Slow cooker chicken and cream cheese chili

My sister in  law Michelle made this once for a family gathering and after 2 bowls of this I just had to have the recipe. She kindly gave it to me and here it is.

2 chicken breast
1 can rotel
2 8oz cream cheese
2 cans corn, undrained
2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 tablespoon ranch dressing mix ( or 1 packet store mix)
1 teaspoon onion powder.

Cook chicken in the slow cooker for 2 hours on low.

Add all the other ingredients and cook for 2 more hours.

Just before serving shred the chicken with two forks. Add back to slow cooker and mix with rest of chili.

Thus makes a ton of food and I usually end up putting a load of leftovers in the freezer.

Since my reminder to myself

Since I posted that reminder to myself I have managed to be less stressed and a bit more relaxed. I still have a ton of things going on but I'm dealing with them better. I'm trying to allocate things to the girls that work for me more and just to be calm.

I'm working really hard to not do everything myself. And things have been going better. Stuff is still getting done. Maybe not as quickly as I want but they are getting done, so that is really all that matters. So things have been pretty good.

I'm hoping that's things can continue that way.

Work work work

Since December all it seems I've done it work, work and work. It's like I'm always there and always have a ton of stuff that needs to be done. This week is no acception. 

Monday I did an 11 hour shift, Tuesday was a small 5 hours, Wednesday and Thursday were also 5 hour shift and then Friday the big day of moving the store I did a 15 hour shift. 

Can we say that I'm a little tired right now. Little guy did amazing with all the hours he was at work with me. Looking forward to a little chill time and possibly a day off or two in the near future but might be waiting another week before that can happen as this week I am training my new person, let's hope that goes well. Need them trained so I can get them on the schedule and give me a day off sometime soon. 

Sorry I didn't post last week but as you can see I was a bit busy. 

How I try and deal with my depression without meds

I'm not expert, I will never claim to be an expert in anything. I go by my own experiences and that's all I can really go by. I have suffered with depression on and off for years since my teens. I do the best that I can to deal and cope without taking medications. I have never needed to take medication for my depression but they may change. In the past I have always been able to find ways to cope and deal when my depression starts showing it's ugly head. But recently it's been getting harder to cope and to deal and keep my depression at bay and I may need to talk to my doctor about starting meds, but until that day comes when my depression really starts to overtake my life I will put off taking meds. Not because there is anything wrong with taking meds it's just for me I want to try everything else that I can  for me as a personal thing taking meds is my last resort.

So the ways that I try to deal with my depression and have worked for me in the past. 

Writing. I find that writing expressing my true feelings in someone way helps me to sort through all my emotions and can help me find out why I'm feeling down. In the past I used to feel up notebook upon notebook of just random stuff. These days I actually try to write constructively. I do this blog as much as I can and I write for hitRECord as well. I always used to be scared to share my writing as I always worried what people would think about it, but then I realized you can't please everyone and maybe someone out there will what I have to say or even find comfort or inspiration from it so now I write for me and for anyone who may like what I say. 

Running. I still count myself as a new runner but for me it does help to ward off the demons that I call my depression. Exercise really does help. The more I move around the less I feel down, I mean I still feel down but i feel that I'm not as bad as the days I sit on the sofa and do nothing or the days I try to spend in bed. 

Carry on as normal. I try to do the best that I can to carry on as much as I possibly can. It's hard some days. Some days u do just want the world to swallow me up, but the more you try to do the better it can be. Get up and have a shower. Get dressed, try to but jeans on and not your comfy clothes. Make the effort it's hard but it will make you feel a bit better. Cook something anything which can be a problem. For me when my depression hits my eating can go one of two ways. I cad neither not stop eating the problem however is it's all junk food and that's all I want to eat, cookies, chocolate, chips the usual comfort food. Or it can go the opposite way and I don't want to eat at all. However your eating goes try to eat something that you fancy, if your on a junk food kick try to eat something a bit healthier. If not eating eat something that you really want. I also try to do some housework or just spend sometime playing with my kid. 

