"Things Happen"

My oh my what an interesting day yesterday was.  As I shared with all of you on Tuesday I am getting ready for our Christmas music kickoff breakfast on Saturday.  Well if any of you have been watching the weather in our area you know that we have been getting tremendous amounts of rain.

 

My office was a hub bub of activity with volunteers in and out putting together books for me and just making my day so much easier.  We managed to escape in between rain storms for a quick lunch and then back to all the assembly still to be done.  That rain just would not let up, just kept coming down.

As the afternoon turned into evening the dreaded tornado warning sirens went off and we had to gather everyone into the safe zones.  And as you can guess everyone was very cooperative (NOT), somehow emergency situations just do not apply to everyone.  You have got to have those 

"Special Blessings" that have to be encouraged to comply with the same rules everyone has to follow.  Makes for a very fun 30 minutes.  No damage done and managed to get the nights events back on track.

On Monday I will be sharing with you some photos from my kickoff breakfast.  I will be using all prepackaged foods, but this still can make a yummy, tasteful meal!

 

Have a great weekend and stay dry and cool!

Updates

I took some time over this long weekend to make some changes to this blog.  I have been tracking what visitors look at the most and wanted to make these changes to make it more user friendly.  I have added a new bar at the top titled Tablescapes.  Over the last 2 months at least 6 visitors a day were accessing the photos I had previously posted.

I  of course will continue to add new recipes and offer coupon tips, after all that is why this blog was started.  But as a new added feature I will occasionally offer new tablescape ideas along with inexpensive and creative ways to set a great table.

This does seem amusing to me as I look back at my life as a new bride I did not even know how to set a table.  My how things change.  Over the years I have had several of my friends ask me how I learned all of this stuff.  The only thing I can say is that I was a reader, an information junkie.  Guess that turned out to be a good thing.

Hope each of you have a great start to your short week!

Can We Talk

It has been a very busy week!  Trying to get ready for a big Christmas kickoff in a week.  Still lots to do, also getting ready for the long weekend.  Gonna be a great time of r and r.

Trying some new recipes, found a great new way to make chocolate frosting.  Will be sharing that one with you soon.

 

It continues to rain in Texas, so nice it is bringing those temps down a bit.  Also nice that fall is around the corner.

 

Have a good remainder of the week!

Spanish Rice

As promised here is my quick and easy Spanish Rice.  I love these quick and easy recipes, this one is great with many other dishes.  I served it with my Enchiladas that I shared with you last week.  The rice is not super heavy and goes well anytime of the year.

Cast of Characters

Yes only this 2 ingredients with 1/2 t of salt.  I am not a big salter with food but this recipe needs it.

Add 3/4 cup of water to tomatoes and bring to a boil

Add 1 cup of instant rice, bring to a boil.  Cook 1 minute, turn off heat and cover.  Let set until ready to serve

Super yummy!  I used the mild tomatoes with green chilis, you can of course bring up the heat with medium or extra spicy.  Still a great side to any Mexican dish you serve.

Hope you enjoy this, also hope you have a great start to your week.  Gonna be short week with a long weekend, can't wait.

Green Chili-Cream Cheese-Chicken Enchiladas

I have to tell you that City Slicker was beside himself that he was going to have something for dinner that wasn't cereal or a sandwich.  All of you know how hot it has been here in Texas.  So forgive SSG for taking a short break from the kitchen.

 

I love these types of recipes that make it easy for a working woman to get a yummy meal on the table in a timely manner.

 

This Recipe is so super easy and so yummy.

Cast of Characters

 

 2 pkgs of cream cheese, 1 smallcan chopped green chili's, roasted chicken (found mine on clearance), flour tortillas, 

grated cheddar cheese and below was a late comer 

green enchilada sauce

 

You are going to shred your chicken (this chicken was very small) place the chicken, cream cheese and green chili's in a large skillet

Cook on low until all ingredients are creamy

In a sprayed 6 X 8 inch pan pour a small amount of your enchilada sauce and spread around

 Not a very clear photo but place about 1/2 cup of creamy chicken mixture in flour tortilla

Roll and place in baking dish.  You can see that I used a small amount of the creamy mixture to seal my enchiladas

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolled tortillas and then sprinkle about 1/2 to 1 cup of cheese on top.  Bake at 325 degrees until bubbly (because this dish is not cold you don't have to cook it long)

 I served this with my quick and easy Spanish Rice (I will be sharing this recipe on Monday)

This was enough for 3 people, I make my enchiladas a little bit larger than normal cooks would (I am surrounded by men)

As always email me if you have questions

Have a great weekend!

Tablescapes

Redwork Chairbacks

Fiestaware

Fiestaware #2

Classic Collectables

A Touch of India

Roses n Bloom

Seaside

Simple Elegance

Texas Bluebonnets

Summer Celebration

Texas Tech

Totally 80's

Patriotic

Happy Birthday

Dining Divas




Other Stuff

Texas in spring time is one of my favorite times.  Ladybird Johnson has really done her part to protect our native wildflowers.  Below are just a few photos.  The little chair belonged to "City Slicker" when he was a little sprout.  Still has the original paint on it.

We do not have blizzards often here in Texas but I have to say this is one of those years where we got a lot of snow.

I had "City Slicker" drive me to the bank (he called it very misleading) he should have known I had other things on my mind as well. These are some of the photos I took that day. I have more and I may add them later.

I am not a winter person as I am cold even in the summer time by the pool. But with some portable heaters I have survived. I know our winters here are not like the blizzards in other places.

It was still very cold, hope that it is all past us now!

What a wonderful trip to India this was. Also what a blessing that I was able to take Nana along with me. We had such a great time. Hope you enjoy these few photos. I could have added tons more. I will be returning to India in July of 2010, I am very excited that I can again travel to this beautiful country. I will be leaving Nana home this time (she has a trip to London planned).
As long as she can keep it up I want her to go!

Graduation Day

Two very proud parents

One proud Nana, Can you believe she turned 87 a week ago!

Sweet friend Carly

Life is good when you have friends.
How come my baby doesn't have a date! HELLO, cute girls

MEMORIAL DAY