Recipe - Chicken Enchiladas

I made Chicken Enchiladas the other night for the very first time. I don't know why I've never made them before they are super tasty and easy to make.

Here's how I made them:

1 onion, finely sliced
500g chicken breast fillet, cut into strips
1 x 375g jar enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand)
1 green capsicum (bell pepper) sliced
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup grated cheese
8 tortillas

Pre-heat oven to 180C (350F)

In a fry-pan using a little oil (or spray with cooking spray) cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes or until brown. Add the capsicum and half of the jar of enchilada sauce. Stir to make sure that all the chicken is coated in the sauce.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds (or you could warm them in the oven for 2 minutes)

Divide the meat mixture into 8 portions and place them on the tortillas. Roll the tortillas and place them seam side down on a lightly greased baking tray. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the the tortillas. Top with grated cheese & tomatoes.

Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Serve with salad.


They were given a thumbs up by everyone and I was told that I can make this again! Maybe I might be able to sneak some other veggies in next time :D  You know how sneaky us Mums can be :P

My New Do

I got my haircut last week & forgot to share the photos of my new do. Oops.

I have only one complaint about my haircut .. I never seem to be able to make it look as good as the hairdresser does after she's finished cutting & blow drying.

Meltdown Mondays

I don't know what it is about Monday mornings but for the past two weeks Brodie seems to have meltdowns soon after arriving at TAFE. Last week there was an argument and he stormed off home. Today he had another meltdown/argument and this time was sent home.

At least his being sent home wasn't like a suspension from school (thank goodness). I spoke with Natasha (she's like the co-ordinator) about what happened and why Brodie was sent home. She said that he should come back in tomorrow for his usual classes. Natasha was hoping that I would have some ideas for her on how to diffuse situations like that. I recommended that she phone Brodie's High School to talk with Miss G. who was brilliant in helping Brodie calm down and settle.

I explained to Natasha that TAFE is so different from H.S. That Brodie has too much freedom there and he doesn't know what to do with himself and how to cope with it all. I also mentioned that when he wanted to disappear from school he was unable to. There was no way down the mountain. No bus or train for him to catch. He had no where to run. With TAFE it is the total opposite. He has that freedom to disappear and he knows its just a train ride home.

I have a meeting with Natasha Friday afternoon after the Ambassador Program. Hopefully we can come up with some strategies to help Brodie & the staff work through things.

I'm wondering if something happens on the train on the way to TAFE that gets him worked up. I know nothing happened at home this morning. I drove him to the train station because it was raining and he seemed in good spirits.

For now I am trying to convince Brodie that it's okay to go back there tomorrow. Maybe making it sound all good and exciting might encourage him to go. Perhaps a reminder that one of the classes is to help him get his drivers license. Hopefully that is enough incentive.

WIP - Afghan

I was inspired by Angie from Le monde de Sucrette and a baby blanket she is making.

I chose to make black the main colour for the squares. I think it makes the colours pop out more and it reminds me of a stained-glass window for some reason.

I've been using up my scraps. So this blankie when finished will be very unique! I have no idea who I am making it for. I'm just making it. I do crazy things like that from time to time :D 

Not bad is it? 

It's A Kid Free Weekend

I don't know how it happened exactly but the timing was perfect and Mark & I have a kid free weekend. we haven't had a kid free weekend for more than 5 years! I almost don't know what to do with myself. I slept in this morning. There was no arguing, no messy kitchen, no noise. I loved it! And there is one more day like this one!

As for the boys. Brodie is at a respite place having fun. They were going to a disco last night. Today they may be going bowling or fishing. Brodz already said he would rather go bowling. He just phoned me to say that he is cooking dinner tonight & is making ravioli bake. He wanted to know how long & at what temperature the oven needed to be. It's nice to know he will cook but I wish he would do it at home too. Oh well maybe one day.

Angus was meant to be spending tonight with his bestie but his bestie & his Mum were in town last night and wanted to know if he would like to come over early. Of course he jumped at the chance. Why would I stop him from being with his mate. He deserves to have a break from home just as much as Brodz does with his weekend away.

I'm going to go amuse myself for a while. Try and stay cool in front of the air-con it's meant to be a scorcher today and I can feel the yucky heat outside already. Its around 33C (91.4F) and its only just gone midday (+_+) I would hate to think how hot it will be later this afternoon. That being said its never too hot to crochet :D I'll have to share photos of my latest project with you soon.

My FurBabies

It's been a while since I showed off my furbabies. I was going through some photos on my camera and I just had to share them. I mean these cats are just so adorable how could I keep the photos to myself :D

Trip - is Mr. Grumpy! He has a total dislike for Rory & refuses to be around him.

I caught Rory & CK asleep on the bed. I swear it looks like Rory is smiling!

