I've been doing a morning boot camp lately and along with that I'm trying to clean up my eating.  It helps to pack a great, healthy and filling lunch. Saves lots of $$ to pack lunch from home!  This recipe helps me do both things and can be served warm or cold over any salad you like.  It's also a great side dish to grilled or roasted meat.  If you omit the "dressing" part at end the lentils are a great alternative to rice with Chicken Korma or other Indian type dish.  My kids even eat them when served under a chicken curry/indian dish ;)  As always start with a lined crock - you'll only need a medium (3 quart) sized one for this dish and not the extra large crock.

Combine in crock:

1 1/2 c. lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped ham
1 medium sized red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced, pressed or cheat and use from tube like I do
1 dry bay leaf
1/4 tsp each:  dry rosemary and pepper
3 cups water

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours til lentils are tender.  Drain lentil mixture of excess liquid if necessary and remove bay leaf.  Can be used as side side at this point or "dress" for salad by tossing lentils with

2T. Olive oil
1/3 c. Red Wine Vinegar
1/3 c. fresh chopped italian parsley
Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over salad greens of choice.

Poll Question time: It’s possible over the last couple of weeks I may have crammed in more than I should have, said yes to more things  than I should have and volunteered myself more than I should have – sound familiar?  Along with sharing my  car kit idea for staying prepared on the go - I thought I’d share some of the  things I have been most grateful for having ready in my house over the last  couple of weeks.  By having these items on the ready – I pulled off a lot of small feats that luckily didn’t require a bijillion trips to the store.  Question posed:  what are the things you keep on the ready?  
I want to know so I can add  those to my list and share with my followers! 
Leave a comment below!

Things I try to have on hand at all times:
        
*Stash of birthday and all occasion cards – grab a large pack next time you are at Ross/TJ Maxx
      
*Gift cards for Amazon, itunes or the like for the quick gift you need on the fly
        
* Packages of boxed cake mixes and frosting and frozen pie shells for the last minute baked goods that have to be donated to school/church, etc.
        
*Dollar store disposable pans with lids to transport said baked goods
    
*Always keep a stash of coins and one dollar bills hidden in kitchen for random items needing small dollars/change only
        
*Quick snacks in the freezer and a frozen lasagna so extra friends/kids can be fed in a snap on the fly.

Sometimes feeling/being organized is more than shelves and closets at home that are all sorted.  So much time is spent away from home that it's important to be prepared for things while on the go.  When the kids were little, I always had my diaper bag packed for emergencies but as the kids got older I didn't need to carry all that in a bag so it has transformed into a plastic bin a la Dollar Store.  There is no magic checklist for what should be in your car kit but I keep everything from band aids, first aid cream, hand warmer packs, wet wipes, pain reliver, cold pills, tummy trouble pills of all types, mints, "wisp" type disposable toothbrushs, one-use ice packs, hot/cold back patches, rain poncho, etc.  ALL of which I stock up on from the dollar store as I need the packages to be on the smaller side anyway and I usually go through things quickly and replace often as needed.  It's great having my car kit when we are at school events, kids sports, traveling by car to the Lake house or other places.  It's piece of mind in a plastic box.

OK  - I'll preface this recipe with the fact it actually does have to be cooked outside of the crock BUT can be done in advance  - made in a large batch and then reheated in crock/served from crock for a party or any get together that you are craving some cajun food.  I made a large batch of this last week and then was able to pull out and reheat easily on Saturday - the day of our annual Mardi Gras Bash/Crawfish Boil.  If you can't get hold of a bag of frozen crawfish tails where you live - use frozen, peeled medium sized shrimp in place of the crawfish tails.  Laissez Bon Temps Rouler!

You will need a large pot for this!  

