What's for dinner? {Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole}

Today is my first food blog.  Eep!  I actually enjoy cooking and baking, but I am by no means a chef or baker.  And I am a big-time "recipe follower."  But, it isn't always realistic to follow a recipe.  "That looks really good, but I'm missing two of the ingredients!"  What's a girl to do?  Improvise!  

I mainly go in my own direction in the kitchen when we are almost at the end of our grocery-rope.  Meaning, we are due for another trip to the grocery store.  I meal plan, we grocery shop, and I usually have about two weeks of "planned meals" with recipes included.  When the planned meals run out, I'm on my own for throwing stuff together.  My hubby loves the thrown together meals because they usually end up being some sort of casserole.

He even told me as we sat down to a dinner of a randomly assembled chicken and noodle casserole, "This is so good.  You could make a recipe book called 'Crap I Threw Together'".  He makes me laugh :-)

So, anyway, today I am sharing a super easy meal that I'm sure there are hundreds of variations for.  I'm going to try and add lots of disclaimers because casseroles are so versatile {which is actually one of my favorite things about them.}  This is a dish I pick up the ingredients for when I see they are on sale so I can have them on hand.  Turning the enchiladas into a casserole is a great time saver-- rolling enchiladas can be so tedious!  So, take the ingredients you have and tweak it to make it how you want it!

First things first.  Here's what you'll need:

• 5 chicken tenders (We buy the big bag from Costco, which I love because they are small, cook fast, and the bag lasts us for awhile. Had they been chicken breasts, I probably would've used 2 good sized breasts.)
• 12 small corn tortillas (I used white ones- they were on sale.)
• Veggies of your choice (I used half of a bell pepper and about a 1/2 cup of chopped onion, but even if you have no fresh veggies on hand, the casserole will still turn out yummy.)
• Green enchilada sauce (I buy a big can of this whenever it's on sale.  You only need about half of the big can, or one small can, so I ended up freezing what I had left over.)  
• A small can of diced green chiles
• 8 oz cream cheese
• About a cup of cheddar cheese (I had pepper jack too, so I did half and half)
• Foil for covering the casserole in the oven

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.  Chop any veggies you're using while your chicken is defrosting.

Now cook the chicken in a large skillet until there is no more pink.  I sprinkled my tenders with a little bit of salt and pepper.  

These Costco chicken tenders cook so fast!  And they are much more practical when cooking for just two people.  

Now layer 6 of the tortillas on the bottom of the greased casserole dish.  They should fit nicely with barely any bottom of the dish showing.  I'm not sure how the bigger tortillas would work in this case- I'm sure they could be made to fit. These white corn ones I purchased at Safeway were very inexpensive and came with a lot of tortillas.  

Next, shred the cooked chicken and place it back in the pan.  (I shred using two forks and pulling the chicken apart.  It's my least favorite part of the enchilada-making process.)  Then, put the shredded chicken back into skillet.  Like this:

 Then, add your veggies, chiles, and cream cheese.  Like this:

Mix these ingredients on medium heat until combined, like this:

Now you're ready to spread the mixture onto your tortillas in the prepared baking dish.  Make sure to spread it evenly, all the way to the sides.

Next, layer the remaining 6 tortillas on top of the chicken mixture.

Top with the enchilada sauce.

Once the sauce is poured, cover the casserole with foil and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.  

Then, top with cheese.  {yum}  Place back in the oven for another five minutes until the cheese is melted.  (No foil needed for this part)

Then, remove from the oven and serve it up!  

 If you're feeling fiesta-y, have a margarita with this dinner, like we did.  Enjoy!  

Don't be afraid to make it up as you go!  I don't measure anything when I make this, I just use what I have and run with it :-)

I'd love to hear any other variations of enchilada casseroles!

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Date night: Tennis!

I saw an adorable idea on Pinterest {where most adorable ideas are found these days...} where you recreate your first date.  The first date my hubby and I shared was playing tennis together- so it was really easy to recreate.  We packed up our tennis gear, some water and hit the courts!

Now, even if tennis wasn't your first date, I still recommend it for a date night.  It's fun {even if you're not good at it like me} and it's active!  Fun and exercise in the same sentence?  Count me in.  



The necessities:

All you need are two tennis rackets, a few tennis balls {or one if you don't mind running/ chasing them more frequently} and water.

Wear tennis shoes and some cute workout attire, and you're all set for a tennis date night!


Go ahead and spice up the game, too.  My hubby played tennis in high school, and I didn't, so we don't usually play by all of the rules.  Just have fun with it.  Maybe a friendly wager- winner gets to pick a movie or a dessert for after the game.  Loser does the dishes. You get the idea :-)


We went to local tennis courts right as the sun was setting, which really provided a great "date" atmosphere.  Plus, since it was August, going as the sun was setting helped us beat the heat.  Now that it's September, the weather is going to be cooling off, and I'm really excited to get back to the courts for another tennis date night!

Oh, you know... just dancing on the tennis court as the sun goes down.  Even though I'm not all that great at tennis, I still manage to have fun when we play :-)

I'd love to hear any other active date night ideas, if anyone has any to share!

