Greek Chicken Pita Filling

a while back i mentioned this recipe and said i would share it.  now i am finally remembering to to do it!  i got this recipe from the "fix-it and forget it: feasting with your slow cooker" 2009 calendar (thanks gram!).

ingredients

1 onion, chopped

1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (i used chx breasts)

1 tsp lemon pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 C plain yogurt

directions

1.  combine first three ingredients in slow cooker (i actually just covered each chicken breast with the lemon pepper as we like lots of flavor..and it was yummy!).  cover and cook on low 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender.

2.  just before serving, remove chicken and shred with two forks.

3.  add shredded chicken back into slow cooker and stir in oregano and yogurt.

4.  serve as a filling for pita bread.

i actually doubled the recipe and it was plenty for us with a tad left over.  enjoy!!

i also wanted to share a couple of delicious recipes i found online recently.

this dip.  it looks a little funny when it's put together, but it's oh so delicious!!

and this hot potato salad...scrumptious!

10 Smile Wednesday

i know it has been so long since i posted again.  i just can't seem to keep up.  also, my camera battery died and i cannot find my camera dock/charger anywhere!  it's so frustrating.  i am missing out on so many pictures.  and the pictures generally help me remember a lot of smiles.  anyway...here are some things i've been smiling about...

1.  sweet kisses.  kisses between my precious girls.  leila giving them to nadia.  liberty giving them to nadia.  nadia trying to kiss back.  oh so sweet.

2.  flowers.  jonathan came home from work one night with flowers for me.  it was a nice little treat after a particularly rough night with the girls.

3.  mops started back up last week. 

4.  finally getting a land line phone hooked up.

5.  the huge, beautiful smiles nadia gives me after i give her kisses.  oh how i love it!

6.  a teething necklace.  it's made with baltic amber and really seems to be helping leila and nadia.

7.  a labor day picnic...lots of yummy good, conversation and games (particularly ladder ball...has anyone else played this game?  oh my i think i might be a tad addicted!).

8.  the library.  books to read for free...enough said. :)

9.  homemade strawberry rhubarb jam.  it was my first attempt at jam and i must say it is oh so yummy! 

10.  learning so many new things studying the Bible (in sabbath school, on my own, with my hubby, etc).  it's really amazing when God opens your eyes and mind to things you'd never noticed before.

11.  liberty's "school" workbook.  i picked up an age-appropriate work book for liberty because she's so interested in school and trying to write with me, etc.  last night when the girls said their prayers she prayed about doing her school book.  she's so excited about it (hopefully that will continue).

12.  a blissful 2 hour uninterrupted nap yesterday afternoon thanks to my wonderful hubby.  nadia has been up in the night frequently to eat recently and leila is just not sleeping well lately for some reason, so i have been so so tired.  yesterday when nadia went down for a nap jonathan told me to take one as well...so i did.  it was soooo nice!

13 Smile Wednesday

1.  my cousin david & rachel's wedding.  i love weddings.  a time of publicly declaring your love and commitment to the one God has blessed you with...such a beautiful time.  and of course seeing lots of family i haven't seen in a long time is a definite smile!  oh, and we can't forget the dancing...liberty and daniel were loving that part!

2.  leila's nap.  the other day i had to take liberty to the doctor and i took nadia with me.  leila stayed home with daddy.  jonathan was doing some schoolwork on the computer and leila was playing quietly on the porch (it's enclosed).  jonathan noticed it had gotten quiet so he went to check on leila and found her sleeping in bed with her taggy and blanket.  apparently she was tired and decided to put herself down for a nap.  cute, eh?

3.  God's provision...and really, this should be posted first.  we are so very thankful for God's hand in a situation that came up this last week.  we were feeling pretty stressed about it and not sure what we were going to do, but as always, God provided an answer and we breathed a sigh of relief.

4.  a family picnic.  jonathan had to work 7 days in a row last week, so on his first day off we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park and have a little family fun time.  as it turned out, it was a cooler day, so it make it that much more enjoyable!

 

5.  blueberry apple pie.  yum!

6.  greek chicken filled pitas.  something about food this week, lol!  i tried this recipe for dinner this week and it was oh so yummy.  i'll be sure to post the recipe when i get the chance. 

7.  the other day we saw a butterfly outside of our house.  it was so pretty i just had to take a picture.

8.  nadia is starting to crawl AND pull herself up on furniture.  she is growing way too fast, that's for certain. 

 

9.  baby lilah.  we made dinner for my cousin joe & laura and liberty was just itching to go see their new baby.  she was so excited to hold her.  and so was i.  there's just something about a brand new baby.  God's intricate work on display.

10.  learning more and more about all the natural things around us that help with the little and big things of life.  for instance, did you know that sunflower seeds can help with allergy symptoms?  by eating 2 ounces a day you are getting a whole's days serving of vitamin E, which turns off the parts of your immune system that trigger allergy symptoms/hay fever.  isn't that amazing?  i find it fascinating to learn about all these things that God has created to naturally take care of different things in our lives.

