Slow Cooker Saturday: Philly Cheese Chicken Sandwiches

We had family in town for Labor Day Weekend.

There was card playing, a shrimp feast, golf, rain, more golf, shopping, and much much more. All crammed in a few days.

I love cooking when we have guests. Sometimes I go a little overboard. I just really like entertaining guests, and feeding them is kind of the funnest part.

Sometimes though there is so much fun planned that to cook a giant meal doesn't really work out for me. Believe me I have tried. That is when I am oh-so-tardily serving dinner at 8:30. Lovely.

I got all smart with my guests this time. I planned a slow cooker meal for one of the days.

A slow cooker kind of saves my fanny on a weekly basis.

So Sunday, we had these Philly Cheese Chicken Sandwiches.

Let me tell you people...

YUM! I mean seriously YUM!!

When we walked in the house after three hours of church, we all stopped and inhaled a long slow breath. Then we looked at each other and declared how glorious the awaiting dinner smelled. Even Oldest agreed.

The chicken is seasoned perfectly and pairs fabulously with the peppers and onions. I love the mixture of green AND red peppers. Red peppers add just a hint of sweetness. The smoky provolone cheese melts over the top of  the chicken and peppers and makes it a delightfully cheesy sandwich.

How can you  make it better? Well slap it on a pretzel hoagie bun. Bam. Yah I just stepped up this sandwich's game.

This sandwich was a major hit. I even remember seeing my dad soaking up every last bit of filling with extra bits of roll. Yeah he cleaned his plate completely off.

That good, friends. That good.

 

You won't be disappointed that you put this in your weekly rotation. Promise!

Enjoy your slow cooker! Happy Saturday!

Philly Cheese Chicken Sandwiches

adapted from What's Cooking in the Burbs

Printable Recipe

3 chicken breasts, cut into slices
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
3 Tablespoons Montreal Chicken seasoning
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 slices provolone cheese
pretzel hoagie buns or rolls

Coat the bottom of the slow cooker with olive oil. Add in the onions and peppers. Toss to coat with oil.

In a separate bowl, coat the chicken with the Montreal seasoning.

Add the chicken on top of the vegetables.

Cover and cook for 6 hours on low. At the last 30 minutes, uncover and add the sliced provolone over the top. Cover and let cook for the last 30 minutes.

Scoop out onto the pretzel hoagies. Before putting on the top of the hoagie, season the top of the chicken mixture with seasoning salt.

Serve with a side of fries.

Call it a day! A wonderful day at that!

Happy eating!!

 

First Day of School and Duck Tape Grade Numbers

If you follow me on Instagram (hey and if you don't follow me well then you should just go ahead and follow @larissa_anotherday--just sayin'), you know school started this week. In fact, this is the second time I am mentioning the start of school on the blog this week.

Yeah, I am kind of excited about it.

I love the start of school. I loved it when I was in school and I love it now with kiddos in school. The start of school is a fun and exciting time.

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of Oldest and Middle's first day of school.

I had their clothes laid out. Middle very obediently put what I picked out on. Oldest, well he made some modifications. I guess he is at that age, right? At least he kept on the red shoes (Ruum).

We got ready in record time. They had to. The bus comes quite a bit earlier now.

In fact, the Duck Tape Grade Number pictures were actually taken after they got home from school. A keepin' it real moment for ya. I was pretty amazed that they looked as put together at the end of the day as they did before they went to school. Well, I did have to make Oldest tuck his shirt in.

I thought I would throw in a quick how-to on making these Duck Tape Grade Numbers. They are easy peasy to make.

You need:
Duck Tape
Foam Poster Board
Exacto knife

I used some old foam board, so ignore the red stripes.

1. Write the number on the board.
2. Cut out around the number with about an inch to a half inch boarder.
3. Tape off edges first.
4. Starting at the bottom, rip off pieces large enough to wrap around the part you are covering. Keep layering up, trying to match the pattern best you can. Cover the whole number.

In the end, your number will look like this.

So easy.

Now that the project is done, the photos are taken, and the first day of school is done...

We can have cookies and milk.

 

 Thanks for reading!

Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Biscuit Bites

Keepin' it real moment people.

I haven't hardly eaten anything that can't be found on the BRAT diet in about 24 hrs. Feeling rotten. However, I am really trying to get back to regularly posting, so I am busting out a post while wrapped up in a quilt sitting on my couch.

