning and purging of clutter.  After Grace's birthday, I want to have a yard sale and get rid of some stuff around the house that we don't use.  My basement is starting to look like something out of the show Hoarders.  I really need to get control of the mess and just start getting rid of stuff that we don't need or want.  It's so hard sometimes though....I just know I'll NEED an item as soon as I get rid of it! 

My Little Girly Girl

Grace is such a gaudy girly girl sometimes.  She's just now starting to get interested in playing dress up.  Really, I'm not sure that she realizes that she's playing dress up, or if that's just the style of clothing she would choose to wear out in public if given the chance! 

Mostly she plays with hats and one chunky bead necklace.  She puts them on, takes them off, puts them on, takes them off.  Always with a huge smile on her face!  Saying something that sounds like "pretty"! 

Last summer, we couldn't get her to wear a sun hat at all.  So, we spent most of our time in the shade when outside.  We had trouble with winter hats too for the beginning of the winter.  The only time we could get her to keep a hat on was if there was snow on the ground.  Somehow, she seemed to understand that the snow was cold and she needed a hat and gloves.  She still pulled them off after a little bit, but they stayed on longer than the sun hats during the summer.  Longer than if there was no snow on the ground, too! 

Joe and I don't wear hats very often.  I wear a winter hat if it's really cold and Joe will wear a cap on a rainy or snowy day.  Since this winter was both very cold and very snowy, Grace saw us wearing hats more often than usual.  When Joe would come home from work, Grace would take his hat and run off with it and play with it.  Eventually, this led to her putting it on....backwards. 


Grace wearing Daddy's hat and dancing to one of her favorite shows,
Fresh Beat Band. 

 I found some cute Easter bonnets at the Dollar Spot in Target.  I threw one in the cart just for the heck of it.  I had a feeling that it might get crushed before Grace actually got to wear it, but I was happy to see her trying it on and looking at herself in the mirror.  (Sorry no pictures of her modeling the bonnet yet.)  Over the weekend, I picked up another one in a lavendar.  This one will match her Easter dress. 

Since we weren't planning on going anywhere this week, I dressed Grace in her St. Patrick's Day t-shirts over the weekend.  I was hoping to take some better pictures of her yesterday wearing her St. Patty's green, but since we're sick, this photo taken over the weekend with my phone will have to do: 



This is Grace trying on a flower headband after seeing her Aunt Barb put it on. 
Of course, Aunt Barb thought she was soooooo cute and had to buy it for her! 



 

Grace loves her tutus too!  If she sees them when we're getting dressed, then that's the end of whatever I planned on her wearing that day.  Usually, it's not a big deal.  I'll let her pick which one she wants to wear and let her run and twirl around the house! 

On this particular day, she chose to wear her turquoise pettiskirt with her Olivia t-shirt.  But, she wouldn't let me brush her hair! 

Just last week, she wanted to wear a tutu as soon as she woke up.  She didn't want to take the time to get changed though, so w put it on right over her pjs! 

 

Sometimes, I plan for her to wear a tutu if it matches the rest of her outfit. Here she is wearing her hot pink tutu for a day of shopping with mommy and Aunt Barb ( sorry, it's another bad, camera phone picture with my messy kitchen cropped out of it).


It's the same tutu that she wore for Valentine's Day, but since her St. Patty's Day t-shirt had pink in it, I thought it matched pretty good, especially with the sweatshirt. 

This weekend, we'll be going to our niece's birthday party!  Bella is turning 2 already...I can't believe it!  Bella's mommy is throwing her a Princess Dress-Up party!  I can't wait!!!  I'm hoping Grace will participate.  Sometimes she just does her own thing when we visit with all of her cousins.  But I'm hoping she'll see all of those pretty, princess dressed and just jump right in and play! 

I'm thinking now, it's time to start a dress-up trunk for Grace.  Tutus, beads, boas, etc.  I'm really excited!  So far, I've picked up another tutu for her and Aunt Barb picked up more silly headbands for her. 

If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments, I'd really appreciate it! 

Irish Potato Candy

A couple of weeks ago, one of my nieces came over to play with Grace.  She didn't get here until later in the day, so I asked if she wanted to sleep over.  I didn't have to ask twice!  She was on the phone with her mom right away asking permission! 

