oh so easy enchiladas

The last thing I want to do when I get home from work is spend all evening in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to cook. But I do have a life beyond the school and the kitchen!

One of our new dinner favorites is a recipe for chicken enchiladas. Have I mentioned how picky Jeremy is? About his obsession with cheese and sour cream and cream cheese? Obsession, as in he won’t eat them.

And about every chicken enchilada recipe out there calls for sour cream or cream cheese or both. So I came up with my own recipe. Problem solved!

I start out with cooked chicken. I use my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker, just because it cooks in 15 minutes! Before I had this miracle cooking apparatus, I used my crock-pot or cut up my chicken and sautéed it in a skillet. Do whatever is easiest for you!

I sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with chipotle seasoning (mine also came from Pampered Chef…I’m not a spokeswoman or consultant…I promise!)

While the chicken is cooking, I sauté diced onion and diced green chilies in butter.

After the chicken is fully cooked, I use my Pampered Chef Salad Choppers but you can also shred your chicken with two forks.

Spoon chicken, chili and onion mixture and shredded cheese (mild cheddar on Jeremy’s; colby-jack on mine) onto flour tortillas.

Roll up and place in greased baking dish. Top with green enchilada sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Voila…Dinner is served!

graduated

 

Delaney has graduated from the baby nursery at church and moved to the 2 year old class. Our baby is growing up, whether we’re ready for it or not!

She did great in her new class. And even made her first craft (with stickers!!)

I just love this little outfit. I couldn’t pass it up when I saw it hanging on the rack. She wore it when we had our family picture taken for the church directory (not the most fun memory, by the way. Any of you who have attempted a family picture with more than one child, one being a toddler, know what I’m talking about!) and I made the bow to match. Because what outfit would be complete without accessories?!?

simple sewing

I enjoy sewing and wish I had more time to do it. Mostly I enjoy doing “crafty” sewing projects versus pre-purchased patterns. Things like curtains, chair covers, Halloween costumes, etc.

During spring break, I took advantage of some of my free time and did a couple of VERY SIMPLE projects.

The twins across the street share a birthday with me and I wanted to do something fun and different for them this year. I decided to make them each a monogram shirt. Then I thought they turned out so cute that I made one for Delaney too.

All I did was cut out a letter template from paper. I used fuseable interfacing (the iron-on kind) and attached it to the back of the fabric (to give it a little more structure).

Then I pinned my “pattern” to the fabric and cut it out. Pinned it to the shirt and stitched around the shirt with white thread. Sew easy!!

I have a couple more sewing projects in mind. IF I get around to them, I’ll share!

zoo day

After almost a full week of cloudy, damp, dreary weather, we were more than ready to spend a day outside. So we headed to the zoo (and too advantage of our membership one last time).

Delaney really liked looking at the animals. We would tell her the name of the animal. Then we would ask her where that animal was and she would point. And whenever the animals were sleeping, she would put her finger to her mouth and say “shhhh.” I’m telling you, this kid would be a perfect mime!

Meercats and Prairie Dogs. Can you tell them apart?

Delaney was “shhhh-ing” when she saw a sleeping animal.

And can you spot the ugly ducklings baby swans? The daddy is in the water and would scare off ducks that came near.

Poor chimpanzee had been shaved. I think he may die of embarrassment.

Check out the anteater. Not something you see everyday.

So we left the zoo after spending 4 hours walking around (along with every other person in the Wichita area) and less than $5. Not bad for a day’s entertainment!!

seven

My baby boy is SEVEN!!!

Around here, kids celebrate their birthdays at school by taking treats of some sort to share with classmates. But since Nate doesn’t eat, it seems weird to take cupcakes or cookies or popsicles. So for the past few years (when he was in early childhood) I took bubbles or sidewalk chalk.

This year I made letter-shaped crayons and gave half a dozen to each child. A fun way to recycle old, broken crayons. I bought a silicon mold from Amazon. And spent hour upon hour peeling and breaking and melting and waiting for them to set and popping them out until finally I had enough. Oh, and I totally stole this idea from Meg at Whatever.

Nate even passed them out to his classmates. His teacher is so good at including him!

At home, we celebrated with family and friends. Delaney helped Nate unwrap his gifts and then we all enjoyed ice cream sundaes.

 

 

Happy Birthday, Nate!!

You are a special boy!

enjoying the weather

Delaney loves to be outside. In fact, she spent a better part of the day outside with Gaga. They blew bubbles. Swung on the porch swing. Fed the ducks.

And even after all that, she still wanted to be outdoors. So we headed out front (the backyard has WAY too much doggy poo for my taste).

 

At first she was content to just swing and people watch and “chat” with mom about our days.

But then it was “go time” and boy did she go! She ran back and forth across the sidewalk, up the ramp and onto the porch. Notice the little patch of snow behind her that hasn’t quite melted.

And then I found the best treasure of all in the garage. Old tricycle, circa Brianna and Allison. She was actually able to pedal a tiny bit by herself. She may be a mute, but her motor skills are rockin’!

Hard to believe that we were enjoying weather in the mid 60s, just 3 days after a snowstorm. That’s Kansas for ya!