Menu Plan Monday - Mild Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas!

First I'll give you this weeks' menu, the recipe and then I'll post about my fabulous weekend.  That way, if you want to skip it, you can do so easily :)

• Sunday - Roasted whole chicken, twice-baked mashed potatoes, roasted acorn squash w/ brown sugar & butter, tossed salad, crumb topped apple pie.
• Monday - Mild cheesy chicken enchiladas *, rice, tossed salad
• Tuesday - BBQ Pork Ribs, roasted broccoli,  noodles
• Wednesday - I work.  Soup & grilled cheese
• Thursday - (yay! FG is now home on Thursdays! First time in the 15+ years we have been married!)  Beef Roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, veggies
• Friday - Kids are spending the night at my parents, FG and I will figure out something to do.
• Saturday - Not sure yet. I work all day and we're having a big pre-Christmas sale.  We're already busy at the toystore.  Multiply that by 10 with a sale for Christmas.  I'm going to be exhausted.

*Mild Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups cooked chicken meat

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 - 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 - 1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 can mild enchilada sauce

flour tortillas

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the chicken, onion, 1 cup cheddar cheese and 1 cup sour cream. Set aside.

In small saucepan, heat 3/4 of the enchilada sauce with remaining cheddar cheese and sour cream (each to your liking).

Spread remainder of can of sauce onto bottom of baking dish.

Distribute chicken filling evenly among tortillas, roll up into enchiladas and place, seam side down, in baking dish on top of enchilada sauce.

Once cheese is melted into the enchilada sauce, pour over the top of the torillas in the baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes until hot & bubbly.

 

 

Now onto my great weekend!  We had no plans.  Oh heaven!!!  We spent a great weekend together as a family with some friends mixed in.  It was wonderful!  We played games and I taught the kids how to play Clue.  It was one of my favorite games as a kid.  I grew up playing LOTS of games.  My mom's family (6 siblings) all played games. They still do.  When I met FG, he said that was one thing he really really liked about my family.  I grew up on family vacations playing card games, usually for money, with a lot of extended family.  We vacationed in a place with no tv and would spend 2 weeks there.  No video games, no tv.  Just a lot of family in little cabins all in a row. We fished during the day and played games or had campfires at night.  So while I try very very hard to not wish my kid's childhood away, I get giddy when they are finally old enough for real games.  (Candyland doesn't count.  BORING!).  DS really liked it. Which is about right because he's almost 9.  Even 5 year old DD got into it.  She needed help because she can't read yet but she did her best and tried to match up the words on the cards with the words on her clue sheet. 

Back to the weekend.... the kids also look forward to "leaf day" every year.  FG uses the blower and blows them into a pile and the kids play in them then they help Daddy bag them up.  So Sat. & Sun they played like crazy in the leaves and then Sun afternoon helped him bag them. 

Sunday I spent about 4+ hours in the kitchen and we had a yummy dinner.  SMA came over as he usually does. 

Both FG and SMA said I made the best pie I've ever made.  That is funny because lately I've been struggling with my crust.  So yesterday I winged it.  All of it. The entire pie.  I didn't measure a dang thing. I made the crust by instinct.  I made the filling by dumping and just looking at it.  I made the crumb topping by feeling it.  I never measured anything.  The apples were still a tad crisp, not mushy, the crumb topping was perfectly crunchy and the crust was flaky.  Who's the FG NOW? ha ha ! 

I saved the chicken carcass and the innards.  Right now I'm making stock.  I used up the last of what I had frozen so I'm taking advantage of having the leftovers and some time.  I threw in some veggies, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and a bay leaf.  It smells wonderful!  FG and SMA both gave me funny looks last night as I was cleaning up and putting the rest of it into a pan.  The meat for the enchiladas I pulled off last night and shredded it right there.  Now the stock is simmering and it will be so wonderful to strain and cool and freeze into 2 cup containers! 

DS is doing really well lately too.  He worked hard and got an A on his very first research report!  I helped with structure and spelling, he did all of the real work himself.  He even typed up the cover of the report and put a picture from the internet on it.  He listed his resources and just overall did a great job!  I'm glad the teacher recognized that he's in 3rd grade and he turned in 3rd grade work.  He told me some kids had theirs bound with fancy covers.  While we could have done that because we have a binding machine at our office, is that really a 3rd grader doing it?  A staple was fine with a printed cover sheet and blank back page to complete it.  He also spread out his work (with my enforcement!) and I'm hoping to have him not be the procrastinator that his mommy is.  So while I could have knocked out his report in 1/2 hour and included way more facts and references, it was clear that he did the work and learned the basics of doing a research report in the first place.  I'm proud of him.  I also think our basic routine of life is helping him lately.  He's been eating more, trying more foods, sleeping well, doing GREAT in class and seems genuinely happy.  Of course, I always wait for the other shoe to drop and him to go off on some horrible tangent. But so far he's doing really well and I'll take it as long as we can!  I think I'll reward him soon with another playdate with is "BFF".  Maybe we'll do something like take the boys out for pizza or something like that.  As tough as it is to have a kid with SPD have a best friend with ADHD, I want to keep his self-esteem up and foster the good friendship they have.  Even his teacher commented on how much the boys care about each other.  I think they just understand each other.  They are both victims of being social "outcasts" and a bit different.  While in the past, everyone has seemed to like DS, he's never had a true good buddy.  It's made a big difference in his life this year!  So I'll suck it up, hold onto my sanity as best I can and take things in small doses.  I can survive a couple of hours dealing with both of them for his sake. 

Now it's Monday. Back to school/work/bedtimes/homework/packing lunches/meeting the school bus/volunteering in class.....Hey, maybe we'll get mail today so we can finally pay ourselves!  It's on the verge of comical at this point!