Let's try something new shall we?

Today I was lucky to break out of work early.

And guess what I did?

Got a car wash, gas (would you believe $3.38 a gallon?), filled tires with air and then surprised the hubs and teenager when I walked in the door at 3pm instead of 5:30. 

I immediately sent them off to a movie, I perused Pinterest for a bit, then decided to have a glass of wine and take a hot bath.  Which made me tired and I took an hour nap. 

Now they are on their way home and I am making BLT's for dinner. 

I have tomorrow and Friday off and my mom and I are driving to Portland to do some Christmas shopping.  I can't wait to hit up the thrift stores down there. 

I feel like being a bit random here.... let's try this out.  

I have randomly selected 5 numbers that I will then go into my iPhoto library and post.  I have no idea what they may be, but let's see what we get. 

I about died when this one popped up.  This was taken at a parade in Oak Harbor and I thought it was funny.  

Boys will be boys.

Our annual Fourth of July camping trip, 2011.

Our wedding day, August 2008. 

Ha!  I thought about deleting this one when it came up. My sister wanted a bridal shower theme of lingerie and candles, so guess what she got a lot of? I asked everyone to bring a pair of underwear and I pinned them around and she had to guess who brought which pair.  It was really funny to see who picked what.  

This was one of my favorite pieces I have ever found.  It is a vintage candy counter. I brought this to the Snohomish Arts & Antique Faire where a lucky family picked it up.  I still run into them occasionally at the Ruffles and Rust Show.  

Return For Deposit

I am the lucky recipient of my dad cleaning the garage.  He had these two Coke crates from the seventies.  I like that they have a wire frame which you can see in the corners of the first two photos. 

Thanks dad!

White Chicken Enchiladas

Who is hungry?