Sometimes doing something nice for yourself can help. For me it can just be having a long shower and washing my hair, it could be wearing makeup one day. I never wear makeup so the days I do wear it helps pick me up. Just do something nice for me.

There is no set way to help make sure self feel better. In fact there are times when even all these fail but the point is sitting on the sofa or lying in bed all day is just going to me worse so I try to do as many things as I can. 

This is how I try my best to deal with my depression. Everyone is different and what works for one person won't work for everyone. This is my guide. If it helps you great 

Reminder to myself

Today I need a personal reminder that I am doing the best that I can. Everyone is. I have many things going on right now and giving myself a guilt trip and allowing my low self esteem to take over is not helping.

I need to remember that I am a good wife, I am a good mom and that at work I need to let other people actually do some of the work instead of doing it all myself. I mean that is why you have employees is to let them do some of the work isn't it?

I need to ask for help when I need it and actually let people help me. I basically need to learn to let go, ask for help and to trust people. I am not superwoman. I can not do everything by myself, sometimes we need help from people. I need to remember this more often. My problem is I try to do it all myself and then I get frustrated that I don't get it all done and that in turns stresses me out.

It's perfectly fine to admit that you can't do it all. Asking for help is not weakness. Asking for help is a strength. Just don't take advantage of people, which I don't because people know that when I ask for help I really need help, and it takes a lot for me to ask for help.

So I'm writing this today as a reminder to myself. Stop stressing. Your doing the best you can. Just let go. You can't do everything and you know what that is totally fine.Your doing what you can that's all that anyone can ask of you. Stop being your own worst enemy and give yourself a break, you deserve it.

Tator tot casserole.

I am big fan of Tator tots. The little round plump potato things. Crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. I thought the only way to eat them was fried and coated in fry sauce. Until one day a friend told me about Tator tot casserole. And a new kind of love for the Tator tot happened. Here is my version of Tator tot casserole.

2lbs of Tator tots
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
 1 lb ground beef
1 can green beans
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

I cook up the ground beef making sure it's nice and brown and then drain off any fat that there might be. While the meat is cooking in a big mixing bowl I add all the other ingredients then add the meat once cooked. I mix everything in the bowl and then place it into a greased casserole dish. I tend to add an extra 1/2 cup of cheese on top of the whole thing.

Place in oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I actually made this for dinner tonight.

February movie night

I actually managed to get a night off work. Surprised I know. Well after I went and had my eyes tested we went home and has a movie night. As a family we watched Thor a dark world and gravity.

I really liked Thor and was glad that I finally managed to finish it. We went as a family to the movie theater to go and see it but kidlet didn't last more than about 30 minutes into the movie before I had to leave and take him to the park.

We recently purchased Thor on blu ray and one night whilst stay up with sick kidlet I managed to get an hour into e film. So I was really glad to finally be able to watch the whole film. I actually really like the avenger series of movies and my favorite character/ actor in them is Loki aka Tom Hiddlestone.

Gravity was also another film we managed to watch. It's pretty intense. It's a short movie and I liked it but it's not one of those movies that I would be rushing to go and see again.

Off course.

I've realized that since I took the break from the blog that I didn't plan of taking my blog has gone completely off course. So to get it back on course. I am making a pledge to be honest with you. To post exactly how I'm feeling and what I'm getting up to.

I will however still refrain from talking about my child. That subject is out of bounds. Sorry for people my if my kid wants to be in my blog that is up them to decide. As with most things online once it's posted it's forever. So when my kid is older enough to decide if they want to be part of my blog then they can be until then. Sorry you just have to deal with me.

Recently I have been struggling with my depression. It's mainly because I've been stressed and stress is a factor that makes my depression worse. Things should hopefully go back to normal once things have calmed down.

Right now I'm trying to hire again for one of my stores so picking up all those shifts, and then my other store is moving locations within the mall so I have to deal with as well. All stuff that will be over with in a few weeks. So things will go back to normal for me. If there is such a thing as normal.