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Archive for Renee Spindle

Illuminating Blogger Award

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This is going to be a great week. This girl is starting the week with a blog award nomination. I have been nominated for the Illuminating Blogger Award by C.J at FoodStories. Thanks so much for recognizing my blog. It’s fun to share recipes and get food ideas from so many sources on the internet. It’s seems like your weekly menu planning can never get dull and boring with so many resources available.

It has been so much fun writing and sharing my stories of life, food, motherhood and grandmahood. There are so many things to learn about blogging and writing. Sometimes I feel like a big sponge soaking up all of the information available at my fingertips. Finding out that people like to read what you are writing about is just the icing on the cake.

In the spirit of the award here is some randomness about me. My adult life until last August was all about work and family. Sometimes I would get the priority of those two things mixed up, have to stop, breathe and re-focus myself. This can happen to you when all of your kids are in their twenties, like mine are. Now I am love, love, loving my new-found title of “domestic goddess”, coined by my husband, Travel Man. There’s not a whole lot that can compare to setting your own schedule, and doing what you want, when you want.

To my fellow bloggers – there are so many blogs I enjoy reading. If I list my top five they would be (in no particular order):

1) the thing about joan – Wonderful Mom stories. Reminds me of my days with 4 kids in tow, going everywhere.

2) Rantings of an Amateur Chef – Love the presentation of recipes here, and the stories that go along with them.

3) Shutterbug Sage– Such a great collection of pictures. I love photography, and love looking at the world through another photographer’s eye.

4) Maggiesonebuttkitchen – What a plethora of recipes to choose from. I am looking forward to making some of Maggie’s recipes over the summer. Yum, yum.

5) Meg Travels– Meg has great pictures of her travel adventures, and I love reading her tips and tricks for great travel experiences.

To accept your nomination please go this link at Food Stories.

Thanks again CJ for this nomination. It’s really fun writing and exploring other bloggers sites, and learning about what’s interests people. Happy writing and exploring to all.

One comment Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Travel Man

One Lovely Blog Award

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Renee Spindle

I am pleased as punch to share with everyone that I have received a nomination for the “One Lovely Blog Award”. My fellow blogger, Joan, at thethingaboutjoan has graciously nominated me for this award. Joan’s writing is from the heart, and I love how she writes about her experiences day in and day out with her kids. Thanks Joan!

My domestic Goddess status has given me the freedom in the last year to learn about blogging and writing my little life’s stories. So far it has been a wonderful journey working on writing and sharing little bits and pieces of my family’s life.

In the spirit of this award here are 7 things you may find interesting about me:

1) I just discovered how much I love writing in this past year. So far it has been a pretty eye-opening experience for me.

2) My sister is my best friend. We don’t live close to one another, but we are learning how much we can lean on each other. Hugs to you Laura!

3) Becoming a Grandma is one of life’s experiences that you can’t really explain in words to someone else. You just having to experience it!

4) Being married to a road warrior is a challenge, but it is a challenge that I accept and embrace.

5)There is no single word to describe how incredible it is to be able to help your parents with anything they need, when they have ALWAYS been there for you. Love you Mom & Dad!!

6) Painting any room in my house is a hobby I love, love, love.

7) My brother and I played a guitar duet in the mall for our guitar recital, many, many moons ago. Remember this Jim?

And now for the good stuff, these are a few blogs that I enjoy following:

Maggiesonebuttkitchen – What a plethora of recipes to choose from. I am looking forward to making some of Maggie’s recipes over the summer. Yum, yum.
Meg Travels– Meg has great pictures of her travel adventures, and I love reading her tips and tricks for great travel experiences.
Shutterbug Sage– Such a great collection of pictures. I love photography, and love looking at the world through another photographer’s eye.
Grandma’s Briefs– Lisa’s intriguing stories of the Grandma life are very relatable, as I have one grandson, and another grandchild on the way.
The Suburban Cook– Kim has an amazing way of writing about her cooking, and intertwining her life happenings with her food experiences.
Joan on the Road – This is my Mom’s blog page. My parents live in their RV fulltime, and my Mom has a wonderful way of drawing you into her stories.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef – Love the presentation of the recipes here. Makes me want to get into the kitchen right away.

The guidelines for accepting this award are as follows:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate about 15 other blogs that you enjoy.
4. Let the nominees know that you chose them. There’s no pressure to accept, just do what feels good.

Thanks again Joan for the nomination. I’m looking forward to checking out your fave blogs, and finding some new peeps to follow. Happy writing to all!

5 comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Family, Recipes

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Hello friends, I just realized that I posted my 100th blog post today!! Yay for me. what a nice way to end the month of May. I never knew how much I would enjoy writing and sharing my stories and tales with all of you. It is truly fun, and has opened up a whole new world to me.

So cheers to my blog today-

Now onward and upward to the next 100 posts!! Stay tuned for more stories and recipes to come. Grab your cup of coffee and come and join me.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging

White Sauce Chicken Enchiladas

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Renee Spindle

As promised I wanted to share the recipe for the white sauce enchiladas. This is a long-standing family favorite recipe. Totally yummy chicken enchiladas drenched in a white sauce. My niece, Mary, made this dish recently for our Red Sauce Chicken Enchilada Family Fiesta! This recipe came to the family from Mary’s mom many moons ago, and we still love to make it year after year.