If you are looking for a new twist on the ole enchilada recipe you have, please give this one a try.  I found this Pioneer Woman recipe and changed it up a bit. We had our old favorite neighbors over for dinner on Sunday evening so I decided to make a double batch.  The following recipe is for a regular 13x9 single batch.  Trust me you might want to double, this recipe is just that good. 

~~~~~~~~

You can cook your chicken any way you like. My favorite way is to place your frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot with half a jar of Pace Picante Salsa and let cook on high for 6-8 hours. 

Start with 3 cans of Whole Green Chiles, drained and diced. If you prefer you can buy the already diced ones. 

Next I grabbed a handful of the white corn tortillas.  You actually only need about 16 to fill a 13x9 pan. Add about 3 tablespoons canola oil to a small skillet over medium-high heat. 

 Fry tortillas about 15-20 seconds and then place on a papertowel covered dinner plate.

 I usually place about 4 tortillas on the paper towel and then layer and repeat.

Next add one large diced onion and 1 tablespoon canola oil to a medium skillet over high heat for about one minute.  Just enough to saute. 

Then you will add your shredded chicken and half of your diced green chiles and 1/2 teaspoon paprika, stir to mix well.

Pour in 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream and stir, allowing the chicken mixture to get hot and bubbly. Turn heat off and set aside.

I added a can of corn, drained. Give it another good stir. 

In a seperate large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter. 

Once butter is melted sprinkle in 2 tablespoons flour and whisk together over medium heat for one minute.  

 Next pour in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, whisk together for another minute. Then add the remaining half of your chiles and reduce heat. Add 1 cup sour cream and mix well.

Finally add 1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese or pepper jack (I used a mix of both)and a 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir to melt over low heat.  Season as you wish with salt and pepper. 

Looks delicious right?

Now the fun part begins. 

Spoon chicken mixture into tortilla.

Top with plenty of cheese and roll up. I call this the fold and load portion of the recipe.

Place seam side down in a greased 13x9 casserole dish. 

Looks good, but just wait. 

Now you can pour the cheese sauce you made over the top of the enchiladas.  I topped with the extra cheese I had left. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

I topped with Tapatio and fresh cilantro.

Feel free to add sour cream, avocado and salsa. 

I served with mexican rice and a salad. 

This was so creamy and delicious.  I will definately make this again. 

Let me know if you tried this recipe out and if you made any changes to it. 

See you tomorrow!

Leaving on a jet plane

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday.  I have been busy shopping, eating, creating new dishes {cant wait to share with you}, playing games and nursing an eye infection. I seem to be all better now. Please bear with me for this will be a short post.  I will return with some great ones this week. I picked up these metal beauties at Goodwill.  I just love them.  They are stamped 1975 on the back. 

This photo has been edited on Instagram. 

Have you downloaded that app yet? No? You must.  I love it! 

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

I should have posted this delicious recipe a few days ago but you can always make it tomorrow.  You will not be disappointed in this cake.  It was so moist and dense, just perfection.  Not too pumpkiny just perfect.  I made this for a dinner with friends on Monday night and brought the rest to work on Tuesday.  

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1 package (4 serv. size) vanilla instant pudding mix

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. water

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

~ Preheat oven to 350. 

~Beat all ingredients in arge bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes until well blended.

~ Pour into greased and floured 13x9 in. baking pan.

~Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack. 

**Disclaimer**

This recipe came with a spiced cream cheese frosting which i attempted to make.  It did not turn out so I cheated and used a whipped cream cheese frosting Betty Crocker made. 

Taco Soup Tuesday

Looking for an easy meal that everyone will love?

Well you are in luck! 

Our dear friends Scott and ShaiLee had us over for dinner last year and made this, it has since become a favorite in my household.  

Slow-Cooker Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can corn, undrained

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 c. water

2 (14.5 oz.) can peeled and diced tomatoes

1 (4.5 oz.) can diced green chiles

1 (1.25 0z.) package taco seasoning mix

1. In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until browned. Drain.

2. Place the ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, green chilies and taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker.  Mx to blend and cook on Low setting for 8 hours. 

Yield: 8 servings

Serve with avocado, tortilla chips, olives and cheese. 

Let me know if you try this and what you think.  

A few of my favorites

All items are from Pinterest. 

I just got home from a fantastic night with old friends.  

Please excuse the regular scheduled program, I wanted to get a  post out - please check back tomorrow for my delicious Taco Soup pictures and recipe. 

Night all. 

Genius Idea ~ Thank you Pinterest

Have you checked out Pinterest yet?

If you have not, you must!  It is highly addicting and I find some  fantastic ideas on there. 

Like this....

{image from Pinterest}

Immediately after seeing this picture, I had this. 

{actual image from my home}

You can't buy happiness

I originally found this on Pinterest and had a comment from a friend.  So guess what I tried to recreate for her birthday?!?!?

What do you think of it? 

Need an idea for dinner?

Tonight I am sharing one of my families favorite dinners. 

White Chicken Chili

1 c. water

1 1\2 c. chicken broth

3 tbs. lime juice

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1 tbs. olive oil

2 cloves garlic - crushed

4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 c. chopped onion

1 can cream of chicken

1 - 16 oz. bag frozen sweet white corn

2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies (undrained)

2 cans undrained great northern beans

~ In large pot add broth, water, spices, garlic & olive oil.

Bring to a boil.

~ Add chicken, low boil, simmer 30 minutes until chicken is fork tender.

~ Remove chicken, shred with fork and return to pot with the liquid still in it. 

~ Add remaining ingredients, return to a boil.  Simmer 45 minutes.

Enjoy.

When we made this for our 2nd Annual Chili Cookoff at my parents house we won first place!  I am hoping to win again with it at my work's chili cookoff tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

So we meet again

You didn't think I only bought furniture this weekend, did you?  Here are the smaller pieces I scored. 

If you have been following this blog and or know me personally - then you know how much I love silverware. 

This is so cool! 

I plan on putting this on my kitchen counter with my favorite Martha Stewart cookbook in it. 

I loved the yellow of this wire tray.

This is an old Safety Patrol flag.

I was on my Elementary School's Safety Patrol Team and at the end of the year we were rewarded with a field trip to Wild Waves. 

Were you on a Patrol Team?

Another black rusty metal box? 

Yes, I also happen to have a few others.  I like to use them on my bookshelves as bookends or stack books on top of them. This one is a perfect patina.