Eat. Craft. Run

faith, family, food, fun and a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure

Orange Chicken in the Crockpot

Whoop! Crock-tober is going strong in our house… and my son told me the other day, I had done a bad thing… that I was starting off too strong with many yummy recipes and he was curious if I was going to be able to sustain it!

Well, this recipe did not disappoint! It’s not your typical crockpot recipe because it’s not a fix it and forget it recipe, but, I promise it’s worth it… and is great for those days when you know the evening is going to be a bit crazy or you just don’t want to have to be in the kitchen while the hubby and kids are hanging out playing the PlayStation… LOL!

I will share the recipe as fixed below, but honestly, I think next time, I am going to add a little sriracha sauce to the orange mixture…just because my family likes a bit of a kick and we did think it was a bit sweet.

 

Orange Chicken in the Crockpot
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Ingredients

  • 3-4 Chicken Breasts - cut into bite sized chunks
  • 1/2 cup orange marmalade
  • 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  • 2 TBSP Soy Sauce
  • 2 red bell peppers cut into bite sized chunks
  • 1 small onion, quartered
  • 1-2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite sized chunks

Instructions

  1. Place the chopped chicken in the crockpot and cook on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
  2. After cooking for 2 hours, drain off liquid that has been released from the chicken.
  3. Add chopped vegetables and stir in gently
  4. Mix soy sauce, orange marmalade and barbecue sauce together.
  5. Pour mixture over chicken and vegetables while gently tossing to coat.
  6. Continue to cook on low for 2- 3 hours until chicken is cooked through.
  7. Sauce will thicken and coat chicken as it cooks.
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https://eatcraftrun.com/2018/10/05/orange-chicken-in-the-crockpot/

Chicken and Artichokes in the Crockpot

Whoop! It’s day one of Crock-tober Fest and I am pulling out a family favorite to start things off.
One of the challenges that I often find with crockpot cooking is that the recipes can get a bit unimaginative and all start tasting alike. But, this recipe, this recipe is different… and it makes mine (and the fam’s) taste buds very happy… I mean, when the kids are laying claim to the left overs for lunch the next day as they are cleaning up, I consider that a win!
I like to serve this over egg noodles and take a bit of the juice and thicken it for a sauce to put over the top! Add in a side of crusty bread and you’ve got a yummy easy dinner!

Chicken and Artichokes in the Crockpot
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Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken breasts
  • 2 cans of quartered artichoke hearts - partially drained
  • 1 small onion, quartered
  • 3-4 cloves garlic
  • 2 TBSP brown mustard
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  1. Place artichokes and onions in the bottom of the crockpot.
  2. Place chicken on top of onions and artichokes.
  3. Combine brown mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and white wine and pour on top of chicken.
  4. Add garlic cloves to crockpot.
  5. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Tags

Allergy
gluten free
dairy free
egg free
soy free
wheat free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
Courses
Dinner
Cooking
Slow Cooking
crockpot
Occasions
crock-tober
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https://eatcraftrun.com/2018/10/02/chicken-and-artichokes-in-the-crockpot/

Language Immersion

In the last week, I have had a lot of time behind the wheel… over 30 hours to be exact.
And, although I managed to get books on CD for my hubby and my kids, I forgot to check one out for myself. That means a lot of channel surfing and the occasional stop on talk radio.

One of the those talk radio stops was a Christian broadcast and I heard was this statement… and it’s stuck with me.
Some folks have been a Christian for 20 years and other folks have been a 1 year Christian twenty times.

The best way to learn a new language is to totally immerse yourself in the culture, and I think that’s what this statement is saying in regards to a Christian walk. If my only method of learning Spanish is to practice on a language app for twenty minutes a day, I am never going to become fluent… at best, I’ll be able to find the bathroom, order a drink and say thank you… and the same could be said of my relationship with God. If my daily interaction with Him is 20 minutes on a bible app… well, we can all imagine how that relationship will (or won’t) progress. I want to look back in five years, ten years, fifteen years and see my fluency in Christianity’s growth. To know that His light is my natural inclination, much like after living in a foreign country, their traditions often become more a part of daily life as their culture is embraced.

 

Only Takes a Spark

Do you ever feel lost,
unmotivated,
uninspired?
Are you overwhelmed by
Pinterest,
Instagram,
YouTube?
Are you in a rut,
stuck,
afraid?