Another keepin' it real moment...

...even though I am unable to eat anything, and my appetite is almost non-existent...

I still wish I had a plate of these. (I made these a few weeks past, just takes me forever to post anything nowadays.)

I mean honestly, bacon makes everything better.

Who needs modern medicine?

Nah, bacon will do it for me.

Bacon wrapped around a fried dough ball all nestled around a chunk of mozzerella cheese, well that will cure what ails ya...right?!?
 

Okay, perhaps it won't cure or solve everything. I mean these probably won't help you on the quest for a smaller jean size.

However, it will probably make you happy in the jeans you are wearing because you will be blissfully unaware of any evil or sorrow around you.

Yep, they are that good.

I will recommend that you make them for a group. College football season is upon us and this would make one happy sports-watching crowd. If you just make them for a Friday afternoon hanging out with the Hubby, well, you will be sorely tempted to eat them all yourselves. That, while delightful sounding, probably isn't the wisest thing.

However, I will leave that up to you. Who am I to judge?

Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Biscuit Bites
makes 24

1 pkg refrigerated flaky biscuits
24 1" cubes of mozzarella cheese
12 strips of bacon
oil, for frying

Heat several inches of oil in a deep pan.

Cut the biscuits into fourths.

Cut each strip of bacon in half.

Take one piece of the cut up biscuit and flatten out. Place a piece of cheese in the center of the biscuit. Wrap the biscuit around the cheese, making sure there are no gaps. Wrap a half strip of the bacon around the outside of the biscuit and secure with a toothpick.

Repeat until you have all of the bites wrapped in bacon.

Then fry 4-5 at a time in oil at about 350 degrees. Let them fry for about 1-2 minutes. Allowing them to get golden brown and also cooked through. You might want to do a test batch with one or two to see how long your biscuit will take to cook just the right amount.

Let them drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the Bites are done.

Serve warm.

Enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

A Pinteresting Wednesday: Lunch Box Jokes

Welcome to A Pinteresting Wednesday.

If you follow me on Instagram, than you know that yesterday school started.

Woot! Woot!

I love my boys and all, but I really rather enjoy them being at school occasionally. You know it kind of gives me a chance to miss them. Which I of course do. I miss the loudness. I miss the burps and farts (okay, only kind of). I miss the constant sound of running feet and wrestling. I miss the laughter.

So I figured while we are apart, I could send them a little something to chuckle about.

Jokes in their lunchbox. I imagine them reading one, then telling it to their friends. Them all laughing.

Then of course there will be a unanimous chorus of "Your mom is the coolest!" A girl can dream it anyway. Hehehe.

Searching Pinterest I found tons of great lunch box jokes. One of my favorite sets was from Paging Supermom. I pinned it to my Lunch for the Kiddos board. They offer a free download of five jokes.

I used some of those jokes and then a few from a couple of other sites.

Then I used PicMonkey, my all-time favorite online photo editing site. Their new School U feature is amazing and I love it. As I said in my "What is Your SuperPOWER?" Teacher Gift post.

I created five joke tags. 

Download tags HERE

They are easy to download and cut out. Then all you have to do is sneak them into a lunch box.

Everyone likes a good joke. Laughing helps with good digestion...well that is what I would think anyway.

Since I love a good children's joke...in fact...

Side note and an FYI about little old me...when Hubby and I were registering for wedding gifts way back when, we registered for Laffy Taffy. One, because I LOVE them. Two, because the jokes make me giggle. Three, we pretty much thought it would be HEE-larious.

Now that you know a little bit more about me and we are best friends and such, I will get back on track.

I love these little joke notes. I am sure my Little Men will love these just as much as some homemade cookies...well almost as much...

I love Pinterest, and how great ideas come from there or stem forthwith.

Keep following along with Just Another Day in Paradise on Pinterest.

Lisa Hansen Photography: Sharing Your Story and Capturing Memories

Family photos are a snapshot of a certain period of your sweet family's life, and I love them!

I love that taking family photos is a chance to clean up my mud monkeys, dress them up (in coordinating outfits even), perhaps even adorn one in a bow-tie, get a little fancy myself, and then capturing them in all their impish glory.

While I love getting family photos taken, sometimes the process is just, well, eh, so-so.

In the past, I felt a little like a smiling droid family striking the perfect statuesque pose, holding my breath and praying that all my Littles are looking at the camera.

