Chicken Enchiladas

Yesterday was Amelia's daycare day, so I got a much-needed haircut and made chicken enchiladas.

These enchiladas were really good; my only complaint is that they needed more salt. I have no idea how much more to suggest, so I would just salt to taste.

I actually found this recipe on another blog, but it gave credit to the source. I highly recommend these (with more salt, of course):

Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas
Recipe by Rebecca Rather

Ingredients:

1 store-bought roasted chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (32 ounces) sour cream
1⁄2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles, undrained
1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt (My suggestion: Salt to taste)
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears), or one 8 oz. can corn kernels
1 cup canola oil
12 corn tortillas
2 1⁄2 cups (10 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9X13 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.

Remove and discard the skin from the cooked chicken. Pull the meat from the bones, shred it into bite-sized pieces, and set it aside in a large bowl.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, heavy cream, green chiles, tomatoes, salt, and pepper until smooth. Cook until warmed through, being careful not to let the mixture boil. Reserve 2 cups of the sour cream mixture for pouring over the casserole. Stir the corn and chicken into the remaining sour cream mixture, which will be used to fill the tortillas.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Using metal tongs, dip each tortilla in the hot oil for a few seconds on each side, until softened. Stack the tortillas on a paper towel. Spoon a generous line of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down, in the prepared pan. Pour the reserved sour cream mixture evenly over the tortillas and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Note: I had TONS of filling left over, so I just poured some extra on top and along the sides (and still had more left over). I think you could really get 20-24 enchiladas out of this recipe.

Cupcake #1: Key Lime Cupcakes

Y'all, I've been obsessed with cupcakes lately. I look at blogs of bakers who specialize in cupcakes; I look at books of cupcakes. (I've also been obsessed with mini-cheeseburgers--"sliders"--lately too...maybe it has something to do with mini-versions of bigger foods or something.) Anyway, I've decided that I want to get in on this cupcake action, so last night I made key lime cupcakes.

I didn't find the perfect recipe on the Internet, so, in a very-uncharacteristic-of-me-like fashion, I took a cupcake recipe and adapted it (it didn't have enough lime juice in it for my taste, so I added more), and a frosting recipe (again, adding more lime juice). (I say this is uncharacteristic of me because I'm very "go by the rules" when it comes to recipes.)

At first, the results were disappointing. The cupcakes themselves were ugly and sunken in the middle. And still not lime-y enough for my taste. The frosting was better (a cream cheese/key lime mixture), but I thought the result wasn't worth the effort. To make my concoction look prettier, at least, I added a lime wedge for garnish.

This morning, though, I tried them again after they spent the night in the fridge. They seemed better. I don't know...the verdict is still out.

Here's a pic:

Father's Day, This Week, Etc.

I meant to give a shout out to the important dads in my life on Father's Day, but the one time I had the opportunity to blog on Sunday, I was having Blogger issues. So here are my belated Father's Day greetings...

Happy Belated Father's Day to my dad, who celebrated his first Father's Day as a grandfather this year. Amelia has him completely wrapped around her finger. This is my favorite picture of my dad. It was taken at the hospital the day after Amelia was born; you can tell he was excited to be a "Papa"!


And also belated Happy Father's Day to Darryl. Sunday was bittersweet for Darryl; it was his first Father's Day as a dad, but also his first Father's Day without his dad.

Amelia also has Darryl wrapped around her finger, of course, but she is very fortunate to have him for a father. Darryl is definitely a "hands-on" dad, and there is no task he can't handle. We're both thankful he is in our lives.

This pic is obviously from the "early days" of fatherhood, but I love this picture. It looks like they are both checking each other out. :)

Other than Father's Day, not too much is going on around here. Amelia and I have been hanging out together. Monday, we met Kim ("Theatre Director") and Sabrina (another co-worker friend) and their kids for lunch the other day, and that was fun. We have plans for some pool time together later this week.

And that's about it. Exciting, huh?

My Day so Far

6:45--Amelia wakes up; I feed her.

