Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

When I came across this link I will admit I was a little skeptical. I have now tried several recipes found on pinterest and to be honest none of them really blew me away. I have only found an handful that I would even consider making again. This however was one that my family and I really did enjoy.
The only change I made to the original recipe was that I used rotisserie chicken to save me lots of time.

These enchiladas have lots of flavor and my only problem that I had with them is that I wished there was more sauce to cover them with. Next time I make this I will use smaller flour tortillas and hopefully that will help with the lack of sauce problem.

No Mexican recipe would be complete without a delicious guacamole! I have a secret go-to for all my guacamole attempts. McCormick Guacamole seasoning packets. You have to buy the McCormick name brand, the others just do not taste nearly as good. Just smash up 4 avocados, stir in the seasoning mix packet, and viola! Yummy, easy, quick, Guacamole.

I also tried out a new Mexican rice recipe and it turned out really good as well. Next time I will add more of the seasoning to the rice to try and spice it up a bit, but over all it was delicious as well.

Overall I think that this is a recipe that you will really enjoy! The photos really do not do these much justice, especially not this photo. (I really tried to make it look pretty!) But I promise, this is something that you and your family will love.

Ombre Nails

Ombre Nails

I have an addiction. This addiction is completely harmless and relatively inexpensive compared to other obsessions and addictions. I, Jessica, am addicted to nail polish. I dont know when or why it started, but it happened and my life hasnt been the same since. I catch myself bored at work looking on pinterest and nail polish blogs to see what new colors and techniques people are using. I know, I have a problem. Now you get to witness my addiction in action....ombre nails.

I started out trying to do the ombre nails with the three colors above but I had nothing but trouble. So I decided to try it with just two this time and see if I could get the technique down. The colors I used are Essie Sure Shot and Essie Tour de Finance.

The link that I found on pinterest showed the color fading from no color on the base of your nail to the darkest color on the tip of your nail. I decided to put down a base coat of a light pink color so that the color would (hopefully) fade from light pink to dark pink. You will have to decide if I actually accomplished that or not.

Then you take a small makeup sponge and soak it in water. Squeeze all the water out of the sponge to leave it only slightly damp. I was too impatient and anxious to start this technique so I forgot this very important step. It was a disaster! So please remember to soak your sponge first.

Next take the makeup sponge and paint two (or 3 or 4) lines of paint on to the sponge. Dab the sponge up and down on to a piece of paper (or onto a paper plate like I did) and the colors should start to smudge together. Then paint on some more paint on to the brush and dab it onto your nail up and down and until you get the look you want.

Your fingers will be very messy because the paint just goes everywhere.

Take a qtip and dip it into some nail polish remover (or acetone) and carefully remove the paint from around your nail.

As you can see my nails sort of look bumpy/texturized. I think this is because I let my sponge get too dry. I probably should have soaked it in water after I finished my first hand.

After I applied the top coat it seemed to smooth them out just a bit, not to mention it made them super glossy.

So what do you think, is this something you will have to try too?

Cake Batter Brownies

Pinterest: Cake Batter Brownies

So I have to admit, when I saw this recipe on pinterest I got all giddy. I recently discovered the pure deliciousness that is Dairy Queen's Confetti Cake Blizzard and this looked like a nice little way to make a bit of that goodness at home.

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix (or funfetti)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
1/4 rainbow sprinkles (if you use a yellow cake mix add these into the batter)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
sprinkles for the top
icing
Combine the cake mix, egg, and oil. Add in the milk to the consistency you like. (The batter will be thick). Add in the sprinkles, white chocolate chips.

  Pour into a sprayed 9x11 pan.

The cake batter tastes great too :o)

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. They should look similar to this when you remove them from the oven.

The post I got this recipe from says that they brownies can be eaten and are just as good without the icing. I strongly disagree. You must have the icing  to make these brownies as good as they are and homemade is ALWAYS better than out of a can! It may dirty a few more dishes and take a little bit longer, but it is always well worth it.

