Chicken Enchiladas With a Twist

One of my favorite foods to make and eat is chicken enchiladas. They're easy to assemble and taste so good. This recipe has a sauce that goes over the top that makes this dish super tasty!
Here is the basic recipe.
Filling
2 to 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or 16 oz of canned chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (I use low fat)
1 small can chopped green chilies
Mix together in a bowl until well blended.

Put a large spoon full of chicken mixture on flour tortilla and sprinkle with grated cheese. Roll the tortilla and place in a sprayed 9 x 13 pan. You can usually fit 10 - 12 rolled tortillas in the pan.



Here is the twist. It adds great flavor.
Sauce
In a blender, add:
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3/4 cup mayonaise
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic
1 T. lime juice
Blend well.
Pour over rolled tortillas. (pay no attention to the beautifully hung towel)

Sprinkle top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

You can put anything you want over the enchilada but you won't need to. It's delicious! (I'm a cilantro girl)

BUEN PROVECHO!

Window Wells

In some areas where we have lived, there have been no basements. But in Utah, there are lots of homes with basements...and...with basements come the ever popular window well.

At times, you may find things in the bottom of the window well that are inappropriately placed...like..this skunk. (the following three pictures were not taken by me)

Or this North American short-tailed shrew. (I only knew what it was because I read the caption under the picture)

Toads think window wells make a good home too.


But this little devil, found in our window well today, is the reason we don't like to get in and clean the well out!

And perhaps, the reason she's in there is...because we don't get in and clean it out! It's a vicious circle!
I'll take the toad, over the black widow, any day!

PEACH PIT JELLY

My friend gave me a box of small, but delicious, peaches! I bottled 7 quarts. After peeling and pitting the peaches, I had a big pile of "garbage". What can be done with that pile?

Be sure you DON'T throw it away. Put the peelings, pits and pieces of over-ripe and bruised peaches in a pan.

Cover with water, put on stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Drain through a colander into a large bowl or pan.

Strain that juice through a clean dish towel or a cheese cloth into a clean bowl or pan.

I used the Sure Jell brand of pectin and followed the recipe for grape jelly. Bring 5 cups of juice and the pectin to a boil.

Add a "waterfall" made from 7 cups of sugar.

Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, skim foam off top, ladel into jars. Place lids and rings on jars, place in boiling bath water for 15 minutes.

Look how pretty it is! It tastes delicious too!

I got 2 batches of jelly that filled 8 1/2 pints. All from peach garbage!

Don't forget to head over to Camille's blog to enter her "Sweet Tooth Fairy" give-away! You have until Sunday night.

FAF...Continued

Some things have changed in the past 13 years. We went from this...

to this!

This hasn't changed much over the years. The girls being "obedient"- the boys being...whatever!

This is the biggest change! Nine precious grandbabies!

May your life be filled with blessings!

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

These pictures are just a fractional representation of my children's growing up years!

Not all of my children are represented.

Do I look exhausted? There are 2 older daughters who are not in this picture.

Many years ago, I met a friend, Colleen, at the library for the summer story time. Between the two of us we had 9 ½ children under the age of 9. As the older children sat and listened to the story, told by the librarian, Colleen and I were running in different directions. We were both chasing toddlers. I was comforting a tired baby, refereeing arguments between the older kids, changing diapers, trying to cover up the wet marks on the front of my shirt because the nursing pads didn’t absorb well, keeping the toddler from ripping up the library books, and basically having a “mother of many small children” moment. As Colleen came walking toward me with sweat dripping off her face, 6 months pregnant, and wrestling a squirming 18 month old, she said, “Remember, Connie, if we are really good, and follow all the commandments and do all we should do, we can do this FOREVER!”

When I think back on that event, it seems like only yesterday.
It may seem strange, but, there are times I’d like to go back to those days. I hear nursing pads are more absorbent and there’s air conditioning in the library!

I’m glad families are forever!

SWEET! A Giveaway!

I have found some delicious food ideas on your blogs!

