I think I'm a little late...

I found out while watching television this morning that March is National Craft Month. How did I not know this?! I'm incredibly behind. I'll be working on finding some crafts to start this month and pass along anything I find.

All the Fries, No Boardwalk Needed.

I know it’s not quite the season for French fries on the board walk, but I can’t tell you how much I wish it was. I’ve gone to Bethany Beach the last few years with the boyfriend and his family for vacation and the one thing, besides the outlet shopping in Rehoboth, is eating French fries on the boardwalk at night.

While watching the VCU game this evening he suggested that French fries would go well with basketball and I obliged. Off I went into the kitchen to fry up some French fries.

I started with three large Idaho potatoes, a bowl large enough to hold the French fries filled with water, my canister of sugar, a cutting board, a knife, and my deep fryer.

First I washed the potatoes. I brought them one by one to the cutting board and cut them like so:

 

I dropped them in the water as I cut them. After the first potato I break out the magic ingredient – the sugar. I sprinkle not more than a tablespoon over the fries in the water and give them a stir with my knife. I start on the next potato, adding the fries to the water and more sugar when that potato has been full cut. I do the same with the last potato. I forgot to tell you to preheat your deep fryer. If you haven’t done that, do it now. It should be around 375 degrees. Mine has a little picture of French fries, so I just turn it to that. If you’re skeptical, check your manual.

When you’re ready to fry, pull out a handful of fries and pat them dry. Then drop them into the basket of the deep fryer, like this:

 

Mine took about five minutes, but watch your first batch and see what’s best for you.  After their done and drained, I usually sprinkle on some seafood seasoning and eat with ketchup.

Believe me these are delicious. You won’t be able to eat just one!

 

Saturday Morning...

I woke up unexpectedly this morning at 7:30 am, I guess my body is still on school week time. I could have rolled over and tried to sleep longer, but instead I turned on the television. It's one of those times in the day where I get to watch anything I want. So, I flipped to the Food Network, my go to channel.
I saw some pretty good looking food being made, including a bread pudding made with store bought cinnamon rolls. I've got to tell you how much that made my mouth water! It looked incredible. I've never had bread pudding in my life, but the thought of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice made me want to run to the grocery store! Pumpkin anything is a weakness for me. One day, I will make and post the recipe for the cinnamon bread pudding.

On another note after the movies yesterday we went grocery shopping. Which is different because we usually shop on Mondays, but it's about a half an hour drive to shop where we normally shop and if we were there we might as well pick up some extra stuff. I was unprepared while walking into the store. I knew we needed milk and coffee, but that was as far as I had planned. See, I'm the grocery list kind of person. I need it in my hand to know that I haven't forgotten anything. The boyfriend asked if I wanted to pick out some dinners to make. Again being totally unprepared, that was like running into a brick wall. We ended up getting some ground beef because I can do a lot with that. We also picked up some prepackaged food; some nights it's just easier to do. Finally, we got boneless, skinless chicken breasts and I told him I would figure something out interesting to make with them. Which is my current problem. I don't know what to do with them! I've been searching the internet and watching the Food Network hoping someone will create something easy and delicious looking that I can make with this chicken breast. Yikes, hopefully he won't want chicken for dinner tonight!

I posted about our faucet and how it was leaking, creating a nice puddle and an equally as nice smell from under the kitchen sink on Wednesday. We finally got it replaced and it looks wonderful! I'm actually much happier doing dishes now( yikes, happier doing dishes! I know...). I better continue on my chicken recipe search. I promise I'll start on that memo board today...

Have a Cup of Ambition for Breakfast

This morning has been a really long morning. I woke up at 7:10 and it feels like I've been up forever! I worked mostly on school work, creating a study guide for my exam this afternoon, maybe that's what it felt so long.

I started working on making my own headband after I posted last time. It really didn't go so well. Honestly, it went horrible and is now being held together by double sided tape. I will try again though, I think it will go better when I have a hot glue gun and some felt.

Now I just have to make the memo board, that I will start today if time allows...

Have a good day!

A Good Day...

Today is turning out to be a pretty good day so far. I'm not going to do the dishes just yet, I don't want the water to run too long and leak more. I went to the dollar store and bought a few craft items. First, I'm going to make a headband fit for Saint Patricks Day. I also bought a few items to fix up a plain old memo board. Watch for posts about these in the coming days. I hope you're having as good a day as I am :)

What's for dinner tonight?

Good morning. I woke up this morning and made coffee, only to realize that the faucet was leaking and there was a puddle in the cabinet underneath. Ugh, that's just not a great way to start the day. But, I'm on my second cup of coffee and I've already had a muffin so I'm feeling better. Now on to what I started this blog for...Chicken enchiladas. The easiest chicken enchiladas I've ever made.