Let me introduce you to Spark Cards…

These cards are here to
inspire and motivate,
I’m here to encourage and applaud…

Check out what’s been keeping me from blogging so much here at
Only Takes a Spark
I have been pouring my heart and soul into designing these cards and laying the foundation for a community to support and encourage you while you discover your spark and light a fire in your soul!

Mixed Media Class

Ok, that’s a really lame title but that was the best title I could come up with…LOL… perhaps I need an afternoon cuppa!

Any whoo, I was blessed to beta test a class by the amazing Sandy Kaye Moss…if you aren’t familiar with her work, check her out on IG. She is the beautiful soul behind my 12 min art creations that add a bit of sanity to my days of chaos. I have been admiring her work for a few months now. Sandy Kaye offers classes in person and I have seen the results of these classes (slight IG stalker), but more than that, is the way she lets her true self shine through, the way you can see her heart in her creations, the way that she encourages folks (me included) to be themselves and create the way we were meant to create, not the way pinterest wants us to create. However, I live in Texas and she lives in Kentucky… and while we might be close, we are not close enough for me to pop over for one of her classes… insert sad face here.

But, then she announced she was going to start offering classes on line, I was doing the happy dance in my car seat (sitting in the parking lot waiting for drum lessons to be done for the teen while the six year old vegged out in the backseat after an hour plus of marital arts … the glamorous life of a home schooling momma!). Any way, that’s probably way more than y’all want to know about my day to day life, but I’m not joking I was literally fist pumping, happy dancing in the seat to my own little beat in my head.

I had a house full of people Saturday evening celebrating my nieces graduation from Texas A&M and when everyone finally cleared out, and the last few dishes were being cleaned up by the drum playing teen, I poured myself a glass of wine and opened my email. To say I was tired, well, that might be an understatement…it was almost midnight and I had been up since five… but, boom, the link to the class was sitting there. Against my better judgement, I opened it and eagerly started cruising around her new online classroom site.  I watched the first three videos and went to bed with visions of all kinds of painty and papery goodness dancing in my head.

The next morning, Mother’s Day, I was the first to arise and took advantage of a quiet house and a TDY hubby and binge watched the rest of the class videos. Sandy Kaye’s teaching style can best be described as coffee house conversation. She shared the steps of what she was doing, offering suggestions and inputs and interjecting occasional stories about life in her studio. I have never taken an in person art class but this is what I imagine them being like, the instructor sharing her process and putting you at ease and encouraging you to find your groove/style. After completing all the videos, I raided my supplies and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find I had all I needed to create a fun wall hanging to perfectly suit me! I even had my littlest help me a bit with the first few steps…picking out colors, tearing paper and covering the canvas.


After waiting (some what impatiently) for the first layer to dry (hello humid Texas!), I was able to quickly complete my fun little pup while my older two were at track practice, referring back the videos if I needed a quick reminder of how exactly to proceed.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the class, how much this little guy makes me smile and how many other projects my brain is spinning on using this same technique. No spoilers here on how to do it…just a five star recommendation to head on over to Sandy Kaye Moss Studios and sign up for this class…it’s a steal!

Chocolate Chip Scones

Y’all it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate… unless you are one of the aliens that doesn’t like chocolate. And, then well, we can still be friends because you won’t eat all the chocolate! ha ha ha! But seriously, these scones are so yummy, super easy and full of chocolatey goodness. It’s like the trifecta of recipe awesome-sauce! My love for scones started with this recipe… well, actually, maybe before then, but when I saw how easy they were to make, I was hooked! Please don’t be intimidated, I promise, they are super easy (but that can be our little secret, it’s ok if you let your family believe you slaved for hours over them!)!

 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder with a fork. At this point stir in your mini chocolate chips (and go ahead and snitch a few… you know you want to!). Melt the butter in the microwave, add milk to the butter to help cool it. Add milk butter combo and egg yolk to flour mixture and begin stirring until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and comes together. (Please, please, please do not be intimidated by the way this sounds… this recipe is super easy and once you try it you will be hooked!). When the dough starts pulling together, dump it out (technical term, seriously, just turn your bowl over and dump) on to a floured surface and roll it into a smooth blob (again, you will see once you start making). After the blob has become smooth, divide into three equal smaller blobs and roll into balls. Smoosh the balls into circles that are about 1 1/2 inches thick and then cut into eighths with a pizza cutter. At this point, it will look like a small pizza or pie type of circle. Place these triangles onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a well seasoned stone (I prefer a stone but either will work). Bake at 450 for 11-13 minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool. At this point, if you have way more self control than I do, you can freeze the scones and drizzle them later… usually after the smell of the baking scones fills my house, I can barely wait to dive into the first one!

