Chicken Enchiladas

I'm loving my adventurous side in trying new foods out. Now, I still use "normal" ingredients, but, I like having new recipes in my rotation. I am not adventurous in what I will cook with, or eat. This did not disappoint! It was easy to make, yummy, and was even better for lunch the next day. My secretary even asked for the recipe based on the smell of my lunch.
I found this on Pinterest and made some tweaks

Chicken Enchiladas

10 soft taco shells
3 cups shredded chicken (I did not measure. I just used some shredded chicken I had leftover from another recipe.
3 cups shredded cheese - we used Colby Jack. Monterrey Jack would be good too. Again, did not measure.

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken stock - broth could be used too

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

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

2. Mix chicken and 1 1/2 cups 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.

Don't let the chilies fool you - they are not spicy at all. Trust me I don't do spicy. I would not lead you astray!

A Trip North

Nate and I recently made our first road trip as a family of four. We traveled to St. Cloud, MN for a wedding. Nate's brother, Jon, tied the knot with Lynette. We are so excited to have a new member in the Mott family!

Prior to our trip, I decided that I wanted to make them something for a wedding gift. Something personal. I searched the net, aka Pinterest, for a project that sparked my interest. It turned out pretty well. In case the happy couple hated it, I also threw in a gift card so they could get something they needed. :)

What I started with

What I finished with

On trip day, we got up and were on the road by 6am. We could not have asked for two better kids to travel with. Made being in the car a dream, until the last 90 min. Molley reached her car seat limit at 12hrs. Still not a bad day of travel.

Wedding day we got up and putzed around in the morning before leaving for the church. The only wish I had for the day (besides a beautiful day for the bride and groom) was for 1 good family picture. Here is what I got.

Asking David if we can take his picture

Trying to get David to stand with Molley and I. In typical David form, he ignored me and I got irritated.

The best I got

At least Molley was happy

And for the family shot. This is the only one with out David moving. Nice.

Saturday was an exciting day for me! My friend from college, Kelly, and her family drove up to see us for a while. I was so glad they could come. We hadn't seen each other since right after David was born. Our oldest are around 2 months apart, and our youngest 6wks. It was so good to see her!!

Holding each others kiddo

And our own

We tried to get one with all of us. David was not having it.

I also go to meet two amazing May moms! We have been chatting through BabyCenter daily for over a year in a private group, and for a while prior in a public group. It so happens that one mom lives in St. Cloud (for now) and one in St. Paul. With 3 of us in one place, we had to meet. We chatted for 3 hours and could have gone longer. It was so good to finally meet the women who know me so well, even if we had never actually seen each other. We took a group shot, in which I got foreheads. I have short arms.  A girl at the coffee shop took some, and had us do "the time of our life" expressions.

Abby has longer arms that I do.



Sunday we got up early and traveled to Chicago. We decided to take David to Shedd on Monday. He had so much fun, though wanted nothing to do with us taking pictures of him.

  

After our visit inside, we walked on the boardwalk around Shedd and Adler Planetarium. Would you know that on the other side, there was a beach! Happy boy. He was wanted to go to the beach all summer.

It was a great trip! We will take David back to Shedd, and soon. I am not a fan of the hustle and bustle of Chicago, but for David is has all a boy needs - water, sand, fish, and trains. No boy could ask for more.

It was a great long weekend. We had 2 great travelers. We have 2 amazing kids!



Spaghetti Casserole

Thanks to Stephanie at Plain Chicken, I have found so many new recipes to try. My last attempt at a new recipe was a huge hit, so I decided to try another. This did not disappoint! I did make a few tweaks based on what I had, but nothing major. Nate and I loved this, and it's even better for lunch the next day! I doubled the recipe and froze half of it. It was super easy to make, budget friendly, and *gasp* semi healthy.

1 box spaghetti of your choice
1/2 stick of butter (1 egg could be used instead of butter)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 Tbsp dried garlic
1 (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

*You could easily use all turkey or all sausage. I like the flavor of the sausage, but the health of the turkey, so I mixed.
Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly spray a pan with cooking spray.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain.  Toss spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese.  Place in pan.  Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti mixture.

