Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Why you should love your crockpot (Part 2)

This is kinda like part 1, but I wanted to emphasize the awesomeness of cooking a whole chicken. Per pound, a whole chicken costs next to nothing (unless you go to Martin's where everything is expensive). Recently, I have also found split chicken breasts on sale for 88 or 99 cents/lb. and they work great in the slow cooker too.

When I cook a whole chicken, it takes a few hours on low. You can add spices like garlic or whatever you like. Once it is tender and the bones come right out, you just remove it from the crockpot and chunk or shred the meat. I discard the skin and bones (or if you're especially resourceful you can make broth with those) and use plastic containers to freeze it. Then the possibilities are endless!
-Chicken salad
-Fajitas/tacos/burritos/tostadas
-Casseroles of any kind
-Soups
-Anything you would use pre-packaged diced chicken to make for a much lower cost.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

FREE TACO!!

I don't really follow baseball too much anymore BUT I do love one thing...free tacos! That's right, Taco Bell is offering a free taco to everyone today from 2-6pm because someone stole a base in the World Series. Check out this link for more details...http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/

Monday, October 27, 2008

Why you should love your crockpot (Part 1)

Crockpots are the best. They are a fairly cheap investment and usually last for years. In the summer when you don't want to heat up the house, they are a great alternative to an oven. They also use less energy (think of the size of an oven coil compared to your little crockpot one). So if you don't have one, get one! Almost anything that can be made in an oven can be made in a crockpot with slight modification.

Growing up, we didn't eat a lot of meat. My dad grilled chicken once in a while and my mom made tuna casserole once in a while, but not many roasts or pork chops or stuff like that (acually, I never had a pork chop until I was 17!!!) We ate a lot of ground beef so I'm good at that, but once I was out on my own I wanted to try new things. Let's just say that meat was not my specialty in the beginning. I didn't ruin it, but I just didn't know how to make it delicious. Enter the crockpot, the lifesaver of all meat chunks. You can pretty much cook any kind of meat and it will turn out tender and delicious.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Your votes are needed...and not for the president (although those are too)

Have you voted for the PRO BOWL yet? Go here http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot. After you vote, you can enter to win TICKETS. Oh my gosh if I won tickets to the pro bowl I would say "see ya" to Virginia in a heartbeat.

Make sure you vote for Troy Polamalu (you know, the Steeler with the hair) because he is one bad motha on the football field, but actually in real life softspoken and a great guy.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Movie Review: The Wild

We got this last week on Netflix and I have to say it was one of the best "new" animated movies. When I say "new", I'm talking about the ones that have come out since I "grew up", like Madagascar, Open Season, stuff like that. I love every Disney movie from my youth...especially The Little Mermaid and Mulan.

Anyway, first of all, you will not believe the animation in this thing. I kept telling Reber, "That's a real garbage truck, that's a real zoo." Also, when you read the blurb about the movie, you will think you've seen it already because it sounds like Madagascar. They are kinda similar, but I like this one better...It has a better heart-warming story line and makes you laugh the whole way through.



Now let's hope that Disney can come up with some new storylines for the next one...

Monday, October 20, 2008

Caramel Brownies

OK, Laura, I'm posting the brownie recipe already!! My stepmom taught me how to make these. Once you get the hang of it, they're really easy and everyone will want you to make them all the time.

1 can evaporated milk (the small can is enough)
1 box German Chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened well or melted
1 pkg. caramels
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Melt caramels with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Put aside. Combine cake mix with butter and 1/3 cup milk. Divide batter in half, and spread half of it into a greased 9x13" baking dish. Bake for 6 min. at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top, then drizzle melted caramel mixture on top of them. Cover with remaining batter (this can be tricky...I flatten it with my hands and lay it on top in sections. If it sticks to your hands really bad, get them wet and it won't stick as much). Bake for another 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool before cutting (sometimes I even put it in the fridge and let it get cold before I cut it so the caramel doesn't get everywhere).

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Disclaimer

I know that those of you who read this may or may not be Christians. Either way, that's cool. I just want to give you a heads up that sometimes I will post stuff on here about the Bible or being a Christian. I am not preaching - these are just thoughts or things that have been helpful to me. Feel free to read them or not and I definitely welcome any comments or questions. With that said, read on...

