Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Like nearly all of my recipes, these are fast, easy and relatively cheap.
My enchiladas are not at all authentic: this dish is rich and creamy, more like Mexican chicken and dumplings.
I took this to the church fellowship last Sunday, where it was a big hit. It was also an accident. I intended to make enchiladas but the filling was too soupy so I layered it as a casserole instead. Next time, I’ll do it on purpose – it was much faster to assemble and easier to serve.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

• 4-6 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
• 1 family size can cream of chicken soup
• 1 or 2 small cans of diced green chiles (undrained)
• flour tortillas
• 4 cups grated cheese (~1 lb) – we use cheddar

Combine chicken, soup and chiles. For a quicker finish, heat the filling. If you are assembling this the night before, no need to heat now.
In a greased 9×13, layer:

• tortillas (I use small ones cut in half to cover the pan neatly and symetrically)
• 1/2 of chicken filling
• 1/2 of cheese
• repeat
• to make it prettier, sprinkle with paprika

Heat thoroughly, cool slightly to firm up, and serve.

Coffee Can Ice Cream

I found this recipe over at Coffee Creations. Doesn’t it look like fun?

Coffee Can Ice Cream
1 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (Learn how to make your own vanilla: Homemade Vanilla )

You need 1 large and 1 small coffee can (both empty) with lids. Put the ingredients in the small can and mix; put on lid, making sure it is sealed securely. Put the small can inside the large can. Fill the empty space at the sides of the large can with ice cubes-crush if need be. Pour some table salt over the ice. (Add more ice and salt as needed.) Put lid on large can. Now the fun part-roll the can back and forth between two people. Remove the lids every so often. Scrape the frozen ice cream off the sides of the little can and add more ice and/or salt to the larger can. It generally takes about 15 or 20 minutes to freeze-sometimes longer.

WFMW: car food

With summer upon us and thoughts of vacation in everyone’s head, my Works For Me Wednesday tip for this week is about eating in the car.
When we go on road trips, rather than eat out the whole way we try to pack some snacks and meals that are not too messy: crumbs are easy to clean up, but we try to avoid grease and stickiness.
My best and brightest idea: wraps instead of sandwiches. No spread necessary. Just a bag of tortillas and some lunchmeat or deli meat and presliced cheese. These are a snap to assemble on your lap, and clean and easy for the kids to eat.
Baby carrots are another good snack for both kids and adults – a little natural sugar gives a natural pick-me-up, but no kids bouncing off the walls or lasting consequences to the size of my hips. I find that the crunch also helps me stay alert on long drowsy drives.
Pretzels leave crumbs, but none of the greasy mess of chips.
Jerky is great, but expensive.
Dried fruit is delicious and not terribly sticky – but be careful. It packs a lot of energy. You may want to serve it a few minutes before a break in the drive.
We also like to use (and re-use) the water bottles with pull-out squirt tops for drinks – nearly spill proof, and no lost caps. Drinking only water decreases potty stops, since they will be more likely to drink for true thirst rather than for the sugar. Not letting them drink sugary sodas also reduces the number of times you will want to throw your children out the window.
Oh, and now that we’ve mentioned potty breaks: just resign yourself, and stop frequently. Don’t try to skimp on these. Otherwise you might find yourself on a deserted stretch of highway at 2 AM, changing a crying wet 3yo with a curious State Trooper breathing down your neck. Just trust me on this.

Vision Forum, dentists, and Homeschooling Carnival

A few items of interest:

The Common Room is hosting this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling. As always, there’s lots of good info along with a healthy dose of the Headmistress’s ever-ready sense of humor.

Vision Forum just kicked off a two-day Free Shipping sale, good on any order over $50. Look here for some of our favorites.

And last but not least, I had a dentist appointment today. Just a routine cleaning, but I came away with some food for thought:
Things you never want to hear your dentist say:
“Have either of your parents lost all their teeth yet? No??? Hmmm…”

Have a good day, and remember to floss.

Belly Button bandaids

I’ll answer the question that you’re dying to know.
I tried it. Twice.
First, I tried a horizontal application, standing, with the button already popped out. It helped somewhat, but not immensely. My belly button was less noticeable, but still visible. About halfway through the day it started to gap a bit and I took it off.
The second time, I sat down, sucked it in, and applied the bandaid firmly, vertically. This really worked. No belly button show-through at all. Not a hint. But after a couple of hours, it started bothering me. I stuck it out for 4 or 5 hours and decided it wasn’t worth the discomfort. I took it off.

