Big Changes with the Johansen Family

If you are lucky enough to be my friend on Facebook ;) you may already know this exciting news. If not your hearing it from the horse's mouth. 

The Johansen family will become a family of 4 in March 2013. 

I know what your all thinking..."oh so that is why you went MIA for like 4 months". 

And yes you would be exactly correct. When I get pregnant I get sick. Like I cant get off the couch sick. I also go to bed like insanely early because if I stay up late I end up seeing my dinner, not one of my favorite things to do.

But now that a few months have passed and I have hit the all exciting 22 week mark we are getting really excited. We have started talking baby names (don't ask we have a REALLY hard time finding ones we both agree on) and speculating what it will look like. I bet if it knows whats good for it, it will look just like its sister (and that's a pretty good thing!).We have opted on not finding out the gender so it is likely that lots of baby crafts will be finding themselves on this blog for both boys and girls. 

Wish us luck on this new exciting change in our lives.

Mallory

Ranch Chicken

One of my friends just had a baby and we provided them dinner. I made my delicious Ranch Chicken. Its easy and one of my favorite crock pot meals! Serve shredded or whole on top of rice.

Ranch Chicken

5-7 Chicken Breasts

8oz Cream Cheese

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 Packet Ranch Dressing Mix

Cook on low in crock pot for 6 to 8 hours.

I hope you love this recipe as much as we love it!

Mallory

Taco Soup

My mom has been making this delicious (and oh so easy taco soup for the last few years). Its one of my favorite go to recipes because it is so easy. This recipe does need a packet of Ranch Dressing Mix. It is the "salad dressing and seasoning mix". I have found that this one works better than any other I have tried. 

 Taco Soup

1 lb Chicken, cut into bite sized pieces and browned in olive oil

Add 1 packet of Taco Seasoning Mix

1 1/2 C. Water

1 Can Pinto Beans

1 Can Mild Chili Beans

1 Can Stewed Tomatoes 

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Packet of Hidden Valley Seasoning Mix

1 Green Pepper cut into bite-sized pieces

Simmer for 30 minutes or on high in Crock pot for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with Sour Cream and grated cheese.

Note: My family doesn't like green peppers so I leave that out.

Enjoy your quick and easy meal!

Mallory

Cake Decorating

Over the last year and a half I have become interested in cake decorating. Here are a few of my cakes for your viewing pleasure. I hope that it inspires you to make a few of your own delicious and good looking cakes.

 Minnie cake done with a Mickey Mouse cake pan and then decorated like Minnie. Tips used Wilton Star tip.

 Spider's done with ball cake pan and then only put half of the cake for each spider.

 Caterpillar made with cake cut out by cookie cutter.

 Caterpillar pieces made with ball cake pan and then cut to match together.

Fancy Little Girl Hair Do

Morgan and I got bored one day so we decided to find another way to do her hair. She loved having the hair out of her eyes for a bit. She hated having us take the elastics out. In this hair I just did two rows of connected ponytails. It looked super cute with a bow by the ponytail. 

Enjoy your hair doing! 

Mal

Brains Anyone?

 My husband had a work Halloween party this week. It was a Chili cook-off and since I don't have any good chili recipes I decided to make these cupcakes. I found these on Pinterest and decided to make them. I decided these turned out pretty good. We did a pink/grayish frosting and looked so much better in person.

I figured this was a good time to post my mother-in-law's frosting recipe. She originally got this recipe from Wilton but I have been unable to find it there. Here it is:

Buttercream Frosting

1 C. Salted Sweet Cream Butter

1 C. Shorting 

6 C. Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 t. Lemon Flavoring

1 1/2 t. Vanilla Flavoring

Mix well and decorate your desired items. 

Note: you can substitute the Lemon flavoring for any other flavor you like (Almond). I would expect other things would work out.

Enjoy this recipe and decorate your cupcakes, cakes, and such!

Mal

Cafe Rio Chicken Salad

Like most born and breed Utahns I love Cafe Rio. Luckily my husband loves it too. We have loved the pork in the past but when pinterest gave me this recipe I thought I would try it out.

CAFE RIO CHICKENfound recipe at: Mandy’s Recipe Box:

2 lbs chicken breasts

1/2 a small bottle of zesty Italian dressing

1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)

1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos…etc. You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a fast and delicious meal.Enjoy

I got the dressing recipe from here

 Cafe Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing
(Makes about 2 1/2 cups of dressing, recipe adapted from a recipe for Cafe Rio Dressing, Chicken, and Rice that I got from my brother-in-law Kelly. See after the main recipe for variations I've tried.)

2 cups prepared Ranch Dressing (I usually use a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk mix, but you can make your own Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing or Buttermilk Dressing if you prefer)
1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)
2 large or 4 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Green Tabasco sauce or 1 diced jalapeno pepper

This dressing is so close to the recipe for the dressing I have found yet! I guess this will do until Cafe Rio decides to come to Indy...hint hint!

Mallory

Meet Mallory!

Hey y'all I am one part of the three part trio named Mallory. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT. I got a degree in Sociology but am currently using it to socio-analyze my 20 month old daughter.  My husband and I have recently become Hoosiers (if you don't know what this is see here). I love to craft, crochet, and cook. Follow my adventures out here in Indy!