Chicken Enchiladas

Here is a great, yummy chicken enchilada recipe we make. They freeze great and are very yummy leftover!

Makes: 10
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 onion, sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 can (4 ounces) diced green chiles, drained
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
10 fajita-size flour tortillas
1/3 cup half-and-half
1 cup shredded Monteray Jack cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13X9X2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook stirring, for 5 minutes. Add chicken, cook 5 more minutes. Turn off heat; stir in chiles, cream cheese and salt.
3. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tortilla and cook for a few seconds until tortilla becomes limp. Remove to a paper towel lined tray. Repeat with all of the tortillas.
4. Spoon 1/3 cup filling down the center of each tortilla. Roll and set, seam side down, in prepared baking dish. Drizzle evenly with half-and-half and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
5. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 23 minutes or until top is golden. Cool slightly before serving.

Bottle? No thanks!

It appears this week Nicole, our 14 month old, has decided she no longer needs bottles. Good girl! She is growing up so fast. This makes me very proud of her, however it also makes me sad. Where'd my little baby go?

This is typical Nicole though. She has always been a very easy baby. It seems like she has been the one to teach me. She let me know when she was ready to eat solids, she let me know when she didn't need a pacifier, she let me know when she was ready to ditch the bottle, and so on. I am still waiting for this parenting thing to become challenging. I know, I know...either she will end up being a terror in a couple years, become a horrible teenager, or my next baby will have colic. Some way I will get pay back right? I hope that is not the case. I hope Nicole continues to be a well-adjusted, sweet girl. All's we can do is try our best. I will continue to let her guide me through this parenting thing. Now that isn't saying I will let her take advantage of me...no, no, no sir! I will listen to her and let her guide me. Take last night for example. Nicole had a rare crabby day yesterday. She was overly tired and I think her teeth are bothering her. She would touch her face and say, "Ow!" and there was a lot of whining. So, at about 7:00pm (a full hour before her usual bedtime), I said, "Nicole, do you need to go to bed? Are you just too tired?" She raised her arms for me to pick her up and said, "Night, night". I picked her up and she laid her head on my shoulder and put her thumb in that cute, cranky mouth of hers. And off we were to bed!

So, I have found that before you get worked up...if you just take a step back, listen to your child, they will tell you what they need.

Now...if only I could tell Nicole that I am ready to give up my baby blanket. Hmmmm, I don't think that will happen any time soon considering I am 32 years old. I sometimes wonder what it will be like when Nicole is 16 years old and says to me, "Mom, when are you going to stop sleeping with that nasty baby blanket? It's so embarrassing!" Hey, if sleeping with my baby blanket at the age of 32 is the most dysfunctional thing about me, then I am in pretty good shape!

Yeehaw!!!

The Hobergs are TX bound!!! We bought our plane tickets to Houston last night and we are so excited! Nick, Nicole, my mom, and myself are all going. We will be visiting my sister and her husband, their 3 adorable Jack Russels, and hopefully we will get some time in with my dad too. We are very excited. I am, of course, nervous too as this will be my first time flying with a child. I have the normal apprehensions...what if she screams the whole time, what if people glare at me, what all do we need to bring with us, what if she poops on the plane, you know all those horror stories you hear about. And we have all been on the opposite side...the ones that glare at the parents that can't seem to control their kid. Luckily, my kid is well-tempered and usually in a very good mood. The only worry I have is she is VERY busy and she will even tell you "I busy". Yes, yes you are Nicole :) So for any parents out there that has flown with a young child, I would love to hear your tips. I plan on bringing some bottles for her to suck on and some new, never before seen awesome toys and books ;)

We are also very excited because we just signed Nicole up for her first gymnastics class! Well, it's more like a running around and being crazy class. But either way, she will have lots of fun and learn alot. Also, we have a few friends who signed their daughters up for it too, so Nicole will have a few friends in her class :) Nicole has learned a new talent that might come in handy at her class, which is quite hysterical to watch. She recently has started to "spin" in circles until she gets dizzy. She then tries to walk and looks like a drunken sailor until she falls over! She thinks this is super funny and so do we!!! Whenever we say "spinny spinny" she does this or if she sees one of us "spinning" she will copy us. She is such a little comedian :)

This Friday I am going to have dinner with an old friend from high school. I am looking forward to it as we have not seen each other since we were 18 years old! Wow :) Thanks to Facebook, we have reconnected. She has three boys so I am sure she will be full of mommy knowledge. But I am sure we will not only talk about motherhood. I am planning on having a glass of wine and just have fun catching up!

My first entry!

I am new to blogging and decided to start a blog. I have really enjoyed reading other people's blogs recently and thought it would be fun to join in! Even if nobody reads my blog, it will still be fun to document what the Hobergs are up to.

So to begin, my name is Amanda and my husband is Nick. We have been married for a little over 5 years. We have four furry kids: 2 cats (Josh and Boo), 1 dog (Oscar), and 1 rabbit (Chopper). Hence the name of our blog: The Hoberg Zoo. And last but not least, the light of our lives, we have a beautiful, spunky daughter named Nicole. She has brought us such joy we couldn't even have imagined and has taught us so much about being parents.

I hope there are some people who will find our blog interesting, fun, and comical at times. Also, there will be serious moments that I hope others will relate to or will learn something from. Enjoy!!!