Chocolate Chip Scones
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 TBSP baking soda
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1 egg – separated.
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of butter
    • Chocolate Drizzle
  • 1 cup chocolate chips, melted

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder.
  2. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
  3. Melt butter.
  4. Add milk to the butter to help cool butter.
  5. Add milk/butter mixture and egg yolk to flour mixture.
  6. Combine until it pulls away from side of bowl.
  7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and kneed until smooth.
  8. Divide dough into three balls and roll out into circles that are 1 1/2 inches thick.
  9. Cut circles into eighths.
  10. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and back at 450 for 11 - 13 minutes.
  11. Move to wire rack for cooling.
  12. Heat remaining 1 cup chocolate chips until melted.
  13. Drizzle on top of cooled scones.
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https://eatcraftrun.com/2018/05/02/chocolate-chip-scones/

 

 

Mom Life

I still remember seeing those two lines on the stick and learning that our first little one was on the way… and I can still hear most of the lies that I told myself about the ‘perfect mom’ I was going to be…

Fast foward fourteen years … and the two lines on the stick again… and more of the same lies…

But, finally, after almost twenty years at this mom thing I am no longer listening to all those lies about perfection that Satan whispers daily in my ears, and I am embracing the truths of Christ.

Rebekah Hargraves has written an amazing book about the Lies Moms Believe: And How the Gospel Refutes Them and at the end of this month (on the day before I first became a mom 20 years ago as a matter of fact) the companion bible study is being released.

If you have ever believed that you are failing at “momming” because your kids’ parties and rooms aren’t Pinterest worthy, your Instagram feed isn’t filled with cute photos of your ‘angels’ in matching, hand crafted outfits or a little less dramatic… you simply feel you are failing because sometimes you just want to curl up in your room and have a time out then I encourage you to grab this book and the bible study and drink in the word of God.

Freedom

Over thanksgiving break last fall, my family and I visited Corpus Christi, Texas.  Although the weather was not conducive to typical beach activities, it was still gorgeous and we very much enjoyed the time away to rest, relax, refresh… our life is full of chaos and we all needed a recharge.

This chaos came from our choices… our choice to home school, our choice to invest in our kiddos by way of sports, youth group, scouts…. you get the picture, our choice to give my hubby the ability invest in the cadets and cadre he works with, our choice for me to go back to school, our choice to strive for family dinners at least half the week, our choice to give me a creative space to encourage my creativity, our choice to put too much on our plates and justify it… but God is not a lover of chaos… instead, He wants to bring order to our chaos. And this recharge, this weekend away… it was the perfect time for us to be broken just a little more, to be forced to look at our choices and to be forced to make yet another choice…to continue to justify our often good intentioned choices or to choose to be in Him… because you see in Him there is freedom….freedom to be who He wants us to be…to be loving, to be imperfect, to be accepted, to be loved!

 

Why?

In a recent challenge I have joined about growing your business (no, I don’t have a business, I am just trying to be faithful with the gifts God has given me)… anyway, in this challenge I was asked to define my ‘why’… why do I create?

I admit, I struggled with this… I have always been a creative soul. I can distinctly remember my elementary school art room and the feeling of peace and freedom when I walked in this room. I even still have one of the projects I made in that room almost 40 years ago. My art teacher (sadly, I don’t remember her name) encouraged us to try different mediums.

I remember going to the Base Exchange on Rhein Main airbase after the class on trying things and finding modeling clay… it was in four colors and never got hard. I begged my mom to let me buy it, and she finally caved, letting me spend my allowance on it. I would spend hours in my room creating… I built a whole village of clay bears … there was a carnival, houses, a school… complete with buses, cars, a ferris wheel… and the bears themselves were no bigger than a thumbtack. The whole village fit in the box that a case of sodas used to come in…anyone else remember those crates? I used ‘found objects’ to ‘enhance’ my village…bottle caps, toothpicks, acorns are some of the things that I can remember. I was so proud of my village, not proud in a I want to show it off way, but proud of the fact that I had created this with my hands, from my visions… and that the vision in my head matched if not exceeded what came out of my hands.

