What's Cookin' -- Crockpot Whole Chicken

Check this link from A Year of Slow Cooking for the best tasting crockpot chicken I've made yet.

Curtains for a Little Girl's Room

In my search for curtains for our new house, I discovered something.  Kid's curtains are not usually room darkening.  And room darkening curtains aren't that interesting.  We painted our walls an off-white, so I really wanted to do something with color (and fun) on the curtains, especially in our 2-year-old's room.  Our budget for window treatments was not very big. And room darkening curtains were the only option becuase the sun sets in her room and there is a very bright street light outside her window.

I asked worker at Bed Bath and Beyond if they had anything "girly" that was room darkening.  She said no, but they had sheers that were "girly".  And she suggested putting the sheers on the outside of a white room darkening curtain.  Genius, I thought.  We were already using some beige room darkening curtains that I couldn't figure out where to put in the new house with the white walls.  I purchased some sheers at JCPenny on friends and family day.   We bought a double rod from Bed Bath and Beyond (used a coupon) and put the room darkening curtains behind the sheers.  In the day we open the room darkening curtains leaving the fun girly curtains closed and at night (and nap) we close the room darkening curtains to keep the light out.  The cost was just under $50 with reusing the old curtains.

No-Bake Chocolate Crunchies

Here's a yummy toddler (and adult) snack posted on my other blog!

Simple Thanksgiving Craft

Here's a really simply sign you can make.  I just used poster board that I had and paint that we use for finger-painting.

I used foam letters that you can find pretty cheap at Walmart or the Dollar Store.  Then we simply stamped the letters with paint to say "Happy Thanksgiving."  My daughter was really patient as she helped me stamp the sign, so I let her put one finger in the paint and put leaves on the sign.  After we finished this craft, I had some extra paper ready so she could paint at will.  I always have something extra in case she's not done when I am. She also colored a turkey that we glued to the sign.

What we focused on: working together, patience, letters, letter sounds, turkeys, thanksgiving and enjoyment.

This could be easily done for other signs or other projects.

Aveeno Coupon Giveaway -- Closed winners e-mailed

I recently became a Bzzz Agent .

I was sent a sample of Aveeno's Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo and some diaper cream samples.  And some coupons to hand out.  I have 2 coupons left and 2 lucky winners will win a $1/1 any Aveeno product. First read my thoughts on Aveeno products!

Here is what I think of Aveeno in general and then my reviews of the products.  My 2-year-old daughter (who has food allergies) has sensitive skin. From about six months to just a little over a year she had really bad eczema.  It was hard to control, but I did find some simple solutions that worked for us.  The main bath product we use for her is Aveeno. It was the only product  that worked for her sensitive baby skin that didn't cost and arm and a leg.  It would have been so nice to have her smell all lavendary, but to watch her skin breakout was not nice at all.  We haven't tried anything else since she was six months olds.  We use the creamy wash for her and I was excited to try the Aveeno Baby Essential Moisture  Shampoo.  It was a little different from the creamy wash, and I worried that it had a light fragrance.  But it washed her hair really well and didn't cause any breakouts.  Which leads me to diaper rash.

I quickly learned that diaper creams have fragrence in them adding to the diaper rash problem.  If you can smell them, then there is fragrence -- no question.  Aveeno makes a really good (fragrance-free) diaper cream -- Soothing Relief Diaper Rash Cream.  When my daughter was younger, again during the six month to 18 month range, I would use vaseline on every diaper change and double up with Aveeno diaper rash cream on rashes.  Creams that swear to clear up in one use are just too good to be true.  The truth is that diaper rash is caused by a reaction, whether it's teething, diaper cream, the diaper itself, illness, food allergy/sensitivity or something else it.  So unless the reaction is under control, which may take a day or four the diaper rash will be there.  I found that Aveeno diaper cream helps soothe the rashy area, and I would never think about using anything else.

Aveeno is not that costly, and I often can find it on sale.  When it's on sale I search high and low for a coupon (or just save coupons for a sale).  Sometimes Target even has a store coupon that I can combine with a manufacturer coupon.  Aveeno also lasts a long time because we don't use a lot at one time because it is so concentrated.  Yes, it would be nice to have Dora bath bubble to make bathtime more fun, but that's what the toys are for.  Soap is for cleaning and should not cause a reaction.

Check out my advice for turning Aveeno Creamy Wash into foam soap!

Now, onto the giveaway.  All you need to do is leave a comment with an e-mail or link to your blog. Share a tip about kids and sensitive skin if you wish.  There will be two winners winners of a $1/1 any Aveeno product coupon.  Winners be drawn from random.org will be announced and e-mailed November 30.  Good luck!

What's Cookin' -- Chicken Puffs

I actually was given this recipe from Kate and her Stolen Moments Planning Service.  But I did a search to see that it's a pretty common recipe.  Here's a link to a recipe chicken puffs.  I (as I often do) changed the recipe a little.  I love that this will reheat well and be a good lunch.

Chicken Puffs

1 to 2 cups precooked chicken
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp butter
4 oz cream cheese
3 4oz packages of crescent rolls (you can buy larger packages, of course)

1. Melt butter on medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic.  Cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken for 2 to 3 minutes longer.
4. Blend together cream cheese and chicken.  I use my Kitchen Aid for ease.
5. Open crescent rolls into rectangles (two triangles).
6. Place large spoonful of chicken mixture in center of each rectangles.
7. Roll into ball.
8. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 325 degrees.

Check out ore great recipes at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Easy Holiday craft

We made this craft today from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman's blog -- my favorite blog for crafts!  Lots of fun and looks really good.  I let my daughter put the pieces anywhere.  We focused on following directions and doing a craft together.