Salsa Verde

I made a green sauce the other day for chicken enchiladas. This would be called Enchiladas Rancheros in my local Restaurante Mexicano, I believe. I'll show ya how it's done.

Here's what you'll need:
1 lb of chicken breast
1 lb of tomatillos ( toe - ma - tee - ohs, this looks like a green tomato but has this dryish peely skin around it) I've cut one in half so you can see the inside too.
1 or 2 Serrano peppers (watch out they're spicy)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
6 oz of white American cheese or to your taste
About half of a bunch of cilantro
A medium to large onion
A few cloves of garlic
12 corn tortillas In a large-ish sauce pan bring water to a boil, add in the tomatillos (whole please or you'll have lots of retained liquid), add 1/3 of the onion and about 2 cloves garlic (I chopped mine). The idea is not to over cook the tomatillos. Cook them just until they turn from bright green to a sort of "army" green color.
At this point reserve half of the remaining onion and toss the rest of the ingredients together in your Mexican clay pot/bowl and add less than a cup of chicken or vegetable stock. You can add more later if you wish to thin the sauce. If you don't have your very own Mexican clay pot, you can use any old bowl you have in your kitchen. Since my hubby took our blender with him to the Air Force Base I blended my sauce in batches with the Magic Bullet. You can see how it will turn out in the bowl to the left. Once you have your sauce ready you can begin cooking the chicken. I dice up the previously set aside onion and get that cooking for a bit. I like my onions good at cooked. Well done even. I diced my chicken up pretty small but that takes some time. If you're in a rush you can chop it in larger chunks or cook it whole and pull it apart later. Any way you like to do it is fine. I added the cheese just as the chicken was finished cooking.
After the chicken is ready, form an assembly line near your stove. You'll need a small skillet to heat the corn tortillas in, dishes to plate your finished enchiladas onto, and plenty of elbow room. A second set of hands would come in handy too. I cook my tortillas one at a time in a small skillet, this keeps me on top the my game. Here's what I do: heat a tortilla, scoop some sauce onto a small plate nearby, toss the hot tortilla onto the sauce and scoop a little more on top. Throw another 'tilla into the pan to heat while you fill the first tortilla with some chicken and then roll it up. Gently slide the enchilada onto a warm serving plate and begin again. Add a little more sauce to the top for extra scrumptious-ness.

I took mine to bible study so I put them all together in a casserole dish. They get a little soggy but they still taste great! Feel free to garnish with shredded lettuce and sour cream or an extra dash of cheese. Any way you serve it, it'll be so good!

Air Force Reserves ~ Drill Weekend

My husband is in the Air Force Reserves and right now he's on active duty. That means he works for the Air Force full time rather than just one weekend a month plus 2 weeks in a year. He's active duty while he's training for his military job, he spent 10 weeks in Florida and will train another 9 months at Whiteman AFB here in Missouri. That's only about a couple of hours from where we live. Although he is on active duty and working full time for the Reserves, he still has to attend his drill weekends as usual. He came home from Florida and had leave for 7 days starting the Thursday before last, this weekend is drill weekend.
Yesterday it was hard for me to let him walk out the door. I don't know why. When he left for weeks and weeks in Florida, it really wasn't that hard. I knew I'd miss him but that he'd be back and the time would fly. It wasn't like he was shipping out for months. This time I guess it just felt like he was to close to home to be missing. What I really wanted was to stomp my feet and shake my fists and make him stay. Most jobs, let alone military jobs, don't really work that way. So I came along. I'm hiding under his desk in the lab where he works right now. No, not really, actually I've been hanging out at his hotel all day waiting for him to come back. Even if I have had to loaf around all day, eat a nice hot breakfast, take long hot showers, wash my hair twice, read books, play around online, eat out for lunch, and, worst of all, swim in the pool and sit in the hot tub. It's really been a miserable day. I think I'll come along and suffer next time too.
I love drill weekend!

Christmas Baking

I like to plan ahead. You might think I'm bored, but it's always been this way. I do the same thing for birthdays too.

For my Christmas baking I like to keep things unique, yet simple. The result usually leans more towards simple... This year I plan to make 3 or 4 treats and a few quick breads. I suppose there might be some gingerbread men and a gingerbread house somewhere in the mix too.

Here's my plan:
Peanut Clusters (new for me)
Long Pretzel Sticks dipped in chocolate & rolled in chopped nuts or m&ms. (also new for me)
My mom's cookies (everyone's favorite)
Banana Bread (another favorite)
Cranberry nut bread (MY favorite)
Apple/Caramel Cinnamon Rolls (something new)

I'll post the recipes as I get to making them or direct you to the place I got it from (like The Pioneer Woman).

