Finding oneself

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Ever since we painted one of our kitchen walls with chalkboard paint, I have loved my living space more than I already did.  Mostly because of the larger space to lay out our weekly schedule, which has become increasingly more important as the age of each child increases.  Seriously, I never kept a calendar, everything was easily catalogued in my brain, pregnancy brain and all.  It never failed.

That was until all the sports and activities that a social and active pre-teen bring with them.  And believe me, I love every minute of it.  If I complain about it at all, it's just because I am trying desperately to fit in with everyone else complaining about all the driving to and fro.  Ok, actually, I will admit to complaining freely about the cost.  But that aside, I love it all...as you can easily concur from all my yelling, I cheer LOUDLY at all games!

But some of the other reasons I love the chalkboard wall are the opportunity for the random phone number that has to be written when you cannot find a goddamn pen anywhere.  And I buy pens frequently.  Where do they all go?  Also for the opportunity to write down some new and favorite quotes to inspire.  Honestly, I doubt the kids even notice.  And if they did, they'd probably be pissed that I am trying to be inspiring.  But I don't care.

I love finding something that speaks to me, and that hopefully speaks to anyone else that enters my home.  This week's addition is about service.  Service is a big part of why I chose my life mission...to serve women and babies in having the best birth possible.  When it is safe to be out of the hospital, of course.  Midwifery for low-risk moms has been proven to be the best model for low infant and maternal mortality rates.  And I am so excited to be a part of offering women and babies my service, my heart and my soon-to-be extremely knowledgeable skills.

Thank you, Matahma Gandhi, for the inspiring words.  I find that most of the good things in life come from giving, not from gaining.  Why do we all struggle so desperately to prove that wrong???

Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Here is Jamie's recipe for chicken enchiladas. We adapted it from a Cooking Light recipe from January 2012, although, we did not make ours "light."  Also, as I informed Jamie at the store, I prefer to make everything from scratch, but the tomatillos we found were small and shriveled.  Remember Thomas Keller's cooking equation: great product + great execution = great cooking.  So, we opted for the next best choice, the jarred salsa verde made by Frontera, Rick Bayless' company.

We also used a rotisserie chicken, instead of roasting our own.  I often do this if I am short on time, which happens a lot around here.  It's easy to use for any dish that requires shredded chicken.

Yield:  Served 6 adults and 4 kids
Total time: ~2-3 hours, maybe 4, but he's new to cooking!

Ingredients:
4 cups cold water
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
5 garlic cloves
the breasts from 1 rotisserie chicken (You can add a little dark meat if you like that as well.)
1 celery stalk
1 large carrot
1 jalapeño pepper, halved
1/2 medium onion
8 ounces of salsa verde
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup chopped, seeded tomato
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ounces cream cheese
12-16 corn tortillas
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Preparation:
Combine first 9 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes.  Removed chicken with a slotted spoon and let rest to cool.  Shred the chicken by pulling it apart with your fingers.  Drain and reserve the cooking liquid and discard the solids.

Combine the reserved cooking liquid with the salsa verde and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups (about 30 minutes).  Reduce heat to low and stir in the whipping cream.  Keep pan on low heat.

Preheat oven to 400℉.

place chicken in a medium bowl.  Add tomato, cilantro, salt, cumin cayenne and cream cheese; toss.  Set up a work station near your warm sauce, with a greased 9x12 baking dish, your tortillas and a towel to wipe off your soon to be messy hands.  Dip each tortilla into sauce for about 10 seconds or until warm.  Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of chicken mixture; roll up.  Arrange tortillas seam side down in the baking dish.  Repeat until chicken mixture is gone, we needed another small making dish.  Spoon sauce over the tortillas and top evenly with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 400℉ for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Celebrate good times, come on!

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Like Kool & the Gang reminds us, when we find ourselves singing their hit song over and over again in our heads on a random Monday morning...oh, is that just me?  Well, not anymore, right? Sometimes life is full of reasons to celebrate, as has been the case here at the Baumgarts!
(I suggest clicking that link above in a new window and playing the song while you read the rest of this post.)

This past Friday, we had a small celebratory dinner to commemorate my acceptance into midwifery school!  Yes, I finally received my acceptance letter from Bastyr University into their Master's of Science in Midwifery program.  I will be starting the three year program this September.  I am looking forward to a life changing, self transformative experience throughout this next journey of my life.

Jamie's cheezy goodness.

The aforementioned dinner was a husband cooked success! Jamie found a recipe on line for enchiladas, I walked with him through his shopping expeience getting ingredients, and then he cooked them all by himself.  And they we so delicious!  Everyone loved them, even the kids!

Tallulah turned seven this past weekend!  We had a small birthday dinner for her on Saturday where we sang happy birthday and opened a few gifts.  It is the first time I have not got together a bigger party for one of my kids...no school friends, no theme, nothing.  I think we'll take in a matinee one day coming up, and invite a few friends.  And to be honest, Tallulah doesn't seem to mind, or have noticed.

Happy Birthday lunch at Gameworks!

 Lily played in her very first tournament with the select soccer team that she was recently invited to join. They won second place!!  In the finals, they played a team two levels above them, and almost won!  Congratulations girls!  Well done!

getting their silver medals!

In other Baumgart news...we have some new blogs that sprouted up:
Lili's (she is Lily's BFF and like a part of the family) Fashion blog, The World of Fashion.
Lily's blog on her love of the trapeze, A Beginner in the Circus.
Levi's blog modeled after a certain other blog that I guess he was inspired by, mini good luck with that.

Please check them out and let them know what you think!

Everyone around the world, come on...it's a celebration!  Wa-hoo!