A Good Imagination and Dinner Tomorrow

Emma has a great imagination. Always has. Jeff told me he overheard this conversation between her and a roll of packaging tape this evening:

Emma as Emma: No, that is not very nice! You're on time-out!
Emma as roll of tape: No, I don't like time-out!
Emma as Emma: Yes, you do, now go sit on the couch!

I couldn't stop laughing for about three minutes when I heard that one.

Later this evening, my mom and sister stopped by. Megan is going to Ohio, leaving this weekend. She's been accepted for a graduate school program in ceramics, which she really is very enthused about. It's kind of her dream field and she's been stuck in a dead-end job for years; hopefully this will open up new avenues for her. She wanted to see us and the new place before she left. They brought over ice cream and cookies for dessert and she also brought a bunch of canned and dry and other shelf-stable goods that she had no desire to move and hadn't used up, of course we always accept free food! She and Emma chased each other all over and had a blast. Of course, later Ems got into the ground chocolate Megan left (she and I both use it instead of cocoa in many things) and mixed it with water and gave it to her sister with a spoon... *head in hands*

The Watermelon Festival is this weekend but I think we are going to have to skip it because we all have sore throats and it would just be too much. We'll run a few errands but be back in time for a nice long nap before I have to fix dinner for the sister missionaries (we got all our shopping for the next 4-6 weeks done Thurs. night so I don't have to do that tomorrow; I spent $131-ish and saved $80-ish, including the "chicken deal" dinner for dinner that night, a pretty standard trip for me, including getting loads of stuff free or nearly free, and I will not need to get anything more in the next few weeks except maybe some bread or milk.) I'm feeding them chicken sour cream enchiladas (recipe follows), canned refried beans, and Spanish rice (recipe follows.) Oh, and a salad, probably. Or maybe just cooked veggies, I even have some fresh corn... But I don't know if I will be up to that, so if I do veggies they will probably be frozen. Dessert will be pineapple upside-down cake (I assume you all know how to make that, using yellow cake mix, canned pineapple, etc., but if you don't I'll happily post the recipe.) Not really Mexican food, more Mexican-influenced American food, but I enjoy it (although since I have to use mild stuff for the kids, there will have to be hot sauce on the table for sure!)

Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

About 4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (I usually poach it; frozen thighs will do, and you can add a little more if you want to make more enchiladas from this)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 Tbsp. cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar green salsa, any heat you desire (I use La Victoria, mild if the kids are eating it, medium if they're not-- would be hot but Jeff prefers medium!), divided
Flour tortillas
cooking spray
3/4-1 cup cheese, grated or shredded
additional sour cream, cheese, black olives, cilantro, and/or green onions, for garnish

Lightly grease a casserole dish or tempered glass pan with cooking spray (I often use a lasagna pan or a 9X13 baking dish.) Mix chicken, seasonings, sour cream, and 1/2 the jar of salsa in a bowl. (If desired you can add onion and/or garlic as well but since the salsa has them I generally don't bother.) Place a few Tbsp. of this filling in each tortilla, spread evenly, and roll them into cylinders. Place the rolled and filled tortillas seam side down in the baking dish. When it is full, pour the remaining salsa over the top (if you've made a large amount of enchiladas or used exceptionally chunky salsa you can thin it down with a bit of water to make sure you have enough to at least partially cover the enchiladas and that you have the right consistency.) Top with cheese. Bake uncovered in a 425 degree oven until the enchiladas are quite hot all the way through and cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with toppings just before serving or on the plate, or let your family/guests add their own.

My Mom's Spanish Rice

Long-grain white rice (I guesstimate the measurements, sorry; I usually do about 1 handful per serving and count on about 8-10 servings.)
1-3 cloves garlic (or more according to taste)
1/2 large or one small onion, diced
olive oil (doesn't need to be EVOO) to cover bottom of pan
1 jar red salsa, preferably chunky (again, I use La Victoria)
1/4 cup stuffed green olives, sliced (use more or less according to taste)
water
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté garlic and onion in oil in a deep skillet or sauté pan with a lid over medium to medium-high heat, until they are just beginning to cook. Add rice and stir just until it is coated with the oil. Add salsa, then stir in olives. Add just enough water to make sure the rice is well covered. Cover and reduce heat to low to medium-low. Simmer, stirring periodically and adding more water as needed to prevent burning, until rice is cooked and all liquid is absorbed. Fluff before serving. (For a richer flavor you can use vegetable or chicken broth or stock instead of water, but I almost never do.)