Relief Society Dinner

We had the adult Relief Society dinner tonight. The meal was served "family-style" where a bowl of the chicken enchilada, flour tortillas, chips, cowboy caviar and sour cream sauce was on each table. The centerpiece was a pie that one of the sisters had brought, so each table had a unique flavor of pie. There was some "trading" at the end if another table had a pie flavor you had a hankering for. It was nice to have time to visit and eat without worrying about standing in line. After the meal there was a short program. I accompanied Molly as she performed a vocal number.

Chile Lime Sour Cream Sauce
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp Chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Juice of one lime
Combine ingredients and refrigerate overnight.

Slow Cooker Enchilada Recipe
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 oz enchilada sauce
1 yellow onion, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and shred in a bowl.

Cowboy Caviar
1 can black eye peas, drain and rinse
1 can black beans, drain and rinse
1 can whole kernel corn, drain and rinse
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
3 TB minced garlic
1-2 TB lime juice
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 each avocados - just before serving, dice and add to recipe

Dressing: Mix and pour on mixture overnight or several hours before serving
1 dry Italian seasoning mix packet
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vinegar

Audrey and School

Catching up on what Audrey is doing at Eastern Washington... She has now worked both in the Fall and Winter quarters at EWU in two different departments. She worked in the Office of Undergraduate Affairs and Academic Integrity from Sept 2013 to March 2014. She also worked on a special project in the Office of Community Engagement (OCE) from January 2014 to March 2014. She worked on the OrgSync website where she entered organization information and logos into a database so students could see places to volunteer. In addition, she has been working toward her Visual Communication and Design degree and her minor in Film. She made the Dean's Honor List for Winter Quarter 2014!

Below is a project she made in her Visual Communications Design course. They were required to create a new product that included packaging and advertising. She made a magazine ad plus the packaging for the 6-pack case and 8 different designs for each bottle / flavor.

Copycat Costa Vida

We made copycat Costa Vida Sweet Shredded Beef, Cilantro Lime Rice and Tomatillo Ranch Dressing tonight and decided we needed to share with someone, so we invited John's mom and brother down for dinner. We served the beef and rice on soft tortilla shells with toppings such as shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced olives and of course the dressing. After dinner John had me play a few numbers on the piano. Ralph set a glass on the piano and put money in it (and snapped the photo).

Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 package ranch dressing mix (1 oz)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tomatillos, husks removed
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 jalapeno, remove seeds for a mild taste
Place all ingredients in a blender; blend well. Note: The dressing gets hotter the longer it sits.

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 tsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 (15 oz) can chicken broth
1 cup water 1 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped
Place the rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime juice, chicken broth, and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the 1 tablespoon lime juice, sugar, and cilantro; set aside. When rice is tender, remove from heat. Pour cilantro mixture over hot cooked rice; mix in as you fluff the rice with a fork.

Sweet Shredded Beef
2 pounds beef chuck roast
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1 cup brown sugar
Place the roast in a crock pot. Dump the salsa and brown sugar on top of the meat. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. When 1 hour remains, shred the roast with forks and return the meat to the crock pot to soak up the juices.

Pinterest: Things My Sister Can Make Me

My sister insisted that I start spending time on Pinterest. So I made a board called "Things my sister can make me".

I think this works really well !!

Audrey Birthday Movie

Today we celebrated Audrey's birthday with her choice of movie and lunch. Audrey and I went downtown with Misit Munns, Kathy Cutler, and Shaylin Munns and met up with Mariska and Tyler to see the movie Non-Stop. (John was busy helping a friend, but was able to meet us later for lunch).

Non-Stop is about a US air marshal on a flight to London who receives a series of text messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer $150 million into an offshore account or a passenger will die every 20 minutes. There was a lot of suspense throughout the movie - you did not know who to trust or what to believe. Good action / thriller.

After the movie we headed to the valley for Cafe Rio. And to finish off our day we went to Steve and Angela's for dinner (lasagna, bread and salad). Great day!

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

This was a quick, delicious meal.

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
16 oz jar Salsa Verde
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
8 medium (soft taco size) flour tortillas
* Note: can use Monterey Jack cheese if want milder flavor and use Mild or Medium sauce depending on taste preference

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon a thin layer of salsa verde into the bottom of the dish. Combine chicken, 1 cup salsa verde, and 1 cup cheese in a bowl. Spoon about 1/3 cup mixture down the middle of a tortilla. Fold sides over and place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Top with remaining salsa and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.

Audrey is 21

This is what we woke up to on Audrey's birthday - Let it snow!

Audrey enjoyed her birthday and opened presents at home. She is saving her birthday movie / meal for early March when the movie she wants to see is released. Audrey got CDs (Saving Mr Banks, Frozen), a Lego Marvel XBox game, Disney plush (Bambi, Pooh, Eeyore, Scamp), Apple TV, and a vintage style drafting table.