7:00--Amelia plays in her Exersaucer while I drink my morning coffee. I decide that today is going to be the day that I begin walking in the morning. It will help my feelings. It will be exercise. I'm pumped.

7:15--I get dressed in my "walking" clothes.

7:30--Darryl leaves for work. I dress Amelia in a cooler outfit as it is already warm outside.

7:45--I can't find my keys. (I have to drive to my preferred walking area--it's not even a mile away, but we live on a curvy road and I wouldn't dream of walking that road, especially with a stroller.)

8:00--I still can't find my keys. Remembering Darryl had them last, I call him. He tells me a few more places to look.

8:15--I still can't find my keys.

8:30--I call Darryl because I still can't find my keys. He says he'll come home to help me look.

8:40--Figuring that walking is a bust today because Amelia is fussy and it is getting hotter by the minute, I decide to put her down for a nap. I'm successful!

8:45--Darryl comes back home to help me look for the keys. The dog barks upon his arrival and wakes up an irritable Amelia.

9:00--I find the keys in the side pocket of the diaper bag. Darryl says, "I remember putting them there now." I feel stupid for not checking there. (But Darryl never puts anything in the diaper bag.)

9:01--I try to rock Amelia back to her naptime sleep.

9:30--Amelia is still not asleep.

9:45--I feed Amelia again.

10:00--Amelia still won't go to sleep. I give up and get ready to go to the pool with her. Amelia is grouchy about getting in her bathing suit because she's sleepy, but won't sleep.

I'd just like to say we spent more time going to and from the pool than we did actually at the pool.

I'd also like to say that while Amelia slept about 20 minutes in the car on the way back home, she still won't go to sleep.

I'm tired.

Edited to add: Amelia finally went to sleep at 3:00. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take a much-needed shower or a much-needed nap. And I just realized it is Friday the 13th.

Friday the 13th, indeed!

Grey's

I finally watched the Grey's Anatomy finale. I'm usually a tough critic of this show (Meredith hate, depressing story lines, gross couplings like the Izzy-George deal), BUT I have enjoyed this show lately and thought the finale was awesome. Finally...a happy season ending! And now that Meredith has finally decided to get to the root of her issues, I might like her better.

So many great moments...Bailey's realization she had to make cut something out of her life to make her marriage work (and then passing the clinic to Izzy), the Cristina-Hahn showdown in the O.R. and the Chief's admonition to Hahn afterwards, George's case to the chief that he deserves a second chance, the success of Mer-Der's clinical trial, and of course their big kiss at the end. And on top of that, we learned that bad things happen to your body when you are submerged in quick-dry cement. (I had no idea!)

I really don't expect a response to this post, but I was so happy with the ending that I just had to talk about it. :)

Amelia playing

We moved the bed out of the guest room and into a storage unit. The sofa bed is coming Saturday. I love the fact that Amelia has all this CARPETED room to play around in...she seems to like it too.

How Fitting

I marked the end of my first full day as a summer-stay-at-home mom by going to Walmart with bright orange spit-up carrots all over my shoulder and shirt sleeve. I realized this while I was in the store, of course.

Thank you.

Summer Plans

I feel as though my summer vacation really started today because today was my first day being home since school got out.

Amelia spent a few hours at her daycare so that I could get a few things done--buying groceries, cleaning out the fridge, running errands. She's actually going to spend a day a week there so I can do such things and have a little "me time." Trust me...that makes me a much better mother.

I don't really have any "big" summer plans. I do, however, have a list of things I'd like to accomplish at some point:

--I need to cook more meals at home, and I need to figure out how to do that with a 7-month-old who tires of any activity (jumperoo, exersaucer, toys) after about 15 minutes. I managed to make a casserole tonight, but Amelia traveled from the jumperoo to the exersaucer to the high chair to the crib while I cooked.

--I want to get some official portraits done of Amelia. I set aside some gift money for this purpose, and the photographer is actually someone we know from church, but I need to actually make the appointment and show up with a cooperative child.

--I need to frame photos I already have and display them in our house. How pitiful is it that Darryl and I have exactly one framed photo of Amelia in our house, and it is a pic from when she was 6 weeks old?

--I need to organize the clutter in our house. We're actually converting our guest room into a play room (with a sofa bed for guests), and that will help.

This post was rather boring, wasn't it?

First Swim!

Today Darryl and I took Amelia for her first swim. I had a feeling she would love it because she absolutely LOVES taking a bath, and I was right. She doesn't even care if water gets splashed in her face. Her favorite thing, though, was having Darryl hold her high in the air and then dip her legs in the water; she just shrieked and laughed! Here are a couple of pics. Darryl looks a bit odd in the first pic (sorry, babe, but you do), but I couldn't really crop him out very well. :)

Mr. Benny

Benny and Amelia, Easter weekend

I had plans to write this really poignant post about Darryl's dad, but now that I'm sitting at the keyboard, I don't really know what to say. How do you really comment on someone's life in a blog post, for Pete's sake?

Mr. Benny was such a presence in our family. Over the past week, we've shared our favorite "Benny memories," and they are quite extensive...and hilarious. Every one of them made us laugh. Even as we were driving with Darryl's brother and sister and their spouses to the funeral home to tend to details and make arrangements, we were joking about how he would probably be disappointed that we weren't buying his casket from Costco. That man LOVED warehouse stores, and even a few weekends ago when he came to Atlanta for Amelia's baby dedication, he was able to muster up the strength to walk the aisles of Costco.

On Christmas mornings, he would give each of us two plain white envelopes marked with just our name, and each envelope was filled with cash. One was for our birthday, and one was for Christmas. It didn't matter if the birthday was in June or October, he gave it all out on Christmas Day. (And cash always fits, right?)

He often called things by the wrong name. My favorite example of this was several years ago when Darryl and his brother, sister, dad, and I went to the Sugar Bowl, and Dayton (Darryl's brother) wanted to go to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Mr. Benny kept calling them "beagles." (He also kept asking why they didn't serve bacon and eggs.)

When he called on the phone, his conversations usually started with, "What's going down around the town?"

He loved dogs, and boy, did they love him.

Even though he wasn't the most outspoken with his emotions, I often saw him kiss his grandchildren on the head when he held them in his lap.

I think what makes me the most sad is that Amelia will not know her grandfather or her grandmother on Darryl's side, and they were both remarkable people.

We will miss him.

Update

Many of you probably know that Darryl's dad passed away Saturday, not long after I posted that last blog entry. I'll post more about him later because I do want to say a few things about him (all good, of course), but my brain is too tired at the moment. It will have to wait until I get home.

People have been coming by in droves, and I've eaten more ham, homegrown veggies, cakes, pies, casseroles, fried chicken, and other comfort foods than I care to mention. (I think it is safe to say that my weight-loss ticker is no longer accurate.) The funeral was yesterday and it was really a great tribute, and now things are winding down a little.

Darryl and I are going home Saturday. I probably won't blog again until then.

Waiting...

Darryl, Amelia, and I have been in Florida since Wednesday evening and are here indefinitely, waiting for "the inevitable" to occur with Darryl's dad. Thus, no exciting blog posts this week. Here are a few other things going on.

--We flew down here and rented a Honda Odyssey to drive in case there is a need to transport lots of people (which is highly likely if lots of family members come in). I feel like a soccer mom driving that thing, but I'm going to make a confession...I kind of like it. So spacious! So easy to get Amelia in and out of! (What has happened to me??)

--I've had lots of "blasts from the past" this week. I've seen several of my elementary school teachers, and I saw my fourth-grade "crush" in a local restaurant. He's apparently a preacher now. This was quite shocking to me as he was quite not-so-preacherly in high school. (In fourth grade, though, he was a perfect gentlemen.)

--I finally watched the LOST finale last night. Maybe I was just tired or distracted from everything else going on, but I was a little disappointed. I might have to watch it again when I get home.

