bye magnolia

There was a magnolia tree by our pool that unfortunately needed to go.  The roots were pushing up the cement on the side and leaves fell in the pool constantly.  We have two others in our yard so I was too disappointed this one had to go.  Now that it's gone it actually looks a lot better without it.  Much more open and ready for a fun and colorful flowerbed!  

A friend from church is one of those guys who is pretty fantastic at everything and cutting down trees just happens to be one of them.  After being given a quote from a tree service he deemed it too expensive and said he'd be over one night the next week to take care of it.  All it cost us was a little sweat and a shared dinner of chicken enchiladas.  

On a side note these were the best enchiladas I've ever had.  Like ever.  I got the recipe from Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine.  The only thing I changed was using flour tortillas instead of corn.  Try it!

Enchiladas Verdes with Chicken

corn tortillas
cooked chicken, shredded or diced
sour cream
green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas is best)
diced green chilies
shredded cheese

Mix green sauce with chilies and sour cream (3-4 parts sauce to 1 part sour cream, sauce should be green)  Pass corn tortillas through a skillet of simmering chicken broth, then layer in a 9×13 pan.  After tortillas, add a layer of chicken, a layer of sauce, and a layer of cheese.  Repeat, so that there are two full layers.  Finish with a layer of tortillas and a layer of cheese.  Cook at 350 degrees until warmed though and the cheese is melted, about 30-35 minutes.  Let sit at least 15 minutes before cutting.  Top with chopped cilantro.