Be Strong and Courageous

"Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you."
- Deuteronomy 31:6

Recently I've been reading through the Old Testament. Some of it is awesome and some of it is a little dry. But one thing that keeps popping out to me is that phrase - be strong and courageous. Throughout this chapter and into Joshua, God is leading the Israelites to the land he promised their ancestors. Sometimes, a bunch of cities hear how strong the Israelites are and get together to try and conquer them. The other cities seem to WAY outnumber the Israelites, so it's natural for them to be nervous (wouldn't you be scared if you had to go fight in a battle you seemed destined to lose?). But time and time again, the Israelites go in and crush everyone and take over the cities. I'm not a big fan of war (remember, I grew up Mennonite!), but God was using the Israelites to show the world His power and how He takes care of his people.

I like this verse because it reminds me that God still takes care of us. This doesn't mean that we will always have the best of everything, but it means that we will have what we need. It also reminds me that if God can conquer multiple cities with chickens like the Israelites, he can deal with my problems that I stress about.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

You're gonna be so jealous of me

So as you know, I have a broken foot. I took off work yesterday because it's so freakin' exhausting! We needed some stuff at Food Lion, especially the 99 cent/lb. chicken breast, so I had Reber drive me there. He is usually great at going to the store by himself, but there were a lot of things that I had to check prices on and see if my coupons were worth it. Anyway, getting to the best part...I got to ride the electric scooter cart!!! That thing is awesome, and FYI, the Food Lion one goes much faster than the Wal-Mart one.

Look at this kid...he is totally cheating...notice his broken HAND!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

CVS

As some of you may know, I love CVS. I can't help it...they're always giving me free stuff! They have this extra care bucks (ECB) program that rewards you for buying certain things, then you can use your ECBs toward future purchases. It takes a little planning, but it can be worth it. Sometimes I even make money!

Here's one scenario that I got last Sunday:
5 - 32oz. Gatorades
1 - Colgate Advanced Toothpaste
1 - Bottle CVS brand Vitamin D pills

I had a coupon for the toothpaste and $10 ECB from last week. My grand total was .04 cents and I got $8 more ECBs. So basically I got all that for $2.04. Not bad, huh?

It takes a little money to begin with, but I usually keep between $5-$15 in ECBs and don't have to spent much out of pocket for the stuff I get. This website is really helpful. Check out the CVS for newbies link. You can even see upcoming weeks' flyers. Happy shopping!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Lucy and Garfield

These are my awesome cats.















This is Lucy. She comes from Stanley, VA and weighs 18 pounds. She gives kisses, hates cat treats, and loves Reber the best.















This is Garfield. He comes from the trailor park behind Lowe's. We think he was abused, so it took him a little bit to get used to us - he even bit Reber when we first got him - but now he is the most loving/loveable cat ever. His favorite foods are tomatoes, taco salad, and croissants.

I have the best cats in the whole world : )

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Already some exciting news for my new blog...

Well, I couldn't post for a couple days because I had no Google account. I didn't realize that the confirmation email from Google for my blog password so I just deleted it!! Everything is straightened out now...except for my foot. I broke it yesterday. Reber bought a wood chip tray for his grill/smoker and had set it on the stairs with the bags of wood chips. The tray fell onto the landing and I was walking downstairs without turning the light on (genious) and down I went. After the initial ridiculous amount of pain, I was just laughing the whole time because I still can't believe I broke my foot. I hope everyone I know reads this because it's a really annoying story to try to explain. At least I got to spend some quality time with my neighbor when she took me to Emergicare : )

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Disappointment

I spent 62 cents on something I would normally never pay 62 cents for. Jello Pudding. They had it in a big fancy display at Wal-Mart and the flavor was Pumpkin Spice. Being ridiculously obsessed with all things pumpkin, I had to try it. IT'S GROSS!! It tastes all artificial and crappy (and although I usually do my pudding homemade on the stove, I still like the boxed kind). Just wanted to save your 62 cents.

Hello out there in Blogland

Hey Everyone,
Welcome to my blog. Hooray for you because it's gonna be great...hopefully. I started it because have a three-day-weekend (thank you Christopher Columbus - even though you were a crappy navigator and I much prefer MLK Day). My name is Heather, aka Mz. Cribb thanks to my coworker Jody. I was lucky when I got married and ended up with such an awesome last name.

I guess I'll introduce myself a little...I love all the stuff that I mentioned in my header, plus my husband Reber (yes, that's his real name), the Pittsburgh Steelers, my cats Lucy and Garfield, and the Food Network.

I will not be good at posting consistently but hopefully you'll come check this place out now and then. That's it for now but I'll be back soon!