We rode a school bus downtown – I think the last time I road a bus I was a teenager.  Here’s the group, getting ready to go.  I was responsible for Wesley, and her partner A.  I was a little glad to have two girls to chase after and not two wild boys :).

We did have a green dinner – Tex-Mex Americana style:

Guacamole burgers (minus the bun, cuz I was out), french fries, and broccoli.   It all kinda cancels out, right?

If you haven’t seen it before, we love this Veggie Tales video for a history lesson on the real story of St. Patrick.  It’s worth watching!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anywho, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, from my little leprechauns to yours.

The article relates a story about a mom who sold her teenager’s car after she found alcohol in it.   The author, Barbara Rainey, encourages moms to make the tough decisions that may earn the label of “Meanest Mom” but will ultimately serve to shape children’s character.

I wear the label with pride (obviously) but it was nice to hear someone else recognize the importance of being willing to be “mean” for the greater good.

Do you have what it takes to be the “Meanest Mom”?

We recently discovered Arlington county pools have “free swim” for kids on Saturdays.  Meaning, you arrive between 1 and 3pm, pay for the adult(s) and the kids get in free.  Mike has taken the big kids the last two weekends and they’ve had a great time splashing together.  Wesley is already a fish, and it’s been fun for to brush up her skills.  Silas has always been tentative with the water but is making good strides towards getting more comfortable and even willingly going under.

Mike takes the kids during Asher’s nap time, paying the adult fee of $4.50 and they can stay and splash as long as they want, til closing.  It’s been a great outlet to get out of the house, especially on a rainy day like today.

I don’t know if other counties have similar programs, but it’s been a great find for us.  Even non-residents can take advantage.  The price is a little steeper at $10, but it’s still a great price for an afternoon of fun.

Alas, I have no documentary pictures, as the photographer was home with the babe.

Sorry, I’ve been slacking on the blogging … been busy trying to jump into the world of couponing … but I’ll save that for another post.

I’ve been meaning to do a February Round-up, but geez … I hardly remember what happened in February.  The basic gist was lots of snow, and lots of fun with friends.   Here’s some pictures to catch you up:

Although we spent most of February at home, we did get out and get to catch up with our Old Bible Study Gang.  Our families have grown!

Lastly, we got to catch up with other long time friends.  I won’t call them old, because no matter what the last name changes to, they’ll always be Young to me!

And now it’s March, which has roared in like a kitty cat chasing a butterfly. Lots of sunshine and warmth. If we’re lucky, the last of those snow piles will melt by Easter…

The Menu:

• Chicken Enchiladas
• Spanish Rice
• Guacamole
• Salsa

Chicken Enchiladas

These are adapted from the Southern Living Cookbook, which we received as a wedding present 11+ years ago.  Apparently it’s no longer in print :(

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can chicken broth
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 (8 oz)  carton sour cream (I used light)
• 2  (4 oz) cans chopped or diced green chilies
• 12 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil or butter for frying
• 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped or shredded  (I usually boil 2 frozen chicken breasts and chop it up)
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided (feel free to use other cheeses too)
• 3/4 cup chopped onion

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring til smooth.  Cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly.   Gradually add chicken broth and water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in sour cream and chopped peppers.   Pour up to  half of sauce into a lightly greased 12×8x2″ baking dish  (just enough to cover the bottom).  Set the rest aside for later.

Fry tortillas, one at a time, in a splash of oil or butter in a medium skillet – 5 seconds on each side, until tortillas are softened.  Drain on paper towels.

Set up the tortilla filling operation: I use 3 bowls, one with chicken, one with onion, and one with 3/4 cup cheese.  Fill tortillas – add 1 Tbsp each of chicken, cheese and onion.   Roll up tortillas and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.  Pour remaining sour cream sauce over tortillas.

Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle remaining 1 1/4 cup cheese on top  (I just sprinkle cheese generously across the top) and bake another 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Garnish with parsley and serve with Enchilada Relish*.

*The cookbook has a recipe for relish, but I much prefer to use a different salsa.

Restaurant Style Salsa

I discovered this recipe when my favorite blogger, Ree posted it on her Pioneer Woman site.  It is super delish and easy!  I do find that it runs pretty hot (good for hubby and I, not so much for the kids).  I’ve been omitting the jalapeno and using two regular cans of Rotel and find the spice is quite nice.

Spanish Rice

I’d never made Spanish rice before, but decided I needed something to round out my meal.  I found this recipe, “Spanish Rice II” on All Recipes and decided it would work well.  I made it as described and it was tasty.

Guacamole

We don’t really follow a recipe for guac anymore, but I’ll share what goes into ours.