That night, after Grace went to sleep, Cass and I made some Irish Potatoes.  I've never made them before, so I did a search online and found this recipe.  Not only did I have all of the ingredients on-hand, the recipe looked really simple to make!

Irish Potato Candy

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
• ground cinnamon

Directions:

• In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
• Add the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until smooth.
• Add in the coconut and mix with your hands until all combined.
• Roll into balls, then roll in cinnamon to coat. 

Notes:

• Rolling the cream cheese and coconut mixture was a bit tedious, but went much faster with two of us making them!  Cass rolled the mixture into little balls and I then rolled them in the cinnamon! 
• The original recipe yields 60 "potatoes"  I think we rolled ours a little bigger since we only got about 50 of them. 

I'll be sharing this post with the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Ultimate Recipe Swap
• Luck of the Irish Holiday Party
• Delicious Dishes
• Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday

Ham and Cabbage Skillet

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! 

We're not doing anything special around here for St. Patty's Day today.  Grace and I are both sick with spring colds.  So, it's a pajama day for the both of us.  Not even green pjs since we don't have any of those! 

I didn't want today to pass without some sort of St. Patrick's Day themed post, so here's a recipe that I shared on my other blog last year.  I was planning to make this today, but I think I'll be getting some homemade soup out of the freezer for dinner tonight instead. 


I'm not a huge fan of the traditional boiled ham and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner. I also don't like Corned Beef and Cabbage. Honestly, I am Irish! :)


When I eat ham, I tend to only enjoy it if it's a spiral cut ham from either Heavenly Ham or Honey Baked Ham. Or if it's in the form of deli meat. Even then, I'm picky about it.
I will, however, eat ham steak. And I do enjoy that! MMmmm!

In the past, Joe and I never really did anything to "celebrate" St. Patrick's Day. Well, besides wearing a green shirt to avoid pinching!

Now that we have Grace, I want to celebrate all the special occasions in little ways. You know, heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine's Day and stuff like that.

Grace is still too young to even realize that it's a special occasion and she's just starting on table food, so this year was "practice". We were out yesterday during dinner, so I put off making our St. Patty's Day dinner until tonight. I really enjoyed it and think it will be a keeper. Not only for St. Patty's Day but as another way to serve ham steak throughout the year.

Ham and Cabbage Skillet

Ingredients:

• 3Tbs. Butter
• 3 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 4 cups cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• Mrs. Dash, paprika, black pepper (to taste)
• 1 lb. ham steak, diced

Directions:

• Boil potatoes in a pot of water until tender, drain.
• In a skillet cook onions and carrots in melted butter just until onions start to look translucent.
• Add cabbage and cook for about 2 minutes.
• Stir in water.  This will help cook the cabbage as well as deglaze the pan.
• Season to your liking.  Be sure to mix well.
• Add diced ham and heat through.
• Mix in the cooked potatoes.  (You may want to add another Tbs. of butter at this point)
• Cook for a few minutes longer and serve. 

Notes: 

• If you happen to make a traditional boiled ham dinner, this would be a great way to serve the leftovers.  Just drain the liquid and add to a hot skillet with melted butter.  Saute until slightly browned. 

I'll be linking this recipe to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Ultimate Recipe Swap
• Luck of the Irish Holiday Party
• Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday
• Tip Day Thursday Carnival
• Frugal Food Thursday

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of March 14th

Hi, Friends! 

I skipped menu planning last week, since it was a really hectic week followed by an even crazier weekend!  I'm hoping everything will settle down and things will be back to normal this week. 

I'm keeping this week's plan as simple as possible and that will involve skipping the food store this week (except for milk) and using what's in the freezer and pantry.

Before sitting down to type this week's menu plan, I took inventory of the freezer.  There's plenty of stuff in there and we should be able to get by for a few week's without having to do very much shopping at all.  I love that idea since Grace will be needing a spring and summer wardrobe very soon!

Here's what's planned for this week:

• Monday:  Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos.  I was so happy when I found a small container of our Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili in the back of the freezer!  We really enjoyed the burritos that I made with the leftover chili a few weeks ago, I decided that they will be a perfect quick meal for a Monday! 

• Tuesday:  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, creamed corn.  Last week, we picked up some ground beef at Costco.  It's been a while since we purchased ground meat, it's been even longer since I've made a meatloaf too, so we're really looking forward to Lisa's Old-Fashioned Meatloaf this week! 