Cook sausage and turkey, onion and garlic.  Drain.  Add sausage back to skillet and stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and Italian seasoning.  Cook until thoroughly heated.  Spread over cottage cheese mixture.  Top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

3 Months

Age: Molley is 3 months old
Weight: 14ish pounds
Length: 23.5 inches
Sizes: She is in size 1 diapers, but moving to size 2 soon. She is in 0-3 month clothes, but will be moving to 3-6 soon because that is where all of her cold weather clothes are. :)
Eyes: Dark blue
Hair: Dark brown peach fuzz hair
Sleeping: She sleeps best when she is in her woombie. We love that thing. She sleeps 8+hours at a time, eats, and then goes back to bed.
Eating: She takes 4oz every 3-4hrs. Before bed, she takes anywhere from 5-8oz, and her night feeding is 6-8oz.
Milestones: Smiles!! Lots of "talking", giggles
Memorable outings: Road trip to MN for Uncle Jon and Aunt Lynette's wedding. Also had a stop in Chicago, IL. She was a trooper!
Favorite toys/activities:  Her bouncer seat, swing, bumbo
Words/sounds: Lots and lots of cooing. We're starting to get giggling!!
Nicknames: Sweet Pea, Bright Eyes
Funny moments: None this month.
Looking forward to: Sleeping through the night consistently.

A video of her cute laughter.

History museum

Last year, we went to the free day at Connor Prairie with my mom, sisters, and their boys. We had so much fun, a repeat was in order. We had beautiful weather, and my brother-in-law even joined for the fun. Best part was I got my Christmas present early - a membership from my mom so we can go whenever we want! The boys did more of the history parts this year. They all joined the army and helped protect IN in the Civil War Days. :) Check out the fun we had!

Jackson ready to go!

 

Justin. Not sure what he was doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to shoot a gun

 

 

 

 

 

Lyla got tired.

 

 

Stilts!

 

 

 

 

 

It's Fall!!

 

 

 

Prairie beauty

 

 

 

 

I love this place, and so does David. Lots of space to run outside, and play areas inside. I love that Indy has so many places we can go for fun and learning!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance

"When a child looses his or her parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse looses his or her partner, they are called a widow. When are parent looses a child, there isn't a word to describe them."

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. It  was declared in 1988 by President Reagan.

This month is dedicated throughout the world to raising awareness of infant and pregnancy loss and to honouring and remembering babies and infants who died due to miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, SIDS and all infant deaths. It's a month when we talk. Too many times a loss is pushed under the rug, forgotten by others.

October 15th is a day of remembrance. A day when women and couples across the nation, the world remember what was lost. A day when no one has to suffer in silence or alone. We honor our angels. We remember that they are always with us, watching from above.

Prior to my losses, I had no idea that a day like this existed. No idea that there was a month dedicated to educating people and raising awareness. I never imagined that anything could go wrong. I didn't know of anyone who had been through a loss, until I had mine. Then it became okay for others to talk to me and share. It's not something that anyone wants to go through. It's not something that you just forget.

If you know someone who has experienced a loss, hug them. Tell them know you remember. Cry with them, talk with them.

I am blessed. I am blessed to now have 2 healthy children. I am blessed to have been there for other friends who experienced a loss after I did. I may not know why God needed my babies back, but I am blessed to know that I have two special angels up in heaven watching over me and my family.

Traveling Birthday

Two - the number of drivers
Four - the number of passengers
Twelve - the number of hours MapQuest says it will take us
Fifteen - the number of hours we hope to make it in
Thirty-three - the number of years I am old...young

We are traveling to MN for my brother-in-law's wedding. Today there will be tears, and not only from my children. I am sure at some point I will cry and whine, and ask are we there yet. Nate may wish he'd left us all at home and gone solo.

Today I turn 33. 33 years ago I was blessed to come into this world to two amazing parents, who still take care of me and who I know I can never thank enough.

Maybe it's working with teenagers on a daily basis, but I don't feel 33. Sure, I don't move as fast as I did 10 years ago, I have more wrinkles and more grey hair, and I need more sleep, but I still feel young at heart.

This is the time of year when Nate tells everyone that he married an older woman. For a whopping 33 days, I am older than him. This is also the time of year when I tend to ignore him more. :)

This last year was a good one. We celebrated 4 years of marriage and watched David turn 3. We had many family outings to go on adventures, and many cozy family nights in. We got a new niece. We went from a family of three to a family of four. I thank God daily for blessing us over and over again.

Here is to another great year full of fun times with family and friends!