BUT, I am blessed to be a military brat… and with that blessing comes frequent moves… and, despite the fact that we were just moving two hours down the road and we moved several things in the car, my bear village didn’t make the cut to be moved by hand… and, it did’t survive military packers. I think this was a turning point in my creative life… it didn’t inspire me to create more, it actually sent me into a shell… I felt as if what I created wasn’t important… the movers weren’t careful…my mom wouldn’t make room for a case of soda sized box in the back of the car. Please know, I am not saying this was what they said to me, this was the way I internalized their actions and the feelings that I was having. I stepped away from clay…and began creating in other ways. But each act of creating was met in similar fashion…movers didn’t care, things were damaged, lost, thrown away. I began to believe that I was not meant to be a creative person. Clearly, my creations were not good enough to send the message I felt when creating them to others or they would not be so careless with them.

Fast forward almost two decades to the time in my life when I married my best friend. He’s a runner…not a creative…and I think it was unconscious on his part, but he recognized how important creating was to me…much like running is a part of his DNA, creating is in my DNA. Over the next twenty years of marriage, I dabbled here and there, I would spend beyond my means to dive into what ever ‘craft’ was trending….ceramics, cross stitch, scrapbooking, stamping, quilting, painting, bible journaling, listing … you name it and he encouraged it. I amassed amazing quantities of various supplies… and then proceeded to move them around the world as our Air Force life dictated us to new locations. I truly enjoyed trying new things, creating … but none of these trending crafts fulfilled me. I walked away from everyone of them feeling as if I feel short of creating what I envisioned… a magazine worthy, pinterest worthy, instagram worthy masterpiece! I walked away feeling empty.

Then, after loosing countless hours to those magazine images and the rabbit holes of pinterest and instagram, I realized that I was creating from the wrong place… I was looking for worldly validation to drown out the voices from my past…I was looking for that magazine, pinterest, instagram masterpiece to replace the vision I still had in my head of my bear village that I had believed wasn’t good enough. Instead, I began creating for My Creator.

I have only been in this place of creating for the One who created me for a short period of time… but the freedom is life giving. I feel less pressure, I feel less fear. I still see every one of my mistakes in what ever it is that I am putting out there. I am still afraid to put all of my attempts at creation out there… but I am slowly finding my pulse, my direction, my breath. So, all of this say my why for why I create… I create because it is how God wired me…I create because it is in my DNA… and the choice to embrace this creativity is my way of honoring God for the gift of creating He has given me.

Now… where this creating, this desire to honor God, this defining of my why is leading, I have no idea. But, what I do know is that God’s plans for me are better than anything I can imagine!

 

Faith and Lettering

 

As y’all may have noticed, I have a thing for typography and fonts and lettering… all the pretties out there on pinterest and instagram… oh my! And, yes, I know the dangers of instagram and pinterest… all you have to do is go back one blog post and see that I am working on letting go of those voices! 

And, y’all… I have a thing for God too! I mean, He totally ROCKS… if you aren’t sure what I mean by that, just watch a sunrise or a sunset… and, well, there really aren’t enough words to describe the beauty in it! 

So, when I saw Krystal Whitten’s (if you don’t know her, check her out on Instagram… all the heart eyes!) call looking for a launch team for her new book… I threw my name in the hat. And when I found out I was selected… well, I was pretty excited… but, then I got the books in my hands… and, well, I am pretty sure my daughter heard the squeals of excitement on campus ten miles away! 

At the writing of this post, I have wiped copious amounts of drool off my chin, run my fingers over the gorgeous metallic embossing on the cover of the journal, started a list of phrases I want to practice with and devoured the first fifty pages of the guide. I am beyond impressed with the quality of these books. Krystal’s writing style is such that I truly feel as if I am sitting across the table from her having her tell me about her lettering journey.  She has completely put me at ease and echoed what God has been laying on my heart lately… that He created me to create and all the lies that society has been feeding me are, just that, lies! 

So, I’m going to leave y’all with a few more photos of this gorgeousness (click on them if you want to see them a bit bigger) and a link (click here… and be sure to check out the preorder goodies you get!) get your own (I’m not sharing!) and head off to read a bit more before my crew tells me they are hungry again and my chef duties are needed!

Get in my belly!

Orange Chicken in the Crockpot

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