Postpartum Enchiladers

Last week one of my really good Army wife friends gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Erika.

Precious baby.

And the proud poppa.

I wanted to make them a meal for when they came home with baby so they would have one less thing to worry about. Cuz you know, babies are like hard work, yo! (That's my Teen Mom impression)

So over the long weekend I prepped a double batch of enchiladas, packaged one up for them and kept the other for us to eat for dinner tonight.

Dinner tonight was superrrrrr easy since all I had to do was pop the enchiladers (that's what my dad calls enchiladas) in the oven and let 'em bake for 30 minutes. Gave me plenty of time to fit in that workout I've been putting off for several days now. Oopsie!

When the timer beeped we had gooey, cheesy comfort food enchiladers waiting for us.

Don't worry, though! These enchiladers aren't TOTALLY devoid of any nutritional value.

See that? There's SPINACH in there! Gooey, cheesy spinach but SPINACH nonetheless! It's practically health food!

Chicken & Spinach Enchiladas

Adapted from this source (my changes in pink)

1 (10 oz) package of chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 (10 oz) cans of red enchilada sauce

1 (16oz) jar of medium salsa, divided

1 (8 oz) package of reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

2.5 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken (I baked 2 split chicken breasts (bone-in) at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes and then chopped it up...this is enough chicken for TWO batches of the enchiladas so you could probably just do one if you are only making one batch)

10 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas

1 (8 oz) package of shredded Mexican cheese blend (I only used about half to three quarters of the bag)

Combine both cans of enchilada sauce with 1/2 cup of salsa in a bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan and spread around. Set the rest aside for later.

Combine cream cheese, chicken, spinach & salsa in another bowl and stir until well blended. Place about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in the middle of each tortilla and then roll up. Place rolled up tortillas, seam side down, in the baking pan.

Pour the remaining sauce on top of the tortillas and then top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTE: If you're making this as a meal for someone, don't bake it. Just prep everything and then package it up. At this point you can freeze it if you'd like (or your recipients would like) and thaw and cook it later.

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These were super delicious and Alex LOVED them! I enjoyed them too but might make some changes next time. I don't think the cream cheese in the chicken filling is completely necessary and I could probably make a few other changes to healthify them a bit.

Can't wait to play around with it a bit in the future! Which, apparently will be soon since my husband asked me to make them again next week. Um....no.

But soon enough!

Obstacles Are Made to Be Overcome

Obstacles aint got NOTHIN' on me.

My plans for a late-summer dinner on the outdoor grill got blown out the window today. (pun intended)

Thanks a lot, Tropical Depression Hermine!

But, being the resilient Army wife that I am, I rolled with the punches and changed my plans.

Indoor grill pan it is!

Then, as I'm lovingly preparing the spice rub for this dish and trying to get the perfect photo of the pretty spices in a bowl, I dropped it. Approximately five seconds after this lovely photo was taken:

You'd never know that disaster was about to strike immediately following snapping this photo!

I was so upset that I dropped the bowl of spices and they went a-flyin' across the kitchen floor that I neglected to snap a photo of the disaster aftermath, but trust me, it was a mess!

So I did what any strong and independent woman would do: yelled a curse word and stomped my feet and then watched as my husband swept it all up for me.

Go me!

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Spice Rubbed Mahi Mahi

Source

For the Fish
2 mahi-mahi fillets
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
sprinkle of salt

1. Mix the coriander, cumin, paprika, onion powder, black pepper, and salt together. Rub the mahi-mahi fillets with a good drizzle of olive oil and the seasoning mix, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Grill fish over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

3. Serve with salsa on top.

For the salsa I used this:

And doctored it up a little with fresh avocado chunks and chopped red onion.

Yum Yum!

Dinner was served with a side of brussel sprouts (see below for recipe) and steamed potato with buttah & salt & pepper.

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Then another obstacle rose up in front of me: The skies were dark and stormy. A.K.A. Not blogger-photo-friendly.

