Cherella

I recently purchased a Cherella purse similar to the one above and I love it! I was already familiar with the company, created by 2 Utah women, because my sister's company "Layla Grayce" used to sell some of their clothing. In fact, I was lucky enough to get this hoodie as a gift from my sis. It has been my fav for the past 2 years. I thought I would give the Utah entrepreneurs a shout out and if you like what you see you can find their clothing and accessories at boutiques nation wide or online at http://www.cherellausa.com/ . If you are local you can find their cute stuff at Whimsy, Lola Bella, Koo De Ker, and several other stores in the area.

Best Chicken Enchiladas Ever!

This recipe is from Gormet Magazine and it is awesome!

Ingredients
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups prepared salsa
2 cups grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper
4 scallions, thinly sliced
12 to 14 soft round 6 to 8 inch flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and the sour cream. Stir in 1/2 cup of the salsa. Stir in 1 cup of the grated cheese. In a second bowl toss together the chicken, corn, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of the scallions. Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine. In a baking dish spread a 1/2 cup of the salsa over the bottom. Place about a 1/3 cup of the filling on a tortilla, roll up and transfer to the baking dish with the seam side down. Repeat process for remaining tortillas. Put remaining salsa over enchiladas, spreading to coat all of them. Sprinkle remaining grated cheese over the top. Enchiladas may be prepared up to this point 12 hours in advance. Transfer to preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions and serve warm.
Yields 6 to 7 servings.

Deceptively Delicious

This post is for all my friends with children who are trying to get them to eat more veggies. My sister-in-law gave me this cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, for Christmas and I've recently had the chance to try several of the recipes and they were in fact, "delicious". The cookbook is by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's wife) and the cool concept behind it is that she purees veggies and adds them into everyday meals. Your kids can't see the veggies so they don't even realize they are eating their vegetables. So far we have tried the following recipes: mac & cheese with cauliflower, couscous with yellow squash & carrot, grilled cheese with butternut squash, and apple muffins with carrot. They have all been wonderful. Tony, Gavin, and I have all enjoyed them. I would highly recommend this cookbook. They are selling it at Cost Co right now. If any of you already have it or end up buying it, let me know what you think.

New Years Eve

For the past several years Tony has participated in Solitude ski resort's torch light parade (because he works there every winter). It's a tradition there every New Year's eve. This year I finally went up there to see it. We ate dinner there at the resort, got all bundled up and waited to watch the "show". Many of the employees at the resort participate and head up the lifts after dark, light their torches and ski down in formation. It was quite a sight to see. However, on the drive back down the canyon my car said that it was -1 degree outside. Yikes!

The next day we dropped Gavin off at grandma and grandpa's for the day so that we could go back up to Solitude to ski/snowboard (Tony skis & I snowboard). It was a glorious, sunny day. It was such a treat because it was the first time I've been able to go snowboarding since I got pregnant with Gavin. I had so much fun! And by the end of the day I even rode on a black run (and did quite well I must say). When I complained about having to return to work on January 2nd Tony reminded me that I did quite a bit this winter break... I went to the beach and snowboarding in the same week. Life is good:)

Winter Break in California

Gavin and I flew to California the day after Christmas to spend time with my family in Ventura(Tony had to work). We had a great time as always. It was wonderful to spend time with my oldest friend, Cyndi, who I've known since I was about 3. She lives in Huntington Beach now and has 2 little boys (Gavin had a great time with them). I also got to spend a some time with my sister, Tiffany, who Gavin adores (as do I) and he calls her Aunt Bippy (Aunt Tiffy). We were able to put in a few hours at my favorite factory outlet stores in Camarillo (Barneys, Saks 5th, Max Azria, Ugg Austrailia). I had a lot of success finding some great stuff at great prices. And, of course, it's always great to see my parents. They always spoil us. I think we went out to dinner every night. We also went to the Santa Barbara zoo and the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day so the last couple of photos are just of the scenery there at Marina Beach. We had to pull Gavin away kicking and screaming because he did not want to leave the beach and he desperately wanted to go play in the ocean (I had hoped he would take after me as far as loving the beach).

Merry Christmas!