Doors and More~

We've been busy getting the rest of the doors hung this past weekend.  Well, that should be phrased as Brad has been busy. I'm not really a door-hanger type gal. We do still need to do trim and that's where my part comes in. Brad has neither the patience or time to do the trim, so I get the honors.

 Piper's room, on the left, now has a door. This is a huge deal, she can now take a nap in her own room instead of the playpen in my bathroom which was the quietest part of the house. Closet doors are hung and ready for trim as well. All the doors still need to be painted, again, I get the honors.

Another hurdle was getting the railings done on the stairs and carpeting. It's sooo much quieter now. I wish I had half the energy of my children. They go up and down, up and down, up and down, you get the idea. 

All of the kids now have their own beds. We bought three yesterday to finish off the kids' rooms. We are still working on headboards and dressers. The girls got some of their things hung on the walls and are so excited to have their own spaces. Closet doors still need to be hung, right now, I'm just glad the majority of their clothes are off the floor.

Brad is working on the kids' bathroom today. Getting all the tile done around the shower, including the built-in shelves for each child.  He chose this layout for the floor, because you know nothing is ever simple for him. I think we are doing the wainscoting on the wall in white. It will be nice to have another bathroom area done. It's getting a little tight in the half-bath lately. 

And finally my laundry room door. Some might say it's small, I like to call it cozy. 

~ Misty

TIO Tuesday - (Smoked) White Chicken Enchiladas

I had a craving for enchiladas but didn't have enchilada sauce. I had seen several recipes that were for a "white" enchilada and figured I probably had the ingredients necessary so I did a little research on pinterest and found that quite a few of the pins were for the same recipe. Sure enough, I had what I needed. The "smoked" part of the title is from the smoked chicken I used. I had made a chicken in the smoker the night before and had quite a bit left over that I thought would work for this recipe. However, the smoked taste completely overpowered the dish. It was still really good and I will definitely make it again, just with plain chicken next time.

 I used a large square dish for this and overloaded each tortilla to fit. Of all the kitchen stuff I have collected to replace what I lost, I only have one 9x13 pan. How is that possible? I've got a gazillion bowls, serving dishes and pie plates, but only one pan? Yay for garage sale season, I'll definitely be on the lookout!

This is my plug for this cheese, it's fantastic! It has a nice spiciness to it and I used it on the side of the enchiladas for Brad and I. I also use this cheese in scrambled eggs. Once you try it, you just can't use the plain stuff anymore! Oh, and don't get me started on cheesy hash brown potatoes!

Finished dish, nice and cheesy. You can see the specks of jalapeno on one side, the rest was just co-jack. I've never made the sauce for this before, but it tastes just like a white-queso dip. I tried some with tortilla chips and it was great, I think the sauce by itself would be nice to serve as a dip?

White Chicken Enchiladas
8 flour tortillas, soft taco size
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I used half of a rotisserie chicken)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan seam side down.

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Allow sauce to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and chilies.

Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes and then broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese.
Enjoy!
~ Misty

TIO Tuesday - Apple Crescent Surprise

I think this recipe has a variety of names. I found it by typing in "apple" and "crescent". I just knew there had to be some sort of yummy recipe that combined the two, and I was right! I found it also listed as Apple Dumplings. I read through a few of them and with the exception of the type of soda used, they were basically the same recipe. One even mentioned that Pioneer Woman has it on her blog, just another reason to love her!
Anderson was the lucky one to help today. I've timed them to be done about the time the kids roll in from school. The house is smelling wonderful!!!

Butter, sugar, cinnamon - how can you go wrong?

It's rather difficult to get this guy to look at the camera and smile while cooking,

but he made an effort - baby steps

All done!

Apple Crescent Surprise

Ingredients:
2 cans crescent rolls
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored (I use whatever I have in the house)  
2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon 
1 can (12 oz) ginger ale

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Cut each apple into 8 wedges.
2. Open crescent rolls, place apple wedge in each one. Roll up.
3. Place in 9 x 13 pan.
4. Melt butter, add sugar and cinnamon.
5. Pour over crescent rolls.
6. Pour ginger ale on top.
7. Bake 45 minutes until golden brown.
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

***My notes- I made this as directed, but only used 1 cup of sugar. I think it could be cut back even more and, dare I say it, cut back on the butter. These were swimming in the sauce. And yes, they were delicious!
Enjoy!