--I'm probably going to put on 10 pounds this week with all the food people are bringing over. I had the best chicken pot pie I've ever had in my life for BREAKFAST this morning.

--Anyone watch the spelling bee last night? What's up with that 12-year-old boy with the mustache? (Tim, he reminded me of a young Juan A./Hamburglar.)

Thanks for all the good thoughts you are sending our way.

Memorial Day Weekend

I haven't blogged much lately because things have been super-crazy lately.

School ended for students on Friday, and that night I had to attend graduation. This year was kind of weird for me...this was the first year I didn't teach seniors, and because of when I made the switch to juniors and sophomores, I did not teach this graduating class. I just felt sort of removed from it all.

Early Saturday morning, we headed to the airport to fly to Florida. Darryl was just tired of making that (boring, seemingly endless) drive, so he opted to use some of his miles so we could fly down. It also gave us an opportunity to see how Amelia would fare on a plane. She was great. If only we didn't have to lug a car seat, a stroller, our suitcases. Oh, and I love how I had to declare and show my baby formula because it was more than 3 ounces. Sure, stories surface all the time of people who have made it through the security check with razor blades and such, but watch out for the baby formula!!

This weekend was rough. It was good to see family, but Darryl's dad wasn't doing very well at all. In fact, Saturday was really his worst up to this point...and it was really, really bad. He was a little better Sunday. If you are a praying person, please keep Darryl's dad and his family in your prayers.

On a more positive note, I was able to see my new niece, Avery. She's a doll.

And I'll leave with a cute picture. Amelia's Nana and Papa bought her a swing, and she LOVES it. She can't stop smiling when she's in it:

Last Day of School!

Last day of school!
Last day of school!
Last day of school!


And I couldn't be happier. Of course, teachers have to go back for two days next week, but today the students are OUTTA HERE!!!!!

:)

Whew, what a week!!

Some parts of this post are long overdue (like Mother's Day), but this week has really seemed like three because this week has been insanely busy. Here are some Amelia-related highlights:

Last Sunday was my first Mother's Day. Darryl had to go out of town unexpectedly a few days before to help with some things with his dad, and he wasn't able to get a flight back until that afternoon...but maybe it is most appropriate that I spend Mother's Day with my daughter, anyway. Amelia and I went to church, hung out, shopped a little...and then when Darryl came in, we went to dinner. Anyway, here's a pic of Amelia and me on Mother's Day:



Both our families came up this weekend because we were participating in a Baby Dedication Service at our church today. (Before I go any further, please don't be offended that I didn't mention this earlier. This is a bit different from a christening or a baptism, and I really wanted to keep the attendance small, nor did I want people to wonder if they needed to come, so I just kept it quiet.) I'll get more into the dedication service in a minute...

Saturday, Darryl, Darryl's brother Dayton, his two kids (Savannah and Cameron), and I went to the Braves game. We took MARTA, and on the way there, I saw this sign and it made me laugh. (You'll have to look closely to see what amused me, but my fellow English teachers will be proud.)

Someone circled the colon that needs to be removed before the list. Then that person circled the ing on carrying and wrote "WRONG." That made my day! Grammarians, unite!!

Here's a pic of Dayton and the kids at the game. (I'm not sure what face that is that Dayton is making.)


That lady in the corner cracks me up, too. Anyway, Darryl found some awesome seats. We were seven rows up on the 3rd base line. Here's our view:
It was also an evening of culinary delight for me because I had a footlong hotdog with a side of nachos. Man, I love stadium food...maybe more than I love fair/festival food.

And that brings us to today. This afternoon, as I said earlier, we participated with Amelia in a Baby Dedication Service at our church. It was small, intimate service (separate from the church service), and just in case you are curious about what went on...

