A Yummy Dinner

This recipe intrigued me from the moment I saw it on Pinterest. I finally tried it, and it was so good!! I split the recipe and cooked one pan for dinner, and put the other in the freezer. We polished off a whole pan, which is unusual for us. Hope you enjoy if you decide to try it!

Thai Chicken Enchiladas

serves 4

8 flour tortillas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped/shredded carrots

1/2 cup chopped/shredded cabbage

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 green onions, sliced

1/3 cup chopped + crushed peanuts + more for garnish

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro + more for garnish

2 1/2 cups light coconut milk

1/3 cup + 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add canola oil. Throw in onions, cabbage, carrots, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring to mix. Let cool until vegetables are soft, about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in chicken, green onions, peanuts, cilantro, remaining salt and pepper, tossing to coat, and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in 3/4 cup coconut milk and 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce, mixing thoroughly to combine. Turn off heat.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Whisk together remaining coconut milk and sweet chili sauce. Pour about 1/2 a cup or so on the bottom of the dish. Slightly warm tortillas if desired to make them more pliable, then place a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in each, rolling up tightly and placing in the dish. Cover with remaining coconut milk and chili sauce mix. I usually take a spoon and cover every inch of the tortilla with the sauce, just to make sure it’s coated.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and top with additional peanuts and cilantro. Since sauce is not as thick as traditional enchilada sauce, when you remove them from the oven, spoon sauce from the bottom of the dish all over the tortillas. Additionally this can be done halfway through cooking too.

He's 6 Days Old....

Dirk Alan Stogsdill was born last Thursday, May 17th, at 12:37 PM. He was 7 lb., 3 oz. and was 19 inches long.

He was born 2 weeks early, partly due to a busy schedule, I think, and partly due to the fact that I was sick for several days before he was born. The day before he was born, I went to the doctor with a 101 fever and contractions. They sent me home saying that it was just false labor. I wasn't convinced; it felt real to me, especially at 3 the next morning when I couldn't sleep because the contractions were 5 minutes apart. After an hour or so of that, I decided to get up and walk around, because if it was false they would go away, right? Not so much! They quickly escalated to 2 minutes apart and by the time we got to the hospital, I couldn't walk or talk through them.
Once there, the nurses did their thing, getting fluids in me and trying to make me comfortable and bring my fever down. I was scheduled for a C-section already, so there wasn't much point in me laboring for hours. At one point, the nurse said she didn't know if the doctor would do the C-section because of my fever. I looked at Weldon and said, "I am not going home today, because these contractions aren't stopping!" When the doctor came in, she said we would go in around noon for the surgery, which would give her time to do another surgery and time for my fever to go down.
It did go down, and after Dirk was born, I felt better than I had in days! We spent three days in the hospital, and we've been home for three days now.
He is a very easy baby; sleeps a lot and is eating good. Right now he's easier than my other two, since one in particular is feeling the effects of not being the baby anymore!

We are thankful for his safe arrival, and thankful for the skilled hands of the doctors. We are enjoying his addition to our family, even amidst the rough spots!

Petting Zoo

This week is spring break here in Virginia, and although Gracie is not in public school, she has friends that are. So we took the opportunity to have a picnic lunch and lots of fun playing at a park with several friends on Monday!

Also with spring break going on, there are fun things to do all around town. After gymnastics classes on Tuesday, we met my Mom at the mall and participated in the small petting zoo they had there, rode the train and had lunch.

The girls had fun petting and holding the animals! Here are some pictures from Tuesday:

8 years in the making....

Well, here is a finished project that we have been enjoying for a few months now! I pieced the top of this quilt during the winter of 2003. I'm not sure why I didn't finish it then; I had a LOT more free time than I do now!!

Fast forward to this winter....the quilt top had been pinned together with the batting and backing for a while, so the only thing left was to quilt it. I fully intended to hand quilt it, but I realized if I waited to hand quilt it, it still might be years before we got to use it. It is tied for now, and at some point in the future, I may quilt it.

The back is long strips of the same fabrics on the front, so it is reversible.

I also re-made the pillow shams. They were only tied, not sewn, so they had to be re-adjusted regularly. 

Here is before:

And after:

Now the rest of my day involves planting flowers and prepping food for a brunch I'm having tomorrow. Hopefully I will remember to get my camera out so I can share pictures with you!

Pictures From California

Here are some pictures from our trip to California back in January. I do have some finished projects to share, but I have to take some pictures first!

While Weldon was in meetings in San Francisco, I took the girls to the Exploratorium. We spent four hours there, and could have used a whole day at least!

They enjoyed the bubble table!

On the beach at Morro Bay

Back in San Francisco for a day before we flew out...had to see the Golden Gate Bridge, of course!

We didn't feel like going out for dinner, so we ordered pizza and got macaroni and cheese via room service for Gracie. (Cora was already asleep) Gracie thought the fancy tray was pretty neat! She still talks about when she got macaroni on a tray with a flower and everything!

I picked a winner!!

So, I put all the names in a bowl......and we have a winner!

Sara, you will be getting a package in the mail soon! Congratulations!

I have to take the girls to gymnastics now, but I'll be back this afternoon--I have a lot of blogging to catch up on!

Giveaway Ends Monday!!

