Dorito Chicken Casserole

I found this recipe on Pinterest this past week.  It was YUMMY!!!  I have leftovers, we'll be having them tomorrow night.  I'm not sure how they'll turn out....I'm nervous about the Dorito chips and that they'll be really soggy by now....but we'll see!  As you can see, I served it with rice and a nice tossed salad.

2 cups cooked chicken (I bought a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and just cleaned the chicken off the bones)
1 cup shredded sharp or Mexican cheese (or more, if you really like cheese)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (canned tomatoes with mild green jalapenos)
1/2 packet taco seasoning (or more, to taste)
1 bag of Doritos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except for Doritos.

In a greased 11x7 baking dish, put a layer of crushed Doritos (about 2 cups), followed by a layer of the chicken mixture.  Repeat once more (using another 2 cups of Doritos), ending with a layer of the chicken mixture.

Top with shredded cheese, cover and bake for 40-45 minutes til bubbly hot.  I took the foil off the last 10-15 minutes to brown the top of the casserole.

**I couldn't find the Ro-Tel tomatoes with jalapenos, they only had mild green chilies; my experience with them is that they generally aren't spicy, so I added about 1-2 Tbsp of Frank's Red Hot to the recipe.  It made it a bit spicier than Alyssa and Kurt liked; in the future, I'll either use less or none at all.  Maybe the combination of the tomatoes, the Doritos and the taco seasoning spices it up enough that I wouldn't even need to add the hot sauce at all.


This recipe was taken from this blog :)

Happy Birthday Kurt & Chris!!

We celebrated Kurt's 39th birthday today (Woohoo! That makes me 36!!  I like it!).  Well, we sort of celebrated it all weekend :)  Last night, he got to choose where we went for his birthday dinner.  He picked Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant, which was a new one for us.  We had never been there.  For those of you who've never been there before, it's family style.  We chose two different pasta dishes, plus a salad.  It was a fun experience!  The worst part of the night was when Kurt decided we should get wine.  Originally he ordered a carafe of White Zinfandel.  The waitress came back soon after ordering to tell us they didn't have Zinfandel in a carafe, that they only had a 1.5 liter bottle.  We said, 'No problem, that's fine!'  Next they show up with one of those big bottles of wine, a brand that I'm sure we've had in the past from the liquor store that probably didn't cost us more than $10.  Well, weren't we a bit shocked when the bill came and that bottle of wine was $45!!!!  I'm surprised Kurt didn't have a heart attack right then and there...LOL!!

Can you guess what's in this measuring bowl and what is was for???

If you guessed red beets, you were spot on :)  I have this delicious chocolate cake recipe from a friend from work and the recipe has pureed red beets in it!  Alyssa made cupcakes instead, with peanut butter icing (recipe also from my friend Jenn at work).

*Note Alyssa's new cupcake holder!  She's kind of obsessed with making cupcakes these days and was getting tired of having to use two of my Rubbermaid containers to put all 24 cupcakes in.  We went to Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday and found this nifty holder. (You can kinda see the lid in the background, it's actually collapsible, so if you only have one layer of cupcakes or a round cake that's not so high you can collapse the lid and it's not as big and bulky.)

She wrote out Happy Birthday Kurt & Chris on the cupcakes and we headed down to Fogelsville this afternoon to celebrate with Kurt's brother, Chris and family.  Tomorrow's Chris' birthday....lemme see....if Kurt's 39, that'll make Chris 36 tomorrow :)

Kieran and Alyssa hung out with the younger kids, while Chris, Fiona, Kurt and I went to Outback for a lovely dinner.  It was so much fun spending some time together with them.  I told Kieran we'll be back next Sunday to go out again.  Alyssa said, 'Nope, next time Kieran and I get to go out....and you guys have to stay home...LOL!!'

We came back to their house to sing Happy Birthday and enjoy cupcakes and ice cream.

I'm sure you can't see it in this picture, but I got candles that had flames the colors of the candles.  I was skeptical, but they actually were green, yellow, blue, purple and red!!

They were instructed that they had to only blow out their own candles!

Do they look 36 & 39?!?!?!?

Koins for Kids

Our church is celebrating its 290th anniversary this year.  Each month one of the Sunday School classes is doing something different in honor of the anniversary and will somehow tie 290 into it.  Alyssa and Sam's 7th & 8th grade class decided to collect 290 water bottles.  They've labeled the bottles and cut small coin slots in the top of each one.  They will distribute the water bottles to each member of the congregation at the beginning of this month so the members can save coins in them all month.  All the money that is collected during the month of March will be donated to the Easton Children's Home.  Great idea, huh!?!?

(This was our bottle washing session last weekend....and there were only 59 bottles here!)

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

This is one of our favorite casseroles. I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe before!

2 bags frozen petite broccoli florets
2 cups (or more) shredded chicken (or just boil chicken on stove)
2 cans cream chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Microwave broccoli, drain.  Arrange broccoli in greased 9x13 pan.  Layer chicken on top.

Combine soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder.  Mix well.  Pour over chicken.

Sprinkle top with cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a mug.  Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs and mix well.

About 15 minutes before done, remove foil.  Add bread crumb mixture on top and bake  for remaining time.

Delicious!!

**I often use extra chicken, and make a 1.5 batch of the sauce.  I then use a bigger dish.

And...It's Another Baby Cross Stitch!

Here's the latest cross stitch I did. It's actually the same as the one I did for my friend Rachel, who I used to work with. I changed up all the colors, though, for this one. I think it turned out pretty cool!!

Ethiopian!