• Wednesday:  Crock Pot Chicken a la King.  I was going to cook up some bone-in, split breasts this week, but discovered a few bags of cooked, diced chicken in the freezer left over from the last time I cooked a big batch of chicken breast in the crock pot.  Better use that up first.  I'm thinking I might make a double batch of Chicken Ala King! 

• Thursday:  Ham and Cabbage Skillet.  (I'll link this later tonight or tomorrow.) I made this for dinner on St. Patrick's Day last year and we both really enjoyed it!  Since I still have some ham left from Christmas, I thought this would be a tasty way to use up that ham before I need to freeze leftover Easter Ham!  (It'll be here before we know it!)

• Friday:  Tuna-Noodle Casserole.  Lenten Fridays mean no meat in our home.  Options are usually grilled cheese, pizza or fish.  I decided to go with tuna since I found several cans of tuna tucked behind some canned soup in the pantry.

• Saturday:  Leftover Night!  I love leftovers!  No only do I get a night free from cooking, it's like a free meal too!  One less night's worth of groceries to buy!  I especially enjoy weeks that I manage to have a couple of leftover nights!  We've been over-spending at the grocery store lately and can really use a couple of "free meals" in the next few weeks! 

 

• Sunday:   We'll be spending the day with family at our niece's birthday party.  I can't believe she's TWO already...and I can't believe that Grace will be two in six weeks!!!  Happy Birthday, Bella!!! 

Okay, I really had good intentions of getting this posted much earlier in the day today.  I even started typing it up last night before bed, but was too tired to finish it, so I left it for this morning.  Since we weren't fully recovered from our busy weekend, we all enjoyed a lazy morning followed by a surprise visit from my Gram and my aunt.  Next thing I know, the day is gone and I'm finishing up my Menu Plan Monday post at 8:30 in the evening!  Not just that, we ended up ordering a pizza for dinner, so now the menu plan posted above will have to be tweaked a bit! 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I never thought I would like Tuna Casserole.  I love canned tuna, but always ate it cold either in a salad or on a sandwich.  I didn't like the sound of HOT, canned tuna.

Taking inventory of our pantry several months ago, I saw we had more than 10 cans of tuna fish.  Probably closer to 20 cans.  I decided to get past my hot tuna issues and make a tuna casserole.  I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the casserole and have made it several times since.  I love this recipe, it's easy, frugal and tasty! 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 3/4 cup fat free milk
• 2 cans (5oz each) albacore tuna, drained
• 1 cup French's French Fried Onions, divided

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain
• In a casserole dish, mix together the cooked macaroni, thawed peas, canned soup, milk, tuna and HALF of the French Fried Onions. 
• Top the casserole with the remaining half of the French Fried Onions. 
• Bake 20-30 minutes.

As I was mixing everything together the first time I made this, it reminded me of green bean casserole (must have been the cream of mushroom soup), so instead of using the more common breadcrumbs or potato chips, I decided to use up the French Fried Onions I had leftover from the last time I made green bean casserole!  I'm so glad I did!  They add a lot of flavor to this dish!  I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the casserole as much without those crunchy bits of onion!

This is a true comfort food meal for us.  You could easily make this recipe healthier using your favorite homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe in place of the canned soup.  There are plenty of resources online for homemade "cream of" soups.  Also, if you want to avoid the pre-made, canned French Fried Onions, check out my friend Lisa's recipe for Green Bean Casserole where she features her homemade French Fried Onions! 

Since this is one of our favorite "go-to" meals, I haven't tried either of the healthier options that I mentioned above.  I'm lazy I like to keep it quick and easy and almost always have the ingredients on hand to prepare this meal. 


I'll be sharing this post with the Presto Pasta Nights Round UP that my buddy Debbi from Debbi Does Dinner Healthy and Low Calorie is hosting!  Do you have a pasta recipe to share?  If so, hurry over to Debbi's blog to find out how to add your recipe to the round up.....deadline is Thursday, March 17th. 