Icing recipe:
1/4 cup margarine or butter softened
2 to 3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
food coloring of your choice
Mix all ingredients together until well blended and spread onto the cooled brownies.

Then top with more sprinkles.

I use my friends at work and at church as my test subjects for new recipes, so I ended up making these for the work pot luck as well. Everyone that tried one just raved about them. I thought that they were really tasty as well, but they were a little bit on the dry side for my liking. I think next time I will add the full 1/2 cup of milk to the batter and see if that helps at all . Over all though, I thought that they were really quite yummy.

My one complaint is that the ones I made looked nothing like the picture perfect ones that were posted on pinterest. I suppose I should be used to this happening because none of the desserts I make ever look as good as I want them too. This is the final product.

These little treats will bring out your inner child as well as satisfy your sweet tooth!

Painted Silverware

Painted Silverware

In every one's life there comes a time that you do one of the most dreaded things in humanity.... you move!  Recently, like a week ago, I had to move from a two bedroom into a one bedroom apartment.  This was not my choice, but was chosen for me by my roommate deciding that she just had to get married to the man of her dreams. Sigh. I mean who does that, especially when she leaves me behind to fend for myself!! (I am actually super happy for her :))

On to the reason why you are actually here. I was lucky enough to benefit from her wedding presents by getting some of her old stuff. One of those things was a set of mismatched silverware.  The only silverware I had were cutting knives, so beggers cant be choosey.  I would like to see you eat cereal with a chopping knife!

So off to pinterest I went, trying to find a way to make all of my mismatched pieces look like they fit together.  When I came across the idea of painting the silverware, I thought I was witnessing pure genius. http://pinterest.com/search/?q=painted+silverware

This is what we did.  (Oh did I tell you that my sister drove 5 hours just to come help me move? She is awesome!)

I just went to a chain supercenter and purchased some spray paint that works on metal and a package of painters tape.

We wrapped the part that goes into your mouth with the tape and tried to make them all uniform.

Let the spray painting begin!! We noticed that we needed two coats.

These are the finished project! I love them.  I used the satin finish spray paint and love them.

The only downside is that I am too scared to put them in the dishwasher because after handwashing them small amounts of paint have chipped off.  But I choose to think that they look vintage now :)

I would definitely recommend trying this.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Chicken Tortilla Bake on Pinterest

I found this recipe on Pinterest when I was searching for something super easy to make for a pot luck at work today. This looked too good tobe true and everyone that left comments on the recipe just raved about how good it was. So I figured what the heck, Ill give it a try.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked chicken, two small cans of cream of chicken soup, one can of rotel, 12 corn tortillas, and mexican or cheddar cheese. 

You mix the soup and rotel together in a bowl.

 chop up the tortillas in little chunks and pretty much just layer the tortillas, soup mixture, and chicken in a sprayed baking dish then top it off with the cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 mins and then remove the foil and bake another 5 minutes.  Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and chips.

To make this super easy recipe even easier, I used a rotiserrie chicken and I used one large can of soup instead of 2 small cans.

I also layered some of the cheese into the casserole as well as on top of it. I stongly suggest either using one large can of soup or 3 small cans, because I nearly ran out of the soup mixture to cover my chicken and I was using more than the recipe called for.

Here is what it looked like as it went into the oven. You can see that I love me some cheese!

And the finished product. It doesnt look that appetizing I will admit.

My review of the recipe is pretty much this. It is just okay. I made two batches, one to take to the pot luck today and one for my family and I to eat for dinner last night. Basically I dont believe that I will be making it again. It tasted alright, but really only after you slathered it up with some sour cream and some of my amazing homemade guacamole. (My guacamole can make just about any thing taste great!)

The casserole was just too bland for my liking.

The good news is that it was a hit at the work pot luck. I just walked over there by all the food and there is only one little corner of it left in the pan.  So just becasue I wasnt its biggest fan, doesnt mean that you wont love it. Either that, or people are just way too nice...