My absolute favorite Mexican dish is enchiladas. I don’t think I have ever met one that I didn’t like. Sometimes I really enjoy cooking. When that mood strikes, I want to make everything from scratch. This recipe includes enchilada sauce too!
What you need:
cooking spray
olive oil
3 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 can of low sodium black beans
1/2 a bag of mozzarella cheese
1/2 a bag of cheddar cheese
1 onion (diced)
3-4 poblano peppers
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp chili powder
1 cup chicken stock
16 ounces of tomato sauce
around 15 soft tortillas
What you do:
I would like to note that to cook my chicken breasts, I leave them in a crockpot all day (around 8-10 hours while at work) covered in chicken broth. They turn out perfect everytime.
–Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your bake sheet with cooking spray
–Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, poblano peppers and garlic and saute for 5 minutes until onions are tender.
–Stir in your seasonings – chili powder, cumin and oregano.
–Add chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a light boil then simmer for about 5 minutes.
–While that is simmering, combine chicken and black beans in a bowl.
–Combine half the sauce mixture and half the cheeses with the chicken and black beans.
–Warm your tortillas in the microwave with a dampened paper towel around 45 seconds.
–Start filling and your tortillas with the mixture and roll them seam down in the pan/dish.
–Pour remaining sauce over top and sprinkle remaining cheeses.
It’s that time again. Book day!!! Let’s take a look at my books lately! After I got through the tragedy that was Exposure to a Billionaire, the book gods were kind to me and I had 4 really decent reads this month! I feel like I have something for everyone in at least one of these four books.
You guys!!! Why do I do this to myself? All books with dogs are sad. You know you are going to cry. You torture yourself anyways for the beautiful, unconditional love story and this book delivers. Perhaps it is the timing of me reading this book, as my Gracie is climbing up in age and I know that her time here with me is limited. This book gave me all the feels. I broke out sobbing several times. Without giving too much away, Ted notices an Octopus(tumor) on Lily’s (dog) head one day and this book is about the emotional ride from that point forward, with a few looks back in the past. One piece of advice, make sure you have your tissues handy!
Bottom Line: If you liked Marley and Me or Art of Racing in the Rain then I would say this book is for you. If you have an 11 and 1/2 year old dog who is suffering from old age **cough cough me cough cough** and you need someone to relate with, then this book is for you. If you are looking for a good sob fest, then this book is for you.
Rating: 4/5
** I received an advanced copy of Lily and the Octopus from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
This one started out a little slow for me, but once I got a few chapters in I was hooked! Don’t go expecting this book to be Me Before You, because it is not. And it isn’t fair to compare all of Moyes books to that one. This is still a great read. This is a slow building story that takes place in a sleepy seaside town in Australia. I really loved the characters and how they weren’t perfect. The book focuses around the locals love for marine life, in particular the whales and dolphins. The book is read in several points of view. I listened to it via Audible where the voices changed for each character so I had no problem keeping up but if you were reading it, you may take issue with it.
Bottom Line: I think this would make a great beach read. Or if you love marine life! I would consider it your typical chit lit with a little love, a little drama, a little predictable.
This was a really cute love story that I can only describe as a romance version of Me Before You. I really enjoyed the characters and the story and it left me feeling happy. It isn’t profound or my blowing by any means, but I enjoyed it enough that I read it in two sittings. I rarely ever do that with a book.
Bottom Line:If you like cute love stories, this is a good one.
Rating: 3.75 or 4/5
** I received an advanced copy of Fooling Around from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
This is the second book in the Java Jive series and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. This series reminds me a bit of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. This book is set in Nashville and you have the resourceful heroine, the quirky set of friends, a little love triangle, and a fun plot to keep you interested the whole way through. Also, after reading this book I have officially picked up a new southern phrase that I can’t quit!!! Don’t be alarmed if you hear me exclaim “CHEESE AND CRACKERS!!!!” Next time something crazy happens.