The atmosphere was casual, but elegant. (That sounds cheesy, but I can't think of any better description.) The lights were dim, and there was a slideshow of pictures of each family participating (30 families total). Each family had a table in the church for our guests. Darryl's family ended up going home last night after the game because Darryl's dad wasn't feeling well, so it was just my parents, Darryl and me, and a few friends from church. Basically, we shared with just our table the values we wanted to instill in Amelia and what kind of qualities we wanted to exhibit as parents. At the end, everyone at our table prayed for Amelia. It was really a nice event...not a "parade" across a stage, but just an intimate gathering of family and a few friends who came in support of our effort to be good parents. I'll end with a pic of the three of us at our table:

Murphy's Law

So...the academic awards program I'm partly in charge of was tonight, and in my opinion, it was a disaster.

Not many parents showed up. Not many students showed up. Teachers griped about having to be there. Large groups of certificates and were shuffled so badly by some of the presenters that it was just mass chaos.

And then, in the middle of the program, our caterer comes over to tell us that "there is a problem." The other person in charge, Elaine, went to check on "the problem."

Our caterer's restaurant (where Tim and I ate dinner, by the way) was shut down by the health department for food safety violations and they could not legally serve food to the public. Yep, shut down during our program. We had to make an announcement at the end that the reception was canceled. And now desserts for 500 people are in a dumpster behind the school cafeteria.

It's not like we booked some dive to cater our reception; they did it last year, and it's a little locally owned deli where I've eaten numerous times. I'm hoping in the end the restaurant is proven innocent (their inspection score is always in the high 90s), but I'm sure some permanent damage has been done to their reputation.

This was really just the grand finale to a day that has stunk all the way around. (I'm sure an even worse day for the restaurant, though. How humiliating.)

I'm going to bed now, people. (Or, Tim, as our beloved Spanish teacher Ms. C would say, "GOOD people.")

6 Months Old!

Sitting pretty...


Contemplating the first six months of life...

Just being silly...

Lost, Shopping, Summer Reading, Food TV

Forgive my very disjointed post...

I'm lost on Lost. I finally was able to catch up with the last two episodes, and I'm more confused than ever...but still intrigued. I just hope at some point this will all come together and it won't be disappointing.

I think I'm going to take my girl and go shopping today. I really knocked myself out with grading last weekend so I wouldn't have as much to do this weekend (my first Mother's Day!) and next weekend (family coming to town!). I still have some gift cards from Christmas (I was waiting to lose my baby weight before I invested in lots of clothes), so I'm excited about finding some new duds.

For you teachers out there--or former students who can remember assignments teachers gave you--I'm looking for a third book for 10th grade honor students to read for summer reading. I'd prefer something non-fiction, and I want it to produce a good writing topic for them. Last year I tapered off the summer reading and had them read two books (and one of them was really short--Of Mice and Men), but I think that was a mistake. I'm looking to rev it up again this year to "set the tone" for the rest of the year.

My love for the Food Network has been renewed. I really hadn't watched much since Amelia was born, but lately, that is what I watch (meaning "have on in the background") in the early evenings while I do things around the house and tend to Amelia. Lately I've become obsessed with desserts and cake decorating shows. Not sure why. In my fantasy world, I would be a teacher at a school where students want to learn four days a week and be a pastry chef on Fridays. :) Sound good?

It's only Wednesday???

I haven't blogged much because I've been super-busy. Between grading student work (I graded like a fiend this weekend, people!) and trying to plan our yearly academic banquet (it's this Tuesday) and trying to get reluctant students to do anything, I'm just wiped out. Wiped out. And flustered. And snippy. And frustrated. Oh, and did I mention snippy? Darryl would probably want me to list that one twice. :)

I would like to say a big "welcome to the world" to my new niece, Avery Ann, who was born on Cinco de Mayo. She was a whopping nine pounds and one ounce! I can't wait to see her Memorial Day weekend.

I'm too tired to think of anything else...

Quotes from Today

"America, is you ready for a change?"--a student's concluding sentence for her essay on her favorite presidential candidate

"Your dad and I are going to a Guitar Hero tournament tonight."--my mom