Where did the time go?!?!

So clearly I have slacked off on my blog posts, but in my defense, there's been a lot going on "off the court," so to speak.  We've just had a lot going on since around Thanksgiving, and I just haven't sat down to blog.  But you don't want to know all that jazz, so I'm just going to post some pictures from the past month or so for you all who might not have seen them on facebook.  ENJOY! :)

My baby with a rock

G clearly enjoyed the big box which contained the Christmas presents even more than the presents themselves!  Typical, I know, but I love it.

This was a freakishly warm day over our Christmas break, so we had to go to the park!

Finally we saw some snow on 1/2/2012 - G was in heaven!

And this picture is from today.  G is staying with my dear friend Anne.  I just can't get over how HUGE he looks in this picture!  Where is my BABY!?!?!?

And speaking of babies, in case anyone missed it, G is going to have a little BROTHER!  We're totally thrilled about it.  I think having two boys 2 years apart will be a great thing.  I hope and pray they'll be wonderful friends!  Oh, and I'm praying I survive! ;)

Pinterest Prevails Tonight.

It's taken a while for me to get really interested in checking out Pinterest, but I did this week, and I think I'm hooked.  While I love the recipes offered, the main draw for me is the "Kids" section.  I've stalked many of my friends who have kiddos near G's age, and it's been amazing to see the different ideas people have to have fun (big thanks especially to Paige, Liz, & Kristy).  Tonight we had the shaving cream in the tub adventure.  I thought it was going to be a major fail at first - G started crying when I painted stuff on the wall.  But then "fun dad" helped out and we were finally getting him out of the tub about an hour later.  Big win!!! 

New Post, New Life!

So I missed an entire month of blogging.  That's okay though - life happens.  And in case anyone missed it on Facebook, here's a big part of our life right now:

Baby Walters #2 - due May 23, 2012
(sorry for the extra space - I'm too lazy to crop it out!)

Grasshopper love

This little guy was hanging out outside while Keith was doing some major yardwork (thanks, dear!).  I can't remember seeing many g-hoppers in the past, but apparently there's a lot of them right now.  He's pretty cute.

Leftovers.

I know there are people out there that don't like leftovers.  I am not one of them, and thankfully I don't live with one of those people.  I am usually quite thankful for leftovers, whether it be because I've had a long day at work and am tired, or because we have something to do after dinner and I don't want to rush to cook.  I have no problem sticking yesterday's dinner in the microwave and making it tonight's dinner.  But sometimes it's nice to revamp last night's dinner and make it something completely different, so that it doesn't really feel like leftovers.  That's what I did with a rotisserie chicken and bag of steamed corn this week: they became Green Chili Chicken Enchilladas. 

Here's the scoop:
Ingredients
Half of a rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
5 oz. steamed sweet corn
2 oz. diced green chilis (more if you like)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can chicken broth/stock
1/4 C AP flour
1 tsp cumin
Salt & pepper
1 jar (2 C) salsa verde
Cilantro, chopped (unless of course you're one of those people who can't stand the stuff, which I will pardon, but I'll feel sorry that you're missing out :))
Corn tortillas
2 C Cheddar-jack cheese (or whatever you like)

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
For the filling: In a saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and saute until translucent, ~7 minutes.  Add chiles, garlic, and cumin and allow to saute for 1 minute, or until fragrant.  Add flour, stir to coat, and cook 1 - 2 minutes.  While whisking, slowly add chicken broth to make the veloute.  Continue stirring until sauce thickens.  Add shredded chicken, corn, and 1 cup of salsa verde.  Stir in chopped cilantro to taste (I like a lot, but add however much you like).  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
Tortillas: If you have a gas stove, heat tortillas over the flame until soft.  You can also do this in an electric stove using the broiler setting.  Just pay attention!  If you want an easier way to soften the tortillas, place several between a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. 
To assemble: Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with about 1/2 C of salsa verde.  Add a small amount of filling to each tortilla, top with a sprinkle of cheese, and roll in the sides, placing seamside down in baking dish.  Continue in this fashion until you have filled your baking dish - but don't overlap.  Top the entire thing with remaining salsa verde, and the remaining cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned.  Top with sour cream, more salsa, cilantro, or whatever your favorite toppings might be.
Serve with rice.

G$ loved this meal, so make good use of your leftovers, and ENJOY!

Family Vacation!!!

We had the extreme pleasure to spend last week in Lake Lure, NC, which is about an hour east of Asheville.  It's an hour east, but it's only about 30 miles away; it takes so long because of the winding, winding, curvy roads.   I wasn't sure how G$ would do on this road, but he was great the whole trip!  We joined my parents there, to stay in the timeshare they've had for the past 25 or so years.  I have so many memories at this place, and it was so much fun to share those memories with G this year.  I can't wait to make many more together!!!  Here are some highlights from the trip:

G had a BLAST in the pool!



The fam at the top of Chimney Rock.

The boys eating some delicious BBQ on such a gorgeous day!

Failure vs. Success

I'm not immune to making mistakes in the kitchen by any stretch of the imagination.  However, I do try to avoid them as much as possible because 1.)  I am afraid of disaster (imagine a fire needing to be extinguished after a failed homemade popcorn attempt...ahem...not that anyone in my family would know about that) and 2.)  I don't like cleaning up a mess. 

Two weeks ago I wanted to take full advantage of our beautiful sweet corn that we received from the CSA and make a corn chowder.  This is one of my favorite things to eat, and although it's still warm outside, I decided that soup was in order.  I worked hard shucking the corn and getting every last kernel off the cob, etc, etc.  G and I enjoyed a nice big bowl of corn chowder that evening.  The next night I planned to have leftovers.  Instead of microwaving individual bowls of the chowder, I just put the pot back on the stove to heat.  Well, that was my mistake.  I turned the burner on too high (which is something I'm constantly nagging someone else about), walked away, and that was THE END.  What had been a delicious, garden grown corn chowder ended up as nasty, bitter, BURNT corn chowder. 

Underneath this nice top layer filled with corn, onion, a bell pepper (all from the CSA), stock, and cream lay a black layer that totally consumed every ounce of deliciousness out of this pot.  I don't know about you all, but when this happens, I get a wee bit upset.  All of the work and produce had to be thrown down the drain, and the burnt remains took about a week to scrape off of the bottom of the pot! 

So last week I decided upon a fool-proof recipe from my dear friend Nada (also my former boss) that G and I could enjoy together, without any heartbreak or burned pots.  The recipe she came up with was so easy (great for a last-minute meal, or when you just don't feel like taking a long time to cook) and resulted in a really tasty pasta dish.  I know it's not really homemade, but sometimes it's fun to take a short-cut.

Spinach-Alfredo Pasta
1 jar store bought light Alfredo sauce
1 package fresh baby spinach
1 onion, diced
1 lb. penne pasta (or other favorite shape)
Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:  Cook pasta according to package directions (make sure you season the pasta water with salt!).  Meanwhile, saute chopped onion in olive oil or butter until translucent, about 7-10 minutes.  Add fresh spinach and wilt to desired doneness.  Stir in Alfredo sauce.  If the sauce is a bit thick, save some of the pasta-cooking liquid and add a little bit at a time to get the texture you want.  Drain pasta and add directly to the sauce.  Season with salt & pepper (if needed...it really doesn't need salt if you seasoned your pasta, but you might like pepper or red pepper flakes), and top with some Parmesan cheese. 

Then, watch your G$ devour it like it's candy.