Sunday, March 14, 2010

The most amazing Creamy Chicken Enchiladas ever!

The Wisley's are in Florida for the next 8 days. We arrived last Friday after 2 1/2 days in the car we finally made it to our destination on Anna Maria Island just south of Tampa Bay. We are staying at a condo called Beside Still Waters just a block off the beach.  The best thing about this trip beside the sun and beach is our free stay.  "How did you get a free stay right off the beach?"  I knew you would ask! Well this four condo building is free for people working in the ministry. Lucky for us, we serve in the ministry at Rainbow Christian Camp.  So, if any of you out there work in the ministry and want a free place to find rest by yourself or with your family this is a great place to do it. All you have to do is put in an request 6 months in advance of the dates you want and they will let you know if it is available on those dates.
My parents, along with my sisters and future brother-in-law are in the condo next to us. My dad is a pastor so he was able to request a free stay as well. It has been a lovely time, especially since Joe and I can sneak away with the help of 5 babysitters in the condo next door.
Jake had his first swim in a big bathtub (the pool) yesterday. He really liked having his feet in the water, but once his whole body was in he promptly let us know he was not a huge fan of the slightly chilly water.  It was a little windy yesterday which could have been part of the problem.
Okay now to tell you about my mom's amazing Enchiladas. I usually don't care for this Mexican meal but now that I have tasted my mom's I want to share this tasty and easy recipe with you.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
1 Tbsp butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 chopped red pepper
1 can chopped green chiles
2 diced jalepenos
8oz of cream cheese cut up and softened
3 1/2 cups of chopped and cooked chicken breast
8 - 8 in tortillas
8 oz monterary jack cheese, shredded
1-2 cups of whipping cream

melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add oniona dn red pepper and jalepenos and saute for 5 min. Add green chiles; saute 1 min. Stir in cream cheese and chicken; cook stirring constantly until cream cheese melts.
Spoon 2-3 Tbsp of mixture down center of torillas. Roll them up and place in lightly greased baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle the whipping cream all over! Bake at 350 for 45 min uncovered. 
Serve with salsa, guacamole and sour cream.  Yum! Soooooo good!

Let me know if you like them.
Hope all of you up north aren't getting hit with too much rain.  

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Nobody is Perfect, Right?

So I have been doing a lot of praying here lately. When I say, a lot, I mean, A LOT!  Before I became a mom life was far different as it is for me now, of course. I thought I had this whole parenting thing figured out. I spent a lot of time babysitting for families since I was 13. I was a full time nanny for a 6 month old, 10 month old, 2 year old twin girls, and a four year old boy all at the same time when I was 18-19. I have spent a lot of time being around kids and for what it's worth, getting a descent amount of experience being a part-time parent. I watched one of the kids walk for the first time, even before his parents did. I taught him sign language because I was tired of hearing the whining. I put them down for naps, read them books, bathed them, sang to them, played hide and go seek with them, kissed their boo-boo's, fed them, took them to the park and the pool. It was a very exhausting job but my most favorite job of all!  I must admit, I was a good babysitter. People trusted me with their little ones. I don't know why, but I am glad they did and it made me feel good to know that parents liked me, even better, the kids loved me! Now that I am a parent, that changes my whole perspective on what being a parent is all about. I've been humbled since having Jake. I don't have this parenting thing all figured out!
I am an observer. I like to watch people and I've had a lot of time watching my friends parent their children. (You know you have done the same thing so I am not afraid to admit it).  I may have raised an eyebrow a few times when a kid throws a fit because they refuse to listen, but you will be doing the same thing when my kids throws a fit and I don't know what to do about it! I now realize how imperfect we all are as parents, as well as our kids. I have been humbled, realizing that all of us parents make mistakes. We all have imperfections in our parenting techniques. We probably all start out in our pre-parent stage thinking we know exactly what we want out of our kids, what rules we will have in the home, how we will discipline, what behavior we will never put up with, etc.  Boy was I incredible wrong! How ignorant and arrogant I was!
So now I am praying for God's wisdom in parenting. How does God parent us and want us to parent our little ones. I am being challenged in my journey as a first time mom already.  I feel sorry for Jake since he is the first born and I will make plenty of mistakes on him. I hope he will forgive me when I mess up. It won't be too much longer when Jake will be pushing the limits and testing his mommy and daddy's will. Hopefully he will be the one bending his will to us and not the other way around. Will I ever have this figured out?  Wait, don't tell me, cause I am afraid I won't like the answer.
This is completely off subject but we have four rabbits that live behind our house and I have been watching them run back and forth in the back yard carrying dried grass in their mouths to our back porch. They must be making a nice warm bed for an expected liter coming soon. Bummer! More rabbits to deal with.  Anyone want to cute little bunny for a pet? Or maybe I could wait until there are enough of them and make a fur coat out of them! Or, I could start a rabbit farm and make rabbit stew!  So many possibilities.