Christmastime's a Comin'!

We have about 13 weeks left before Christmas and for those of us that get paid about twice a month, that's 6 more paydays! If you don't have your Christmas savings started, then you better get on it! If you save $250 each payday from now until Christmas you'll have $1,500!

Let me break it down for you:
$250 x 6 = $1,500
$200 x 6 = $1,200
$150 x 6 = $900
$100 x 6 = $600
$ 50 x 6 = $300

Of course only you can say how much you've already put aside for Christmas or how much you'll need to spend.

When I made my Christmas list (last night) I wrote down the name of each person I plan to buy gifts for. To the left of the person's name I made a column for the approximate amount of money that I would like to spend (or that I usually spend). We typically spend about $50 on each parent (or parent set) but sometimes (usually) that goes over. It isn't that we try to make it so "dollar specific", but just that we like to go crazy and have to get a grip. Our limits aren't set in stone but if we decide to go over, we discuss it first. For our siblings we try to stay around $25, but some of them have children so I try to budget for little extras there as well. To the right of each name I jotted down some ideas that I've been thinking of (since last Christmas, sometimes). This handy little list can slip right into your purse or pocket so that when you pull it out you'll have your names, items, and spending bracket. At the bottom you can tally up the money you plan to spend and you'll know exactly how much you'll need.

My husband and I often do a joint gift, one year we bought a digital camera, another year we each got a nice watch, sometimes we'll just do shopping money for new clothes, this year we're hoping for a deep freeze!

I am a Christian

Being a Christian is so ingrained in my life that I consider it more of a "given" than something to point out. I believe that someone should be able to understand that I am a Christian by having a conversation with me or by observing my lifestyle and choices. Because of this I often (boldly) assume that everyone around me believes like I do. I guess it's part of giving people the benefit of a doubt, or seeing the best in them, I don't know. It is my great desire to wear my Christianity on the outside of myself so that there is never a doubt about what I believe or what I stand for. If, for example, you want to know my political persuasions, I will tell you that I lean in a certain direction based on my own values and morals. If you want to talk about abortion I will tell you that it rips my heart out to think people have them willingly. If you tell me you want to have an affair then I will urge you to fall in love with your husband. If you tell me your husband is abusive I will encourage you to find help, not to stay in a dangerous situation. If you're considering divorce, I urge you to reconsider. People who grow apart can grow back together, if they want to. Many times divorce is the lazy way out. These are many opinions that I generally keep to myself. It is not my desire to offend or to push someone away by my strong beliefs. I usually will not offer my opinions or beliefs unless I'm asked to, unless I feel I must. If I feel that I must share something, and then I resist, I believe that is a sin. I believe that the best Christian witness is the life of a Christian who lives what he or she believes. Words are just words until you make them your life.
It is my honor to call myself a follower of Christ. It is my honor to live my life so that it is worthy of the calling I have received. I am a Christian and I am proud to be.

Coconut Oil

Have I ever told you about the benefits of coconut oil? Well I'm not going to, not here anyway. Let me direct you to my other blog, Café de Santé.

This is a blog that my mother and I have just started, in order to answer the many questions that we receive about food as related to health, or health as related to food, and questions about natural remedies. We believe that everything natural was made by God with a purpose. Sometimes the purpose is for healing, sometimes for preventing, even sometimes just for enjoying.

Thanks for reading about the miracle of Coconut Oil! I hope you dare to try it and I hope you fall in love.

Charming Charlie

Charming Charlie is a great store that we have in our Battlefield Mall.
My girl friends have been talking about it lately but, since I'm not much of a shopper, I didn't just run right out to see it. I have told people about the store though because I really like what I've heard about their set-up. They have their products arranged by colors, so if you're looking for something in red... there's a spot for that! Well, as I walked into the mall (heading for a certain coffee spot who's name is on my travel mug) I noticed the store and had to get a peek. Here's what I found.



They have accessories in every color, all throughout the store. They have clothing, shoes, and bags to match!




There's a section for gold,



Another for purple.



More space for purple and even some blue. That isn't all though, they have yellow, green, blacks, pearls, pinks, even animal prints and an "army-type" section. Something for everyone I tell ya.



I will definitely be spending some birthday money in here this year, I found a pretty little handbag I'd sure like to carry...and I loved the chandeliers they have all over the shop. It's all very glitz and glam.