Here’s a bit of a mish mash post for you.
Hooray for another heat wave – not! It’s sad when you have to turn the AC on in the morning because the temp rises so fast. It’s not raining, though. At least there is that right now.
I did get out for an early ride to beat the heat…sort of. Here is your moment of zen:
Must keep this pic in mind.
Work has still been crazy pell-mell. It’s nonstop and behind. It’s like trying to climb up a muddy hillside. Slogging up the hill almost to the top and sliding back down. They are hiring some new people, so hopefully that will help, but it gets stressful to be so behind for so long. I already work 2.5 times the minimum requirement by the company, so I can’t really do much more.
Ever since Phoenix was here, Pixie has made the upper cupboards her new hang out spot. We were putting away groceries and there she was.
This is the shelf to put stuff out of my reach – note the cereal up there 🙂
We had that one cooler day on Saturday and I was able to get out and weed the garden for the first time in a while. With all the rain it is looking good!
Now it will get weedy again this week with the heat 😀
I finally tried a really easy meal fix that I have been meaning to do for a while.
Salsa Chicken!
It’s so easy. You just need a jar of salsa and chicken breasts and a crockpot.
We tried this salsa:
I only used about half of this jar. Maybe a cup and a half of salsa.
- Salsa of choice – 1 to 1-1/2 cups
- 1.5 pounds of boneless chicken breast
- 1 crockpot
Add half of the salsa to the crockpot. Then add the chicken and cover with the rest of the salsa:
Cover and cook on low for about 3.5 hours. These were fresh chicken breasts, so they didn’t take long. I think if you use frozen you could do about 6 hours.
Shred the chicken and return it to the pot. I decided to use a little cornstarch and water to tighten up the salsa.
Served with cheese and sour cream:
John put his in some flour tortillas.
Then I had some more on a baked potato with a laughing cow wedge for lunch today:
It’s very tasty! You can make it as hot and spicy as you like by the salsa you buy. I bet it would be good with a fruity kind of salsa, too – like peach!
It’s nice because it makes extra and doesn’t heat up the kitchen, and with it being super easy – what’s not to love?
I love my slow cooker and my new pressure cooker – great for keeping the house cool on these hot summer days.
Pixie is too funny all the way up there hiding out!She has a good view of what’s going on from up there too.
I have garden envy. The heat wave did my flowers in and I am trying to nurse them back to good health.
I haven’t used my pressure cooker in a long time! I need to get that back out.
All the rain we had (annoying as it was) has helped the garden stay pretty fresh looking. Not sure how it will look towards the end of the week, though.
Sounds like a delicious meal! I made some homemade tomatillo salsa the other day that would work perfectly in this recipe.
How did your cat get WAY UP THERE!? Super talented.
Your flowers are looking gorgeous. Come to Florida and save mine please!
I actually have never seen Pixie get up there, and not sure I want to LOL! I have seen her come down and that is bad enough 😀
Wow! You said exactly what I was thinking–it would be great with some pineapple or mango salsa from TJ’s!!
The garden does look good. You made me buy some more plants today! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I found an empty spot in my garden bed that I need to fill. I managed to avoid the plant auction last week at one of the garden centers, but it’s calling to me!
Gotta love an easy chicken recipe like that salsa crockpot one – and it looks yummy!
Your garden does look beautiful – out here by July, most everything is stickly and nearly dead. Hope your heatwave breaks soon!
All the rain has helped the garden this year. Plus I put down new mulch. The weeds still love it, though.
Pixie continues to delight and amaze! I tried a similar chicken crockpot recipe last week, and it was delicious! Love my crockpot! Stay cool.
The crockpot is such a great appliance, isn’t it?
The salsa chicken is one of my go-to meals. I ate it for four meals last week. (I add beans to mine to stretch the meat a bit. The past four meals have been bbq chicken, and I have chicken with marinara sauce in my crockpot for a little Italian diversion. I’m global with my crockpot chicken recipes. LOL
Cammy The Continental!
That is one of my favorite go-to crock pot meals!! Looking through the comments, I want to try Cammy’s way with the marinara sauce next time – would be great with some pasta!!!
Your cat is funny way up on that cabinet.
And, again, I think your garden is gorgeous!!!
Thank you! I love my garden, too. It’s very informal – pretty much like me 😀
Love all the Frontera salsas! Your chicken looks great – I’m a nut for anything like that I can put in a tortilla or turn into nachos!
My go to chicken recipe for the crock pot is bottle of your fav barbecue sauce, 4tsp of yellow mustard, 1/3 cup peach preserves…mix together….slice an onion , cover the bottom of crock pot with slice onion …lay chicken on top……pour barbecue mixture on top , turn it on high, put the lid on and forget about it for 4 hours……(Me i can’t help but stir it together about halfway thru cooking time) Your Salsa chicken sounds yummy Lori! Hugs! deb
Dinner looks good and so easy.
We don’t have a heat wave but we have a long period of warm weather behind and in front of us. It’s been years since we had this: a couple of weeks of real Summer weather. It’s not too hot for me right now so I’m loving it.
I planned to weed the garden next Saturday. I don’t like gardening as much as you do 🙂 (as you know) and I always need to plan when I weed because of that. Otherwise it doesn’t happen. The garden looks beautiful.
We usually get some sort of hot spell, but this is going on the second one. We certainly see a lot of all kinds of weather up here from really cold to really hot!
For those of us who prefer to be doing things other than cooking, that crockpot recipe is a real winner. One jar/bottle of something, one meat, one crockpot! I’ve done it many, many ways and have never had a failure. I do like you idea about the cornstarch to thicken and I love Cammy’s idea about stretching with some beans. Love the garden!
I love the crockpot. It makes life easy, particularly when you remember to actually use it LOL!
I CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW HOT IT IS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!!
and here I wore a down jacket yesterday.
Pixie is too funny! Maybe she found your stash & wants it now! 😉
Love the moment of zen AND the recipe – I don’t have a crockpot though! 🙁
As a former transcriptionist, I am curious as to what you mean as your company’s minimum. Does this refer to the amount of lines required per day?
We are independent contractors, but we are contracted to do a certain number of lines per pay period. You can do more than that, but not less.
Oh OK.
Thanks
I love crockpot salsa chicken. I add black beans, corn, and some taco seasoning to mine. Makes a ton with plenty for lefotvers!
Pixie is too funny! My friend’s Maine coon does that!
I love crockpot recipes that are this simple. I’m definitely trying this.
Awww…sweet little Pixie!!!
I’m doing the same thing tonight…on this hot, steamy night. I’m making crockpot country ribs for the hubby, mum and dad. It doesn’t matter that we have air conditioning, when the oven goes on, it heats everything up.
That chicken looks great !
Oooh, I like that recipe. I like the peach salsa idea, I’ve got peaches to beat the band.