Pillsbury Crescent Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
As everyone knows, I am a southern gal. Born and raised in the south with the southern accent to boot, that is what makes up me – Jen Houck. I could not imagine life any other way.
Ever since I was a small little girl, my brother and I would be in the kitchen to see what we could create to surprise our parents. My love of cooking has grown even stronger over the years and most evenings, you will still find me in the kitchen. This is why it is an honor to be asked to be a Crescent Cook Pillsbury Ambassador and share my easy and delicious recipes with all of you… busy parents!
Let’s back up here and tell you the time line of how this all took place. Back in June, I filled out an application about why my love for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls was so big. I did not have any expectations, so when I received a call to say I was in the top 100 out of 3600 applicants… there was lots of grinning ear to ear. I had to submit two recipes to see if I could make it to the next round and I DID! It was then telephone interview time, to my surprise, I was not nervous at all. More than likely, it was because I was speaking of a subject that was very dear to my heart. Cooking! I didn’t hear anything for a couple weeks and then the day of L’s surgery, I received the call that I was one of the 4 finalists. I wanted to scream from the roof tops, but I have had to keep it quiet till today. That was hard.
Now fast forward to the winning recipe.
As we all know, us southern ladies really do love our comfort food.
So let’s take Comfort food + Pillsbury
and we have Pillsbury Crescent Chicken Pot Pie that will make your mouth water.
Now does that not look delicious?
Go ahead and click here now to view the recipe. It is so easy that you will want to try it tonight for dinner. While you are there, could I ask you with my sweetest best southern charm, to vote for my recipe? If you do vote, you could be entered to win a cash prize of $5,000 as well! Now, I know you would love that!!
Ok… go on… what are you waiting for? Let’s get to cooking 
New Raleigh NC Mom Blogger
Stop the presses people, Jen has left her beloved mountains for the big city living in Raleigh, NC.
It is true my readers, I had to break off the relationship with the Blue Ridge Mountains. We just couldn’t take it any longer as I kept cheating and driving down to Raleigh throughout this year…. it became more apparent that Raleigh, NC would be our new hometown. Mountains, I still love you though and you are only 3 hours from me, so now I can cheat on Raleigh and visit YOU!
Here is to a new journey for our family. Better job opportunity for my husband, better school system for our girls and a better environment for L and her asthma. Also a better area for green and organic living. Trader Joes is definitely all that and a cup of fresh cheeries. We have already bonded tight!
So here we are… stay tuned on this new ride as I am sure we will have plenty of tales from a county girl living in a big city with a super thick southern accent. It’s all good!
Let’s get you all started on this journey with the girls’ first day of school. My babies are growing up. L started kindergarten and M started 2nd grade. L had a bit of anxiety but with some great pep talks from mom (more coming on that) she had a wonderful first day. M said everyone kept wanting to talk to her… maybe they are just enjoying her southern accent as well
Aren’t they just the cutest, stylish girls on the planet? Of course they are!
We did unfortunately already have our first ER trip and wasn’t even here a full 2 days. My precious L got spider bit. I of course naturally freaked out but all is well again and L’s foot is back to normal. It wasn’t looking so great when it first happened.
You would have had a panic attack too… or maybe I am just a overly worried mom. Yes… that’s what it is I am sure.
Here we go on the rest of our big city journey. Now let me go charge my GPS so I can find my way back to Trader Joes! They do have more than 2 stop lights here you know 
Ocean Isle Inn Great Family Fun
We are driving away from the wonderful Ocean Isle Inn. It really is bittersweet as we are heading towards Fort Lauderdale now, but it is like saying good bye to family. This was our third time back to the Inn, and I really do feel like we are all family.
We arrived at the Inn on Friday to a fun filled weekend with Miss Lori. The girls were so excited to spend time with their friends, The Tiger Boys of the beautiful Carolina Mama and the Princesses of the beautiful Real Life Sarah. Hubby and I were excited as well to spend time with great friends.
The evening started off with a Tweet-Up and a Twitter Party with several mom bloggers. It was so much fun to finally meet Chele and Heather. We all had a blast sitting there and tweeting each other and hanging out with Miss Lori.
Saturday, we started the morning out by the beach with some super fun relay games. Who knew I would win a hula-hooping contest? Fun times!
The adults did participate in a game of wives vs. husbands in tug o war. The girls were trying with all our might to win this and finally I fell and ate sand and you can guess who won that contest
The kids were having just as much fun as the adults too with their own relay games. Thank you Ocean Isle Inn for coming up with such creative games that could be done right on the beach.
We all thought after that to go take a dive in the pool and then head over for some good ole ice cream. It was so delicious and I found some super stylish flip flops thanks to Carolina Mama and her awesome fashion advice.
