Fiesta!!

I know I just posted some recipes, but here are a couple more that are super easy and yummy.
My Mom started making these enchiladas a few years ago and they are always a hit. I made them the other night for a friend, along with this "Killer Queso" recipe that my Aunt Gina gave me recently. The great thing about the enchiladas is that you can make them ahead of time and then just put them in the oven when you're ready. You can even freeze them if you'd like.

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
2-3 large cans, pkgs., or fresh chicken equaling same
8 Oz. cream cheese, softened
1 regular size picante (Pace size) I actually like the Pace Chipotle kind if you can find it, but any will do.
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed and melted
1 or 2 cans mild enchilada sauce
flour tortillas

Mix the cooked chicken with 1/2 bottle picante sauce and the cream cheese. Place some of chicken mixture onto a tortilla and roll it up. Place seam side down into a baking dish. I use a 9 x 13. Usually I end up with about 10 of these enchiladas. Then, melt the Velveeta and add the remaining picante sauce and the enchilada sauce altogether. Pour that mixture over the enchiladas and bake until hot and bubbly (I cover these with foil). Then, bake between 20 - 35 minutes depending on your oven and if they were cold when you started. Try 350 degrees. You can serve as is or garnish with a little grated cheese (let it melt right at the end) and/or some green onions or fresh cilantro or whatever you can think of! You can vary the "heat" by using milder or hotter picante and milder or spicier enchilada sauce.


Killer Queso!!!
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel
4-8 oz. of green chiles
1 tbl minced jalepenos
1 tsp cumin
1 envelope of ranch dressing mix
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 lb. Velveeta
1/4 cup minced cilantro
4 oz jar of pimentos

Mix everything except Velveeta and cilantro. Heat it until it's bubbly. Add cubed Velveeta and stir in the cilantro. That's it!!!

So maybe someone out there in the blogosphere will try these recipes and enjoy. Let me know if you try them! I would love to do a recipe exchange of some sort and expand my repertoire. I am holding fast to the belief that if I cook it, he will come. haha (:

love me some pumpkin

I love pumpkin. I love that fall celebrates pumpkins. I, for one, enjoy eating it all year round as a vegetable. But, I have some favorite recipes that I bust out during this season. Right now, I am making these (and yes, I used my fabulous new mixer!!):

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies...these are so good and have more of a 'cake' consistency
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate
chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

And this is great for a snack!
Pumpkin Dip (great with fruit or gingersnaps)
1 8oz. pkg. Cream cheese,
softened2 cups confectioners sugar
1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1 TBL ground cinnamon
1 TBL pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp frozen orange juice concentrate
Blend together cream cheese and confectioners sugar in one bowl. In another bowl, mix pumpkin, spices and orange juice. Thoroughly mix in the cream cheese blend. Chill until serving.


Hope you enjoy The Pumpkin as much as I do!!

wedding? I don't need no stinkin' wedding

Well, here is what is now sitting on my kitchen counter:




















If you read this post, then you'll know why I am so pumped about this. Thank you, Parents, for this belated birthday gift! And thank you, Em, for encouraging me to just get one of these already (:

when did i get so old?

This morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m.
Willingly, mind you.
I showered.
Put my robe on.
Made coffee.
Read up on my current events via my favorite sites: Foxnews.com, Cnn.com, Drudgereport.com, and usatoday.com
Ate oatmeal because it's high in fiber and helps lower my bad cholesterol.
Started a meal in the crock pot so that it would be ready for dinner when I got home.
Applied Anti-wrinkle serum.
Then applied Neutrogena Skin Firming Moisturizer with Active Copper. Does anyone know what active copper is? I sure don't but it sounded good on the commercial.
I then wondered how I could be developing wrinkles while still getting zits. Why doesn't anyone tell you that wrinkles and blemished can coexist? I thought one was supposed to cancel out the other.
Then I paid some bills online.
Drank some more coffee.
Learned some more about this bank/financial crisis.
Went to work.
Had a discussion at lunch about the dangers of salt. Did you know that too much salt is taxing on your kidneys and liver? I'm going to have to try to cut it out but I consider sodium to be its own food group.
Said all sorts of things I swore I never would to some kids like, "too bad, so sad", "you should have thought about that before you came to class", "Life's not fair", etc.
Bought ANOTHER shower gift...this time for my cousin's baby shower.
Got excited about the Vice-presidential debate.
Ate some of my crockpot chicken and dumplings.
Contemplated becoming a vegan again.
Took a cat nap.
Watched the debate.
Called my dad to discuss said debate, economy, and my wedding...ha. (Really, i was just re-negotiating the price that he's offered me to not have one should the Lord tarry and I actually find someone to marry)
And now, I'm going to bed.

But the big question is....who am I and where did days of living footloose and fancy-free go?!?!?!?!?!??!

single serving

**Disclaimer: This is not a blog intended to evoke pity, but rather, an observation on traditions, etc.


OK. Good. Glad I got that warning out of the way (:
Tonight, I went to the store to buy yet another wedding shower gift. Now, I kind of enjoy the process of looking at the registry and coming up with the perfect gift to fit my single-gal budget. I feel grown up, and I especially feel adult-ish when I am buying baby gifts. That's when the whole "Wow, I'm old enough to have friends with kids!" thing kicks in.
Every time I buy one of these gifts, I selfishly wonder if I will ever be on the receiving end of a bridal registry. And there is really only one thing I dream
about: the Kitchen Aid Mixer.




















Now, here's the dilemma. Being as though I am 29 and own a house, I have already acquired a lot of household items: Cutlery, plates, Le Creuset cookware, a crock pot, steamer/rice cooker, pans, pots, casserole dishes, etc. So, the question is....do I keep adding things to my home or hold out in the hopes that one day I'll be able to register for them? Do I spend the next few years using my sad little hand mixer, or do I treat myself to the real-deal right now since whether I'll ever get married is unknown?

Again, this is not a 'woe is me' post about my solitude. Sure, I have those every-so-often, but I think it's completely normal. I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I am constantly having people trying to comfort me with their wisdom of how singleness is just as wonderful as marriage if that's the season the Lord has you in blah blah blah. Sometimes I believe that. But, if it's so great--and IF you are called to a lifetime of singleness--why isn't there a celebration of that? Do single people not need to create homes and foster their gifts of hospitality with the help of said mixer? And it's not really about the gifts, but rather, the acknowledgment that the Lord's purposes for my life as a single are just as exciting and worth celebrating as the gals who are getting married.

Just something to chew on courtesy of my latest trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond (: