"Enchiladas"

Thankfully, we finally got unpacked enough that I could cook dinner last night in our new house! I was so excited, because I haven't been able to cook at all in so long, and that is how I relax. I was really excited about this particular dinner, because I LOVE anything mexican, and my husband does not. However, he actually requested this, so it was at the top of my menu for the week. A couple of months ago, I tried a recipe that everyone was raving about on the nest. Annie's "Benchilada's" were SO good. My husband loved them, but he asked if I would make them again using shredded beef. I was a little skeptical about mixing shredded beef, sour cream and ranch dressing, but the outcome was GREAT!! I still absolutely love the chicken version, so I will probably rotate between the two, but this is definitely going into our normal rotation!

My take on "Benchilada's"!

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast (any roast that shreds easily will work)
2 cans of beef broth
1 onion, sliced
taco seasoning
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
flour tortillas (you can use small or large. I used the burrito size, and it made 5)
jar of salsa
shredded mexican cheese (I usually use close to 4 cups, I love cheese!)

Directions:
I put my roast in the crockpot in the morning before work. I added 2 cans of beef broth, 1 medium onion and a little bit of taco seasoning. I cooked it on low for 10 hrs. It was perfect by the time I got home from work. When I got home, I took the meat and onions out of the crockpot and placed it into a colander in the sink so all of the juice could drain.

While the beef is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In another, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred the beef and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan . Take one tortilla and top with about 1 tbsp. of the sauce from the small bowl. Spread over the tortilla in an even layer. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla. Top with salsa to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients .
Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or so. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Last night, I cooked dinner for my dad. I loved every minute of it, because I haven't had a kitchen in weeks. We wanted something quick and easy, so I decided on Tuna Noodle Casserole. This is an old stand-by for me. It is my moms recipe, and I'm pretty sure it came from the Betty Crocker, or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I've adapted it a little over the years, but it is basically the same, and it never disappoints!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole
3-4 cups of egg noodles (I use more than the recipe calls for, because we love leftovers!)
9 oz canned tuna
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Cook egg noodles using package directions. Chop onion & green pepper and place in a large bowl. Add tuna and mayo to the bowl. Heat soup and milk in a saucepan until heated through. Add 1/2 cup cheese to soup mixture, and stir until melted. Drain noodles and add to bowl. Pour soup over noodles. Stir contents of bowl until mixed well. Add 1/2 cup cheese to mixture and stir well. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 420 degrees for 20 minutes.

We move into our house in 4 days, so I plan to have LOTS of updates soon!! Stay tuned!

I.Am.Exhausted.

This has officially been the longest month of my life!! On August 18, we decided to move from our apartment, and I have not had one moment of down time since then. My mom & I have painted at the new house almost every day, and we are completely worn out. The good news is, we found out today that we will be moving in on Saturday!! YAY!! That means I get to be under the same roof as all of my belongings, my husband and my cats!! I could not be happier!! I haven't had time to get real excited about this move, but now that it is getting close, I am SUPER excited!! Our house has turned out SO cute!! I can't wait to be moved in and unpacked, and able to spend some much needed quiet time with my hubby!! :)

I am NOT amused!

Well, this move is definitely not going like I'd hoped. We moved out of our apartment 9 days ago, and as of today, our house is not much closer to being ready to move into. When they told us it might take " a few days" longer, I was cool with it. I thought, we can find a place to stay for a few days. No big deal. But this is starting to get ridiculous. We stayed in a hotel until today. However, that was getting crazy expensive, so we are now going to be staying with our respective parents. Why, you ask?! Well, with Matt working nights, he didn't want to come in around 4 in the morning at my parents and wake everyone up (and there is really no way around it), and there is only room for one of us at his moms, so there you have it. It is a little bit like we are dating again! I am really trying to make the best of it, but it is starting to wear me down. I hate being so "unsettled". I just want to be in our house, with my husband and our cats! So say a little prayer that this contractor gets on the ball before I beat him with my paint roller!!! :)

Here's to new beginnings!

Well, the last week has been quite a whirlwind of activity, and until now, I haven't had a lot of time to sit back and think about what is really happening. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER happy that we are moving into a house. It is what we have been wanting, and I definitely think it is the right move for us. But I'm also a little sad about leaving our apartment. I do love this apt. It holds a lot of great memories for us. This was my first "big girl" apt!! :) The first time I ever paid bills completely one my own, without help from my parents was in this apt. Matt & I got engaged at this apt. Our "babies" were born in this apartment. (anyone that knows me knows that by "babies", I mean "cats"!!) This was our first home as husband & wife. The last 4 1/2 years were spent making memories in this apartment. So it is definitely going to be sad to leave. The emptier I see it getting, the more I realize that we are really leaving. But I'm excited about new beginnings. I can't wait to see what memories we can make in our new home.

I knew this was too easy!

Well, our move isn't looking like it is going to go as smoothly as I'd hoped. The remodel is taking longer than they anticipated, so there is a chance that we won't be able to move in for almost 2 weeks. The problem with that is that we are moving out of our apt THIS weekend, no matter what. So instead of moving once, we may have to move twice. If they don't get finished, we are going to have to move our stuff into my parents garage, and stay with them for a week. Not the perfect solution, but I guess it will do

My mom and I spent the whole weekend at the new house painting, then I went home every night and packed. I am completely exhausted, and still have so much to do. In the long run, I know I'm going to be happy about the move, but right now, I am completely stressed and overwhelmed!

We're Moving!!!!

This has, by far, been one of the craziest weeks of my life!! A week ago, the idea of finding a house to rent and moving out of our apt was just that...and idea. We had been tossing the thought around, but we weren't aggressively searching for anything. On Tuesday, we found out that our rent would be going up considerably on our apt, and that was just the kick in the pants that I needed. On Wednesday, I started feverishly searching for rental houses. By late in the day, I had just about given up my search, because I wasn't finding anything. I was frustrated and stressed. I was alone at work that day, so I went into the sanctuary of the church and talked to God for a while. I told him that I was going to need a miracle if I was going to pull this off, but that I felt like it was the right time for us to make this move. After spending a few minutes in there, alone with God and my thoughts, I came back to my office feeling a little bit better. Thats when I remembered one source that I hadn't checked out that someone had mentioned to me. I logged into this website, and found a listing that was close to a month old, but was exactly what I was looking for. I figured it was a long shot, but I called anyway. I spoke with the landlord, and it turns out that he had stopped trying to rent it for a few weeks because he decided to remodel the kitchen & bathroom. The house was still available, and he planned to have it ready by the end of the month. He told me that another lady was very interested in it, but for me to go by and look at the outside, and if I was still interested, to call him and he would meet with me to see the house. The house happens to be in the exact neighborhood that we have been wanting to move to, and when I saw the outside, I was super excited. It is a cute little house, with a huge yard. I called that night and made an appt to meet him on Thursday to see the house. When I walked through the house, I realized that it is smaller than our apartment, and not nearly as "spread out", but it is still cute. He told me that if I liked it, it was ours, because he really like me and would like to rent to me. I called my husband, and he told me that he trusts my instincts, and if I think this is the right thing, then he is completely on board. The best part about this whole thing is that the rent is $100/mo less than what we pay now for our apt (before the rent increase). So I told the landlord that we would take it, and we move in ONE WEEK!!! I can hardly believe that this is happening, but I am SO EXCITED!! I am really looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!