We all headed back to get ready for the grand event of the weekend. Miss Lori Activate Summer Concert. All the kids had such a blast dancing and singing to all the unique songs. I totally seen all the adults rocking out to her songs as well .
We ended the night with a Dance Party. It was such a grand time to just hang out by the pool chatting with all the moms and the kids enjoying themselves in the pool with beach music playing in the background. I would have loved to just bottle up that specific moment. More fun times for sure!
Sunday was all about the Dads. Happy Father’s Day to my wonderful hubby. We were able to take the time and go have some delicious seafood with Carolina Mama’s family. We just adore their family and loved having this extra time before they were getting back on the road to head home.
We were there two more days, just having a blast with Ocean Isle Inn. I love we can stay there and never have to leave the premises. The girls just wanted to play in the pool and at the beach. I was totally fine with that as we all were having such fun times. Real Life Judd was having fun squirting us with water guns. It was just great to laugh and laugh and laugh and let the stresses melt away.
The Inn is such a family friendly place, that you cannot help to fall in love with the place. The last night was spent packing up to leave… the girls started crying because they just wanted to stay longer. They really have grown to love the Inn just as much as hubby and I are! Thank you Lee, Tracey, Melanie, Maria and all the staff there at the Inn for a wonderful 5 days. We created more summer memories that will last a lifetime. We cannot wait to get back.
Fun Friend Memories!
See our complete review of Ocean Isle inn over at Traveling Mamas.
No tags for this post.Great Food in Boone, NC
Real Life Sarah and I had a lot of fun getting to experience all the incredible restaurants in Boone, NC! If you have not been to the High Country of NC… you are really missing out. The Taste of the High Country involved 23 restaurants from the surrounding area. It was held at the incredible Broyhill Inn.
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Discount Tickets for Mickeys Rockin Road Show in NC
Hit the road with Mickey Mouse and your favorite Disney Friends for a hilarious talent search in the all-new Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show!
Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy set out on a zany roadtrip where audiences join in and help find the coolest acts around. Along the way, hit a high note with Cinderella; get your bounce on with Tigger; and shout out your loudest “yee-haw” at a hoedown with Woodie, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear from Disney/Pixar’s A Toy Story! Grab your family for a fun-filled get-away at this live, show-stopping adventure jam-packed with unexpected twists, turns and hi-jinks – right in your hometown!
This is such a great deal for a Disney Live Show! Also, most schools are closed on April 2nd so you will not have to worry about keeping the kids out late. Make it a family night and watch your kids eyes light up with excitement Go ahead and purchase your discount tickets now. Make sure to use the discount code DEALDL.
The Winter Is Sure Giving Us A Run
For our money that is…
Now you see, I do live in the mountains and yes we are use to the snow and cold BUT, there is usually a little bit of a break in between storms for us to re-cooperate. Since Dec. 17th,
- I have seen my grass for about a total of 4 days.
- The girls have maybe went a total of four FULL days of school (meaning no delays or snow cancellations).
- We lost power for 4 days.
- We have seen more ice that we ever care to!
- We have came up with so many creative ways to sled that you would be amazed
It is a winter for the history books for sure. I am itching for the sun so I can go out and run and get more fit. This winter has really done me in and I am so just wanting to get out and run, run and did I say run?
Anyways… I thought I would share some videos of our little sledding runs and some pictures to make you smile from our own little version of North Pole!
First Glance at North Pole, NC
The Girls Taking a Sled Run
M Having Fun with the Circular Sled
Mommy and L Taking a Sled Run
Snow Gals
The Girls SnowWoman
M Loves to Make Snow Angels
The Girls Love to Crash the Sled
The Girls LOVE to Sled
The Snow Is Here So We Should Enjoy It I Guess
Happy Winter Everyone!!
No tags for this post.Annual Snowland Tradition at Great Wolf Lodge
Where’s the only place in town that can guarantee real snow on cue three times a day? Inside the Great Wolf Lodge® in Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina. That’s right – inside.
This December marks the fifth anniversary of Snowland, an annual holiday tradition at Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.® (NASDAQ: WOLF), North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts. The month-long celebration welcomes families into the Lodge to celebrate in a unique, family-friendly way.
We were given the privlege to come visit the Snowland last weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. It was so cold outside, so it was nice to go inside and be in our bathing suits. Once we were in, the girls went straight for the water park.
We let the girls play their little hearts out and even mom and dad joined in all the fun as well. They have some very cool “big” water slides that even take you outside but you don’t know it. M and I enjoyed those while daddy and L stayed down in the “ocean” as L called it.
It was time to get ready for Santa making his arrival and for the guaranteed snowfall that the girls were eagerly awaiting. As we were heading back to our room, we were greeted with the all mighty black bear.