~ Misty

TIO Tuesday - Pulled Chicken Suiza

I had the opportunity to have friends over for lunch last week two days in a row. I love it! I've waited so long to be able to do this and it falls in line perfectly with finding new recipes to try. In the event that a recipe doesn't turn out though, Casey's is right down the street. Fortunately, I haven't had to go that route - yet?!

One of my new favorite phrases is "I'd pay money for this!" I've been able to say it a few times and this recipe was one of them. It has a taste that is unique to anything I've ever tried before. My friends all liked it and I encourage you to try it as well.

The picture of what I made above, hers at Let's Dish below.

Filed under Main Dishes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 cups store-bought salsa verde
1/2 cup sour cream
1 rotisserie-style chicken, skin discarded and meat shredded
4 crusty sandwich rolls, split
4 slices Monterrey Jack or cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat the broiler. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and honey, then stir in the salsa and heat through. Mix in the sour cream. Stir in the chicken to coat. Pile the chicken mixture on the roll bottoms. Top with the cheese and broil to melt. Set the roll tops in place and serve.

Let's Dish
This has to be one of the easiest, tastiest meals I've put together. Once the chicken is shredded, it takes less than 15 minutes. And everyone loves it! The honey and lime add wonderful flavor. If you have extra filling, it makes great burritos the next day.

Who Dished It Up First
This is a Rachael Ray recipe that I found over at Cassie Craves.

*** Misty's notes: I didn't have shredded chicken, so I used chicken breasts that I cooked and chopped  up to put in the sauce. I used Ciabatta rolls and Monterrey Pepper Jack cheese. I did butter the rolls prior to putting it in the broiler. I had plenty left over for Brad later and me the next day, so I would recommend having extra rolls on hand. So yummy!
Enjoy!
~ Misty

Happy Easter

It's been a beautiful Easter weekend.  It's the first Holiday that we have spent in our new home and it's awesome! We all made it to the early service at church, even Brad went with us. We headed to Oelwein to spend the morning with the Block family and wrapped it up with the Hurley side here at our home. The kids were thrilled with all the egg hunts, presents from the Easter Bunny and both grandparents.  Now we're in that sleepy post-food state, on the edge of falling asleep with our comfy clothes on. Before that happens, I thought I would put up a few pictures of our day.

 Happy Easter from all the Block's!

I loved this picture of Piper. I am playing around with the coloring a little bit for a future project.

If you think trying to get my five to smile nicely is a chore, try it with all the Block kids, not even a chance a good picture would come out of it. 

Back at home, the girls thought it was warm out (they're crazy) but, it's Easter, so we let them wear what they wanted. 

~ Misty

TIO Tuesday - Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream

There's something about "Tuscan" being in the title that grabs my attention every time. I think it might be because I'm still yearning to go to Italy. I love Italian food, pasta, really any combination of the two works for me. I had a few friends over today for lunch and this recipe fit the bill quite nicely. It's wonderful to be able to share food with friends and family. I have to say, it's one of my favorite things to do. Brad hasn't tried this yet, but I'm fairly certain he will approve.

Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream

Ingredients

• 1 (20-oz.) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli*
• 1 (16-oz.) jar sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce
• 2 tablespoons white wine
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• 2 medium-size fresh tomatoes, chopped**
  1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  Garnish: fresh basil strips

Preparation

1.  Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a medium saucepan. Pour wine into sauce jar; cover tightly, and shake well. Stir wine mixture into saucepan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil, and cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with pasta, and top evenly with 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Garnish, if desired.

*1 (13-oz.) package three-cheese tortellini may be substituted.
**1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, fully drained, may be substituted.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli and Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce.

****  These are my notes, above notes are from the original recipe. Like the original, I used her brands of ravioli and the pasta sauce. I added sun-dried tomatoes to the sauce with the two tomatoes. I used a bit more of wine, a small pour of heavy cream and a couple of tablespoons of butter at the end. I let this thicken a bit prior to serving. I also added sliced chicken breasts that had been marinated in Italian dressing and sauteed in a dash of olive oil.
Enjoy!
~ Misty