Had the totally unexpected pleasure of having dinner last evening with Chris, Fiona and kids at a new Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Allentown.  We had planned on visiting Kurt's mom last evening, but at the last minute she didn't feel up to the company, so Fiona asked us if we'd like to join them for dinner instead.  None of us had ever had Ethiopian food, so it was a totally new experience for us.  

Their son, Mike, is from Ethiopia and misses his native food; they actually found an Ethiopian restaurant in Lancaster that they trek to every so often.  That may all change now :-)  Fiona thought that the food at this new restaurant was a bit more authentic than the one in Lancaster.  I think it'll be much easier/closer in the future for Mike to get his Ethiopian meals!

Most of the meals are served on a flat, spongy piece of bread known as Injera.  This was the chicken combo that Alyssa got.  It seems like many of the main dishes are similar to a stew.  She really enjoyed it and said she'd definitely like to return some time.  

This was the combo that I got; unfortunately I can't remember what it was called (nor do I remember what all those things were on that piece of bread...LOL!!).  Basically you pull off a piece of the injera (bread) and use it to pick up some of the food on top.  Fiona said that at the restaurant in Lancaster they don't even put utensils on the table.  Most of what I tasted was a bit spicy, but not unbearably so (which was fine by us, we like spicy).  My main complaint was that the injera seemed like it came right out of the refrigerator....and I like my food HOT :)  Picking up hot food with a cold piece of bread kinda ruined it for me. I enjoyed my meal, maybe not as much as Alyssa did, but certainly wouldn't mind going again some time.

Exciting Year at Emmanuel's!

This has been about 15 years in the making! We are a few months away from officially breaking ground on our addition to the Fellowship Hall at church. Hopefully by next year this time, we'll be worshiping in our new addition (contemporary worship)....or having a fellowship event that we're not squished together!

A portion of our Building Committee, the Pastors and the Bishop of the NEPA Synod:

Our ceremonial ground-breaking:

The kids each had a little shovel and took part in the 'ground breaking':

He NEVER Tells Us Anything!

We had to find this out on our own. Can you believe it??!?! Kurt's first response was...."Do we get a break on the tuition now!?!!" Adam's response was...."He's just a midget!!" LOL!! 

 

Kiddo Pics

 Note the clay pigeon at the top of the picture:

 

 This is Adam with Nate, they are rooming together next year:

 Katrina with one of her roommates, Paige:

Adam helped Tate build a potato gun/shooter on Monday, Martin Luther King Day.  Penn State didn't have classes.  Looks like they had fun ;-)

Apple Pie

Here's my recipe for apple pie.  Well, actually, I guess it's Martha's recipe for apple pie ;-) One of the best purchases I ever made from Pampered Chef was my apple peeler, corer, slicer!  I got it cheap with one of the parties I had many years ago.  I don't use it often, but it sure works great when I do use it!

Basically layer the apples (I always use granny smith) in the pie crust (that you've bought at the grocery store in the refrigerator section...LOL!!) with the following mixture:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Pour 1/4 cup milk in middle of pie. Dot with 2 Tbsp. butter and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  (I also shield the crust after about 30 minutes with aluminum foil so it doesn't get too dark).

Assorted Christmas Pics

The first few pictures were taken at our Christmas Concert at church:

Alyce, Holly and Alyssa, with friends Becca and Morgan in background :)

Alyce, Holly and Alyssa :)

Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus (aka Pete, Megan and Jaxen!)

**Megan used to babysit for Alyssa and Adam ;-)

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas Dinner

Alyssa's yummy hors'deuvres:

Christmas Eve at 11 pm.  Just beautiful!

Christmas Eve Bells

If you don't listen to any of the other videos, please listen/watch this one! Alyssa and three other young ladies from church played Carol of the Bells at our contemporary Christmas Eve service. This song is generally played by about 9-10 bell ringers. They used a bell tree and a homemade contraption that one of the gals made :-). They each played anywhere from 4-6 bells. They start out very quietly, so it's tough to hear at the beginning, but keep listening, they keep getting louder as the song goes on. It was absolutely beautiful on Christmas Eve; this really doesn't do it any justice!

Christmas Eve

Alyssa sang this song at our late service on Christmas Eve. It's called 'Mission of His Heart.'

Christmas Concert, Part 3

This song was part of the cantata that was done during the Christmas concert.

Christmas Concert, Part 2

This song was part of the cantata within the concert.

Christmas Concert, Part One

I've had these videos on my flip video camera since before Christmas, but forgot to have Adam help me convert them to an acceptable format for Blogger before he left to go back to school.  He and I just had an intense texting/face-timing session and he helped me convert them, so now I can upload them all.  Thanks Adam!

This first one is from our Christmas Concert the Sunday before Christmas.  You can't see it, but there's a brother and sister playing the piano and violin.

Enjoy!

Easy Corn Chowder

Found this crockpot recipe on Pinterest...seemed easy enough...and it was!!  It was even pretty tasty :)  We had the leftovers yesterday after church, I think it was even a bit better the second time around.

4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can cream of corn soup
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cups chicken broth
8 oz. diced ham
1 cup diced onion

Place in crockpot, cook on low 7-8 hours.

Mash the contents to desired consistency (I used my potato masher, but didn't too much mashing).

Add 1/4 cup butter and 2 cups cream (I used non fat 1/2 and 1/2)

Cook an additional 30 minutes.

Happy New Year!

Kurt and I spent New Year's Eve at home all by our selves. Very low key. He slept. I played games on my computer. Facebooked. Played with the cat. Watched the cat play with my new iPad. Made some munchies. Very boring. That was OK.