Park

The other day we were in town on Elijah's day off of school so I took them to one of the nicer parks to play. It was a little overcast and on and off raining but overall it was a great day to play.

They had a little zip line that the kids like to play on.

I think they had a lot of fun. I REALLY wish the town we live in would get with the program and get a really nice playground. 

International Wildlife Museum

Elijah's school allows for one field trip each year. This year his class went to the International Wildlife Museum down in Tucson. I had the night before off so I decided to take the littler boys so that we could be with Elijah.

Here the twins are waiting for Elijah's bus to arrive. I was happy that I brought up that we were waiting for the group to the lady at the desk when we paid for our tickets. It was only $10 for all of us to get in then!

Ollie smiling.

Apparently Ollie doesn't like selfies.

We went into the gift shop and they had all sorts of little stuffed animals that were unusual. I thought this otter was cute but Ollie was not a huge fan.

But he loved this wolverine. Go Blue! Had to buy it.He gets a kick out of chewing the fur.

Doing school work.

At home with his wolverine.

Awe. Elijah's such a great big brother.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we got Chili's to go and went to Jake's parents' house. They just finished their backyard and now have a fire pit so we had a bit of fun enjoying it.

I just love my little monkeys!

Seven Months

It's hard to believe, but Ollie is 7 months old!!! He has 2 teeth and is working on more. He is such a little sweetie. He just makes us all so happy.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Food. It's a necessity. It can become a drag to make. I have a love hate relationship with it. I love to eat...well, I love to eat TASTEY food. I also hate cooking. I would love it...but there is just too much going on right now. My favorite meals are ones that I don't have to cook. And that doesn't happen often. I have not had time to work on my freezer meals...or a meal plan in general, so I took to Pinterest recently to help inspire me. I found this handy blog. http://thrivinghomeblog.com There are some freezer meals in there and I tried one last night and it was gobbled up. I personally used ready made taco seasoning because I had it on hand. I didn't have enchilada sauce on hand so I did make that from scratch. Both recipes are posted so that you can choose what you want to do. The enchilada sauce recipe does make enough for two batches of enchiladas so make it easy on yourself, double the enchilada recipe and have an extra meal in the freezer!

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas 

(Direct link here http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2009/11/cheesy-chicken-and-black-bean-enchiladas/)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles (Optional. I did not use these)
• ⅓ cup prepared salsa, mild, medium or hot (I used Pace mild Picante sauce)
• homemade taco seasoning (see recipe below) I just used about 1/8 cup of ready made taco seasoning that I bought in a large container at Sams.
• ½-1 cup red enchilada sauce (For homemade, see recipe below)
• 4-6 (8-inch) tortillas
• 1⅓ cups shredded Monterey Jack and or Cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9x9 casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes. Add chicken and saute 5 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Add taco seasonings to the meat mixture.
3. Stir in black beans, green chiles, and salsa and simmer 5 minutes, until sauce thickens and reduces.
4. Put half of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x9 casserole dish. Arrange 4-6 tortillas on a flat surface. Top each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken/bean mixture and 1-2 tablespoons cheese. Roll up tortillas and place side by side in a shallow baking dish. Add remaining enchilada sauce to the top. Then, top tortillas with remaining shredded cheese.
5. Bake enchiladas 15 minutes, until cheese is golden.
6. Note: You can easily freeze these before baking. Just be sure to thaw them out before baking. To make cleanup easy, use a disposable pan...you can get them at the Dollar Tree or Sams. Great for freezing or days that are hectic.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

 

Ingredients

• 1½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients and use according to your taste in the enchilada recipe.

Enchilada Sauce http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2013/05/enchilada-sauce.html

Ingredients
3 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup all purpose flour (or gluten-free flour)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Salt/pepper
Optional: cayenne pepper, ground chipotle, smoked paprika, etc.

Directions
In a small bowl, combine flour, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder.
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add tomato paste, and the bowl of flour and spices.
Cook 1 minute, whisking continuously.
Whisk in broth, increase heat, and bring to a light boil.
Reduce to simmer. Cook about 8 minutes or until slightly thickened, whisking occasionally.
Salt/pepper to taste.