Mexican Chicken Casserole

We were away from the house last week, but before we left I made this delicious Mexican Chicken Casserole.  It is from Southern Plate and I'm just going to link up to it today.  It was super easy and very good.  What really stuck out about the recipe, though, was the words that came with it.  I think it is important enough to repeat it here.  It was an excerpt from Anna Quindlan who is a Newsweek columnist.  When I read it, I became curious about her and what else she had to say, because honestly I loved the excerpt.  So I looked it up and here it is for you now.  I've highlighted my most favorite parts that encourage us as mothers to trust our instincts and not to compare our children to others AND to live in the moment and enjoy EVERY fleeting moment!

Raising Children
by Anna Quindlen, Newsweek Columnist and Author

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief.

I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast.Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like.

Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once poured over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon, and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages, dust would rise like memories. What those books taught me, and finally what the women on the playground, and the well-meaning relations -- well what they taught me was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything.

One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2.

When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome.

To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.

I remember 15 years ago pouring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made.They have all been enshrined in the "Remember-When-Mom-Did " Hall of Fame.The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs.The times the baby fell off the bed.The times I arrived late for preschool pickup.The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp.The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, "What did you get wrong?" (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1.

And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.

I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top.

And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.

That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me awhile to figure out who the experts were.

Lemon Rind for Disposal

I have discovered that anytime I use fresh lemons in a recipe, I can save and freeze the rinds.  I love the smell of fresh lemon in the garbage disposal for a refreshing smell, so I just take a few out of the freezer bag and let them thaw in the sink.  Then I send them through the disposal.  Whenever I make Lemonade or something like that, I always end up with so many extras, so why not save them for later? 

Squash Dressing Casserole

If you like squash casserole and southern Thanksgiving dressing, then this recipe is for you.  Another church cookbook winner.  I wanted to use up some green onions that I still had, so I used those instead of regular onions.  If I make it again, I will ONLY use regular onions.

Squash Dressing Casserole

2 lbs. yellow squash, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stick butter

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 c. Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing

1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Boil squash and onion until tender; drain.  Mix all ingredients.  Pour into greased 2 quart casserole dish;  bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  

(I don't like dry dressing, so 30 minutes was plenty for me.  If you like a more firm, dry-ish dressing, you may want to bake yours a little longer.

Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

A couple of weekends ago for one of our Tuscaloosa tailgates, I made these sausage balls and Spinach Dip.  I forgot I made them until now.

Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

1 pound hot sausage, uncooked
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. Bisquick
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients until well combined.  Roll into 1 inch balls.  Chill in refrigerator at least 10 minutes.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until brown.

*Keep balls chilled in between baking batches.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Our church is a supporter of The Jimmie Hale Mission, a ministry to the homeless among other things.  Every month on Saturdays several volunteers go and serve lunch.  It has never worked our for us to go, but this week I received an email from the church asking for cake donations to be served this weekend.  It is the perfect opportunity for me to help out.  So today, we baked this cake.  It smelled delicious while baking and all the reviews said it was a very moist cake.  I love moist cake over dry poundcake any day of the week.  It reminds me of the Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. In fact, I thought about adding white chips to it but changed my mind last minute.  And I also love easy cakes that start with a mix!

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

1 box spice cake mix
1 small box butterscotch instant pudding
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. water
4 eggs
1 c. pureed pumpkin

In a large mixing bowl, beat all ingredients on low speed to incorporate.  Turn up speed and beat for about 3-4 minutes until light and airy.  Pour into greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pan and then turn out on wire rack to cool completely.

Lasagna Soup

When Mom was visiting last week, I also made this soup and thought it was delicious and tastes just like lasagna.  I actually used turkey in the recipe and I really didn't miss the beef.  Use whichever you prefer.  

Lasagna Soup

2 lbs. ground beef

1 large onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 (28 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes

6 c. chicken stock

2 bay leaves

8 oz. lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Mixture:

8 oz. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Mozzarella cheese

In a Dutch oven, brown beef and onion until onion is tender.  Stir in garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes and tomato paste.  Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly.  Add in tomatoes, chicken stock and bay leaves.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  Add broken lasagna pieces and continue simmering until tender.  

In a separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.  To serve, spoon cheese mixture into bottom of bowl.  Top with mozzarella cheese and ladle soup on top.