Don't worry though, I got this:

A.K.A. A husband who begrudgingly holds my plate for me as I try to get it at exactly the right angle to get acceptable light in my dungeon of a kitchen. Love him! And doesn't he look so happy to do it for me?!

Obstacle #....4?....of the night: My husband's hatred of brussel sprouts.

I think my husband literally WHIMPERED when he looked in the pan and saw those babies simmering away. For some reason he was CONVINCED that he hated brussel sprouts. Convinced.

So I did what any loving, caring wife would do and made them anyway and told him to suck it up.

And guess what? He LIKED them. He freaking LIKED them!

Apparently the only brussel sprouts he had ever eaten were in a cafeteria setting so that's what he was judging his hatred on. Um....okay.

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Husband-Friendly Brussel Sprouts with Tomatoes

Source: Me

1 tsp olive oil

2 cups brussel sprouts, ends cut off and sliced in half

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

salt & pepper, to taste

drizzle of rice vinegar

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add brussel sprouts and cook for about 5 minutes until the sprouts start to get browned a bit. Add chicken broth, garlic and tomatoes to the pan and then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Let steam/simmer for about 10 minutes, until brussel sprouts are tender and cooked, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper and a drizzle of rice vinegar and serve.

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All this dominating of obstacles made me feel a little anxious, but I overcame that feeling pretty quickly when I poured myself a glass of this:

Yep, that would be a ginormous glass of white wine. Ahhh....much better.

Obstacles are made to be overcome. Bring it on, Army, life, or whatever!

Does your significant other dislike certain foods? Obviously the answer for me is no longer brussel sprouts. I'm still working on getting him to like asparagus though....that one is harder to break!

and

What obstacles have you overcome lately? See above for my answers. :)

Southern Labor Day BBQ Feast

Labor Day meant cooking a barbecue feast in our household! Smoked ribs, roasted sweet potato "chips", ranch-style beans and collard greens....yum, yum!

Alex smoked the ribs for 7 hours while I baked chocolate chip cookies, banana zucchini muffins and made a double batch of chicken enchiladas (one batch to take to our friends who just had a baby and one batch for us to eat for dinner later this week).

At the grocery store this week I was compelled to purchase collard greens and try to make some healthified southern-style greens to accompany our barbecue dinner. I had never made collard greens before and felt like now was as good a time as any to tackle it!

I really had no idea what I was doing to prepare them but they turned out SUPER tasty and we really enjoyed them. Here's what I did (it's really simple....nothing earth shattering):

Simple Southern Collard Greens

Source: Me

1 bunch collard greens

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chicken broth

Remove collard leaves from the stalk and tear into smaller pieces. Toss them into a pot just big enough to hold all of them (they will shrink down as they cook). Turn heat on pot to medium and add chicken stock and garlic slices. Let heat until you hear the liquid starting to boil and then turn the heat down to medium-low. Cover the pot and let simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (ours simmered for closer to 50 minutes). The longer the greens simmer the less tough and bitter they get. You could also add some hot sauce or red pepper flakes to the greens to add some spice.

We'll definitely make these again! Not only are they tasty and simple, but they're also a very healthy side dish.

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We had a banana on it's last leg and a zucchini hanging out in the fridge so I googled "zucchini and banana muffins" and this recipe caught my eye:

Healthy Banana Zucchini Muffins

I'm not sure how "healthy" they are since the recipe calls for a cup of vegetable oil and 1.5 cups of sugar, but whatever. I guess the author considers it healthy because it has fruit and veggies in the recipe. :)

The muffins are tasty though and they fit the bill of what I wanted so I'm not gonna hold the un-healthiness against them. (Libby seemed to really enjoy them when she snatched one off the counter while our backs were turned. Grrrr....bad doggie!!)

As a side note, the recipe calls for white whole wheat flour but I subbed in plain 'ole whole wheat flour and it seemed to work just fine.

