Mental Health Friday....

I took a mental health day today - I am very glad I did so! I went grocery shopping, which I desperately needed to do. I had no food in my house! Next time I think I'll shop more frequently instead of running out of everything before I go to the store. I used a bunch of coupons while I was at WalMart and while I can't say I saved a super whole bunch I was able to save around $10....better than nothing right? I picked up stuff to make the following recipe for creme cheese chicken enchiladas. They are auh-mazing! I found them on another blog called Homemaking on the Homestead; I find a lot of great things here! You should totally check it out! So here is the recipe and my comments:

Creme Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

* 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut in to bite size pieces (I shredded my chicken)
* 1 medium onion, chopped (I diced mine)
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 8 oz. creme cheese, softened & cut into chunks (I took it straight from the fridge)
* Milk to thin sauce (I used some of the table cream I bought for this recipe)
* 2 teaspoon chili powder (I used more)
* 1 teaspoon cumin (I have an allergy to cumin so I omitted this and used paprika instead)
* 1 cup salsa (I bought a regular size jar of Pace Picante sauce and used the whole thing)
* 12 corn tortillas (I didn't use this many but I would suggest doing so)
* 2 cups shredded cheese (I used more just because I wanted them ooey-gooey & cheesy)
* 1 cup cream (I bought "table cream" and just eye-balled everything)

In a large frying pan cook chicken, onion & garlic in the olive oil. (Here's where I shredded my chicken meat then added the onions & garlic.) When the chicken meat is fully cooked & the onions are soft, add the creme cheese. (I used a wooden spoon & paring knife to divide up the cheese.) Stir to mix everything together while melting the creme cheese. Add a little milk to make the sauce a gravy consistency. (Here's where I added the table cream instead of milk.) Add the chili powder, cumin and salsa. (Remember, I didn't use cumin but feel free to use it in your recipe.)

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. (I forgot to do this but didn't have any problems with sticking) Lay half the tortillas in the pan. Spread half the chicken mix sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle half the cheese and salsa over the chicken mix sauce. Repeat the layers. (I got two layers in my pan.) Pour cream over the top. (I just eyeballed about a cup of table cream all over the top of the enchiladas.)

Bake at 375F for 30 to 45 minutes, until the enchiladas are golden brown on the top. (I am at roughly 2500 feet in elevation and only cooked the enchiladas for 30 minutes.)

I served my enchiladas up with some Uncle Ben's 90 second Spanish style rice.

I would also suggest some good re-fried beans and a salad but I was too hungry from making the enchiladas and just plain impatient to try how a new recipe turned out to make more than the rice! :)

I truly enjoyed my meal! I am going to save another serving for diner but the rest is going into my awesome new Tupperware and the freezer so I can have lunched for a while. Yummy in my tummy!

Totally gone! ;)

While I was doing my mid-terms I took the lazy way out as far as food goes. And I've been paying for it - I feel like poo and have no energy. I've also been on a non-cooking binge so this evening I decided I was going cook something and since udon noodles are quite difficult to find in North central Montana I vetoed to Thai spicy peanut chicken and went with authentic Mexican breakfast burritos. Well, as authentic as I can get up here. :)

Here is my shopping trip to the larder:       

I added avacado and refried beans.
I perfer the rehydrated ones; there's
way less oil that way.



6 eggs, 1 lb regualr suasage,
handful of steak fries,
grean bell pepper slices, tortillas.

  











Brown your sausage the add your green bell pepper strips and onions until they carmelize and get soft. While you're waiting for this to happen mix up your eggs. Some people add cream but I add just a bit of water and remix - it makes them light and fluffy. :)

Oooh look at my magical abilities!
I can keep my scrambled eggs in a
a sideways glass! LOL

The browned sausage, onions
and bell peppers.

Once that's comepleted and you eggs are scrambled, mix them together and let the flavors marry a bit. Lay down a tortilla and a couple fries in the middle (they've been cooking this whole time by the way) and lay on some refried beans over them. Add a couple heaping spoonfuls of your sausage-egg mix then slice some avacado and sprinkle on some Tapatio. You're set! Enjoy your awesome breakfast burritos. :)



Oh yummy to my tummy!


Since I'm trying to do more things for myself I took the extras I had, dethawed another package or tortialls and made several burritos to freeze. I made them up the same way, put them in plastic wrap and dropped 'em in the freezer. Now I can grab one of them for breakfast and a container of soup on my way out the door. Kinda nice to know I'm at least that self sufficient! :)

Good thing I live by my own rules...

We're having a "cold day" here. It's kind of like a snow day but work's been called off because of the severe cold - the wind chill is driving our temps down towards 30F below zero. I am so over winter but we have at least 3 more months to go up North here. God grant me patience!?!

So I made use of my day by working from home but also made a trip to license my car and get some basic groceries. Of course purchasing said groceries without a list prior to leaving the house resulted in me forgetting the dog food and something sweet to much on. Stellar job no? :)

This is what happens when you work two weeks
(and then some) of 18 hour
days and then go home for a week. *sigh*

While I was at WalMart I caved and purchased "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" cookbook my friends have been constantly raving about. I had been planning and looking forward to cooking some chicken enchiladas and hohoho what is in that cookbook but a recipe for easy and tasty enchiladas. Co-inky-dink? I think not! So I walked into my kitchen and was confronted with this:  ----------->



Doesn't that look super yummy?



When all I wanted to do was make this:

I think I had a bit too much sauce but it was good!

What's a chick to do? Why, give up and eat a banana of course. However, a banana was not going to cut it so I sifted through the mess and found what I needed, washed it and began cooking. Of course I cheated in that oh so special "semi-homemade" way (thank you Sandra Lee) and it didn't turn out exactly like the pictures but it was yummy and I have extras for dinner.

I saved my extra chicken and tortillas too and will use all that throughout the weekend for sustenance. I'm thinking they'd make some good quesadillas. I am off to make something sweet for myself and then do homework. My professor granted me a reprieve because I screwed up big and missed an exam an assignment during my Mid Winter Fair fiasco weeks. She is letting me make them up this one time (thank goodness!). Plus, I have 3 assignments and a mid-term due for my other class on the 5th of March so why not just do it all this weekend.

I'm going on an adventure to Bozeman this weekend to pick up a table I'm planning to restore. It's identical to the one my parents have and I'm going to sand it down and refinish it. If I have to replace the top pieces i have some awesome blue-stained pine for it. But I digress. :)

Ta ta for now....the fur babies need to go out for a bit. :)