My gorgeous gingers!

How cute is this?

Busy watching me watching him!

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• after being off the road for about a month or so Mark is now mobile again. He's been able to get his motorbike up and running and with a new paint job. It's all black now. I swear he changes the colour of that bike more often than I buy yarn. Well okay that bit might be a slight exaggeration but if you know how much I love to buy yarn you'll understand :)
• Angus had his school photos done on Monday. I can't wait to see what they will look like. He looked so handsome when he left for school.
• Mark's Dad and Stepmum will be visiting from Western Australia in April. We've been invited down to Mark's twins place in Lakes Entrance for a meal & a 'sleepover'. I don't know about sleeping there but I think a visit would be great. I've never been to Lakes Entrance before its supposed to be very pretty there.
• my crochet. I've been practising some more stitches from that dishcloth book. I have to admit I am really liking some of the patterns.

I really like that wavy one (top left) and the pink & blue one underneath.
Sorry you can't see that green one very clearly but it does look pretty.

What are you thankful for this week?

New Recipes

I've been getting tired of cooking the same old recipes all the time. I had been looking online for some good diabetic friendly recipes. A lot of the recipes I find use very specific ingredients, which are often called something different here in Australia. So I spend time trying to find out the Aussie equivalent. Sometimes there just isn't one.

I have made some new meals & desserts from the Diabetic Living magazine that I subscribe to. I keep meaning to take photos of them and place the recipes on Blossy's Cookbook but I often forget :-/

When I was checking out Diabetic Living online the other day I can across <== this book and saw that it mentioned ingredients specifically for Aussie supermarkets. I thought okay I'll get it and see what it's like. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but I'll let you know if I make anything from it :) and I will do my best to share some photos if I actually remember to take any (o_0)

Kindle Screen-savers

Mark nagged me until I caved convinced me that I should use a hack on my Kindle so that I can add my own screen-savers. He said that I could make my own and add them once I've made a few. Now I don't suggest that if you have a kindle that you should necessarily do this hack. Mark did tell me that it can be removed at any time and it wont cause any damage whatsoever. So last week I let him 'upgrade' my kindle.

I thought I would share a couple of the screen-savers I made and added.

Finished Item - Pink Lacy Fingerless Gloves

Here's another finished item :) 

I don't think these fingerless gloves will keep your hands terribly warm during winter but they certainly look pretty.

Silly me I just realised that I forgot to mention the other day the name of the book I got the patterns from for the fingerless gloves. It's called "The Big Book of Dishcloths". 

I got the book a while back from Spotlight. 

The patterns are in US terminology which is okay because I think I've got the hang of 'translating' them to UK terminology now.

Art With Salt

And here I was thinking that salt was just a condiment ...

This guy is just amazing!

Ambassador Program

Yesterday afternoon I went to the GETT Centre in Traralgon (where Brodie goes to TAFE for 2 and a half days a week) so that I could participate in a short course called the Ambassador Program.  Basically it's a program to help young people with disabilities and their parent(s) develop skills & confidence to help them speak publicly and tell their story about their life.

As an ambassador we will be expected to participate in some form of public speaking. From what we learnt today the first group spoke to schools, ADASS (a group for people with disabilities that live in our Shire) and some other groups that I can't think of right.


We got to meet a couple of kids from the last course & their Mums. They spoke to us telling how much they enjoyed the course and what they are now moving on to since completing the course last year. 

This program should be interesting. It's meant to bring us out of our shell. If yesterday was anything to go by I really don't think that is necessary for Brodie. He was the loudest person there and definitely made sure that he was heard. He was also class clown but that's my boy for you!  I wonder what skills he will walk away with after this program .. only time will tell right.

Around Civic Park

Here's the final instalment of photos that I took last weekend at the Ficifolia Festival. 

I love how pretty Civic Park looks with the pond area.

I think we're very lucking considering its the middle of Summer and the grass still looks lovely & green here. We've been very fortunate with all the rain and cooler weather we've had. 

(I just hope that I haven't jinxed us now)

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• being able to spend time with Angus on the weekend. I really enjoyed our time together at the Ficifolia Festival stalls
• the cooler weather we've had lately. It's been lovely & my washing has been getting an extra rinse for free!
• my bathroom scales - strange I know but I am still very happy that I have lost 20 kilos
• that I have made some amazing diabetic friendly foods this week. I made a fantastic chocolate cake last weekend & a really yummy moussaka! (I have to admit that the cake did look better than it tasted though. I think I used the wrong type of flour)
• that Angus is still doing homework after school. We had such a huge problem with this last year.
• C.K. & Rory  kept me entertained by rolling around on a freshly mopped floor. I swear they get high on the bleach!!

What are you thankful for this week?