On the blog, Bakerella, there's a post for Cowgirl Cookies. I stole, I mean, took it and tweaked it a bit. (I didn't make mine as cute) Check it out and get the recipe there!
I gave the jars of the layered cookie mix to friends and made a double batch of the delectable morsels for me...and my family. This would be a great gift for any occasion but was thinking how cute it would be for a new mom. Put just the blue M&Ms in the jar for a baby boy and get the pink ones for a girl. Change the fabric on top a bit and there you have it! I like the fact that it's pretty and I don't have to turn on my oven and heat up the whole house!

Speaking of having something sweet and delicious without heating up your kitchen, head over to my daughter's blog, MakeItWorkMom, for a sweet giveaway to Sweet Tooth Fairy! You'll be glad you did!
Could someone please pass the milk?

Full Service!

The city is working on the sewer line.

You may remember the widow I posted about earlier. The sewer re-construction has been taking place in front of her house.

While taking care of "things" in her bathroom, she heard a deliberate knock on her door. She finished the best she could, got her walker, and shuffled as quickly as her legs would let her. There, on her porch, stood a city worker. He asked her if she could flush a "pill" down her toilet and another down the bathtub drain so the workers could observe when and where these pills would exit. She told him she would, but, asked if he could come in and turn on the water in her bathtub because it was hard for her to do since she was still recovering from a recent stroke.

He agreed.

After he flushed and turned on the bath water, he started to leave.
She asked, "Could you do something else for me while you're here?"
He said that he would.
"Could you pull up my pants?"
He did.
That's what I call service!

She was happy and I'm sure he has a story to tell!

A Little Bit of Chocolate!

What is it about chocolate?

It seems that if I have a stressful day, a good run, a full day of shopping, a good night's sleep, a fun activity with family or friends, three hours of church, or any time of the day; a little bit (or alot) of chocolate makes everything better!

Mars is having a chocolate giveaway!

If you go to this website https://secure.realchocolate.com/, on Fridays, you can enter to win a certificate for free chocolate. I've done it twice. I got a bag of Peanut M&Ms (my favorite) with my first certificate and I'm waiting for my second one to come in the mail!

Yes! A little bit of chocolate goes a long way!

Is it just me and Kelsey - or do others feel the same way?

Birthday Greetings!

Happy Birthday, Jill!

She's the 5th child of 8, so basically, she's the middle child.

She took dance for years and it paid off. Not only is SHE a good dancer, so is her 2 year old daughter!

She doesn't look too happy on this ride at Lagoon. Jill's mantra WAS, "I'm Jill Langston, I can do whatever I want!" Remember how she passed her dancing abilities to her daughter? The same goes for the mantra!

She loves animals, especially kittens. Even when Jill wasn't living at the house, we still had a stray cat she had adopted. One of the strays had babies in a box filled with winter sweaters. Jill's sister, who belonged to those sweaters, was NOT happy!

Jill has a great husband and two beautiful children! She's a massage therapist and is going back to school to get another degree! She's beautiful in every way, funny, with a great sense of humor and quick wit, smart, generous, and we're proud of her!

Blowing out the candles is a family affair.

Nothing more exciting than getting "trinkets" for a birthday.

It's hard to tell whose birthday it is with Jeanette wearing the crown!

Happy Birthday, Jill. We love you!

MAN...I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN!

A Wasatch Woman that is.

We did it and we had a great time!

Let's start with Diva Night. Not too cool. We waited for over an hour in a long, snakey line just to get our shirts (only had small and medium left...which is great for some, not the right size for others), timing chips and numbers. Next year they'll do better (just being a little optimistic here)

This was the best part of Diva Night. We went to the Olive Garden for a nice pasta, salad, and bread stick dinner! YUM!


Here we are, bright and early, before the race. Jill, Jeanette, me, Lindsay (Rachael's sister), Rachael and Camille. Don't we look happy and refreshed?

This is me crossing the finish line, just like I said I would. That ice cream sandwich was really refreshing.

(This picture may or may not have been staged)

Tired, sweaty, red-faced and happy it's over.

Just a few tidbits. Jeanette, the over achiever, who was way ahead of us, missed the turn off to the finish line and ended up running another mile and a half! Camille pushed both girls in a double stroller during the race. It looked very inviting.

I came in 7th in my age group! Woo-hoo! It's great to be old!