A Weekend in November

We had beautiful weather in low 70s on Friday and Saturday. Friday afternoon was perfect for
perusing a few pages of a library book under a tree, that is if your toddler will play by herself. We enjoyed playing together outside for a little bit though.

Saturday my friend Phoebe took me to a cute little town near the mountains. It had a historic downtown with darling shops. (I did a little Christmas shopping.) The leaves were falling like rain. It was so pretty! I ate a soup and sandwich at a little diner, and later in the afternoon we headed to the house of Phoebe's mother-in-law. The house was amazing. They designed and built the house themselves, the outside covered in river rocks. There was even a stone gazebo that can only be entered by climbing in the windows. Very fun and such beautiful scenery with a secret garden and all surrounded by woods. The drive there was my favorite part of the day, so peaceful riding over the rolling hills. We had a very nice day! My husband was so nice to watch Lily for the day so I could enjoy time with a friend. It's always so refreshing.

I have chicken and vegetables in the crockpot, and the smell is making me hungry. Here's the recipe. It's very easy and tasty. The best part is you can make two meals of it- soup the second day.

Crockpot Chicken

2 carrots, sliced

2 onions, sliced

2 celery ribs, cut in 1-inch pieces

2-3 potatoes, quartered

3 lb. chicken or 3 chicken breasts

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 c. chicken broth

Place vegetables in the bottom of a slow cooker and then chicken on top. Add seasonings and chicken broth. Cover. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or on High for 3 1/2 to 5 hours. (Use 1 cup chicken broth if you cook on high.)

Chicken Soup

Take remaining crockpot chicken and vegetabes (I leave out the potatoes for the soup) and add the rest of a 28oz. box of chicken broth. You may need to shred the chicken with fork and knife. It will be very tender. Add around 2 Tbsp. dried parsely flakes. Add egg noodles (1/2 a bag). Cook until noodles are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! I like to take this meal to new moms with the noodles and parsley in a bag so they can make soup the next day. It's adapted from the cookbook Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.