Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

On Christmas we celebrated with some of my family.  One of my grandmother's always knows how to do it right.  We go into the kitchen and the entire counter is filled with food that she has made for us.  It is never just ordinary food though.  She makes the BEST food!  I do not even need presents because her filling us up with her cooking is the best present I could have asked for.

On the menu last Christmas included chili.  I was a little hesitant to eat this because I am not really a chili fan.  Also, I am breastfeeding and try to stay away from spicy foods.  However, I tried a bite.  And then another...and another!

It was not ordinary chili that you get from Wendy's or put on hot dogs.  This chili is made with chicken.  The cream cheese makes it so smooth and creamy; blending the flavors together to cool down the spices.

A few months later I decided to make it for my husband.  It was a huge hit and he now makes me make it once a week! I always double the recipe and still do not have enough left over to freeze for later!  But it does feed a lot!  I would say about 7 servings.

Little Layla hands attacking my chili!

I think it's one of her favorites too :)

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili:

Crock Pot

2-3 chicken breasts, uncooked

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilis

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans OR kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Dry Ranch dressing mix 

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese , can be low fat but NOT FAT FREE!

Put the chicken in the crock pot. 

Top with the cumin, chili powder, and onion powder, corn, beans, and ranch dressing mix.

Stir well.

Cook 4-6 hours on high or 6 -8 on low.

About 30 minutes before it is finished cooking take out the chicken and shred them.  (Hint: Use a blender it's so much easier than forks!)

Put the chicken back into the crock pot and top with the cream cheese.

Mix well and cook another 30 minutes.

Serve with Tostito chips or corn bread and enjoy :)

 

Colorful Felt Headband

Hair bows are my obsession right now!  My husband hates that I am always on the lookout for hair bows and frilly little ribbons...but why else have little girls?  With girls comes the wonderful laces, ribbons, tutu's, and all things glitter!

I usually always put headbands on my girls when we go out in public.  My husband however hates them and before I can get out the door decides to take them off of their heads. GRRRR!  Over the past few months, I have gotten him to loosen up and somewhat be ok with me putting big flowers in their hair!

Buying hair bows are not cheap!  Most all of the ones I want are 3.99 and up.  Some I have found are even close to 10!  I have two girls so I am not spending $20 on 2 hairbows!  I quickly learned that I need to start making my own for all of the hair bows I want to own.

For my daughters first circus, I made her a clown tulle tutu and just had to have a headband that matched!  With the tutu being so bright and colorful the headband had to be bright and colorful as well.

This felt headband I made took all of maybe 10 minutes.  And was super cheap!  The felt was on 25 cents!  The elastic band was $1 and the pom poms I already had for the tutu.

You can make the headband by sewing elastic and then sewing felt over the elastic band, but I cheated this time and bought the already made band part.

All you need is:
elastic felt headband
one sheet felt
1 pom pom
scissors
pen
hot glue gun

Since the tutu I was making was white with bright colored pom pom's, this piece of felt was perfect for a matching headband!

Turn the piece of felt over to the side you do not want shown.  Practice drawing out the shape you want your hair bow to be.  When you have the perfect shape, cut it out.

For mine, I want a flower.  As you can see this flower was not so pretty so I just kept practicing until it looked ok.  I cut three different size flowers out because I wanted my hair bow layered.

I glued my 3 layers on top of each other from biggest to smallest and then added a pom pom in the center.

Then glue the entire shape onto your head band.

TADA!  We have a very cute bow for very cheap!




Use your imagination and go crazy!  Felt is very cheap and you can make all sorts of things!  You can make animal shapes, 3D shapes, anything you wish!