Finished Item - Purple Fingerless Gloves

I was practising a new stitch last week. I got the pattern from a book that I have on crocheted dish cloths. I didn't buy the book so that I could make the dish cloths I got it so that I could learn a whole new range of patterns. I'm not very good at reading all of the patterns though (o_0) but I will get there eventually.

I was using the pattern on the left there. You can't see all of the written instructions but you can at least see the photo of what it should look like. At least I got this pattern right. There's only one problem. The patterns don't have names just numbers so I don't even know what this style is called. Although I do like how it has turned out.

Of course when I started following the pattern I had no idea what I was going to do with the finished square or in this case rectangle. As I was making it I got this idea in my head that I would love to see what they would look like as fingerless gloves.

What do you think? It doesn't look too bad does it? I have no idea what I will do with them yet. I might stash them away for the knit4charities group and send them off when I have a few more items.

Happy Valentines Day!

Mark & I are not ones for all this Valentine's Day hype that a lot of people get caught up in. I'm a firm believer in celebrating love, friendships & relationships in general whenever the mood strikes. But for those of you who celebrate today. Happy Valentines Day!

And if you're interested in a little Valentines Day history there's an interesting article on Wikipedia.

Ficifolia Festival Part 2

Here are some more photos that I took on Saturday.

A view of the stalls taken from the top of the hill by the football grounds

One of these days I will buy myself one of these. Heather, one of the ladies from the stall, lives in town & said she would even come over to do a demo for us if we wanted her too.

Look at all that sugary sweetness. Not good for my diabetes but a girl can dream. I did buy Angus a dummy (pacifier) though :D

miniature guitars - they look great don't they?!

I thought these were clever. They're made out of empty aluminium soft drink cans.

They had some fun stuff for the kids to do (and the big kids too!)

Angus had his eye on the panda but he wasn't able to win it. He was a bit disappointed.

A petting zoo - something the little ones really enjoy

How cute at the guinea pigs - there were 6 of them in this little enclosure.

I just loved that calf. It was cute!

It's My Birthday

I've had a pretty good day so far too. I got breakfast in bed and a lovely watch from Mark & the boys. I don't have to cook dinner tonight (always a bonus in my books!) and that means I wont need to wash the dishes tonight either (that's a rule in our house NO dishes on your birthday!)

I hopped on the scales this morning & weighed myself (not a thing that I really recommend you do on your birthday) but I was pleasantly surprised. I have now lost 20 kilos (that's a little over 44lbs) since last July. I'm still amazed that I haven't stacked weight back on. I roller coaster a little going a kilo up or down but this is still great for me. If I had known I would lose weight like this I would've switched to a low carb diet years ago.

As for the rest of my afternoon I'm off to go do some crocheting in from of the tv. I have some shows I recorded that I'd like to catch up on :)

Ficifolia Festival Part 1

Angus and I went for a walk to see the Ficifolia Festival's street Parade today. Well we went to see where they were setting up at the football oval and then we went off to the stalls that were in civic park. I wanted to go there before the parade was over and it got really, really busy.

The festival runs over 4 days every year February and it's always around my birthday. In fact I told Angus that it was very nice of everyone to honour my special day with a festival. It's very sweet of everyone to celebrate this way :D

I took LOADS of photos that I will share over a few posts because I don't want to FLOOD you with a photo heavy post. I did take around 30 photos. Way too many for just one post. I was thinking of making a mosaic with them but then you wouldn't be able to see everything properly.

This years theme was the Chinese Year of the Dragon. There were a couple of dragons in the parade but since we were already heading home at that stage I didn't get a good look at them. They also had a pipe bad. I LOVE me some bag pipes! It sounded wonderful. It reminded me of the times I watch the Edinburgh Military Tattoo each new years. 

If you want to see larger photos just click on them. They look better when they're bigger.

We just LOVE looking at the old cars.

Old Fire Engine & a Holden (there's a close up of the Holden further down the page)

Angus loved this one. Who wouldn't love a Mustang?

I wish my car looked this good :D

An old Holden convertible.

I don't mind the red one. I have no idea what it is though, oops.

I'm sure my sister Vicki drove a Valiant like this one when I was little.

An Impala. For some reason we get excited about seeing left hand drive cars :P

I can just imagine driving this one. It's my favourite out of these old cars :D

Just look at that colour! It's very nice :D

Another old Holden.

A Holden Station wagon. I quite like this car. I'm sure my parents drove something similar to this.

Speedway Car

Speedway car - I had to take a photo its in one of my favourite colours

I have no idea what this is but is old. I know I'm shocking lol

Stay tuned for more photos next week.

Just one more thing about the festival. Please remind me to never EVER go for a drive on the morning of the parade. The traffic was shocking.