Crock Pot Chicken Tutorial

I've used this recipe to make a whole chicken in my crock pot...or slow cooker as some prefer.....for many years now.  Ask my family and they will tell you that I make it a lot!  It's one of those meals that I make when I have a crazy day and need dinner to be ready with virtually no prep time.  So I thought I'd share the step-by-step instructions so you could give it try on your next crazy day!!

Rinse your 4 lb bird & pat dry with paper towels. Put her in your slow cooker.

In the cavity of the bird, put in a Bay Leaf, some onion (I use dehydrated onion) and some sage (optional).

Next you'll need: garlic salt, garlic powder, paprika or Emeril's, pepper, lemon pepper, thyme, basil, parsley, 2 Tablespoons butter and a lemon cut in half.

Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken.

Spread the butter over the chicken.  I melt the butter & pour it over - it seems easier to me :)

Now sprinkle all those herbs & spices over the top. No need to measure!

Cook for at least 6 hours on low.  You could go 7 hours without a problem.

Here's the finished chicken! The meat usually falls off the bone!

I set my rice cooker so that we have rice to accompany the chicken and then make a salad or veggie.

Let me know if you try this and how it turns out!  It just might become your go-to dinner on those super busy days when you need dinner to magically come together all by itself!

Card Workshop This Friday!

This Friday I'll be hosting a card making workshop featuring the following products:
     -Typeset paper pack
     -Corrugated milepost shapes
     -Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
     -Create a Shade Pearl paint
     -Typeset workshop stamp set
We'll be making 3 of the 5 cards pictured above! It will be a fun night of creativity!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

This month's Stamp of the Month is one that can be used anytime for anything!!  Use it to highlight certain dates throughout the year. The first idea I had when I looked at this one was to use it for an anniversary card I need to make.  In fact, you could sit down and design one card, then mass produce it to cover all those anniversaries for the whole year! :)

View many more ideas using this month's stamp by following the Stamp of the Month blog hop HERE

September Stamp of the Month "Special Edition"

Welcome to September! School's back in and life is starting to return to the oh-so-predictable schedule!  While I'm not bouncing out of bed in the morning yet, I do have a bit more bounce to my step since returning from my weekend scrapbook retreat last weekend! :)  Scraptacular Getaways was great!! (More on that another day tho!)

September has a really cute Stamp of the Month called "Limited Edition" (pictured above).  I really love the notebook paper stamp - it'll be great on school projects!! Two of the stamps coordinate with shapes from the new Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. I got mine just yesterday and can't' wait to use it!

Follow the blog hop HERE to see many various ways to use the September Stamp of the Month.  And remember, it's only $5 with any $50+ order!

Oh a scrappin' we will go!!

The weekend before last I was in San Jose, with my partner in scrappin crime, shopping at the Scrapbook Expo.  I was frantically searching for adorable page kits so that I have something to put together THIS weekend at the scrapbook retreat I'll be attending! I took a picture of the above layout and purchased the paper needed to complete it.  We'll see how close I get ;)

So my bags are packed, as is my adorable pink rolling tote (too bad she only gets out once a year!) and I'll be off just after 8:00 am tomorrow :)  No kids, no hubby, just lots of time to crop!  This will be the first retreat I've attended where you can literally crop around the clock! Most of the one's I've gone to you have to leave the room around midnight & can't get started until 8 am the next morning.  It is also a MUCH larger group of women attending this event than any that I've been to.  So we'll see how the lack of sleep and the many distractions of games & people milling about affects my productivity.  I've set a goal of 14 layouts this year (28 pages!)  I'll let you know next week how I do! :)

Finally, a layout completed!

 I'm getting ready for my annual "Mommy Getaway Scrapbook Retreat Weekend". Which means frantically searching for photos & putting together page kits.  I've been meaning to do a layout for my son's baby book about his nursery. (Yes, I'm 4 years behind!!)  I already had the photos ready, along with a paint chip & fabric swatch.  So I found some cute airplane paper & then cut my title with my Cricut machine.

 I wanted an airplane behind my title, but wasn't sure how to go about that.  So off to the internet I went.  I found some airplane clip art images and was able to blow one up and print it.  I used it as a pattern & cut it out of black cardstock.  Then I cut vellum for the airplane windshield.

I used a journaling spot that looks like a postcard and made a tag to go in it that resembles an old luggage tag.  I even decided to use my own handwriting for the journaling! (gasp!)  I got so carried away that I ended up completing the entire layout in 2 evenings!  (That's pretty good for me & limited scrap time!)  I'm happy to say that with this layout, Ryan's baby book is now finished! I think it turned out "just plane cute!"

Get an Alphabet Stamp Set - Free?

In celebration of Close to My Heart's newly updated Stamp of the Month program, they are throwing in a little something extra: a FREE bonus stamp set! In August, when you place an order of $50 US or more in products and purchase the August Stamp of the Month set, for just $5, you’ll receive the My Acrylix^® A Typeface A-size set FREE (a retail value of $6.95). Think of this as two promotions in one—qualify for and purchase the discounted August Stamp of the Month set and you will get a second stamp set FREE! It's Extra! Extra!