You can also find this recipe linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Making A Home
• What's on the Menu Wednesday
• Works For Me Wednesday
• Whatever Goes Wednesday
• Homemaking Link-Up
• Let's Do Brunch
• Try New Adventures Thursday
• Frugal Food Thursday
• DIY Thrifty Thursday
• Thrilling Thursday
• Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday
• I'm Lovin' It
• Home and Family Friday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Last month, I shared a recipe for Banana Coconut Smoothies.  Since then, I've made smoothies many times and have tried a variety of different flavor combinations.  Some attempts weren't as successful as others, but we won't talk about that today! :) 

This morning, I whipped up one of my favorite smoothies:  Strawberry Banana.  I use banana in all of my smoothies, since I have lots of sliced bananas in the freezer.  Dropping a handful of the frozen banana chunks into the blender with the rest of the ingredients keeps the smoothie cold as well as giving it a creamy milk shake texture.  Mmmmm! 

Strawberry Banana Smoothie for one

Ingredients:

• 1/2 banana, sliced and frozen
• 3-4 sliced strawberries
• 6 oz. strawberry yogurt
• 6 oz. fat-free milk
• 2 Tbs. cream of coconut

Directions:

• Add all ingredients to blender pitcher and blend until smooth. 

I drank this smoothie for breakfast this morning and nibbled on a handful of almonds.  Such a healthy, filling and TASTY breakfast!  I think I want another one for lunch!  :) 

Do you drink smoothies?  What are your favorite flavor combinations? 

I'll be sharing linking this post to the following blog carnivals this week: 

• Works for Me Wednesday

Easy Chicken Jambalaya

When Joe and I were dating, relaxing on the sofa and watching Food Network was a favorite Sunday afternoon activity.  It usually determined what was for dinner that night.  Our inspiration. 
These days, with Grace hogging the TV or Joe and I just being busy during naptime, we just don't get the opportunity to relax and watch the programs we like.

Over the weekend, I had the rare treat of having the TV to myself during daytime hours!  Grace was napping and I was caught up on housework and was even showered!  So, I took advantage of the down time and turned on the Food Network.  Sandra's Money Saving Meals is a current favorite.  Although, I've probably only seen maybe 3 episodes.  One being Big Easy, the episode I watched on Sunday. 

I had chicken thawing in the fridge, so I knew right away that I wanted to make her Chicken Jambalaya recipe.  I even had all the ingredients on hand which is why I like her show so much.  She cooks with things that are normally in my pantry!  No trip to the grocery needed! 

We already had plans to go out to dinner on Sunday, and with yesterday being Mardi Gras, it just made sense to serve this as our Fat Tuesday dinner. 

Sandra's recipe called for chicken thighs, but since I had chicken breast already thawing, I just went ahead and used what I had.  Actually, I ended up using the tenderloin.  The pack of chicken that I thawed was huge.  I removed the tenderloins and saved them for Tuesday's dinner, then split the 6 breasts in half and grilled them for Monday's dinner and for lunches throughout the week.  I love getting several meals out of one pack of meat! 

Anyway, back to the jambalaya.  The only changes I made to the original recipe was using the tenderloin instead of thighs and I used red bell pepper since that's what I had in the veggie bin.

I really would have loved to add our favorite smoked kielbasa to the dish, but I used the last of it a while back and haven't gotten to the Polish Market in a while.  So, for now, I stuck with the original recipe.

Chicken Jambalaya

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups long grain rice

3 cups chicken broth

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chicken, season lightly with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides, about 7 minutes, working in batches if necessary. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the onions, peppers, and celery, and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, salt and pepper, and give it a stir. Stir in the rice. Add the chicken back to the pot, along with the broth and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.

We really enjoyed this recipe!  I loved how easy it was to prepare and clean-up was simple since it's a one-pot meal!  Joe and I each ate hearty portions and we have plenty left over!  I reserved 3 cups of the jambalaya to use in the other recipes featured on that program (really stretching that pack of chicken!), plus there is enough for a decent lunch portion for Joe to take to work with him tomorrow.

Yoplait Original Gift Pack Winner Announced

The Yoplait Original Gift Pack Giveaway closed just over 1/2 an hour ago with 38 entries!  Thank you to everyone that took the time to enter and of course, a big THANK YOU to MyBlogSpark and Yoplait for making this giveaway possible! 

Since it's late and I still have a sink full of dinner dishes to deal with, I'm just going to jump right in and annouce that Random.org chose comment #3 as tonight's giveaway winner! 