Ingredients:

• 2 – 3 avocados
• a little chopped onion (~1/4 cup, preferably red/Spanish onion)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• kosher salt
• juice from half a lime
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• some grape tomatoes, cut up

I don’t do exact measurements.  We just scoop out a couple of avocados, and mash them – not to a pulp.  Then add the other ingredients and mix it up.  Simple, but tasty!

All in all, everything turned out great and it was a nice evening with friends.  My only regret is that I only took a picture of the table, and not the people it was set for!

We have one of those fridge farm magnetic sets.  When the kid puts the two pieces of the animal into the set and it sings a little song.   Or if they just push a button it plays a little ditty.  Cute, but annoying.  Especially when the toddler likes to press the button over and over and over.   Even worse, he insists on setting the volume on high, which is ridiculously loud.

We had friends over to dinner recently and my fellow mom shared a great tip that I will share with you.  To decrease the noise output for this (and other) toys – simply put a piece of plastic packing tape over the speaker output.

I did this (when my munchkin wasn’t looking) and it totally takes down the volume to a bearable level.  Even better, my kiddo hasn’t even figured out what happened.

So now, I no longer flip out when he sets it to the loudest volume (why do kids ALWAYS do that?) and he is none the wiser.

This tip definitely works for me.  Find other tips at We Are That Family.

Over the blizzard break, I had some time on my hands, so I decided to make the latest recipe for my bread making club.  The “formula” was for Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread and was surprisingly easy and delish.   One of the nice things about the recipe is that it doesn’t call for a bunch of unusual or hard-to-find ingredients – I had everything I needed, already in my house, except for the buttermilk, which I faked.  Here’s the recipe:

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

from Peter Reinhart’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”
makes two 1 1/2 lb loaves

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
4 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast (I used 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp shortening, melted or at room temp
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk, at room temp
3/4 cup water, at room temp
1 1/2 cups raisins, rinsed and drained (I patted them dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture)
1 cup chopped walnuts (I skipped these)

Cinnamon Swirl Mixture (optional)
Sift or mix together:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Steps

Note:  I didn’t have any buttermilk or whole milk, so I faked my buttermilk using the vinegar method.  If you buy buttermilk and are wondering what to do with the rest, freeze it in 1 cup increments – you can use it in pancakes and other recipes.

1. Stir dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cinnamon in bowl of electric mixer.  Add egg, shortening, buttermilk, and water.  Stir together (or mix on low) until the ingredients come together and form a ball.  Adjust with flour or water as necessary if dough is too sticky or dry.
2. Knead the bread – use the dough hook on the mixer (~6 to 8 min), or knead by hand (~10 min) on a floured surface.  Dough should be soft and pliable, tacky, but not sticky.  I found I had to add more flour — I had measured my flour by weight (16oz), but my other ingredient by dry measure, so that may have been my problem.   Sprinkle in the raisins and walnuts in the final 2 minutes.   I followed Reinhart’s advice and took my dough out of the mixer and kneaded by hand to get the raisins properly distributed.  Dough should pass the window pane test – mine did, but I think I’m getting more and more liberal with the definition of “passing”.   Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer dough, rolling it to coat it with oil.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Let dough rest at room temperature for ~2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.
4. Divide dough into two equal pieces (I used my handy dandy food scale) and form them into loaves.
   Note – if you are doing the cinnamon swirl mixture, sprinkle it onto your bread before you roll it up. (I forgot!)
   Reinhart’s technique for making sandwiches loaves is hard to explain — I’ll do my best.  Basically, flatten the dough into an even-sided rectangle, ~5″ wide by 6 to 8″ long.  Roll the dough up on the SHORT side, pinching the crease as you rotate to strengthen surface tension.  The loaf will get longer as your work, closer to 8 to 9″.  Pinch the final seam closed and place in pan, seam side down.  I always have a hard time with shaping, so I looked online, and found this helpful example – not quite the same, but gives an idea of how it works.Place each loaf into a lightly oiled 8.5″ x 4.5″ pan, mist tops with spray oil and over loosely with plastic wrap.
5. Proof loaves at room temp for 60 to 90 minutes, or until dough crests above lips of pan and is nearly doubled in size.  For once, this only took about an hour for me (usually it seems I have to proof everything longer).
6. Preheat oven to 350 with oven rack on middle shelf.  Place loaves on a sheet pan making sure they don’t touch (I didn’t use a pan, I just put them on the rack).
7. Bake loaves for 20 minutes. Rotate pans 180 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes.  Finished breads should register 190F in the center and be golden brown on top and lightly golden on the sides and bottom.
8. Immediately remove bread from their pans and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour, before slicing or serving.

Even though I don’t consider myself a huge fan of raisin bread, it was quite delicious!  Since I forgot to add the cinnamon swirl, I did a trick Reinhart suggests:  when the bread comes out of the oven, brush the top with butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar (I just sprinkled some on top).  We sliced it and had cinnamon toast – yum!