I took a home economics class in middle school and this is by far my favorite thing we learned how to make ( the ziploc vanilla ice cream comes in at a close second though). We only had a limited class time, so it had to be pretty fast to make and it had to please hungry middle schoolers. It passes.

We will start off with what I had to prepare with. I conveniently laid it out on the table a took a photo for you.

 

• I started with one large skillet, I don't know the exact size of mine, but it's the largest I have. 
• One large pot, something you can fill with water and boil 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 
• I use the larger tortillas, but I'm sure you can use whatever size you want. 
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It wouldn't be chicken enchiladas without them!
• The original recipe calls for monterey jack cheese, but I use the fiesta type when I can't find the monterey jack cheese. 
• 1 medium onion.
• Salt and pepper. 
• Chili powder.
• Small can of diced green chili peppers. 
• 1/2 cup sour cream.
• 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup.
• 9 x 13 baking dish.

To start, boil a pot of water with enough water to cover the chicken breasts. When the water is boiling drop the chicken in and return to a boil. Then boil for about 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads between 165 and 180 degrees. This part generally takes the longest, so plan accordingly for the water to boil and the chicken to cook. You could do this step ahead of time if you wanted. Also, the original recipe says to cube the chicken and cook it in about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet, slightly browning it. That's faster, but I prefer the boiling, I feel like it's healthier.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After you check the temperature of the chicken and it's done, lay it out on a cutting board and let it cool. Now we'll start on the filling that the chicken will be added to. Place the skillet on the stove and add some butter. I used a little less than a tablespoon. When the butter is melted, add the diced onion. Saute the onions for 3 to 4 minutes. Add in the soup and sour cream and stir to combine it all. Heat the mixture, but do not boil. While you are letting it heat up, you can shred the chicken. Just lay it on the cutting board and using a fork pull it apart .

Now, you can add the chili powder and chili peppers. Here's what it should look like :

 

If only you could smell it now. Mmm, you'd want to eat it right out of the skillet.

Mix in the diced green chilies and add in the shredded chicken. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Simmer the filling for 3 minutes then turn off the heat. During these three minutes I usually set up my enchilada assembly line. Skillet of filling, cutting board to roll tortillas on and a baking dish covered in aluminum foil. Heat the tortillas in the microwave.

Start the assembly: 

Lay out a tortilla. I rip a little off the top so it will fit correctly into the baking dish. 

Spread some of the filling on the right side of the tortilla. Make a nice line so it rolls cleaner. Now, roll it up.

Place it in the aluminum cover baking dish. When they are all stuffed in there snugly, sprinkle cheese over them.

Bake them for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is nice and gooey. When it's ready, let it cool. Then, carefully pull the aluminum foil and enchiladas out. It will look like this:

 

Lining the pan in the aluminum foil makes for easy clean up and easy removal of enchiladas. Now all you have to do is place the enchiladas on a plate, cover them with sour cream and salsa and enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

·        1 medium onion

·        1 can condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

·        ½ cup sour cream

·        ½ cup canned green chili peppers, diced

·        1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

·        3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

·        Salt and pepper to taste

·        8 flour tortillas

·        1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1.     Boil enough water to cover the chicken breasts. When water is boiling drop in chicken and return to a boil. Boil for 30 – 40 minutes; or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees or above.

2.     Once the chicken cools, shred it.

3.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4.     Heat the margarine in a pan and sauté the onions until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes.

5.     Stir in soup and sour cream.

6.     Heat the mixture, but do not boil. Add in the chili peppers and chili powder.

7.     Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes, and then turn off the   heat.

8.     Heat tortillas according to directions.

9.     Place an equal amount of filling in each tortilla and roll them. Arrange in a baking dish and sprinkle with cheese.

10. Cook for 5 – 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream.

23 Skidoo

Welcome! When I started my previous blog, Just a Bite, my main objective was to pass along some of my favorite recipes. I decided towards the end of that blog that I missed being crafty. I was previously a ceramics major when I attended Northern Virginia Community College, but knowing that it would be incredibly difficult for me to get accepted to the art school at Virginia Commonwealth University I changed my major to History. Since then I've been going through craft withdrawl!

23 Skidoo is hopefully going to be used as a way to pass along my creative ideas, crafts I've been working on, everyday solutions I've found work and my adventures as a future DIYer. First, I say hopefully because things change. Those may be my plans for 23 Skidoo now, but who knows what I'll really feel like writing down the line. Second, I say future DIYer, well, because I haven't quite done any DIY projects yet. Although, I did redo a beautiful baby armoire for a friend of mine who was pregnant. Maybe I'll post pictures one day when I don't have much to say, but as for now you'll have to live with some delicious meals ( I think we're having chicken enchiladas tonight, so watch for the recipe!) and some fun crafts.