Family matters

How we roll

I managed to turn a 10-minute drive into a 30-minute saga this morning by missing my exit and then driving aimlessly for awhile. (Christmas hint!). Once I found my way, though, it turned into a very nice outing.

Poppy and I still had all sorts of fun at our first toddler bowling session, which I was disappointed to find involved neither rolling toddlers nor knocking them down. Our venue of choice featured about six little lanes, each equipped with bumpers, a scoreboard TV and toddler-sized bowling balls. Poppy approach was a little stiff (this was her first game; cut her some slack), and she didn’t “roll” the ball so much as “dropped it and giggled at the enormous thud.” After a little bit of coaching, though, she started to actually roll the ball. And oh, the joy in that little face when the pins started to fall! She danced and clapped and jumped each time they fell.

She finished her game with a score of 55, which isn’t all that much lower than my average game. I’m relatively certain she could beat Amy, who is the only person I’ve ever known to score in the teens. Pi still has a way to go, though, before she can challenge my brother’s girlfriend, who was a Bowling Spartan. (Did you know colleges had bowling teams? Before I met Carrie, I did not know that. I know she will appreciate that I’ve shared a 5-year-old photo of her. You’re welcome, Carrie.)

After the bowling, we went down to the “soft play” area — basically a big, enclosed playground with lots of padding. Poppy tends to be a little cautious in these situations, and for the first few minutes we were there she held true to form. She was on the smaller of the two play structures, gripping my hand and frozen in place on the second platform. Then suddenly, she took off for the big playground. She climbed and jumped and fell off of things and just kept going back for more. It was nice to see her full-out playing.

And when it was time to leave, there was no tantrum! She was worn out, happy and ready for lunch. It was a lovely morning, and we’ll definitely be doing it again.

Eating

I love enchiladas

Here’s another dish from the “Don’t Panic” cookbook. This one needs some further tweaking, but it isn’t bad as-is. Just a little too mild for my taste. Next time, I’ll add more spice to the sauce.

I made the one-time-sized serving, which was meant to make 12 enchiladas. I had more than the prescribed amount of chicken, though, so I ended up with 15. Six went into the freezer; only three went into our bellies. Rockford will be taking some for lunch tomorrow, and we’ll probably have them for lunch again on Saturday. The moral of the story: This makes a lot of enchiladas.

This is the first time I’ve tried the foil-and-plastic method of freezing, so I’m not sure how it’ll come out once it’s thawing time. We shall see.

Chicken Enchiladas
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
5 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
4 oz can chopped green chilies
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese
12 6-inch tortillas

Cook onion and green pepper in 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Combine onions, peppers, chilies and chicken in a bowl; set aside.

For the sauce, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and stir in flour, coriander, cayenne and salt. Stir in chicken broth all at once; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir one to two minutes more. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup of cheese. Stir 1/2 cup sauce into chicken mixture.

Pour enough sauce into a baking dish to coat the bottom. Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture. Roll up. (You may need to microwave the tortillas a few seconds to make them malleable). Arrange in baking dish and cover with remaining sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly.

Freezing it: Line baking dish with foil and plastic wrap (enough to completely cover the food) and proceed as normal. Seal the plastic wrap and the foil over the enchiladas and put the dish in the freezer. Once the enchiladas are frozen, you can pop the foil packet out of the baking dish.

To serve: Remove foil and plastic wrap and return frozen enchiladas to the baking dish. Thaw completely, then bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

adapted from “Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer”