It seems like every time I look at the calendar, time has just FLOWN. We are gearing up for another visit from Ohio next week, and then two weeks after that Joel's contract is DONE here in Midland!!! That means we will be headed somewhere new, and I have to say we are both pretty pumped about it. Somewhere like Midland is okay for a little while, but can wear on you. It's pretty isolated out here, and I think we are both just looking forward to a change of scenery. The travel therapy process gets a little nerve racking towards the end of a contract because you typically don't know where you're headed next until a week or two before hand! I get in crazy-stressed mode, but it always works out so hopefully one day I'll learn to chill out about it (: We are taking a week off to go on a little vacation before our next assignment and I'm CRAZY excited about it! More on that later though!

One of my favorite things about February so far was the heart shaped pizza we got for Valentine's Day!! I have ALWAYS wanted to get one, so it was a VDay dream come true for me! We got ours from Papa Murphy's and it was delicious (even if it gave me severe heart burn after...)

ANYWAYS. who else LOVES their crockpot!?!? I try to make really healthy meals for us during the week. I look for low carbs, low sodium, lots of vegetables, good sources of protein, etc. We tend to eat what we want on the weekends, so eating healthy during the week is important to us, because BALANCE. Cooking in the crockpot is a great way to encourage healthy eating for us during the week because by the time evening rolls around, and we go to the gym, etc. I never feel like cooking a healthy meal. And more than once we have stopped by the Subway next to our gym because of that! haha!

The biggest challenge for me is finding recipes that don't have a lot of ingredients, mainly not a lot of spices. Because we move every 3 to 6 months, I try really hard to only buy spices (and condiments) that I'm going to use consistently. I love using seasonings packets, but some of them just have SO much sodium! The struggle is real here, but I HAVE been able to find several recipes that don't require a million spices and are decently healthy that I make frequently!

So for February's Friday Favorites I wanted to share some of my favorite crockpot recipes! Check them out below! And if YOU have a favorite healthy crockpot recipe, send it my way! We love trying new recipes!

-CHICKEN TACOS/QUESEDILLAS

I make this one all of the time because it's easy, so delicious, and can be varied a lot of different ways! Joel and I usually only eat one quesadilla each for dinner, then have left overs for lunch the next day. So this recipe feeds 3-4 people approximately. (depending on how hungry your people are!) We usually have this with blue corn chips and salsa or a small side salad.

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 frozen chicken breast or 4 tenderloins (I use the tenderloins because I have a little crockpot)

-1 jar of your favorite salsa

-1/2 low sodium taco seasoning packet

- 1 lime

-whatever kind of taco shells you like

OPTIONAL:

-1/2 can no salt added corn (kernels) (drained)

-1/2 can no salt added (or low sodium) black beans (or pinto, whatever you like) (drained)

- 2% cheese, shredded

-1 small avocado

- plain yogurt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cover bottom of crockpot with a little bit of your salsa.

2. Add chicken.

3. Add taco seasonings, rest of salsa, and juice from lime.

4. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or LOW for 8 hours. *The last hour or 30 mins, I take the chicken out, shred it, return to crock pot, stir, then continue cooking.

5.*OPTIONAL* the last hour of cooking, add corn and beans.

6. Serve in taco shells! *We usually make ours into quesadillas, so I warm two multi grain tortilla shells in a skillet (on low/medium) then add my chicken mixture and cheese. Heat until both sides are golden brown and cheese is melted*

7. Serve with avocado and the yogurt (which replaces sour cream) on top!

Holly's Peperoncini Chicken

I'm totally calling it this because I didn't know an actual name for it, so Joel has just been asking when we are having "Holly's chicken" again. haha!!! One of my best friends' momma sent me this recipe to try and we LOVED it. It's different from the stuff I usually make which is definitely a perk, and also crockpot so it's VERY easy! I made a veggie medley (with veggies I had just leftover in the fridge) to go with it, and I'm doing the same thing next week when I make it again, with garlic bread. I just mixed the veggies together with olive oil, seasoned them, and then baked them! Such an easy meal and so tasty. Thanks for the recipe, Holly!!

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 frozen chicken breast or 4 tenderloins (I use the tenderloins because I have a little crockpot)

-1/4 packet of McCormick dry turkey gravy mix

-1/4 packet of dry ranch seasoning

-2 tbs of olive oil

-1/2 cup of water

-5 whole Mezzetta peperoncinis

DIRECTIONS:

Put chicken in crockpot.
Add gravy mix, ranch seasoning, olive oil, and water to crockpot.
Add peperoncinis.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Turkey Chili

Chili is one of Joel's FAVORITE meals, so we have this a lot. I feel like just about everyone knows how to make chili, but also that there are a lot of different ways to make it! This is (basically) how my mom makes it, so it's how I always make it! (she makes a small batch of meatless for herself though) Her special ingredient is a baby-can of V8 original (I buy the low sodium) and she'll probably be mad at me for sharing that (; I make mine with ground turkey, and I always brown a whole pound of it (with chili powder) then freeze half of it for another batch of chili later. One batch always still gives us leftovers for lunch the next day! The chili powder I've been using lately is from a local farmer's market and I LOVE it! And we always have ours with Jiffy cornbread muffins, and sometimes we add a little shredded cheese to our bowls. What do you eat with your chili??