I know, I know... it's been a little while since I've included a dishing it up posting. But... here it is! =)

Dishing It Up is brought to you by Dearly Domestic, Deals From MS Do, Eating With Mimi, Happy Lil Homemaker, Mama Does It All, Pary Moppins, Saving Myself Silly, and Thrifty Texas Penny.  Over the last year, our hop has grown and we've implemented some changes to make it better for you.  Each month, we bring you recipes with a different theme and this month we're focusing on Crock Pot Recipes.   Earlier this year, we added a website and a Facebook page. There will be new recipes will be added each week, so be sure to keep up with us throughout the month and to linkup your own recipes as well!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

You'll Need:

1 box yellow rice

4 small chicken breasts

1 can corn

1 can cream of chicken

1 onion - chopped fine

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In the crock pot place your chicken breasts, chopped onion, and dallops of cream of chicken soup. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Cook rice on the side. When the chicken is done cooking in the crock pot pull it apart with a fork and stir well. Add in 2 cups cheese and cooked rice. Drain corn and mix in. Cook on low for an additional 30 minutes. Enjoy!

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Works 4 Me Wednesday: Home Improvements

For as long as I can remember my husband and I have had a running to-do list on the side of our fridge. This list consists of all the house projects we would like to tackle in the near future (we update the list often and try to keep it to the projects we can complete within the year). The list is often re-written, items crossed out, items added to, and multiple different edits are made throughout the year. Beside each item we put an approximate cost of how much we think the repair or update will cost.

As we see a little extra income come in, an unforseen bonus, a reduction in a bill, Christmas money, or we save somewhere else in our monthly budget we take a look at the list. We find a project that we can tackle with the money we have and we work to complete it. Sometimes this project may take just a few hours (as simple as update the baskets/storage containers in the laundry room). Other times it can take weeks or months. (Our basement project has taken over a year thanks to the flood of 2011 and is FINALLY done!!!!  Can you tell how excited I am about this?)

Our house is one of the possessions both my hubby and I work so hard to keep looking nice. We see our house as a reflection of who we are and we LOVE to entertain. We want it to be an inviting, welcome place for family, friends, and visitors. By keeping a realistic list of improvements we want to make we have set goals and kept goals. We have added much value to our investment.  But perhaps the greatest reason we keep our list running and continue to improve upon what we have is that in doing so we have turned our house into more of a home.

I don't forsee "the list" every stopping. But at least by keeping it visible we are always working towards saving a little here or there to tackle that "next project." And there is nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes with crossing something off the list. There is pride in knowing we saved, we paid in cash, we worked hard to make it happen, and we can fully enjoy it!