The girls could not believe the winter wonderland that was taking shape in the lobby of the Great Wolf lodge. It was like magic to their eyes.
Did you notice what the ceiling lights were made of?
The time had arrived… the big man in the red suit made his big debut for the weekend. It was SANTA!
As we headed to dinner, we were greeted yet again with another black bear
We came back with our tummies full to a show put on by moose and owl. The girls thought this was the coolest. It was a really entertaining little show for all.
As you can tell by the smile on M’s face. Day 1 was a huge hit!
Sunday morning we were greeted with snow as we made our way downstairs. What a way to start the morning… playing in the snow and you don’t even have to deal with changing into warmer clothes after playing in the snow
We were making our way down to breakfast and all we had to do was follow the wonderful aroma of the big buffet breakfast. It truly was smelling so delicious and once we got to the breakfast spot, we knew why. The buffet was loaded with all our favorite breakfast foods!
Two happy parents
After the kids finished, they all got up and started providing entertainment for everyone.
The kids were just preparing us for the big show. They gave them the best intro HIGHWAY 101! They were taping their Christmas special right there with us in the room as their audience. How cool is that?
The Mom Bloggers!
Here we are with the Band Highway 101
With all our tummies full of wonderful food, it was time to head back to the great water park. The girls just loved being in there. It helps too that the water park is 84 degrees at all times. It felt great!
They have a kiddie area too that is not over 2 ft. They include smaller water slides for the small children and jet skis they can ride that will shoot water.
The girls were on cloud nine the entire time we were there.
M would have stayed on the slides all day if we had let her. I do have to admit, all the slides were so much fun. There is even one slide called the Tornado… I’ll just let you try it out for yourself
Great Wolf Lodge, we truly enjoyed our whole stay.
It’s a mother’s dream that you can go on vacation and not even have to leave the premises. There is so much to do that your little ones will only want to stay there the whole time. You are allowed two days at the water park with one night’s stay. So awesome! Here are the activities going on this month that you will want to take part in:
* Holiday Story Time with Rowdy the Reindeer
* The Writing Depot, where children can write, decorate and mail letters directly to Santa
* Polar Wolf Walk – a wintery nature hike for kids to site penguins, polar bears and more
* North Pole University, complete with educational activities to earn a diploma and special gift
* Toy Creation Station, where children can create toys to keep or give to a friend
* Wrapping Depot for guests to have presents wrapped on-the-spot
* Special musical guest performances
* Holiday caroling
* Santa appearances
* Animated Great Clock Tower holiday performances
One of the great features too is they gave each family member armbands. The two adult armbands features you door lock. You just rub your armband over the door and your door will open. Now is that not the coolest thing? No more worrying about where the key is! Also, you can use your armband all throughout the lodge to buy food, drinks or whatever you may need at the moment. Then just pay for your purchases when you check-out. So much easier on a mom .
Thank you so much and we plan now to make this an annual tradition with the girls! We definitely give it two thumbs up from the whole family .
P.S. Full Disclosure. The Great Wolf Lodge provided accommodations for our family, but we were in no way paid for our review. This review comes from our heart and we truly stand behind our words!
No tags for this post.Good Ole Mountain Fun
It’s the most favorite time of the year. Oh yea!
I so cherish this time of year. I do miss living in Florida at times but this time of year living in NC is the BEST. The fall leaves, the fall festivals (yes, we are the family that tries to attend them all), the pumpkin farms, fall sports, and good ole fashioned clogging .
I’m so proud of my M. She really gets in there and gives it her all in Soccer. You can just tell the determination on her face. She truly has found the sport that she loves to perform in. This is her last week of Soccer and she is not too happy about that. I really wish our county would do an indoor league for winter or a league for spring. Maybe sometime in the future there will be.
Look at this determination:
She loves playing goalie too:
How did she get so big?:
She does have a mean kick. Her first goalie of the season, she kicked so hard that the ball went into the air over the goalies head and down into the net. I so wish I had got that on video.:
She just loves soccer and getting right in there:
Often after a soccer game on Saturday’s, we head straight to a clogging event. L has got into clogging now as well so to both see my girls up on stage. Yes, this mom gets tears every time. I love that they are so into it. I always wanted to do clogging growing up, but my parents just could not afford the extra money each month. So when M, decided she wanted to do it… you know I did all I could do to make sure she got to be in on this wonderful opportunity. Naturally, L just followed big Sis’s steps. She absolutely loves clogging as well.
Such cuteness!:
I love when they pair up to do songs together in clogging:
You can see they really get into it with their hands on their hips and then doing the wave with their arms and hands:
Needless to say, we never have a dull weekend around here as soon as fall starts. It’s on… but I just enjoy it so much. To see the smiles on my girls faces, just makes the efforts so worthwhile. I love you girls!!!!