Also, I halved the recipe (because I only had one banana) and it made 12 muffins. So if you made the whole recipe it would make 24 muffins. I think they would freeze well though so I kinda wish I did have extras so I could freeze some and pop them in the microwave whenever I want a muffin. :(

How did you spend your holiday? Cook or bake anything interesting?

There's a Spirit Can Ne'r Be Told

Our time in Aggieland was a blast and a great way to kick off the football season!

We arrived on Saturday, checked into our Bed & Breakfast (more on that later), and headed straight to the pre-game festivities.

My parents and my brother were hanging out waiting for us...it was so good to see them!

Alex and I missed the food at the tailgate so we proceeded to head to the "Fan Zone" to look for something to eat. I chose the Freebird's World Burrito booth and got this GIANT serving of nachos for only $6. They were SO GOOD.

My nachos consisted of chips, black beans, grilled chicken, corn salsa, red salsa, lettuce, cilantro, guacamole, queso, sour cream, etc. Not the least bit healthy, but seriously delicious!

I was like a kid in a candy store when I noticed there was a frozen yogurt booth! I told Alex that I had to have some, so later on I enjoyed a cup of Cookies 'n Cream fro-yo with shredded coconut, graham cracker crumbs & oreo pieces.

I must admit, it wasn't nearly as good as the fro-yo that I normally get, but that's probably due to the fact that they didn't have my favorite flavor or topping options (NO fresh fruit options...probably because of the heat....boo!).

At this point in the day we watched the Corps of Cadets do their march-in but I'm lacking photos from this portion as I was distracted from running into some old friends (hi Amanda & Jenn!).

After the march-in, we fought the crowds and headed over to Kyle Field to find our seats.

And I'm not joking when I say crowds. It was NUTS....just like Aggie gamedays always are!

We got a good workout walking up the ramps to our seats wayyyyyyyyyyyy up in the nosebleeds. (What can I say? We're CHEAP and tickets are NOT cheap.)

Look closely at this photo below:

See those two tiny guys in the photo walking in the middle of the track towards the top of the photo? Yeah, that would be my dad and his best friend, Gib! They were able to get "photographer passes" and got to STAND ON THE SIDELINES for the entirety of the game. They got hooked up with these passes from Gib's daughter, who has a sweet job working for the Athletic department. They were like too kids in a candy store since they are both HUGE Aggie fanatics.

Just before the game began there was an amazing flyover by a WWII airplane!

Then came kick-off and Aggie football season had officially begun! There were definitely some rocky parts and our team didn't look fantastic, BUT the good news is that we beat SFA handedly at 48 to 7. WHOOP!!

Here's a shot that I took of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band during halftime....

And one of the student section....

PACKED!!! They said it was actually the highest attendance EVER at a season opener! Something like 82,000 people attended the game. Aggie fans are the BEST fans out there!

After the game we headed off-campus, ate some Mexican food and then went back to our B&B and CRASHED after a long (but super fun) day.

In fact, we had so much fun that Alex talked me into going to the game NEXT weekend too! We were originally going to skip next weekend's game because we're trying to save money (and tickets plus the cost of a hotel room add up quickly).

But next weekend's game is "First Responders Day" which means that all military, firemen & policemen get 50% off the cost of tickets. That's too good of an offer to pass up! Plus, we lucked out and were able to find an affordable (but not shady) hotel room for next weekend. So it looks like in less than a week we'll be doing it all over again! :)

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The B&B: Aggieland Cottage

We stumbled upon this Bed & Breakfast while searching online for lodging options. It looked cute, affordable and was miraculously available so we booked it.

I failed at taking photos of the charming exterior and interior but click here to go to the webpage and check it out for yourself.

Pros:

-The owner and proprietor, Nadine, is a super sweet and friendly lady. She really made us feel at home and at ease. To me, that's HUGE for a B&B owner because less-than-pleasant owners can really make or break your whole experience.

-Charming. The cottage, the neighborhood, the rooms...all best described as charming.