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Happy Labor Day!

I love long weekends.

But who doesn't?

Labor Day weekend really seems to signify the end of summer.  Now that it is September, fall is just around the corner.  I've been soaking up every last bit of summer this weekend, and enjoying being able to relax.  With a bonfire (complete with s'mores of course), coffee date, BBQ, dinner and drinks on the deck, sparklers, and sunshine-- it's been a great few days off.  

I love dining out on our deck this time of year because the weather is so perfect.  It's not too hot, and we get to watch the sunset.  Last night we BBQ'd up some homemade burgers, and I made corn on the cob.  Add some hard ciders (yum) and we had a delicious and simple end-of-summer meal on the deck.  

To make the dinner even better, I put up some Christmas lights to create a nice "atmosphere."  I love the way lights look good even when they are draped haphazardly.  

   

We also had tons of sparklers left over from the 4th of July, so I thought, why not?  I adore sparklers.  It's the little things in life, right?

Happy Labor day to all!

Cheers,

Kayla

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Day Date: Take a Hike

I married an outdoorsy guy, and let's be honest...  I'm kind of a girly-girl.  My favorite color is pink, vanilla lattes brighten my day, and I prefer to vacation places where there is a hotel involved.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy camping as much as the next girl.  As long as it's in small doses.

That being said, I've never done the whole, hiking/ camping thing.  My hubby has, and goes almost every summer with his dad.  He has been saying for the longest time that he wants to get me up in the mountains so I can see just how beautiful it is for myself.  After a lot of apprehension [mosquitos? bears?  NO showers??] we compromised on a day hike.

And I enjoyed it.  

I really did.  And here's why:

• My hubby planned the whole thing.  This was really awesome, since I'm usually the planner of our outings.  It was really sweet to see how excited he was to plan this date for us and share something he really enjoys with  me.  
• The scenery.  There was a lot to see, and it was a beautiful hike.  I was the photographer of the hike, and I had such a good time capturing bits of nature.  
• The exercise.  Hiking is such an awesome workout!  You don't get bored because there are things to see all around.  I think my hubby was a little unsure about how I would do hiking for hours straight, and I think he was pleasantly surprised to find that I am a highly motivated hiker.  We only had to stop for water breaks a few times, and kept a steady pace the whole way to the lake.  

So, here's all it takes to have an awesome day date by going for a hike!

Plan it

Luckily, I had someone that did this for me.  [I wouldn't know the first thing about planning a day hike!]  Look online for different options.  Usually the Trails Associations are good at showing the features of the hike, and how many miles it is round-trip.  

At the trail head, ready to go!

We chose the Eightmile Lake trail, which was about six and half miles round-trip.   Make sure you purchase any necessary day-passes.  Once the hike plans are all squared away, make a list of what you'll need to take with you.  My husband carried our day pack, and I toted our large camera.  Each person can carry a pack, or, if you're like some of the people we came across on the trail, just bring water bottles.  (I would only recommend this for a shorter hike.)  

In our pack we took:  sandwiches for lunch, trail mix, a water bottle for each of us, ibuprofen, a light sweatshirt for each of us, a survival knife, bug spray, sun screen, maps, hand sanitizer, and a travel water purifier.  [We brought toilet paper too, but our hike was short enough that I never had to use it... thank goodness.]

Note:  We hiked in August, on a hot Saturday, but when we reached the top, the sun was hidden behind clouds and I was SO thankful we brought light sweatshirts! 

Pack a lunch

When we got to the lake, we searched for a good spot to have our lunch.  It's almost like a little [very simple] picnic!  

Keep it simple {lunch with a view}

Take a camera

It doesn't have to be a big fancy heavy camera... just something to capture the beauty all around.  Here are some snapshots from our hike:  

That little critter who found himself the best sun bathing rock in the mountains was probably the highlight of the hike for me.  

Make the hike your own!

Whether it's blasting music on your iPhone and dancing up the trail, bringing a swim suit and daring to jump into the freezing lake, or bringing up a mini bottle of champagne and toasting to life- make the hike your own!  What did we do?  Only the most cliche thing I could think of... we carved our initials into a tree!  I hope to go back in a couple years and find it again!

For those of you who are as apprehensive as I was, there were no bears OR mosquitoes.  Just nature in all its glory. So set aside a day and do it!  Take a hike!

Happy Labor Day Weekend all!  

:-)

  

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It's a Coug Thing

Go Cougs! 

Best graduation cake ever. 

Butch!

The Coug- open to close {classic Pullman}

Storming the field after a win!

Poster board + glue + LOTS of glitter all from the Dollar Tree

{Glitter got everywhere but it was so worth it}

One more day til the weekend!

Yay! 

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July Favorites

Wow.  I can't believe that July is almost over.  What a busy month it has been!  With the 4th of July, visiting family, my mom's surprise 50th birthday party, girls nights, and boating trips- I've hardly had a second to breathe!  (...let alone blog!)  So, in honor of the fabulous month this July has been, I'm going to share some of my favorite snapshots I took here and there on my phone.