And now here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1c. chopped onion ½ c. chopped green pepper

2 TBSP butter or margarine 2 c. chopped, cooked chicken or turkey

1 (4oz) can of green chilis ¼ c. flour

3 TBSP butter or margarine ¾ tsp. salt

1 Tsp ground coriander 1 C. sour cream

2-1/2 c. chicken broth 12 -6” tortillas or small corn tortillas

1-1/2 c. Monterey jack cheese

Directions:

In a large saucepan cook onion and green pepper in 2 TBSP of butter until tender.
Combine in a bowl with chopped chicken and green chilis, and set aside.
In the same saucepan melt the 3 TBSP of butter, and blend in flour, coriander, and salt to make a rue.
Stir in the chicken broth all at once; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Remove from heat, and stir in sour cream, and ½ c. of the cheese.
Stir ½ cup of the sauce into the chicken.
Dip each tortilla into remaining sauce to soften; fill each with about ¼ c. of the chicken mixture.
Roll up and arrange rolls in a 13 x 9″ pan.
Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered in a 350° oven for 25 minutes, or until bubbly.
Note: when baking for a crowd you can double layer the enchiladas in a 13 x 9” pan.

Of course if you are making this dish for a crowd as I sometimes am you can double, triple or quadruple as needed. And you can also cut the recipe in half to make a nice 8×8″ baking dish, just for one or two. The flavors in this recipe are amazing. The coriander really brings all of the flavors together. I like using this corn tortilla for this recipe. The are smaller, and really blend much better with the flavor of the sauce. Just put on your chef’s hat, gather your ingredients and get to work. Enjoy.

No comments Posted in Family, Food, Recipes

Red Enchilada Sauce – Homemade Variety

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Two weekends ago we had a great family weekend here at the Party House. My sister, Laura, and her husband were here visiting from Montana, and we had a great weekend together. Laura had a red sauce recipe that she wanted to share with the entire family, to use on chicken enchiladas. The preparation for the big dinner on Saturday night started the day before on Friday afternoon.

Laura and I decided it would be best to make the sauce itself on Friday, let it veg and simmer, and mesh with flavor until Saturday afternoon. So on Friday afternoon, Laura took charge of the kitchen to make the sauce. Here’s the recipe from Laura:

Ingredients:

6-8 oz. whole dried chilis – Laura uses Ancho chilis which are fairly mild.
2 tsp. Mexican oregano
4 cloves garlic
2 cups chicken stock (or water)
1 tbsp. lard or olive oil
1-1/2 tbsp. flour or arrowroot powder
1 tsp. salt

Heat griddle or skillet until a drop of water sizzles on it. While heating, remove stems and seeds from chilis under running water. Gloves are recommended! Toast chilis on griddle until aroma is released – 30 to 60 seconds – do not burn! Put toasted chilis in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak until soft – 10 minutes. Drain chilis and discard liquid.

Lots of work getting the chili’s ready!

Place chilis, stock, oregano and 2 garlic cloves in blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Add more stock if too thick. Work puree through sieve into a bowl – discard solids. Pour in a little more liquid to rinse sauce through sieve. In medium saucepan, heat oil or lard until rippling. Add the other two garlic cloves, pressing down in hot oil with the back of a spoon to release flavor. Remove when brown.

Add flour, stirring until golden. Add chili puree and salt, cook over low heat about 10 minutes.

Now, please remember we were making this sauce for a group of about 16 or 17, give or take a friend. Laura quadrupled the recipe for our gang. Our goal was to make (2) 13×9 pans of chicken enchiladas coated with the red sauce, and a pan without tortillas, as some of our family members are eating carb-free meals. And we wanted a bit of sauce to mix in with some rice.

For the enchilada assembly you will need:

Chicken – The chicken breast was cooked in the crock pot for 5-6 hours on low. Two crock pots with about 10 chicken breasts total. Place the chicken in the crock pot, sprinkle the chicken with your favorite taco seasoning, add about a cup of chicken broth, turn on low. When the chicken’s ready you can shred it or chop it, whichever your recipe prefers.
Black beans, drained and rinsed.
Sautéed onions.
Shredded mild cheddar or co-jack cheese.
Corn tortillas.

Once the onions are sautéed, add the black beans to heat them up. Then mix the beans and onions in a large mixing bowl with the shredded chicken. We mixed in a skosch of the red sauce just to moisten everything before baking.

For the assembly you need extra pairs of hands and you will make a mess with this step.

Dip the corn tortilla in the red sauce, and scrape off any excess on the side of the pan you are dipping in.
Pass the tortilla to the enchilada filler person.
Put a scoop of the chicken, bean, onion mixture in the middle of the tortilla.
Have the person in charge of the cheese sprinkle cheese on top of the meat mixture.
Roll the tortilla up and place in your baking dish.
Keep assembling and rolling until your baking dishes are filled.
Pour the remaining red sauce over the enchiladas, and sprinkle cheese on top.
When making these for a crowd it’s ok to put a double layer of enchiladas in the 13×9 pan. Just use some of the sauce in between layers.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 to heat them up.
Once the baking is complete, get those enchiladas on your dinner plate and enjoy!

Assembly in progress.

Finished pan right before the cheese.

To finish out our dinner menu we also had rice with some of the sauce mixed in, homemade salsa (thanks Naomi), wine, and our favorite almond champagne. The only thing missing from the dinner was Travel Man, and our youngest son. They were both working.

Try this recipe soon, your taste buds will love it! Thanks for schooling us on the sauce recipe Laura. Cannot wait to make this one again.

What’s your favorite enchilada sauce – red or white?

Photo credits- Joan Weise, Erica Bettencourt, and me. Thanks everyone for remembering to take a few pics!