Bottom Line: If you enjoy cozy mysteries, I would certainly give this series a try! If your are a Janet Evanovich fan, jump on this series! It is a mystery but it has some cute and funny peppered in.
Rating: 4/5
** I received an advanced copy of Mug Shot from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
Normally I come here on Mondays and share my weekend shenanigans with you. Today, I just don’t feel like doing that.
Today I wanted to come here and say What. The. Fuck. There are no words that can describe the way I felt when I first heard the news of Orlando yesterday morning. My first thought was, this must have been a hate crime. Pride parades and celebrations happened all over the country this past weekend. Then news started circling that this was an ISIS related terror attack and the number of deaths started to climb.
The shooter was a US born citizen who evidently has ties to ISIS. I am sure there are many more like him all over our country. And that? That scares the crap out of me. It also makes me so sad to think that we live in one of the greatest countries in the world and our own people are turning their backs on us.
It is a scary world out there these days. Whether attacks like this are from hate, mental health issues, terror attacks….it just sucks. It sucks that I never care to enter a movie theater for the rest of my life because of a shooting that occurred in one. It sucks that any big crowd event makes me a little nervous as in the back of my mind I think….this would be the type of even that a terror attack or mass shooting could occur with masses of people being in one spot.
I don’t want to to think like that. I don’t want to be on alert of my surroundings at all times. I want to be that young little girl who used to be left to play outside in the backyard for hours without supervision. The 12 year old that was dropped off at the mall with her friend. The kid that went to school everyday without it ever occurring to her that someone would bring a gun.
That isn’t the world we live in anymore.
Today? We turn on the news and here of murders pretty much every day. It is almost like we are desensitized from it because it is such a common occurrence. I am not saying bad things didn’t happen when we were younger, because they did. But not on this scale.
I feel so helpless. I mean, what can we do to make it better? Compassion and kindness of individuals can only go so far. I feel like our leaders are failing us. The FBI knew about this guy. Why was he allowed to buy two guns recently? I realize there was no hard evidence of what he was about to do…but shouldn’t we have been looking a little more closely?
Some changes need to start being made. I am not a super religious person, but I find myself praying for our country. For future generations. And for some peace that when we walk out our front doors in the morning, we are a little less scared.
–My Sephora package being delivered. Hello my pretties!!!
–Fun chats with the ahole bros group.
–Seeing tomatoes coming in on my plants!
–Planning lunch at a new restaurant for today with Laura!
Favorite Beauty: I have found the ultimate drugstore foundation for me! Loreal Lumi Cushion. This is the perfect color (I am N2), great for building to achieve the coverage you want, has pretty packaging (hello rose gold) and can be applied with the pad it comes with or a beauty blender (I love real techniques version) works wonders. What I like the most is that I don’t even feel this on my skin at all. It just looks and feels like skin. Seriously worth the try if you are in the market for a new foundation.
If you are looking for a cookbook to cover you through weeknight meals, Sunday brunch, Thanksgiving dinner, cocktail parties and everything in between, then this book is for you!
I like a cookbook that has a good variety of foods, and if it has gorgeous photography? Even better!!! I mean who doesn’t like looking at food pictures, am I right? Each recipe includes step by step instructions, and I didn’t see anything too crazy that would be impossible for even the novice chef. What I really love at the beginning of the book is that there are instructions for dressings, basic marinades and spice rubs that you can literally use with any recipe! The recipes are adaptable based on what is in season and you get some simple one pan or slow cooker items, with some fancy date night ideas thrown in the mix.
Some of the recipes I tagged to make are Brown Sugar Braised Short Ribs, Beer Braised Pulled Chicken, French Toast Casserole, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, and Wine Poached Pears.
If that hasn’t grabbed your attention, there is a recipe for homemade gnocchi in here. Gnocchi you guys!!!
If you are looking for me anytime in the near future, I will be in my kitchen cooking everything in this book!