-Centrally located. It's actually only a 5-minute walk to campus and very close to the Quad and Kyle Field. Parking is always hellacious and expensive on gamedays so it was wonderful to just leave our car at the B&B and walk everywhere instead.

-Affordable. It was $159/night plus taxes, which on a game weekend is pretty darn cheap.

-Breakfast. In one word, DELICIOUS! It started out with a mixed fruit bowl.

And then these scrumptious Apple Crisp muffins:

And a ham & cheese quiche with a hashbrown crust:

This quiche was AWESOME!! Perfectly cooked (sometimes quiche can be dry but this one wasn't) and very flavorful.

CONS:

-Usually a 2-night minimum reservation. This is pretty standard practice amongst hotels & B&Bs during game weekends, but it's so annoying! We can't afford and don't want to stay two nights! Luckily, Nadine made an exception for us since no one had booked the room yet when we called, and let us only book it for one night.

-Only one bathroom, shared between two rooms. This would have been a bigger deal for us, but no one ended up staying in the other room so we actually had it to ourselves. If there HAD been someone in the other room I can imagine it would have been more awkward and annoying to share a bathroom with strangers.

-Only two rooms available, which means that it books up fast. We realized that we basically just got lucky to book this room at the last minute like we did. When we inquired about availability during future game weekends she was pretty much all booked up already. So if you're interested in it, call EARLY!

Overall:

We really enjoyed staying at the Aggieland Cottage, but for a lot of the reasons mentioned in the "cons", we probably won't be able to stay there very often. :(

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How did YOUR team do this weekend?

and

Going to football games: love it or hate it? I have a love/hate relationship with actually going to games. On one hand it's exhausting, hot, sweaty and uncomfortable to be sitting on a metal bench for 3+ hours, but on the other hand there's nothing like being there in person to get you all riled up! I love it but I don't think I would be able to do it for EVERY home game.

Blissful Breakfast

This morning was one of those lazy weekend mornings that just felt so right. The weather was PERFECT. Like, amazingly perfect. 70 degrees and sunny.

70 degrees?!?!? I'm pretty sure it hasn't been under 85 degrees since ohhhhhh.......March? Yeah...amazing.

Makes me totally excited for Fall now!

My breakfast was also blissful, so I just have to share it with yall.

Two Eggo Low-Fat Nutrigrain waffles topped with Almond Butter Mousse a la Girl Meets Health (just almond butter stirred into plain greek yogurt), blueberries & ground flax (for some awesome Omega-3's).

BLISS I tell you!

Seriously, Gracie, that Almond Butter Mousse was a brilliant idea and I love you for it!

I also enjoyed a refreshing iced coffee.

(P.S. It's not showing up great in the photo but my new nail color is called Cajun Shrimp (by Opi) and I loooove it. It's a coral/pinky color.)

It was so beautiful out that we ate our breakfasts al fresco in the cool morning air. I got to look at this cutie while I ate my blissful breakfast:

He ate some leftover homemade Peach Waffles that we made a while back and froze.

This was all that was left after I demolished my plate:

Now we're off to College Station to watch the Aggies win their first game of the season! Whoop!! Can't wait!

Are you excited for football season? NFL or college or both? I love college football but do not care at all about NFL.

Recent Eats

Things are finally starting to get back to normal around here. I've just felt....jumbled....for the past month or so since we found out about my dad's cancer. Jumbled and distracted.

Luckily now I'm starting to get back into my normal routine: working out vs. being lazy, eating healthily vs. not caring what I eat, being productive vs. distracted, etc. One of the major aids in helping me get back on track has been Google Calendar. It helps me soooooo much to have things written out and have a "plan" for each day.

Anyway, onto the food!

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First up: Chicken & Black Bean Tacos

The chicken filling was made in the slow cooker, which I hadn't used in a looooong time.

In the morning I tossed 3 chicken breasts (frozen), about 1/2 cup of green salsa, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, juice from half a lime, and a can of black beans in the slow cooker and cooked on low for 8-9 hours. When I got home I took out the chicken and shredded it and then put it back in and mixed it up.