Has this ever happened to you? Does this sound familiar?

I love family photos!
I hate family photos!
I love family photos.
I hate family photos.

Well, friends all I can say is from this day forward I declare from the mountaintops and a leafy treetop, or two, or ten, or a hundred, that--I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE family photos.

My new adoration and family photo love is all thanks to this lady...

Lisa Hansen of Lisa Hansen Photography.

Friends, oh friends! I have never in my life had such a personalized, unique and absolutely lovely photography experience. She really offers a boutique portrait art experience. I know you have seen some sneak peaks of our family photo sessions on Facebook and Instagram. I have been dying to tell you all about our experience.

Seriously people, best photography experience ev-ah. Oh where to begin?

Well how about the beginning...

From the very beginning, every detail is completely thought out. The packet she brings preparing you for your photo session is not only beautiful, but it is insanely helpful.

My favorite part is the Style Guide.

She perfectly prepares and guides you on ways to optimize the style of your family photo. She has suggestions on how to pick your outfits. Including, she uses her background in interior design (yes, she is like uber-talented) to guide you on picking a style so that your photos will also coordinate with your home decorations.

She calls you and discusses what location style you are thinking of and then like magic she just seems to know the perfect location. She asked us to think of things that we did as a family and to bring anything items we might want to use in our photo.

The result, perfectly candid, genuine, and lovely photos that catch the very essence of my sweet teeny tiny family.

Fields. A Quilt. Books. Giggles. Memories.

As the sun set, our photo session came to an end. It was like the end of a party that you really don't want to leave.

Seriously it was that grand.

AND like any good party hostess, she gives her sweet little guests a parting gift.

Insanely awesome, right???

My Little Men were beyond excited that they got a little gift. This photographer and Momma knows exactly how to make the day of the teeny tinies.

So are you getting that I think Lisa Hansen Photography is pretty amazing?

Now, where Lisa Hansen Photography really stands out is the unique Session Premiere she offers for viewing your photos. There is no studio or office you have to go to. Nah, she comes to you and you get to view your photos for your own personal Session Premiere and in the coziness of your own home.

PLUS, she brings you dessert (which we previously picked from a dessert menu).

The Premiere Session starts with the viewing of our family photos in a breathtaking custom movie of our photos mixed with some live video set to a beautiful and unique song picked just for our little family. She comes to your home prepared to give you the best movie experience possible. She brings a projector and a large screen to enhance the whole movie screening. Dessert on lap, while watching and well...you had me at dessert.

The custom movie was captivating and there was the shedding of tears. Cried in my cheesecake it did. I shed happy, content, and sweet sappy tears. I actually still cry every time I watch it.

Watch it without oohing and ahhing, I dare you!

The hardest part of the whole process is deciding what photos to buy (because of course I want them all). In the Session Premier, she brings sample of the portrait sizes available to purchase. If we had questions as to which size would look best, she would grab her sample canvas and hold it up on our wall so we could see the actual size and see how that canvas would look on the wall.

She also offers several collections. That makes it easier to get the photos you want. Ooh, ooh, and she offers Christmas Cards! 

Long after my plate was licked clean, we finally settled on our photos.

We ordered our photos and then before I knew it, a lovely package was hand delivered to my house.

Inside was a little treasure all nestled in tissue paper.

Goosh! I fell even more in love with our photos with them sitting right there in front of me.

Can I also just mention that along with the photos of these beautiful squishable faces, there was a special treat of chocolaty goodness.

The attention to detail just never ended. Oh and I am pretty sure I ate most of those chocolates by myself. Sorry Hubby.

After I giddily clapped my hands, I started planning the layout to display our new (and might I add bestest family photos).

I am rather enamored.

My boys let me know how great it looked and then they promptly told their friends, "She finally hung up some pictures on the walls. FINALLY!"

Our walls have been bare the whole 2 years we have lived here.

Well, not anymore.

Thanks Lisa Hansen Photography for such a personalized photography experience where every detail was special and memory making. This unique boutique portrait art experience is really an unforgettable experience. I just can't say enough about this lady and her insane talent.

Go and visit her site (you might just see more photos from our session too). You will find yourself mesmerized by her work, I promise you that. 

Like her on Facebook. Spread the word. Schedule your own Boutique Portrait Art experience. She only has 2 spots left for her Fall schedule. Prepared to be amazed, in love, and ready to make your own memories.