The verdict? Works for me, but I probably would only do it for a short, formal occasion: a wedding, or a nice dinner out. At WalMart, I’ll let ‘em grin at my belly button. Sometimes, you just have to be cute.

If you haven’t already done so, please vote in my poll – my mathematical brain just loves the way the percentages are staying steady as the vote count grows.

You’ve come a long way, baby

When my parents started homeschooling in Oregon 22 years ago, the laws were a little different. We stayed indoors during most of the school day, and Mom thought twice about daytime outings during the school years. We didn’t live in fear of truancy officers, but we certainly walked circumspectly. A curious stranger could make for an awkward moment: “You do what? Homeschool? How can you do school if you’re at home? Is that legal?“

Fast forward a couple of decades. Things are different.

The girls and I walk boldly in WalMart during school hours on school days, and strangers smile at us. “You must be homeschoolers!”
Public school children stare at us through fenced-in playgrounds. “Are you homeschoolers?”
Everyone knows someone who homeschools. We’re hardly even weird. Now we have to do things like have a dozen kids and drive a 15 passenger van to get those looks.

Carnival of Kid Comedy #12

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Kid Comedy. You’ll be glad you came! Tickets are only twenty-five cents, so shell out the quarter and come on in!

Once you have your ticket, don’t forget to grab a map. Maybe you and your kids can lay out a plan together – it’s a good idea to practice map skills with children.

No doubt your kids were eager to get up and out the door this morning at the crack of dawn. We hope you brought all the children – there’s something here for everyone, even the baby. In fact, there are many advantages to being a baby!

Be sure to have your camera phone ready to capture the priceless moments that are inevitable when you dress the children up and take them out. If you’re anything like us, you’ll find plenty of laughs in their neverending energy,

The rides are fun, but make time to catch the shows as well. This week, we have acts by Napoleon Dynamite and Pavarotti.

Carnival food may not be healthy, but it’s definitely part of the fun: drippy ice cream cones, chocolate, and all kinds of fattening foods. Don’t worry today about watching your figure – your kids will do that for you.

When the day is spent and your brain is ready to call it a day, it’s time to go home and put the kids to bed. But don’t think the fun stops there! Bedtime can be a great source of amusement as well.

Check back next week for more family fun, and many thanks to Carrie for hosting last week, and Undercover Angel for the week before!

Carnival Host schedule
Hosting tips and guidelines
Carnival archives
Carnival rules and guidelines
Submit a post to the next carnival

4yo logic

Our 6yo Natalie asked me yesterday how people get fat. Reducing my answer to 6yo terms, I explained that it is usually a result of eating more than your body needs, and not exercising or working hard enough.
Becca listened with interest, then piped in with standard-issue 4yo logic:
“So that’s how you get pregnant!”

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Today Megan, our 4th daughter, turned 8. She was born on Memorial Day – we like to say that Labor Day fell on Memorial Day that year.

8 Things I Love About Megan

1. She begins each day with a smile that lasts the whole day.
2. She loves and excels at math and reading. She is over halfway through Saxon Math 54, and has read (and re-read, and re-read…) The Chronicles of Narnia, The Little House on the Prairie series, and many others.
3. She is a hard and cheerful worker.
4. She is built just like I was at her age. I remember looking down and seeing those legs.
5. She loves to read her Bible, and remembers, understands, and quotes what she reads.
6. Her strong will and tender conscience have been easily molded to obedience. She is strong in all the right ways!
7. She looks like her Great-grandma Goldsmith.
8. She – er – I mean, her gerbil has a blog.

Michael Farris interview

Hubby listened tonight to Michael Farris, co-founder of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and president of Patrick Henry College, being interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air radio program. The children and I caught the last bit, and it was worth hearing.
While we don’t necessarily agree with everything he said, Mr. Farris gave some excellent, concise answers to typical questions such as, “What about socialization?” and “Do you ever worry that homeschoolers may be depriving their children of the expertise offered by professional teachers in particular subjects?”
He also talked about worldview, transmitting our values to our children, the success of homeschool graduates in The Real World, and a rather old-fashioned view of romance.
I have to admit, it was amusing to hear the interviewer struggle with the idea that students at the college agree not pursue a romantic relationship without their parents’ approval.
Go here and click on Listen in the upper left to hear the interview.