Crazy Weeks Call for Easy Recipes!

The past two weeks have been nothing less than crazy at school and the Hayes' household. From getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule to having strep throat twice in a matter of twelve days, it seems like I am running 90 miles an hour every single day just to stay an inch ahead. I knew that becoming an AP Language teacher was going to be a challenge, I just didn't know that it would consume my every thought almost every day. I spend many nights and early mornings studying my AP lessons, so I often get behind on so many things in my "real" life. Because I love schedules, calendars, and lists, I hate it when my list for each day doesn't get finished and it pours over into the next day. Unfortunately, cooking and grocery shopping sometimes gets pushed to the bottom of my weekly lists. 

Cooking at least 3-4 times a week is one of my top priorities in my "real" life. I really love to cook, but I don't always have time in the evenings to cook super-involved meals. I am very blessed in that my dear husband, Justin, knows his way around the kitchen and is always willing to help with dinner, but I really enjoy being the "cook" at our house. We make it a priority to eat dinner together at minimum of four nights a week, so that we can discuss our daily lives and just enjoy each other's company. As a result of my new crazy-hectic schedule, I have been researching new and easy ways to cook a healthy and balanced dinner for us that doesn't require hours of prep or pre-planning. One of my latest finds has truly changed my cooking life! Here are a couple of recipes/tips that have revolutionized my meal planning: 

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

I have seen numerous Pinterest pins with this idea, but have always been afraid to try it for absolutely no reason at all! I don't know if it just seemed "to-good-to-be-true" or that I just didn't want to change my potato-cooking ways. Here is how it works: 

Ingredients: 

3-4 large baking potatoes (or sweet potatoes!)

aluminum foil

kosher salt

olive oil 

Step 1: Wash and dry the potatoes

Step 2: Spray/cover in olive oil, then add a little pinch of salt to cover the potatoes

Step 3: Wrap in aluminum foil

Step 4: Place in crock pot (they can be arranged on top of one another!) 

Step 5: Cook on low for 7-8 hours

The potatoes I made last night were soooo wonderful! They were cooked just right and were easy to serve right out of the crock pot. I had put my barbecue chicken freezer meal in my other crock pot, so when I got home, all that I had to do was remove my potatoes, shred my chicken, and serve it up as a "chicken in a potato patch!" They were de-lish!

Justin's Quick and Easy Biscuits

As I said earlier, I have had strep throat twice in a matter of 12 days. Justin was not going to let me or himself go hungry, so he took over the cooking duties a couple of times last week. One night, he decided to make breakfast-for-dinner and whip up some quick and easy biscuits. They were so good! 

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup of butter (cut up)

2c self-rising flour

3/4 cup of buttermilk

1 tbsp butter melted

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425

Place flour and cut-up butter in a bowl. Using a knife or fork, blend together butter and flour until mixture is crumbly with large chunks of butter. 

Stir in buttermilk 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead several times. 

Pat or roll out to 1/2 or 3/4 inch thickness. 

Cut with a 2 1/2 inch cutter or a simple cup will do! 

Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes

Once biscuits are cooked, glaze melted butter on top