I'm part of an online community of great women, and one of things we like to share are different recipes. I recently picked up on a couple of winning recipes in our house from these amazing ladies (I don't want to post their blogs here, since I'm not sure if they would be okay with that), but I have to give a shout out to Michelle and Becky for the following recipes:
Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole (adapted from Cooking Light)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken, shredded (original recipe called for soy chicken)
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese or taco cheese blend (original recipe called for light taco cheese)
14 corn tortillas, quartered
20 oz green chile enchilada sauce1 can green chiles, chopped and undrained
1 tsp chile powder
½ tsp cumin
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add undrained chiles and sauté for another two minutes. Mix in shredded chicken.
Add cumin and chile powder to green enchilada sauce, stir to combine. Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Lay ½ of the tortilla pieces over the sauce, overlapping them to make a solid layer. Add chicken/onion mixture, sprinkle half of the cheese over the chicken mixture and then ladle another 1/3 of the sauce. Top with remaining tortilla pieces, sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
Serve with light sour cream and cilantro.
(I adapted this further, by using only one 10 oz. can of enchilada sauce and mixed 10 oz. of mild salsa in with it - this purely by mistake since I forgot to buy 20 oz. of the sauce! I also cooked whole chicken breasts in the skillet first, since I knew it would be easier to shred cooked. I left it slightly uncooked in the middle, figuring it would "cook up" in the oven.)
Smothered BBQ Ranch ChickenRecipe:
4 chicken breasts
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
3/4 cup fat free ranch dressing
Mix ranch and bbq sauce together- pour over chicken in frying pan. Let simmer for 30-35 minutes until cooked. Top it with shredded cheese, a sprinkle of chopped bacon, and a handful of chopped scallions.
(I again adapted this, since my evenings are hectic enough feeding the wee man and all of the other things I have to do once I get home from work: I Pam-ed the bottom of an oven dish, placed uncooked chicken breasts in the pan, covered with the sauce, and covered with foil. Put in the over at 350 for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle shredded cheese on top of chicken. Bake until cheese is melted. Top with scallions when you remove from oven.)
Enjoy!!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I love new things...
Introducing, our new couches and living room!
Even Heidi looks thrilled, don't you think?!
Finally, we bought a new ceiling fan for our dining room:
If all goes well at the gargae sale we're having later this Spring, maybe I can get a new kitchen table too!
Anyone looking to buy a decent, 5-piece kitchen set or nice loveseat to help me reach my new goal?! Call me!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Random musings of a toddler (oh and molars suck too)
The last few days have been rough - the incessant whining, the constant drooling (well that's been going on for 5 months now so we're used to that), the interrupted sleep (meaning whining all night), a low grade fever, and constant junk being expelled from tiny nasal passages.
We finally nailed it last night, though - it's the molars! I took a quick peak (before the chomper could bite me) and saw two top molars - only half-way out, meaning one side of the tooth was showing, the other was still hiding. Owwwwwwwwwwww.....
So we took matters into our own hands last night and channeled decades of ancestor parents before us: we brought out the good Irish whiskey. Within a minute of drenching his gums in this liquid gold, wee man stopped whining and was running around like a happy, wild Banshee (and no, he wasn't drunk). Awww sweet relief for us all! We had to do a rinse and repeat around 10pm, but we got a night of sleep out of the deal. And someone woke up very happy this morning too!
He was saying goodbye to Daddy while we were still in the house and laid a big wet one on both my mouth and Daddy's before my coffee mug was even in my hand. On the drive to school, I decided to boycott his Babies Laughing nursery rhyme CD (don't get me wrong, it is cute, but it's getting old) and put on the soundtrack to the movie Mama Mia! On the song "Money Money" all I could hear was Gavin singing, "Mommy, Mommy." Ahhh that's my sweet boy!