At that point it looked like this:

Then we filled our taco shells & tortillas (I couldn't decide between soft or crispy tacos so I had one of each) with the chicken/black bean mixture, shredded cheese, plain greek yogurt (in place of sour cream which had molded), avocado, salsa and another squeeze of lime juice.

I just heated up a bag of frozen veggie mix for the side dish.

This dinner was a HUGE hit and completely satisfying. I love love love adding the black beans to the chicken filling because it makes the meat stretch further AND it adds more protein and other great nutrients.

The chicken & black bean filling would be a great topping for taco salads too!

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Then there was this Orange Pork Teriyaki Stir Fry that I threw together, taking inspiration from the Mongolian grills that are popping up all over the place these days.

The meat was thinly sliced pork chops, cut into chunks. Here's how I did it:

First I cooked the pork pieces in a teaspoon of sesame oil until mostly done. Then I added chopped baby bok choy to the pan and continued to stir fry until it got tender.

Then I added half a bag of these to the pan:

Frozen Stir Fry Veggies

Plus about 1/4 cup of this:

Orange Teriyaki Marinade

(I know, I know. Technically it's a marinade, but I didn't think ahead on this so I used it as a sauce. )

I also added a teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger and a bit of salt & pepper. Then I just let it all cook together until the frozen veggies were heated through.

For the final step, and as a last minute idea, I added half a can of mandarin oranges to the dish. I served it over brown rice.

It turned out to be quite tasty and it really did remind me of the food you would get at a Mongolian grill.

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This last one is an oldie but a goodie: Alex's Turkey Meatballs with Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Click here for Alex's Turkey Meatball Recipe!

Yum Yum!! Hope you're all doing well!

Tell me what's new in your lives....I'm feeling out of touch with the blog world! I'm slowly catching up on Google Reader but it's still a beast!

Change: It's a Comin'

Change is scary.

You'd think I'd be used to change and "going with the flow" by now, considering I've been an Army wife for 3 years, but I'm not. Change still terrifies me.

Yes, it can be exciting, but mostly it's just scary and anxiety-inducing.

Dad's cancer is the #1 change on my mind these days. So many questions, not enough answers. It scares me to think how this new diagnosis will change things. The way he is, the way he feels, the way he enjoys life, etc.

Will he need chemo? Will he need another surgery? Will it be a hard recovery? Will he lose his hair? Will he need to stay in the hospital for a long time (he is so NOT the hospital type)?

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever updated the blog on his change of diagnosis. The last time I posted we thought it was Plasmacytoma but the official lab reports of the biopsied tumor came back and said it was something totally different...

Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

We still don't know much about it and the extent of it because he's still undrgoing testing but it's pretty much just as scary of a diagnosis as plasmacytoma was. The good news is that he feels great and the doctors seem hopeful. (Can I just say how surreal it is to see your dad looking and acting totally healthy but really you know that he is "sick"?? Odd feeling.)

Lots of other changes are coming too! Within the past couple weeks Alex got his orders to PCS so we are officially moving to Fort Huachuca, Arizona in t-minus 4 months!

Our official report date is early January but we plan on being totally moved out of our house here by mid-December so that we can celebrate the holidays with family.

I told my work this week that my last day would be December 3rd. I'm really not too torn up about this one because I'm definitely ready for a working break and a change. :)

The saddest thing about moving will be leaving all my amazing friends that I've made here. I can't imagine Army life without my Deployment Sisters. :(

I'm also getting a lot of anxiety about moving far away right in the midst of my dad's cancer treatment. We're lucky to only live 3 hours away from him right now so I can easily pick up and be there in no time if needed. Living in Arizona will change all that. Plane tickets, time and $$$ will be required.

I'm hopeful that all this change will result in something wonderful and I know that I just need to stop worrying about the "what-ifs" and focus on the positives.

Are you good with change or are you like me and shudder at the thought of it?