Stop in and comment for a chance to win a jar of Cranberry Chutney! Winner will be picked at 5:00 PM (EST) on Monday, March 26th!!

I'll also be back with more posts this week, I promise!!

A Summer Recipe and A Giveaway!

I have been wanting to blog for a while now, but life keeps coming at me full force! I also couldn't figure out what I should blog about after being gone so long. I have projects to share, etc., and didn't know where to start!

Then today, I was making a recipe I've made a lot but never shared here, so I thought that would be a good place to start. 

This recipe is for Cranberry Chutney, so I guess you could say it's a winter or summer recipe. Winter because that's about the only time you can buy cranberries, and summer because that's when you eat it! (at least that's when we eat it the most!) We like to serve it with grilled chicken, made with my dad's marinade, of course, or on a chicken or ham sandwich. I'm sure there are many more ways to eat this, but these are our favorites!

Cranberry Chutney

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 oranges
4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2" dice
2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into 1-inch matchsticks
2 tsp. ground mace
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
2 (12 oz.) packages fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over
1 cup dried currants (I've never used these, because I never remember to buy them!!)

In a large saucepan, combine the onion, water, and sugars. Bring to a boil, stir, decrease the heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Scrub the oranges. Quarter them through the stem end, discard any seeds, and slice them as thinly as possible.

Add the oranges and their juice, apples, ginger, mace, cloves and vinegar to the saucepan and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.

Add the cranberries and currants to the pan and continue to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the mixture is thick.

Ladle the hot chutney into clean, hot jars, leaving a 1/4" headspace, seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for long-term storage. Or ladle into sterilized jars, cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. Allow to sit for at least 3 weeks before opening or giving away. (I don't always let it sit that long, and it's fine)
Makes about 4 pint jars

Joel's Marinade (for chicken)

2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 lbs. of chicken

This is my favorite marinade to use for grilled chicken, and the chutney is excellent on it!!

So you're wondering, where is this giveaway she was talking about? Well, I didn't know how many people would try this recipe, either because they had never eaten chutney before or didn't know what this one tasted like. So, leave a comment, and in one week (March 26th) I will pick a winner, and send them a jar of this wonderful chutney! And there might be another surprise in the box, too. You never know!

Adventures in San Francisco

We flew to San Francisco last weekend. Weldon had some business meetings to attend there and we tagged along. After our flight being delayed by several hours, we got to San Fran around 2:30 Monday morning. Thankfully we had a straight flight from D.C., and the girls slept most of the way.
Monday was a rough day for me. We got to our hotel around 3:30 AM, and got a few more hours of sleep. Gracie woke up ready to go around 7:30, I think. With the lack of sleep, and having just been sick a couple days before, I was still experiencing the virus symptoms. So I didn't eat much that day, and didn't feel too great, either. I did take the girls out for a little bit and we got some snacks and stuff at CVS, and spent an hour or so at the Disney store.
Tuesday was a little better. I didn't much feel like going out, but there is not much for the girls to do in the hotel, and I had to go out for meals anyway. So around 11, we headed out to a bus stop, and took a bus loaded with people through Chinatown, and by the end of the line we were the only ones on the bus. That took us to the Exploratorium, which is a huge science museum. There were tons of different things for them to play with and experiment with. Gracie loved the drums! We spent 4 hours there, including lunch.
When it was time to leave, we walked a couple blocks to the bus stop, caught a bus, and then he only took us a few blocks and we had to change buses. I kept asking to make sure that they were on the route we needed to take, and they said we were. Cora wanted a peanut M&M, so I gave her one, and she gagged on the peanut and threw up all down the front of her shirt and coat. I cleaned her up with wipes as best I could, and a lady across the aisle gave me a shopping bag, and I took her shirt and coat off and put them in the bag and wrapped her in my coat. She went to sleep soon after that.
We got close to our hotel, but it wasn't the stop I was waiting for, so I stayed on, thinking that the bus would loop around and stop right by the hotel. In retrospect, I should have gotten off there; it was like 1/2 a block from the hotel. Anyway, we kept getting farther away,so I called Weldon, and he told me to go ahead and get off, and he would come to me. I ended up being only a mile or so away from the hotel, and would eventually have gotten back if I had stayed on the bus, but who knows how long it would have taken, and the area was getting a little sketchy! Weldon had gotten a taxi and picked me up, and we got back all in one piece!
Wednesday was much less exciting. Weldon only had a half day of meetings; I packed everything up and we headed out on our own, no more public transportation! We rented a car and drove down Lombard Street and across the Golden Gate Bridge.
We then spent a couple days in Cupertino, again, fairly uneventful. Peet's coffee, taking the girls to a park, doing laundry.
We got down to Atascadero Friday night, and have been having a great time! More details an pictures later!!

Minnie Mouse Party

Cora turned two on December 27, but we were busy with camp and New Year's and company, so we just got around to having her party. At least she didn't know that it wasn't on her actual "birthday". 

She loves Minnie Mouse right now, so that's the theme I went with. It was fun to make the streamers, cake and some of the presents. 

At this age, we like to keep parties small, so this one ended up just being us, my parents and Aunt Bronwyn. The eating of cake and opening of presents went quickly, and then the girls played with all the new stuff while the adults had coffee and visited. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

I will post in more detail later about the stuff I've been doing lately, i.e. birthday gifts, projects, and other fun stuff for the girls!