After we moved into this house we pretty much let the dogs take over the back yard and really did not use it much except for DH grilling on occasion. After having Abby I knew I wanted to get the backyard back in shape so that she has a great place to play. Last summer we fenced off an area and it became her play yard. Well, she outgrew it pretty fast. It is now where I am keep all of our tomato plants and herbs. So, one of my goals was to get the back yard back in shape. Number one in this en devour is to get the grass back. Currently we have patches of grass but mostly just dirt. Two weeks ago I planted grass seed and have been watering and caring for it daily. Sodding was out of the questions because our back yard is so large it would have been thousands of dollars to sod. I am so excited because some of the grass has just started sprouting over the past few days. WooHoo! Who knew I would get so excited over grass.
Two of my arch nemeses to getting grass to grow in the back yard are our dogs
don’t let their cuteness fool you
and our monstrous tree. I love having trees in the back yard but boy does it cause a problem when trying to grow grass.
I am determined to overcome these obstacles though.
see the new grass sprouts, yea!
other updates
#46- try 3 new recipes a month
I have kept this up, but unfortunatley not kept up with blogging about them. I am not going to go back and blog about all of them, but here are the note-worthy ones.
Fly’s Creamy Green Chile Enchiladas
I loved these, DH liked them. The only changes I made was I added a little chicken stock (saved from cooking the chicken) into the pan when mixing the chicken and cream cheese together. (I was worried that my chicken had gotten too dried out so this helped) I also had medium green chile sauce and was worried it would be too spicy for Abby so I mixed it with sour cream to try to bring the spiciness down. They were still a little too spicy for Abby but extra creamy, yum!
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, drained
8 oz cream cheese, cut up and softened*
3-1/2 C cooked, chopped chicken
8-10 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups green chile enchilada sauce
1-2 cups Cheddar & Monterrey Jack cheese, grated (as desired)
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat: add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in green chiles, chicken & cream cheese. Stir constantly until cream cheese melts. Remove from heat.
Spoon approx 3-4 Tbsp chicken mixture down center of tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in lightly greased 13X9 baking dish. Repeat.
Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas & top with as much cheese as desired. Bake in 350 oven for 35-45 minutes, until bubbly & cheese is lightly browned.
* I always use low fat cream cheese
Spiced Mini Burgers with Cous Cous Salad
This recipe was posted by a fellow Nesite. I had some ground beef thawing that day that I was not sure what to do with it so I tried this out. The mini burgers were ok, not great though. But the Cous Cous salad was terrific. I actually made it even simpler than it is here. The local neighborhood grocery down the street from me (BTW- everyone should have one of these in their neighborhood, I love being able to go a block when I realize I am out of something) has a great deli counter. They also have fresh made things like greek salad and hummus. So I ran up there bought some of their greek salad (less chopping for me) and asked them to pour on LOTS of extra greek dressing. I made some cous cous and mixed it in with the salad forgoing the dressing that the recipe calls for. Next time, there will definitely be a next time, I will use ground lamb instead of ground beef.
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1 10-ounce box couscous
1 pound ground beef
Kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 scallions, trimmed and sliced
4 Roma (plum) tomatoes, quartered
1 seedless cucumber, sliced into half-moons
3 tablespoons tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 8-ounce container hummus (optional)
Place the couscous in a medium bowl and pour 1 1/2 cups hot tap water over the top. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
Form the beef into 12 small 1/2-inch-thick patties. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the cumin, and oregano.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook to desired doneness, 4 minutes per side for medium.
Combine the couscous, scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, lemon juice, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the remaining oil in a large bowl.
Divide among individual plates. Serve with the burgers and hummus, if desired.
Upgrade: Turn this dinner into a Mediterranean feast by using ground lamb instead of ground beef and stirring 1/4 cup crumbled Feta into the salad.
Fly’s Scalloped Potatoes
OMG! These were so good. I ate 2 helpings and I swear DH must have had 4-5 helpings. they were SO creamy and good. I often have trouble getting potatoes to cook evenly and all the way through, so cooking them on the stove-top first was IMO genius.
Scalloped Potatoes
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped fine
1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (5 medium), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, broth, cream and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
Discard the bay leaves. Transfer mixture to 8-in square baking dish or other baking dish(es) as desired. Gently press the potatoes into an even layer and sprinkle cheddar over the top. Bake until cream is bubbling around the edges and the top is golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Source: America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen, 2006.
Pioneer Woman’s Asian Noodle Salad inspired by Jamie Oliver
Another Nestie brought this salad to a book club meeting. It was so good I decide to bring it to the next scrapbook gtg. It was a pretty big hit. While it is very easy to make it is somewhat labor intense with all the chopping that is required, but so worth it. I pretty much follow the recipe. I did make the dressing part to 1.5 times because I love dressing, but it was good with the amounts called for in the dressing as well. I also only used 1 chile pepper. Oh, I also did not have any cumcumber (thought I did) or cashews so I omitted them.
Asian Noodle Salad
adapted from Jamie Oliver
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts (also called “mung bean sprouts”)
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers (I didn’t have a cucumber for the photos above, but they’re yummy in the salad)
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet (again, I didn’t have them for the photos, but have used them before and they’re…sublime.)
DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS
Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.
*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.
Enjoy!
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