Easy Casserole dinner

OK, so my life is about to go into overdrive. Two boys playing rec league basketball, and both have already started their baseball seasons too! My poor daughter doesn't have time for activities but she'll be in softball soon. Which isn't going to leave a lot of time for dinner preparation. And with all these admission fees and gas prices, I can't afford to feed my family of 5 from a drive-thru every night.

So, I'm starting my Sunday cooking days again, where I cook the main meat to be used for the week. All I have to do is prepare a side or two and heat the meat in the microwave.

Tonight, I threw together this easy chicken enchilada casserole.

Ingredients: cooked chicken (I used 4 big chicken breasts), sour cream, 1 can cream of chicken soup, salsa, shredded cheese, tortilla chips or taco shells (I had taco shells on hand), and fresh cilantro (love this stuff).

Step one: Cook the chicken. I broiled mine for 10 mins. on each side with some garlic and pepper. Cut into cubes.

Step two: Mix soup, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2-1 cup shredded cheese and a couple tablespoons of cilantro with the chicken.

Step three: Crush taco shells in the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer with the chicken mixture. Top with salsa (as much as you like). Sprinkle with more cheese. Top with more crushed taco shells. Sprinkle with a little more cheese and fresh cilantro.

Step four: Bake to melt cheese and brown the chips. I got distracted and burnt mine just a little but I picked off the really burnt chips. It was really good. I froze some in small containers for my husband and I to grab for work lunches.

Buen provecho!

Bible verse paintings

For this art project, I used an old Bible from when I was a child. I tried to find one at the local thrift store but couldn't. I'm sure if I'd kept looking for a few days or tried another store, I might have found one but I was really anxious to paint this. And I didn't want a new Bible - I wanted old, yellowed pages and highlighted passages.

Supplies: a Bible (old or new), acrylic paint, canvas - flat or wrapped, glue, paintbrushes, old toothbrush, paint pens or permanent marker

Step one: Paint the canvas a solid color. I like using black as my background color. While paint is drying, measure your pages. For a larger canvas, you may have to use 4 Bible pages and you may have to tear them or burn the edges to get them to fit. Measure and lay out before you glue. For smaller canvas, you could use just one Bible page.

Step two: Glue the pages to the canvas. Use a paintbrush to smooth out the air bubbles, although I like having the added texture of a few wrinkles and air bubbles but that's just me.

Step three: Choose the verse you want to paint on the canvas around the image and write it down on paper. I like to choose a verse directly from one of the pages that I used on the canvas but you don't have to.

Step four: Paint a cross or an appropriate image in the middle of the canvas. For example, I recently painted one with the verse "A friend loveth at all times" and I painted a heart instead of a cross. While that image dries, use a contrasting color to add detail to the edge of the canvas. Just broad, uneven strokes - this is supposed to look "messy" and "folk-ish". Let dry.

Step five: Using a paint pen or permanent marker (I like using black), write the verse around the image in the middle. Don't forget to put the reference somewhere so you'll know where the verse came from. Let dry.

Step six: Using two or three colors, including black and white, splatter the paint on the entire painting. An old toothbrush works great or a dry brush with rough bristles. Let dry.

Step seven: Sign your painting. If using flat canvas, you can hot glue ribbon or scrap fabric with rough edges to the back for hanging. You could also add a few strips that have been knotted to one of the corners.

Estimated cost: under $10