chicken enchilada casserole

this is a favorite around here. it's easy, fast and very versitile! some days we make it with just cheese, other days with chicken or ground beef. i can throw in jalepenos, green chiles or onions. the prep time is less than 5 minutes, the cooking time less than 20. that's dinner on the table in less than a half hour! 

perfect.

chicken enchilada casserole

ingredients:

2 T vegetable oil

2 T taco seasoning

(alton brown's is my favorite. i lessened the salt a bit, tripled the recipe & keep it in a small jar)

1 chicken breast

(because we're cleaning out our freezer for the move & it's all i had. 2 would be more filling)

1 can enchilada sauce

(we use La Victoria. it has an authentic flavor, is inexpensive & gluten free!)

12 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded cheese

(or less if you like your arteries. we like cheese)

directions:

season chicken with taco seasoning & saute in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil. 

once the chicken is cooked through, shred it.

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

spread a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your dish. cover with tortillas: two whole & one ripped in half will cover my whole dish. experiment to see what covers yours.

 begin layering ingredients: cheese, chicken, cheese, tortillas, enchilada sauce. repeat. 

i didn't have enough chicken for all the layers so i kept going with just cheese. 

after your final layer, pour on the last of the enchilada sauce and top with cheese one more time. 

when you zoom out a little you see what was really happening while i took pictures...

cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. 

remove foil and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. 

devour.

sunday morning

What ever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for me, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

Colossians 3:23-24

i have been calling these verses to mind a lot lately. they were a good reminder to me as i struggled to spend every day at a job that was not fulfilling, but also going forward as i begin to build this little business. remember that whatever task you're doing, no matter how menial or trivial, it is the Lord you are serving!

second hand saturdays

welcome to a new feature here on the blog where i spotlight recent thrifted or free finds!

 usually these are small items...plates or candlesticks for cake stands, jewelry to be repurposed, a skirt or sweater. but today, for the inaugural post of second hand saturdays, here's my most recent & most beautiful acquisition!

this beautiful hutch showed up on freecycle a few weeks ago. i just happened to be sitting in front of the computer when the email arrived. usually the good items like this go before i have a chance to ask hubby if he wants to haul it back to our house and send an email. on this day i decided not to wait and just sent the email immediately.

 i was the first response!! never happens. never. i could be the first person on a bag of cat food or some used coloring books but never something as pretty as this hutch! i arranged for some heavy lifting help for hubby and this little beauty made it home! it is now sitting in the corner of our dining room filled with linens, china and cookbooks. can't wait to see where it will live in our new home!

a new obsession

cheap. easy. delicious. 

garlic hummus!

we've been buying it at trader joe's quite a bit lately & i finally decided i should try to make it myself. 

turns out it's SUPER easy. 

and super CHEAP! 

the recipe doesn't use tahini so it's not technically authentic but it's so tasty that i just don't care!

please excuse horrible dark pictures. i decided this needed to be posted asap

(before we ate it all)

ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans (64¢ each)

let's take a moment to discuss the fact that i didn't realize these were the same thing until this year, even though it clearly says so right there on the can...

5 cloves garlic (79¢ for the whole bulb)

juice of 1 small lemon (33¢)

2 T peanut butter (calculations tell me this is 8.7¢)

2-5 T olive oil (i'm not calculating!)

kosher salt

(total cost: $2.497 for about 3 cups!)

disclaimer: i don't measure things. i add ingredients and blend and taste. and add more. and taste. and so on...but i tried to pay attention this time so you could recreate the deliciousness!

directions:

drain the chickpeas. save a few tablespoons of the liquid.

add garlic cloves to food processor and pulse to chop them up a bit.

add all remaining ingredients (including liquid from chickpeas & lemon juice) except olive oil
 pulse until well combined.
add olive oil a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
stick a chip in and taste it to make sure you have enough salt and/or garlic (we like a LOT of garlic!)
done and done.
devour.

(hummus is not the prettiest, but it sure is delicious!)

crazy things are happening

here's a clue

and another

but when we get there it will probably look like this...

final clue. 

did you guess it? 

we're moving!

to wisconsin!

the crazy part is that i'm starting a new job in three weeks.

we're moving out of the house by the end of october. 

this is both a long time coming and very sudden!

when we left HoneyRock in 2008 we left a big part of our hearts in the Northwoods. we love HoneyRock but we also love the communities of Three Lakes and Eagle River. we've had a burden on our hearts for those communities for sometime and in the past few weeks the doors have been opened for us to move there! 

i'm going to be the secretary & treasurer of the church we attended in Three Lakes.

a house for rent (and possibly purchase!?) dropped into our laps.

we should know about a job for hubby this week. 

my job will be structured enough that i know when i'll be at work and when i won't, but also few enough hours that i'll be able to put in good time as craftee mcgee, all before hubby gets home from work!

we're excited. and a little scared. and a little sad. but mostly excited.

more updates to come as this crazy whirlwind continues

(including a garage sale)

big crazy news...

coming soon!

later tonight perhaps. 

seriously. 

big. 

crazy. 

news.

(and no. i'm not pregnant!)