5 stalks celery with leaves attached
2 large sweet onions
2 bell peppers
 one bunch green onions
5 garlic cloves

2 small cans tomato paste
Seasonings noted below
1lb bag of frozen crawfish tails, thawed

Take the veg and cut into chunks to be able to be whizzed in food processor.  Pulse them to a fine consitency just short of making it pulp.  In the large pot heat oil and saute veg until tender/slightly browned.  Take 2 small cans tomato paste and work into veg. Add several shakes worcestershire sauce and cajun seasoning/hot sauce to suit your taste.  Add crawfish tails and cook 15 mins.  Turn off heat and let stand 30 mins to let seasonings blend and then serve over rice OR once cooked store in fridge and can be reheated in lined crock on low and served over rice then.  If the mixture gets a bit to thick thin with hot water so it stays at a good conistency.  This can be doubled or more easily based on your needs.

In an effort to keep my sponge/wipes off the counter by the sink, I devised a holder using an extra plastic container affixed to top of inside sink cabinet door with Velcro strips. Can you imagine all the places inside your kitchen/bathroom cabinets you could mount a small container to help keep items at the ready? I'm loving this idea!

Last week on a cold day - I was craving French Onion Soup...knowing my kids aren't huge fans - I set out to create a dinner with the taste I craved and something the rest of the family would eat too.  I think we were all surprised as to how good this came out and I'm happy to say both boys had seconds and in the end there was NOTHING to store in fridge - except I'm not sure if no leftovers is a good or bad thing in this case :)  My family is already asking that this be put on a permanent rotation.  As always, start with a lined crock and add enough boneless/skinless chicken thighs to crock to suit your family.  We did 8 for 2 a person.  You can use chicken breasts but the thighs were great ( and cheaper!) for this and had so much flavor.  In small bowl whisk together:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can french onion soup
1 cup sour cream with chives
1/2 soup can of marsala wine (you could use another type but again this has such a rich flavor)
Shakes of cajun seasoning to taste (we use "Slap Yo Mama" brand) and or shakes of hot sauce to taste.

Sauce will be thin - pour over chicken and cook on low for 6 hours.  Serve over pasta and ladle the delish sauce over pasta and chicken.  Hope you get rave reviews at your house too!

When my Gram passed away a few years ago, I grabbed all the little plastic containers that she kept all her costume jewelry organized in, out of the "donate" pile and was determined to do something with it.  She never had her ears pierced so all the earrings were clip-ons.  At one point, I looked into having them changed out for posts but either the earring wasn't a candidate based on size and shape or once I found out the cost for going the ones that could be sorted, it was exorbitant.  So sadly, thev've sat in the plastic cases for awhile now.  Well, until the other day, when I decided I needed to go back to the old fashioned wooden clipboard for taking to clients' homes.  The plastic ones cracked easily.  It dawned on me that I could dress up the plain brown board with a bit of contact paper and Gram's earrings.  Now when I go on a job, it's like she's right there with me and just seeing my pretty board makes me smile.  Maybe you've got jewelry like mine, taking up space someplace  - waiting to be re-used?  How about a hot glue gun and if not a clip board - then bedazzle an old frame or lamp base?  You just might give life to 2 old things and love the result! 

Good Monday Morning!  I had a busy weekend between a big event at the kids school, sports, and then the big game last night.  I'm breathing easy today knowing this is in my crock for tonight since we've a dentist appointment for the boys this afternoon and will get home right at dinner time tonight.  My college friend Jenni Gurney Hilton gave me this recipe awhile back and it's a keeper!  As always, start with a lined crock.

CROCK POT CHICKEN BREASTS
4 to 6 chicken breasts
1 can mushroom soup/ or "cream of" of choice based on what's in your pantry/tastes
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream/ or sometimes I use an 8oz tub of the onion/chive cream cheese
1/2 c. white wine
1 c.  mushrooms
1 c. sliced onion
Salt, pepper, paprika, shakes of hot sauce to taste

In a bowl, mix soup, sour cream, wine and mushrooms with salt, pepper and paprika. Lay chicken in pot. Pour mixture over - sprinkle with paprika. Cook low 6 to 8 hours. Serve over rice or pasta.