Last Wedding

So today is the last wedding for the Armstrong Family (Tom & Marilyn parents of 6 children). My Little Sister In-Law (Emily) is all grown up and it's kinda freaking me out. The reason is when I started dating my wife Kailynn, Emily was 4 years old, which is right about the same age as my almost 4 year old daughter. We used to take Emily to the mall with us and pretend she was our daughter. Emily's mom would also bribe her with toys to spy on Kailynn and I to make sure we were not playing spin the bottle. Last summer Emily lived at our house for a little while doing intern work for my wife, which was nice because we got to spend a lot of time with her since she lives about 700 miles away. I really got to know more of who Emily is as a person during that time and she is an absolutely beautiful person.

Emily I want you to know I am very happy for you and your husband. Kailynn, Dylan, Georgia and I love you very much.

I got to take some photos of the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner and the Wedding Dinner that I wanted to share I hope you enjoy.

Congratulations Chad & Emily Knowles..... 

 

White Chicken Enchiladas

Tonight I attempted to make Enchiladas for the first time. I did get some help from Kailynn but hey this is a work in progress for me as my cooking skills are just plain old NOT good. The recipe again came from Pinterest and according to many people on that social network, they are the best White Chicken Enchiladas.

From the taste testers I had tonight they all seemed to really enjoy the food, so this is something I would totally want to make again and was much easier than last nights Rolled Lasagna.

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

*These are seriously so so good*

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1/2 cup of sliced olives

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

 

 

 

 

Dancing kids

Christmas Dinner

Lasagna Rolls;

Tonight Kailynn and I decided to tackle a new food for dinner. Since on Christmas eve we knew we were in for a long night and Christmas night our family attends an annual party at a dear friends house, I'm going to call this our families Christmas dinner. Kailynn found the idea on Pinterest and after making a grocery list I was off to our local food market. Given a list of stuff I've never heard of and a dead cell phone battery I was on my own to figure out what exactly Kailynn was talking about when she wrote the list.

The final product was what I would call a Lasoli (Lasagna & Ravioli mixture). The best part was that because it is cooked in a cupcake sheet plating a piece is really easy and not messy at all compared to normal Lasagna.

The meal itself consists of our slightly lower calorie version of Lasagna.

Ingredients:
for the sauce-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion
1/2 pound lean ground turkey cooked and drained
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce {+1/2 can water to wash out can}
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste

for the cheese filling-
1-10 oz. tub Philadelphia Italian Herb & Cheese Cooking Cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated & divided
1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg

For Dessert we made Banana, Nutella Milk Shakes. Very simple and includes banana, ice, milk, nutella, then freeze.

Where to begin

"Begin with the end in mind." ~Stephen Covey