Delicious...

I set out to make chicken enchiladas the other night. It didn't go quite as planned, but it was still delicious! Try it out! It's super easy if you have some left over cooked chicken!

Chicken Enchilada Oops

Ingredients:

• 1 - can cream of chicken soup
• 4 oz of sour cream (about 1/2 cup give or take)
• 1 1/2 cup of cooked chicken diced (about two breasts)
  
• 1 - can rotel
• 1/4 medium onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• grated cheese
  
• corn tortillas

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the cream of chicken soup and sour cream together in a bowl. Soften the onion in the butter in a small frying or sauce pan on medium heat. Add the salt, pepper and spices to the onions and butter. Allow the spices to mingle for a little while in the pan and then add the cooked chicken and the can of mostly drained rotel (if you didn't use pre-cooked chicken you can cook the chicken in the spice mixture too, just wait to add the rotel until after the chicken is cooked). Allow the chicken to heat through and grease a 9x9 baking dish. Put just enough of the sour cream and chicken soup mixture to cover the bottom of the pan to make the tortillas stay put. Layer the corn tortillas on top of that (I would tear the tortillas in half to help get complete coverage of the pan). On top of the tortillas, I put some of the chicken mixture and them layered that with cheese. On top of that, I layered until I was out of chicke mixture tortilla, soup mixture, chicken mixture, cheese, tortillas, soup mixture etc... End with the tortilla and chicken mixture on top. Put a whole mess of chese on top. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.


When I started the recipe, I tried rolling the corn tortillas, but they were really dry and refused to roll without cracking, so I made a lasagna. I don't eat traditional lasagnas, but I will definitely make this one again. Even Matt (the King of flavorless food) liked it. I think I'm seeing a southwest trend in my recipe adventures... Hmmmm... Any way, I loved it! Try it, I know you'll love it too!

Graduation cannot come sooner

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like everybody else has all of these wonderful hobbies and activities, and all you ever seem to do is study? I am definitely having one of those days (especially after that awful biochem test Thursday that I studied about 45 hours for over the course of 4 or 5 days). I just can't figure out how to balance having a life with school. The two cannot possibly coexist. I'm going outside.

photo courtesy of graphjam.com

Four years? Seriously?

As of March 19th, 2009, Matt and I have been married for four years. Crazy, I know. I can't believe it myself. But, the date of the marriage license does not lie. And you know what the sad thing is? I forgot. Ok, ok, before you all jump down my throat I would like to say that I hadn't completely forgotten. I knew it was coming up soon and I kept thinking about it, because Matt had been hinting that he had something planned but he wasn't going to tell me what it was. But on the day of our anniversary, it totally slipped my mind. But, in my defense, I really didn't feel well. I had a migraine and when Matt came home, I was sitting on the floor because it was the most comfortable spot I could find that didn't make my head want to explode. Sweet thing that he is, he gave me a hug and and said, "Happy Anniversary."

The next day, Matt revealed his surprise: got got tickets to see the North Carolina Symphony!

That night, we went to dinner and then on to the symphony. The concert was pretty good. The program was as follows:

• Anatol Liadov: Kikimora
• Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

I really liked the first piece and the Tchaikovsky. I could have done without the middle one. It was really abstract with no clear melody. Call me old fashioned, but I like a good melody. Any way, we really had a good time.

I was thinking about all the things that have happened over the past four years. I've learned I should not be involved in snow sports, had surgery as a result of a snow sport, went to Australia, got a cat, Matt went to both Britain and India, got in to NC State, bought a house, and welcomed three new nephews. It's been a pretty busy four years.

Photo courtesy of www.unc.edu

Spring Break : New Hampsire

*note: I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I seem to be getting busier and busier everyday. Bleh.

Once we were in New Hampshire, we set about deciding how to surprise our nephews Zach and Ryan. Adam and Jenny didn't tell their kids we were coming so we could surprise them when we got there. We ended up deciding on hiding behind their couch and then popping out and shooting them with nerf guns when they came downstairs. Jenny got a few pictures! It was great, at first, they boys weren't sure what was going on, but then it clicked! It was hilarious!


We then accompanied them to scouts that night and caught up with them and the kids. The next day, Adam had the day off from work, so we played outside in the snow. We made snowmen and had snowball fights with the kids! It was great!





The next day, we went back into Boston and went to the museum of science with the kids. We stayed for a while and then Adam took us back to the airport. It was great to see them and their kids. I haven't seen their whole family in a long time and I couldn't believe how big Ryan, Zach and Jessie were! They were so sweet and rambunctious! And of course it was lovely to get to know Wesley and Bryce better. It makes me wish that our families lived closer together. So, spring break was good and busy! Now, I'm going to go about keeping my head down and pushing through until the end of the semester. Wish me luck!!

Spring Break: Boston

This spring break, Matt and I went to Boston and New Hampshire. I'd never really seen Boston and Matt's brother and his family live in New Hampshire. I was so excited while planning this trip! What I didn't think about was that it is still solidly winter in Boston this time of year. It was incredibly cold while we were there. So, we left Raleigh on Tuesday and stayed through Thursday and of course it was the coldest while we were in Boston and walking everywhere we wanted to go (because we chose to use the subway instead of renting a car or taking taxi's). We went to the aquarium, the Old North Church, the Paul Revere House (even though we didn't actually go inside) and saw Quincy Market. And on top of that we did a lot of shopping. I got some really cute black dress shoes and a cute red top. :) Here's a picture of us waiting for the subway.

And here are some adorable penguins at the aquarium. They were snuggling and holding "hands". :) I think the one of the left is playing hard to get.

Here's some of the signs inside of Quincy Market.

Any way, it was a lot of fun and our hotel was wonderful! When we checked in, I explained that I had accidentally booked a handicap accessible room and that we didn't really need it and if they could put us in the same, but non-handicap accessible room, that we would appreciate it. The lady at the front desk upgraded our room for free to one of the deluxe room with a panoramic view of the city. It was so beautiful!

The second night in Boston, we made a reservation at Top of the Hub for dinner. The restaurant is on the top of one of the tallest buildings on Boston and offers a panoramic view of the city. We had a wonderful dinner with a spectacular view! Unfortunately, my our camera was in my cost pocket which I checked before we were seated, so we didn't get any pictures. But the night was clear and the city was beautiful all lit up at night.

The next day, we took a commuter train to Lowell, where Jenny picked us up at took us back to their home. All in all, it was a great trip (even if it was cold) and I wish we had had more time to see things. I think I definitely want to go back when it's warmer to see more of the city!

Adventures in Paintland: The Room Saga (part deux)

This week is spring break!! I am ecstatic to have this time off. With all of this free time on my hands, I launched straight into project-mode. When we first bought the house, we bought a bunch of paint (because I couldn't stand the purple that was on the walls). We painted two rooms but then lost steam.

So, when spring break came 'round, I busted out the paint cans. Originally, I bought a blue-green paint for both the bathroom and the bedroom, but I decided that would be boring and re-purposed some tan (that was meant for another room) and decided to do two colors in the bedroom. We did tan on three walls and one accent wall with the blue-green color. It looks awesome.

And so, continuing in my effort to show more pictures of our house, I give you: the bedroom.