Busy Mom Meal, Take 2! Barbecue Chicken.

The sun is out!  After several days of grey, the sun finally starting showing itself yesterday.  And apparently, it's here to stay for a while.

Days like this always make me think of summer.  Iced tea, lemonade, watermelons, water balloon fights and barbecue chicken.

Okay, mostly barbecue chicken.

(I'm pregnant.  I can't help that my mind gravitates towards food!)

I just looooooove barbecue chicken.  But these days, I'm just too lazy busy to spend all that time making normal barbecue chicken.  This "busyness" doesn't prevent me from enjoying my favorite summer time food, though!

Oh, delicious barbecue chicken.  You make my mouth water just looking at you.

Okay, so this amazing meal took me about 5 minutes to prepare.  The kids devoured it, my husband loved it and anyone that step foot in my house couldn't help but comment on how delicious my home smelled.

5 minutes of prep time for the kind of reaction can't be beat.

(Someone, somewhere is saying "Sure it can! Make it 4 minutes.")

How did I do it?  I cheated.  With my crock pot.

All I did was dump a package of boneless, skinless thighs in my crock pot, add a bottle of barbecue sauce and turned it on low for 8 hours.  Perfect "make in the morning" meal.  My new favorite thing to do?  Wrap corn on the cob in foil and pop it in the slow cooker with the chicken about 2 hours before it's done.

Now, I like to use boneless, skinless chicken for one reason.  After being cooked for soooo long, it's gets so tender that it shreds very easily.  And makes for the most awesome next day lunch ever.  Shred it and put it on a kaiser roll and try it.  Delicious. I guarantee you won't be able to stop at one.

Or maybe you will.  I could be the only one who could live on bbq chicken sandwiches.

But seriously.  Who wouldn't love to live off of that?

Pinterest Pick! DIY Felt Matching Game

I'm late!  So, yesterday I ended up having to spend some time at the dr.  Turns out I over reacted (as usual) and in turn, missed my Pinterest Pick.

Yeah.

So this week, I'm going to share an activity I found that's not only fun to make but educational as well!  My two kids helped put this together and have played with it since.  (Even though it's probably meant for younger ones...)

So Dandee at Dandee-designs.com made an amazing felt and wood matching game.  Sure, you can buy a matching game with at any store but this is SO MUCH BETTER.  

The awesome thing about this craft is that while a tutorial is provided at Dandee Design, you do not need one.  Turns out I made mine a little differently than the blogger that originally made these.

These are the supplies I used.  Oh. And Fabric Glue.  But I'm sure that you could use hot glue or tacky glue  The wood disks are easily obtainable at any craft store.  I found my bag of 22 at Michaels.

All you have to do is cut shapes out of felt and glue them to the disks. Easy easy.  

I chose to do basic shapes but the possibilities are endless. Animals, bugs, letters... I'm even thinking that it would be fun to mod podge pictures of familiar faces on these things.  (Who'd have thought that wooden disks would be so fun?)

Oh!  And I chose to match the colors of the shapes.  That way it's not just matching shapes but colors as well.

Seriously, how cute is this? And it's so cheap to make!  The disks were 2.99 for a package of 22. The felt is .29 a sheet. You only need a little bit so I'm guessing you'll already have it in your stash.  If you don't, don't be afraid to play with other ideas.  Paper, other fabrics, paint... Seriously, the possibilities are endless.

So there it is! And here's a Valentines Day tip! Make small sets to send with the preschooler you know that's having a Valentine's Day Party. You could include a note that says "We make a great match, Valentine!"

(I'm all about anti candy crafty Valentines favors)

In fact, be ready for a Valentines post this week.  With Vday just around the corner, we all need some last minute ideas.

Happy Tuesday!

Pinterest Pick of the Week!

Ah, Monday.  And not just any Monday.  It's the very first week of the Pinterest Pick of the week. Oh, do I have a gem for you!

So not long ago, I was doing what I do best and browsing pinterest.  Not really looking for anything in particular, I came across a pin for something called a "Mind Jar."

(Tada! A Mind Jar!)

The Mind Jar is literally a glittery fluid filled jar.  Almost snow globe like.  According to the blogger, she uses this as a replacement for time outs.  Whenever there's a tantrum or some upset, she shakes the jar and the child is to sit and watch the glitter fall to the bottom.  It should take about five minutes for it all to settle.  By the end of that time, the child is calm/distracted from the original issues.

Sounds pretty awesome, right?  I thought so too.  Luckily, the original blogger posted abit of a tutorial for this awesome idea.  Hot water, a tube of glitter glue and glitter combined in a jar will create the mind jar.

And there's no science behind it.  Seriously.  I just added without measuring anything.  

I added blue food coloring to my water because, well, I like blue. But feel free to add whatever color you want. Or don't. It's all up to you.  So this is my "Mind Jar" all non shaken like.

And here it is all shaken up!  

Beautiful.  And believe it or not, it works!  Anytime there's any anxiety in the house, the Mind Jar is shaken up and watched.  The kids tend to get impatient waiting for it to settle but they always end up calming right down. Maybe it should be a Calm Down Jar? 

It definitely should be... Even Jon and I use it just to recenter when we get over whelmed.

(We use it more than the children, honestly.)

I'm giving this Pinterest a 2 thumbs up.  Even if you DON'T have children, this is an amazing tool for calming. And it's way pretty to look at.

Want to make your own?  Head over to Herewearetogether.com for a basic tutorial.  And if you do, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know if I'm the only one entranced by the awesomely awesome Mind Jar.