I looove the fourth of July.  This year we had a big family picnic by the river.  I was so excited to see Josh Wilson live, during his free concert in the park.  The day was finished with a superb firework show.

 [Proud to be an American!]

On July 6th I hosted a surprise 50th birthday party for my beautiful mother.  It was a blast!  I will have a [very large] blog post on all of the planning and details in the future!  I can't wait to share!

Boating on the lake has been one of my favorite memories of the summertime.  So much fun.

I saw this perfectly shaped heart cloud while I was saying my "goodbyes" and "I'll miss yous" to a best friend who was on her way to grad school in Missouri.  

The hubby and I were missing Jamaica, and couldn't resist buying this "Jamaican Me Happy."  It was a nice treat to have on our deck!

Another perfect day of boating on Lake Chelan. 

Fresh blooms.  [Always a nice pick me up.]

Looking back on these makes me very excited for August.  Cheers to another month of sweet, sweet summer!

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Photoshop Elements 9: Adding Soft Light to Pictures

I love taking pictures.  And, after a lot of practice- I am learning to love Photoshop.  I currently have Photoshop Elements 9, and researching all over the internet I've found that there aren't many tutorials by PSE 9 users.  SO, I am going to share some of my experiences with PSE 9.  

I currently am loving pictures with dreamy soft lighting.  I actually found this tutorial, which gave me a lot of inspiration and confidence in playing around with lighting, gradient layers, and lens flares.  

Today I am going to share the steps I took in editing a photo of a best friend, who let me practice my photography and Photoshop skills on her.  (She is such a sport!)

Here is the photo, unedited:

Even unedited, I love this picture.  It was a fairly sunny day, so the photo is naturally bright.  

Step 1

If I am dealing with a picture of a person, where they are the main focal point, I always start with the "Perfect Portrait" tool in PSE 9.  I love this tool.  On the right hand side where the current tab is "Edit", click the "Guided" tab.  This is the cheat sheet of PSE 9.  Scroll down, almost to the bottom, to "Perfect Portrait."

     There are so many different things you can do in this tool to perfect your portrait, but I'm just going to touch on the ones I used in editing this picture.  I am not going to upload a picture to represent each change I make within this step, so hopefully I can explain it well enough without them.  

Okay.  So scrolling down under the "Perfect Portrait" tab, the first thing I am going to do is use the spot healing tool (underneath "Enhance facial features.")  Zoom in to where you can see the face closely and any blemishes you will want to remove.  Once you click on the spot healing tool (looks like a band aid) make the brush as large as you'd like and simply cover the blemish.  One swipe, or click, and the blemish disappears!  

     In the picture above, I remove the blemishes from her face and I also use this tool to remove the fly-away curl she has on the left side of her head.  

Next I use the brighten eyes tool.  It should be set to a white color.  I swipe the brush over her eyes once, and then under each eye once to eliminate any dark circles.  (Any more than once and they can start to look scary.)  Also, if there are any dark shadows you want to eliminate- this tool can help.  

Now I use the burn tool to darken her eyelashes and eyebrows, to make them pop.  It will automatically be set on a color, but you can always change this.  I've found the dropper tool very helpful for this as well.  I will use the dropper in this case to take the natural color of her eyebrows to use for my burn tool brush.  (To change the color, click the foreground color square on the left hand side of the screen.)

     I also use this tool to add a little color to her cheeks. I change the color of the brush to a soft natural pink and I also change the size of the brush to around 200.  Then, I just add a couple clicks on each cheek.  That's all it takes!

And then we are done with that step.  (There are so many other cool things you can do with the "Perfect Portrait" tool, so mess around with it!)

   Here is the picture is after the above edits.  Pretty subtle- but it will definitely help keep her features standing out through the next edits.  

Step 2

Next, go back to the "Full" tab on the right hand side.  From there make a new adjustment layer (by clicking on the half dark half white circle towards the bottom of the "Layers" tab.)  Choose "Brightness/Contrast".  Mess around with the two to find what you like, but for this particular picture I did brightness of 27 and contrast of 60.  I love to make that grass vibrant!  

Can I just say that I adore this picture even after this step?  Ah, so bright and fun!  But, I am doing this tutorial to show a method of adding soft light, so we are going to keep going in the editing process!

Step 3

To add a glowing lightness to the picture, we are going to make a gradient adjustment layer.  Go to the same half dark half white circle and click gradient.  Click on the gradient to edit it, and make sure it is set to "foreground to background."  Change the bottom left color node to white, if it isn't white already.  Click okay when you are done editing the gradient, and then move the dial to change the location of the white gradient.  For this picture, I have it placed at -151.7.  Change the scale from 100 to 150%.  Click okay.  Next, change the opacity to around 50.  (If you want, play around with different blending modes of the gradient layer other than normal.)

After this step you can adjust the brightness and contract again if desired.  Then, the picture is complete!

I love how it has a "hazy summer day" feel.  

I hope this helped any of you PSE 9 users out there!  I am by no means an expert, but I am slowly learning what techniques I like- and I plan to keep sharing them!  Thank you!

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