Gymnastics and a Winning Crock Pot recipe!

Today was an interesting day! It was the girl's second class of gymnastics and of course, little C was running again. Last week she was so excited that she just couldn't contain herself and kept running, and running, and running...all around the gym!  Thankfully, her teacher was really understanding that it was her first time at any sort of class like this. They "pinkie-promised" last week that she'd be a good listener this week.

Well, guess what? This week her teacher was on vacation. So little C went off with another teacher and stayed in the class for maybe 10 minutes before she started running again.  This time the new teacher just handed her to me, saying "Maybe you'd like to try the Mommy and Me class instead?" Ugh.

I mean, of course, I would like to try it, except that it's summer, and I have 2 older girls who have been so, so, so excited to try gymnastics and this particular time worked for all 3 of them to have a class at the same time. Which means that if I can get my 2 year old to stay in her class, then I get to have 45 minutes of uninterrupted me time, even if that means I get to read a book at the gymnastics gym...I'll take it.  Little C and I had a heart to heart after she was  asked to leave  kicked out of class; she was so upset that she couldn't go back. I'm hoping it'll help for next week! Fingers crossed!

After gymnastics, the girls and I headed to the craft store to pick up some yarn.  Exciting news!  I got an order to make a set of dryer balls!  So exciting!! We also picked out a few American Girl-type dresses that were on clearance, and the girls were super excited to play with them when we got home.

I also tried a new crockpot recipe tonight, which actually turned out pretty good!!  Maybe the girls were just hungry from all that jumping and tumbling, but they all asked for seconds. That's a win in my book!  Check out the recipe below if you're interested in making it; I was pretty stoked that I had all the ingredients already in the house.

Slow Cooker Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt
from Real Simple 

Ingredients:

1/3

cup

tomato paste

4

cloves

garlic, chopped

2

tablespoons

curry powder

1

tablesppon

grated fresh ginger

1

teaspoon

ground cumin

1

medium onion, chopped

3/4 cup water

2

pounds

boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 10)

kosher salt and black pepper

1 1/2

cups

long-grain white rice

1/2

cup

plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

2

scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, and ¾ cup water. Add the onion and stir to combine. Place the chicken on top and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (this will shorten total cooking time).
3. Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
4. Just before serving, add the yogurt and ½ teaspoon salt to the chicken and stir to combine. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and the meat was easy to divide up for the girls and myself to eat. Yum!  Even my husband had some, so I'll 

I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly now that school is out. I've started the Konmari method in hopes of getting my house and craft supplies in order too.  I've got a bunch of dishes and clothes and toys and your basic household space fillers that I'm ready to part with.  If you want to join me, pick up the book on Amazon and let's purge and then fill our lives with joy together! 

~Patricia