11.  corn.  we were given some fresh-from-the-garden corn this week from some friends.  let me tell you, this has got to be some of the BEST corn i have ever eaten...seriously! 

12.  and last, i am certainly smiling about the arrival of amanda's sweet new baby girl.  congratulations amanda & family!!

A long overdue post

i'm so sorry for the lack of posts.  i just can't seem to keep up with hubby, kids, unpacking, laundry, and cleaning house, let alone blogging!  the days just seem to run together.  i've taken a ton of photos, but will try to share just a few for now.  we're in our own place again and that is so nice.  it seems like the unpacking is never-ending despite the fact we really do not own much (we fit all of our belongings in a 5x9 uhaul trailer, the car trunk, and the back of a jimmy when moving back to michigan).  we've been beyond blessed by family, friends and strangers alike.  they've given us support, housewarming gifts, furniture and lots of love.  it's amazing, really. 

jonathan is keeping very busy.  he's working now for a kroger fuel center and looking for something part-time as well.  he is also still taking classes online toward his bachelor's degree and taking some real estate courses toward his real estate license.  plus being a husband, father and doing a lot around our place.  i'm so proud of him and all his hard work!

the girls are busy busy busy.  enjoying having a room they don't have to share with daddy and mama.  leila is now sleeping in a big girl bed (read: twin bed).  she seems to be doing well with that.  haven't really gotten bedtime down quite right yet.  it seems to take libbs and leila close to an hour to finally lay quietly in bed until they go to sleep (they are jumping on the beds, getting out of bed, playing with the curtains, etc...).  any tips are welcome!  nadia is 6 months old now...i can hardly believe it!  oh there are so many things i could say about the girls...but for now i'll share some pictures.

my three little cuties (this photo is from TODAY!)

fun with play-doh (yes, leila did try to eat it!)

lilah rose, born august 12, to my cousin joe & wife laura

 

my new doo, which i LOVE!  even better is that a friend i grew up with cut my hair and we were able to catch up a bit :)

 

more pictures of my girlies...oh how i love them!

 

seeing dear friends at a baby shower

delicious veggies straight from my bff's parent's garden!

matching pink cloth diapers (and of course libbs wanted in the pics, too!)

ok, if you made it this far...thanks!  i know there are so many pictures, but it's hard to pick a few when it's been so long since i've posted.  from top to bottom, thise pictures go from most recent to from the time i last posted.  i hope to try to squeeze in a little time to post more often :).

10 Smile Tuesday

1.  libbs and magnadoodles.  this girl LOVES to draw on the magnadoodle…and she’s getting so good at drawing stick people.  she amazes me.

2.  an afternoon in frankenmuth.  on friday we (the girls and i) went up to frankenmuth with my mom, my sister and my nephews to spend the afternoon at the park with my gram.  we had such a great time visiting and playing.

3.  nadia’s first swing ride (which she had at the park in frankenmuth).  at first she was scared, as you can see from the picture, but then she seemed to like it.

4.  trying to get a pic of all 5 kiddies.  definitely something that’s hard to accomplish, but it was fun to try.

5.  a trip to the library.  jonathan and i decided to brave a trip to the library with the 3 girls.  they did well.  jonathan and i were able to scour the books for a bit and we picked up some books for the girls as well.  they love having some new stories to read.

6.  rocking with memaw.  the girls and i hung out at my mom’s for a few hours the other day and nadia was soooo cranky.  memaw rocked her and i thought it was so sweet. 

7.  nadia had her first hair trimming.  the front of her hair seems to naturally hang nicely across her forehead, but her hair was starting to hang in her eyes.  i’ve tried brushing it to the side, but it falls back down every time.  i can’t believe she already needed a trimming at not quite 6 months.  and it makes her look a little bit older (sniff, sniff). 

8.  jonathan got his first graded essay back this week and got a perfect score!  i’m so proud of him and how hard he’s working on his schooling.

9.  edy’s swiss orange sherbet.  oh my, this is sooo good!  it’s orange sherbet with dark chocolate square pieces in it.  just the right amount of sweet and chocolate…yum!

10.  my little dinner helper leila.  she helped me put together a casserole this week and just loved it!  and the casserole was so much taster knowing those sweet little hands helped make it.

11.  and a bonus smile…2 good nights of sleep this week.  (meaning the kids went down good and we weren’t woke up much…sharing a room with all 3 of your children is definitely not an ideal way to sleep!).

12.  oh yes, and i can’t forget teaching liberty and daniel how to roll down hills like a log.  i remember rolling down hills as a kid and having sooo much fun.  it’d been years since i’d done that.  it was fun, but i was nauseous when we were finished.  libbs and daniel had fun.  although they looked more like they were tumbling down the hill rather than rolling.  liberty wanted to do it over and over and over again!