On a Roll

Last night I decided to make chicken enchiladas but not in the traditional sense. I love to experiement and this dish turned out wonderfully- so said my husband.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Spray the bottom of a large glass baking dish with pan, then layer:

4 large boneless Tyson frozen chicken breasts enhanced with 15% chicken broth (thawed)
Drizzle each breast with Garlic Ranch dressing (or light Ranch dressing)
1 small can chopped green chilies
1/2 can (19 oz) Mild Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce
1 package Ortega Taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup Kraft 2% milk reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Cover with foil and bake 1 hour then check center of chicken. Cover and cook about another 20 minutes if breasts are large.

I served this over a bed of cooked white rice mixed with black beans. Shred and sprinkle some extra sharp cheddar cheese over top. The heat of the chicken will melt the cheese. You could also serve it over tortillas or any kind of mixture of rice, such as wild or garlic etc with or without the beans. The next time I will probably use the whole 19 oz can of Enchilada sauce and I am sure it will taste just fine. I think the breasts enhanced with chicken broth gave this more flavor and the meat was fork cutting tender. Oh and I keep forgetting to take pictures...next time.

I also had time to post a blind contour (when you draw something without looking at your paper) and posted it to A Latte A Day.

Creativity

While my creativity flows and ebbs each day depending on what's on my plate I wrestle with posting great creative works and inspiration. Of course, creativity comes in many forms and takes many different directions. This week I posted an illustration to my "Latte A Day" blog. I love to illustrate so this fed that need perfectly. I also love, love to cook and as I said made slow cooked pheasant last weekend that was so yummy. My husband said it was the best he'd ever had which made me feel so great, he is such a wonderful supporter of all that I do and the best part is he has always shown me that he really means it.

I was creatively cooking again the other night and made chili. Ok, so chili is no big deal and this was not my normal recipe, however this chili I think turned out wonderful and we ate every last drop! I'm an advocate for taking care of oneself so my recipes are generally pretty health conscious but I can promise you these recipes are not lacking on flavor!

1 lb 93% lean ground beef
1 can Mrs. Grimes Black Beans
1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with zesty mild green chilies
1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Green Pepper & Onion
1 package Simply Organic Vegetarian Chili Seasoning (find in the health food section of your grocery store- I shop at Hyvee)

Brown ground beef until no longer pink then mix all ingredients together, bring to a boil (stirring so it doesn't burn) then turn down low to simmer 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. Fabulous! This recipe will make 4 portions so if you want more, double the recipe and perhaps mix a second kind of bean with it. I love kidney beans too but prefer the small texture and taste of black beans better with this recipe. Serve with saltines spread with light peanut butter and flaxseed sprinkled on top or with homemade cornbread. Now isn't your mouth just watering???

Note: My husband doesn't like big chunks of diced tomatoes so I take a sterilized pair of kitchen cooking scissors and chop those babies up small as I am mixing them in. If you try the recipe, please leave me a post here and let me know what you thought about it. The second day's portions were even tastier than the first! Sorry, no pictures of the chili to post, we gobbled it up too fast!

Today Is A Special Day

Eighteen years ago you came into our lives and filled it with such happiness and completed our family. I know you'll be embarassed by these photos however I can only begin to capture the love, joy and adventure you've brought to our family. The youngest, you fought your way to be seen and heard and that you were. A best friend to your older brother (on most days) and an ally when you needed to be. You were always on the move with a twinkle of mischief in your eye, though you've now settled down now to be quite intorspective and quiet. And oh, you're such a handsome young man too! I can hardly believe you're 18. Follow your dreams and you will go far, sweetheart! We love you so very, very, much!

Denim Plopper- Meryl Bartho DSP
Heart Grow Font mix byTina Chambers-DSP Old General Store & Candy Lou by Suzanne C. Walker
Red circle ribbon Free December Pea Kit by Sandy Kreiger
Bookplate, March Free Pea Kit, Rhonna Farrer

Ringing in the New Year

Children are life's most precious gifts from God. This is a digital scrap of our friends Karen and Bill's 2 year old son. Isn't he just darling? If you're a designer or illustrator like me and you've found your way here, throw everything you know out about graphic design, less is more, that kind of thing-out the window. This is popcorn, jelly beans and jewb-jewbs all mixed together! Leo is SO darn cute I couldn’t resist fiddling with a mixture of digital papers and fonts. For all you scrappers, hope you enjoy this eye candy! Christmas papers are CFW and It's Time, Novemeber Free Kit (2peas) by Sande Krieger. Fonts are CK Constitution and CK Fresh both from Creating Keepsakes Fresh Fonts/Digital Scrapbooking Place.

I am counting this as my first 2007 Creative Life Challenge. Traci and Carrie I hope digital scrapbooking challenges are acceptable.