Another Fast and Easy Meal

So, tonight was one of those nights… You know the ones: everyone is feeling grumpy and tired, and there’s no plan for dinner… Yeah one of those, where you go back and forth: What do you want for dinner? I don’t know what do you want? And so on. Well, this wonderful quick dinner came to the rescue, again. It’s a quick meal with just a few ingredients! And SO yummy! This feeds a small family, but as my kids are getting older I need do double the recipe! Riley ate 1 1/4 of one! I think he would have eaten more if there had been any.

Hope you enjoy!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas 

Preheat oven 350 degrees

• 2 cups of shredded chicken (I use rotisserie chicken, usually what leftover from having the bird the night before)

• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar/Mexican blend cheese (we used Monterey and cheddar mix)

• 1/2 cup  ranch dressing

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 2 tbsp diced green chilies (I use a small can of mild green chilies, I generally just dump the whole can in. It’s just over 2 tbsp)

• 4 flour tortillas

Mix together chicken, 3/4 cup cheese, dressing, sour cream and chilies in a bowl. Divide evenly and place in tortillas. Roll and place seam side down in 9” baking dish. Top with remaining 3/4 cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the cheese is brown.

Beka’s first day of nursery

Beka is officially 18 months now! UGH how on earth did that happen? I’ve been asking myself that a lot lately. It just seems like this school year has flown by so fast! Our little Beka has been going to nursery class for a couple of weeks with Daddy, but today was her first solo mission! She did great. Here’s some cute pictures from this morning:

I got smart after the first few pictures and had Allen hold up the blanket behind… no one needs to see our messy bookshelf! Plus I think it looks better!

Have I mentioned lately that this kid is a clown?

She makes me laugh! When she’s not making me pull out my hair! She loves to climb and do anything her big bother or sister is. She LOVES to make you laugh, and will do all kinds of crazy things to hear you laugh. She’s our little screamer, and only seems to have one volume: Loud!

Most days she she’ll let me do her hair… no strike that, she demands that I do her hair. If she see Emma getting her hair done. However, the moment the car is in motion… yeah, those cute pony tails are gone! She’s got some curl to her hair, which makes her mad scientist look all the better:

This is typical Beka! She loves to laugh, climb and see how the world works! You’d better look out! Here she comes!

Fast, Easy Recipes

A couple of weeks ago, my sweet friend Erin asked me to post some of my favorite easy recipes.  You know those recipes that you pull out when it’s way too late to be starting dinner and you REALLY don’t want to have take out (again this week, for like the 3rd time). Or when it’s lunch time and everyone is starving and you just can’t stomach another peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So, when I made the following two things this week, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures and thought, why not share these.

So without further adieu, here goes nothing.

The first recipe I wanted to share was something I LOVED as a kid: English muffin pizza. It’s quick and simple. And kids love it! Emma and Beka helped me make these for lunch.  They loved the idea of making their own pizza.

English Muffin Pizza

4 English muffins (each muffin makes 2 pizzas, so you can adjust as you need to)                                                                1/2 cup spaghetti  sauce (personally I just use Rego or whatever I have leftover, you don’t need much)                    1 cup mozzarella cheese                                                                                                                                                                             toppings (my kids just like cheese, but I added a little pepperoni)

preheat oven to 425 F

Slice the English muffins in half. Spoon about a tablespoon of sauce on each one. Sprinkle with cheese and add toppings. Take a cooling rack and place it on a cookie sheet (this will make the muffins crispy and so good) Place the mini pizzas on top of the cooling rack and place in preheated oven. Cook for 5-7 until the cheese is melted and lightly browned on top. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

 

The second recipe is something I do just about once a week. My family loves it. What is this reoccurring item on our menu? Fruit salad with homemade whipping cream. This is so simple, and helps use up any random fruit I have hanging around! I love whipping cream, it’s so handy. I know it’s not the healthiest thing in the world, please don’t judge me to harshly! I try to use as much fresh fruits as I can. The canned fruit that I use has light syrup. Hope you enjoy!

Fruit Salad with Homemade Whipped Cream

 

1/2 to 1 cup of heavy whipping cream                                                                                                                                                         1 to 3 T of powder sugar

1 large can of fruit cocktail                                                                                                                                                                                1 can of madarian oranges                                                                                                                                                                                2 bannanas sliced                                                                                                                                                                                                    1/2 apple sliced                                                                                                                                                                                                  

other fresh fruits sliced                

Pour cream into mixer bowl. Add powder sugar. Using the  whisk attachment, whisk at high speed until soft peaks form (about 2-5 minutes).

For the salad drain fruit cocktail and rinse with water. Pour contains into a large bowl. Add rest of fruit to bowl and mix gently. Fold in whipped cream and serve.

I’ve also added grapes, peaches, pears and cucumbers.

 

So there you have it. Some of my simple recipes from my crazy life. Let me know if you try it and how they turn out!