Relocating

We're moving about a mile and a half down the road tomorrow.  The new place has a dishwasher and a washer/dryer in the unit so my life is about to become way easier.  Hooray for that.  

This place looks rather depressing with all the boxes around and nothing hanging on the walls.  I can't wait to get everything moved and the new place set up so I'll feel like I'm actually living in a home instead of a cave.

Another thing I can't wait for:  my mom comes to visit on Tuesday thanks to a $37 round trip ticket.  

html anyone?

Well.

Though I am hacking off some of my brother's site to help me out, I am venturing into the world of html virtually alone.

Keep me in your thoughts.

the car

After we sold my truck last year (*sob*), I began driving Tim's 2004 Hyundai Accent so he wouldn't have to deal with a manual transmission in rush hour traffic on the parkway.  Took me a little while to get comfortable, but now it's no big deal.

The Hyundai is quirky though.  For some reason, if you get the tank filled after guzzling the gas, you have to seriously rev the engine to keep it from stalling out when you start it back up.  This causes a precarious situation when pulling up to the exit of the gas station, because the engine must also be continuously revved while waiting to get into traffic.  You can sense the struggle the engine is having until you get up to 4th gear and then it hits its stride and you're good to go.

I've noticed that if I only get say, $25 worth of gas (about 3/4 of a tank), this doesn't happen.  Mechanics don't see a problem, and since I can't duplicate it for them unless I take them over to the gas station with me...

So if you hear the engine revving, it's probably me.

Recipe of the moment

From time to time I'll be posting recipes that we've tried and found delectable.  We had our friends the Roberts' over for this one, and they were willing guinea pigs.  A total hit.  Really easy to make.  The chopped cilantro on top is a MUST, and the lime juice from the wedges adds a nice little zing.  Let me know what you think if you try it...

Shrimp Enchiladas Verde

courtesy of food.yahoo.com

Ingredients:

- 1 pound peeled cooked shrimp (21-25 per pound; thawed if frozen), tails removed, diced

[Shorey substitution:  since I don't particularly care for shrimp, I used diced cooked chicken]

- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed (yellow or white--I like white corn)

- 2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chiles, undrained

- 2 cups canned green enchilada sauce or green salsa, divided

[Shorey substitution:  I had trouble finding this, and when I did it was an 8 oz. bottle of green taco sauce for $2.50.  So I bought one bottle and used it for the bottom and the filling, but used regular red salsa for the top layer.  Worked great--you could probably substitute regular salsa for the whole thing]

- 12 corn tortillas

[Shorey substitution:  I prefer flour tortillas, and I bought one pack of 10 since they don't come in 12]

- 1 (15 oz.) can refried beans

- 1 cup shredded cheese (Mexican-style, monterey jack, or cheddar)

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- Lime wedges

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Coat 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2.  Combine shrimp, corn, chiles, and 1/2 cup enchilada sauce (or salsa) in a microwave-safe medium bowl.  Cover and microwave on high until heated through, about 2 1/2 minutes.

[Shorey substitution:  since I had already cooked the chicken, I added it to the mixture after it was nuked]

3.  Spread 1/4 cup enchilada sauce (or salsa) in the prepared baking dish.  Top with an overlapping layer of 6 tortillas.  Spread refried beans evenly over tortillas.  Top the beans with the shrimp mixture, followed by the remaining 6 tortillas.  Pour the remaining sauce (or salsa) over the tortillas.  Cover with foil.

[Shorey substitution:  I used 5 tortillas per layer--I overlapped 4 and then split the 5th in half and put one half on each end to sort of even it out]

4.  Bake until the enchiladas begin to bubble on the sides, about 20 minutes.  Remove the foil, sprinkle cheese on top.  Continue baking until heated through and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes more.  Top with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Fire Hazard

back to blogging

I'd like to say that I'm feeling the same tap-tap-tap on the inside of my skull that Tim says he's feeling.  But I'm not--at least not in the same way.

I've recently discovered Googlereader and now keep up on several blogs on one page instead of hopping around all over the place.  It's enjoyable to keep up with people I know and Googlereader makes it so much easier.  You should try it sometime.  At the risk of sounding prideful, I guess I've enjoyed reading so much about all of your lives that I figure I should give people the chance to do the same sort of eavesdropping.

I do have a life.  In about 15 weeks, I'm going to have a lot more life than I've ever had before.

Seems like a good enough reason to start writing.