Catch Up!

Wow, it's been a long time since we updated! December is officially the busiest month of the year! Since our last post we finished decorating the house, went to McKinney for Tony's company Christmas party, finished Christmas shopping and wrapping, hosted Christmas and caught up on lots of naps and good food! With all the food we've eaten we also managed to fit in some exercise! I'll try to catch up on what's been going on. It may be a long post...

Before the break our kids made a Rudolph t-shirt to wear on the last day of school before winter break (or Christmas break as I call it). It turned out really cute!

Tony and I also made some yummy treats to give to our co-workers before the break started. We made white chocolate covered oreos and chocolate & smashed m&m covered pretzels.

They are so easy and we had fun making them while listening to Christmas music!

On Christmas eve we went to Christmas eve service at our church. It was beautiful and such a great way to welcome in Christmas. Afterwards we came home and ate delicious lasagna and then went out to look at Christmas lights. Great night!

Christmas this year was different for us because we had both of our families at our house that morning for gift opening and lunch. I was in charge of lunch but we had our mom's bring in sides and a couple of desserts. Lucky for me one of the gifts we won at Tony's party was a Honeybaked ham for Christmas! It was absolutely delicious and came fully cooked! I wish I would have taken a picture of the food setup because we had sooo many delicious things! A pot of homemade beans, homemade stuffing, Tony's delicious mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, fried corn, wild rice salad, rolls, two pecan pies, punch bowl cake, and of course the ham! We ate until it wasn't safe to eat anymore and then a few hours later we did it again!

The day after Christmas Tony and I got up early and went to the after Christmas sale at Target. We were blessed to have received so many Target gift cards both from our families and my students at school so we were able to get everything we wanted for next year! We got storage tubs, outdoor lights, tree skirts, more ornaments, decorative things, fancy wrapping paper, candle holders, and wreath storage tubs.

At first Tony wasn't 100% sold on going so early on one of his days off but when he was loading up our truck he was so pumped at how much of a great deal we got on things we really wanted but weren't going to buy them at full price. He told me he wanted to laugh when he pushed the cart to the holiday section and saw that there were nothing but women back there digging in carts and displays for the best deals. I was proud he came and we made a great team dividing and conquering! I'm excited to decorate our house next year! It will be fabulous!

Tony had to go in a few days during his vacation to help with some deadlines so I kept myself busy reading and watching movies. I loved Julie and Julia. It's based off a woman who started a blog and cooked her way through Julia Child's the Joy of Cooking.

While I couldn't see myself cooking every single recipe in one particular cookbook, I did relate to one of the quotes in the movie:

"You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That is such a comfort."

Watching the movie made me realize how far I've come since the first time I watched the Food network in college while home for Christmas break and made my first recipe. I remember going to my hometown HEB and spending a fortune to get all the ingredients and then only half liking the dish when it was finished. I still have lots to learn about cooking and baking, but I do love that when Tony and I are working in the kitchen, the deadlines and meetings and parent emails just disappear and I could care less about anything going on at work. It's really nice to sit down and enjoy something that's not takeout or from the freezer.

I also finished up the book Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. A few teachers at my school are starting a book club and this was the first book to read. It's not a book I would ordinarily pick up and read but I thought I'd give it a try. I was really surprised how much I liked it and how close I felt to the characters by the books end (which I had a lot of time to do this because the book's close to 500 pages long).

It's a great story about the friendship between two women that spans their lives. I found myself thinking of many different friends I've made as I read this book. I definitely recommend it and I'm waiting for Mary Ruth to read it and let me know her thoughts (now you're bound to reading it!)! If you read it let me know what you think!

Anyway, when the family left we went back to ordinary life and started on the mountain of laundry that comes with having people stay with you.

As you can see from the picture in two days we went through lots of towels!

Finally, I'll leave you with a recipe that's in our two-three week rotation. I found it in a church cookbook passed on to me in my senior year at A&M by a wonderful lady I worked with at the vet school. You can tweak it, leave out the chicken, substitute beef or fish, and add in some tomatoes. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chicken, cooked and diced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth for dipping tortillas
• 12 corn tortillas
• 3/4 cup onion chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup chicken broth for sour cream sauce
• 1 cup sour cream (we use light to make ourselves feel better)
• sliced jalapenos (or not)
• 1 bag of shredded Monterey Jack cheese or favorite cheese

Directions: In small fry pan, place chicken broth and heat over medium heat. Dip tortillas, one at a time, in hot chicken broth. Remove and place 2 tablespoons cheese, 1 1/2 tablespoons chicken, and 1 tablespoon onion on each tortilla. Roll up tortilla; place seam side down in a single layer in a 9X13 inch casserole pan or lasagna tray.

In saucepan, melt butter; add flour stirring to blend well. Slowly add 1 1/4 cups chicken broth and cook, stirring until mixture thickens. Stir in sour cream and peppers; continue cooking until heated through, but do not boil. Pour over tortillas and place in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and return to oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese. Ad jalapeños on top. Serve with Mexican rice and beans if desired.