This got me thinking that I NEED to start journaling all of his new words and phrases, since some of them are just too funny. The current favorites are:
e-i-e-i-o (he wants his music on)
carseat
daddy truck
mommy car
gotcha
I got it
uh-huh (usually in a pathetic, semi-dramatic tone)
phone (in case we didn't hear the phone ringing 4 inches from us)
papa (any man over the age of 50 with graying hair)
Louie (his stuffed lion)
guha-guha-guha (his blankie)
Daddy, boom boom boom! (accompanied by shaking of his arm - this represents Daddy hammering)
tank you and pease
I bach (accompanied by a shaking of his forefinger to tell us he'll be right back)
tubbie
baby
wah-wah (water) or juice
milk
cup
caukie (coffee)
Tom and Cincie, Buhwayce (Bryce) and Eesa (Lisa) (all of the neighbors)
Meow (he thinks that's the cat's name)
I sorry
And so many more.........the list is getting long!
But, my personal favorites are:
"I broke it." Followed immediately by, "Daddy fix it." (Poor Daddy gets to fix a LOT of things around here.)
And "Davin" for his name (Gavin).
From the mouths of cute, snot-nosed babes......
We finally nailed it last night, though - it's the molars! I took a quick peak (before the chomper could bite me) and saw two top molars - only half-way out, meaning one side of the tooth was showing, the other was still hiding. Owwwwwwwwwwww.....
So we took matters into our own hands last night and channeled decades of ancestor parents before us: we brought out the good Irish whiskey. Within a minute of drenching his gums in this liquid gold, wee man stopped whining and was running around like a happy, wild Banshee (and no, he wasn't drunk). Awww sweet relief for us all! We had to do a rinse and repeat around 10pm, but we got a night of sleep out of the deal. And someone woke up very happy this morning too!
He was saying goodbye to Daddy while we were still in the house and laid a big wet one on both my mouth and Daddy's before my coffee mug was even in my hand. On the drive to school, I decided to boycott his Babies Laughing nursery rhyme CD (don't get me wrong, it is cute, but it's getting old) and put on the soundtrack to the movie Mama Mia! On the song "Money Money" all I could hear was Gavin singing, "Mommy, Mommy." Ahhh that's my sweet boy!
This got me thinking that I NEED to start journaling all of his new words and phrases, since some of them are just too funny. The current favorites are:
e-i-e-i-o (he wants his music on)
carseat
daddy truck
mommy car
gotcha
I got it
uh-huh (usually in a pathetic, semi-dramatic tone)
phone (in case we didn't hear the phone ringing 4 inches from us)
papa (any man over the age of 50 with graying hair)
Louie (his stuffed lion)
guha-guha-guha (his blankie)
Daddy, boom boom boom! (accompanied by shaking of his arm - this represents Daddy hammering)
tank you and pease
I bach (accompanied by a shaking of his forefinger to tell us he'll be right back)
tubbie
baby
wah-wah (water) or juice
milk
cup
caukie (coffee)
Tom and Cincie, Buhwayce (Bryce) and Eesa (Lisa) (all of the neighbors)
Meow (he thinks that's the cat's name)
I sorry
And so many more.........the list is getting long!
But, my personal favorites are:
"I broke it." Followed immediately by, "Daddy fix it." (Poor Daddy gets to fix a LOT of things around here.)
And "Davin" for his name (Gavin).
From the mouths of cute, snot-nosed babes......
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
It's a good day to be Irish!
Well, 50% Irish anyway. But wee man will take it with being both an Irish citizen and American citizen - the kid has the best of both worlds!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends!
Monday, March 9, 2009
A day at the park...
Spring is finally starting to peak it's pretty head around the corner here in Western PA. On Saturday, temperatures reached almost record-highs of 74 degrees! Since the husband is still tackling home improvements, and it's hard to keep wee man out of his hair and tools, the two of us ventured out to a local park. After a few minutes of hesitation, Gavin took off like a champ and showed no fear in tackling the slides, as you can see:
Oh to be a kid again, huh?!
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