No tags for this post.Family Fun at Biltmore House
We are a family that will just get up one morning and take off. We do not plan, we just start driving. I love being adventurous and my girls love seeing the world like this. I didn’t get to do a whole lot of traveling growing up, so I have always said that I would change that with my girls. When we got the opportunity to tour the Biltmore House this weekend, I was ecstatic. I have been several times in my life, but my girls and hubby have not.
This estate is located in Asheville, NC.
The area is just beautiful and as you can see, the views are just remarkable. I could just sit there all day watching the views. You are not allowed to take pictures from inside the house, but please take my word for it. It is very beautiful, detailed, and just down right top notch designs. My girls never once complained while touring the house either.
You can see the very detailed architecturial work outside as well.
We took the guided tour inside and that was very fun, because we could engage with the tour guide and our girls could ask questions as well. I wanted to include them in every part I could. Once we were outside, we were on our own, so we took the chance to show the girls all the details of the outside of the house.
After taking in all the beautiful features of the outside of the house, we took a stroll through the gardens. I love nature, I love flowers and I love just taking a stroll with my family. This was so relaxing, girls were stopping and just taking in all the gardens had to offer. Just amazing time you can have with your family and just be you. Have quality conversations with them and just enjoy the view.
Up next, our tummy’s were starting to rumble a little bit. They have an awesome picnic area located at the Deer Park Restaurant which is on site of the Biltmore Estate. We enjoyed a nice boxed lunch that was healthy and not just some junk threw together all the while taking in the beautiful scenery.
It didn’t take long for the girls to say “I’m done eating”, once they found out we were headed to the Biltmore Farms. This is a fairly new feature of the Biltmore Estate, so I was excited to tour this as well. As you will see the girls were able to pet all the animals and be right there with the baby chicks.
The farm was all styled out in Fall decor, so the girls were enjoying that as well.
With that our tour came to an end. The girls are still talking about it and hubby said he was just blown away by the whole estate. It was definitely something he is glad he did and we would like to go back at Christmas and Spring as well. I know at Christmas they have Carolers all through the house singing Christmas songs. I just would love to see it all decorated as well for Christmas.
This is definitely a must see if you are ever in the mountains of NC. Your whole family will enjoy it and you can definitely make a full day out of it.
FYI: I did take these pictures with my own camera .
Summer Activities For Children
So it is getting that time of year where you may start hearing those dreaded words “I’m bored mommy.”
My main objective this summer is for the girls not to turn to electronics for the full 24/7, they are home on summer break. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my electronics and I definitely have passed that love onto my girls. They can work about any electronic they want, but I just want them to have a mixture of activities that will help stimulate their brain and work wonders on their ever so funny imaginations.
One thing I will be starting the first week they are out of school is Field Trip Friday. I will be doing a post each Friday about our adventures and would love for all of you all to join in. Our adventures we have planned so far for Field Trip Friday are:
1) Visiting Our Local Caverns
2) Going Gem Mining
3) Spending the day at our Science Center
4) Going to a Local Fun Museum
5) Visiting an Amusement/Water Park
6) Going to the Zoo
Each week we will start out discussing what our adventure of the week will be; which will call for some really fun conversations, I believe.
Also summer camps are another great option for kids. Of course I don’t think you have to send your child to a summer camp each and every week as it can get expensive. The camps here in the mountains are really expensive this year. With us being a very cost effective family, I have chose two camps for my girls. One is a soccer camp that is two days and costs $40.00. Another will be a clogging camp that lasts 4 days and we will get a discount since our girls are involved in clogging at the place of business. Check with your schools or local colleges to see if they have any camps going on as well for children. Your local 4H office in your county also usually have several mini day camps that they offer children for $5 to $10.00 a child. I am planning on signing the girls up for a couple of those as well. Visit your county recreation office for more athletic camps that will help kids be on their feet more .
Another great summer activity my girls always look forward to each year is Bible School. We are self pro-claimed bible school junkies. We usually do 2 each summer. This year we will be doing one during the day for a week and one at night for a week. The girls just get in there with their friends and have a great time laughing, talking and playing together. You may want to check your local churches in your area as most churches are now starting to require registration.
We will also take a beach trip this summer as well to wrap up the summer before the girls start back school in August. This is a time to reflect on the summer and spend time as a family before chaos of school and extracurricular activities start up. Check out our video of the wonderful Ocean Isle Inn located here on the coast of NC. If you are looking for a great, fun, clean family vacation, I am going to highly recommend Ocean Isle Inn.
I hope some of these ideas will help you and your family plan a summer that will be unforgettable. I would love to hear what ideas your family are using to, just leave us a comment below so we all can see and learn from .
Happy Summer to Everyone!!!
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