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

I email subscribe! It's the easiest way for me to read blogs!

Congratulations, Debbi!  Not a bad way to end the week, huh? 

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Little Artist

Grace loves to color.  She gets so excited when she sees me get out the poster board and box of crayons!

Here's a photo of one of her masterpieces.....on my floor!

At first, I was relieved that we skipped spending a fortune having the floor re-finished when we first bought the house.  Then I realized that it cleans up pretty easily after scuffing it with my sock!

Later that same day, I looked over while we were coloring and was shocked at the way she held her crayon at only 21 months old! 

Last week, I dug out my colored pencils from my craft room.  She loves them!  I'm glad, since they are a bit easier to keep track of when cleaning up.  Somehow, with the crayons, I always manage to "miss" one and Joe would usually find it later...with his boot.  Broken and crushed crayons all over the place!
 

I'll be linking this Wordless Wednesday post to the following blog carnivals:

• Say Cheese at It's a Blog Party
• Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday
• Wordful Wednesday at Parenting By Dummies

Spanish Chicken

Spanish Chicken is a recipe that Mom made often when we were kids.  It's a family favorite and we always knew when we saw that big, glass bottle of Heinz Ketchup that we'd soon be eating Spanish Chicken for dinner! 

Although, I've made Spanish Chicken  many times over the past several years, I'm just getting around to sharing it with you now.  You see, this dish isn't really a recipe, it's more of a throw-it-together sort of meal. 

When I threw it together on Saturday, I wrote down the ingredients and measurements as I went along.  I'm a little fuzzy on the cooking times, so you'll have to use your judgement on that. 

Spanish Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs. bone-in split chicken breast, most of the skin removed
• 2 qts. water
• 3 c. ketchup
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

• Place chicken in a large pot, top with sliced vegetables and seasonings.
• In a seperate bowl (I usually use a clear bowl or measuring cup), mix together the ketchup and water.
• Pour ketchup/water mixture over the chicken and vegetables. 
• Bring to boil over medium-high heat. 
• After 10 minutes, reduce heat to low and cover. 
• Allow to simmer until chicken starts to pull away from the bone easily.  (about an hour?)
• With tongs or a slotted spoon, remove chicken from the pot and put into a bowl. 
• Once it's cool enough to handle, start removing the meat from the bones in large chunks.
• When finished, shred slightly.  Not too much, they'll still break down while cooking further.
• This is a good time to taste the sauce and adjust to your liking. 
• Add chicken back to the sauce and continue to simmer, covered for another couple of hours. 
• Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes.

Notes:

• Mom usually made Spanish Chicken using legs and thighs.  We prefer the chicken breasts. 
• Don't be tempted to use boneless chicken breasts.  You need the flavor from those bones to mix with the ketchup and water.  Trust me!  A few years ago, Joe kept insisting that this would be so much easier (and better) using boneless chicken.  I kept telling him no, but gave in and made it without the bones.  It was good, but he did admit that it's much better with the bone-in chicken. 
• You could certainly skip picking the chicken from the bones, if you like.  But I prefer to remove the bones, since as it cooks further, the chicken starts to fall apart making it more difficult to fish the bones out!
• Don't forget to taste the sauce before you add the cooked chicken back to the pot.  And adjust the seasoning as needed.  I originally started with 2 cups of ketchup but after tasting it, I realized it needed a bit more. 
• I usually add a bay leaf and some sun-dried tomatoes to the pot, but we were all out of both this time.
• This is a good clean out the fridge recipe.  In the past, I've added half a can of diced tomatoes that were left from another recipe. Or a couple tablespoons of tomato paste that was left in the fridge.  Add what you like. 
• Mom always served this with potatoes.  Either mashed or buttered.  That's the way I like it.  Joe prefers this with rice.  So, I usually make both.  I was short on time so I only made rice this time.  We're having the leftovers tonight, so I'll be making it with potatoes. :)

I'm sharing this recipe with the following blog carnivals:

• Penny Pinching Party Wednesdays
• Delicious Dishes
• Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday
• Pennywise Platter
• Tip Day Thursday
• Frugal Food Thursday
• It's a Keeper Thursday
• Hookin' up With HoH
• I'm Lovin' It
• Fat Camp Friday
• Food On Fridays
• Foodie Friday