Yumm-O Chicken Enchiladas

I'm subscribing to way too many cooking magazines. Blame it on my son's cute, cherubic face and the school's magazine drive. He wanted to win a certain prize during the school's magazine drive, and he came home with those wide, puppy dog eyes, and I had a weak moment, and before I knew it, I was getting Rachael Ray magazine, Woman's Day, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Taste of Home, and I think O at Home (that one hasn't arrived yet).

Meanwhile, I'm still getting Kraft Food and Family, which is one of my favorites. It has easy-peasy recipes, and last night's was especially yummy. We're in the process of getting our house ready to put on the market, and I'm looking for things that give me plenty of time to work on the book that's due in July, and find time to go through closets and drawers. Kraft's Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas fit that bill all around. And it was VERY yummy.

I ended up leaving out the cumin, and tripled the recipe (hey, I have two hungry kids, and I like having leftovers). I didn't want it too spicy, because my youngest won't eat it. I figured the others could always add more salsa on the side if they wanted. I also chopped up extra cilantro for a garnish on top after it came out of the oven. That way, the cilantro got a little warm, and filled the house with that yummy scent.

I served it with a salad, and the kids made rice (I skipped the rice). All good, all around. Definitely a keeper!

Shirley

A Doggie Recipe

My middle dog, Max, either hasn't been feeling well or hasn't been all that interested in his food. I figure it could be the latter. You know, eat the same thing every day for four years and you might get a tad bored.

I just started receiving Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine and love it (I tried some Parmesan Chicken Breasts the other day that were great; more on those later). My favorite part of the magazine is the pet recipes in the back. The April issue had a dog-friendly dish called Peas and Happiness that I changed a bit because I didn't have one of the ingredients, but that my three dogs all LOVED.

Brown Rice Peas and Happiness

2 bags Boil in Bag Brown Rice (Rachael had used orzo; not a staple in my house)

1 cup frozen peas

4 carrots, chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a medium cup of water to a boil. Add the carrots, boil until tender, then puree with a half cup of the cooking water. Add the peas, cook for one minute, remove, then boil the rice. Mix with veggies, add cheese. Serve to pooches :-)

You can add salt and pepper to serve leftovers to humans (dogs shouldn't have the spices). My dogs LOVED it. I mixed in some of Max's dog food with this, which got him to eat his breakfast. He was a very happy, tail-wagging doggie the whole time he was having this.

May's dish is Chicken and Rice Cakes with Bacon. I'll have to try those, too. It looks like my dogs will be eating better than me pretty soon!

As for the Parmesan Chicken -- this was so easy, it was crazy! You dredge chicken breasts in a mixture of crushed cornflakes and grated parmesan (I used half fresh and half Kraft), then in beaten eggs with salt and pepper, then the flakes & parmesan again. Fry them in olive oil until brown on each side, then bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. They were VERY yummy.

How I House Broke My Dog in Two Days...

So many people have asked me about this that I thought I'd post on the blog about it. You all know my dog Sophie :-) (and noticing I have no new pics on my computer, I realize I need to take some! my goodness!). She's a Havanese, which is a kind of a Bichon, and I've heard that small dogs are notoriously difficult to housebreak.



And she was, at first. Horrible to housebreak. I'm used to big dogs, which are a lot easier. And a lot easier, it seemed, to tell when they had to go. They bark, for one. They make a big production out of going to the door. This little girl would nose around, but because she's so little, she noses around everything all the time, LOL, so it was tough to tell what was a nosing around for needing to go out and what was nosing around for curiosity.


So we had a lot of accidents those first few days. I started researching housebreaking small dogs and came across Tamar Geller's book, THE LOVED DOG and had also started getting addicted to Victoria Stillwell's It's Me or the Dog on Animal Planet.

I trained her to go out by following Tamar's advice in the book. I bought a bell (actually a parrot bell from Wal-Mart) and taught her to ring it in about 15 minutes. I held a treat in front of hte bell and every time she hit the bell, she got a treat (FYI, my vet suggested Cheerio's as a treat because they are fat free, sugar free and won't make her gain weight when she eats a lot). Then I raised the stakes. She rang the bell, I opened the door. She had to go out the door to get the treat. Like I said, all that took about 15 minutes for her to make the connection: ring-the-bell-door-opens, I-get-a-treat.



Final step, to get her to potty outside. Once I had her outside, I used the command I had been using to get her to go out. In my house it's pretty simple: "go out." LOL. And this time, I upped the ante to a "jackpot" treat, as Tamar calls it -- cooked chicken. When she pottied, she got LOTS AND LOTS of praise and some cooked chicken. We did this over and over for the next two days, and by the end of the two days, she was trained.



In the meantime, I got a black light and some Nature's Miracle and made sure I had EVERY SINGLE potty stain saturated with the enzyme stuff. This is ESSENTIAL. If the dog can still smell the urine, they will still mess in the house.



It's been months since then and we've done FABULOUS. We had one day of constant accidents and I realized something was wrong. Turns out she had a urinary tract infection. A few days of meds and she was fine. I repeated the black light and Nature's Miracle (and really, she was only messing in the house for a very short time, and it was clear, something was wrong and she knew it). Other than that, accidents have been minimal, if at all. She's five and a half months old and totally potty trained -- and has been since she was just under four months :-). The bell is THE BEST THING we ever did. Every time I hear it ring, it's like a little melody :-)



And the funny thing, is the big dog rings it sometimes now instead of barking!

Shirley

Saying "I Do" to the Planet

What a cool idea! My friend Diane posted over on the Harlequin Wedding Planners blog about having a green wedding!! You have to read this -- the ideas are great for any get-together!

Shirley

Lots of News! Shirley a Horror Writer??

Well, the deal is on Publishers Marketplace now, so it's out there for all the world to see :-) so I thought I'd announce it on the blog. My daughter and I are going to be writing horror young adult novels together for Houghton-Mifflin!!

It's amazing to think that my kid is A.) grown up enough to do this (she's nearly 15) and B.) that from a dream I had as a kid, I'll now be pursuing it with my child. How cool is that?Yes, I'll still be writing romantic comedies and sticking with my Harlequin Romances! I love writing those, too!

These books with my daughter are just one more type of writing, a little something different every year. The first book, tentatively titled THE WELL, will be out in late 2009 (it's about a high school freshman whose mother is trying to kill him. Yes, it's scary :-).

We'll be writing under a pen name, AJ Whitten. Visit our MySpace page, and keep an eye on the updates (DD is in charge of the marketing on this one :-).

And in a little other cool beans news...

Library Journal reviewed...and LOVED the first book in the Wedding Planners series! My editor sent me the link yesterday, and it was such a wonderful way to start my day! Quoting just part of the review:

"...funny, sassy story that launches Harlequin's "Wedding Planner" miniseries in fine style...this tale of rekindled love is right on target; a delightful start to this uplifting, marriage-oriented series. Jump's (Really Something) romances are noted for their humor..."

I think you can read the whole thing at your local library (I'm pretty sure they all carry LJ). Sweetheart Lost and Found is still in stores, so pick it up on your next trip!

Shirley

I Got Tagged...

My friend Mel tagged me and now I'm it :-).

The idea, I guess (since I've never done this before) is to write six random things about myself and then tag six other people. Since my husband thinks half my conversations are random, LOL, this should be easy. First, the rules:

Tagging Rules:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay, and here's my six Random Thoughts:

1. My favorite "I've got the flu and just want to watch a movie" movie is "Pretty Woman." 've probably seen it three dozen times. That and "Clueless" and all those other chick flicks that just make me laugh and feel good.

2. I'm a total reality TV junkie. "Intervention," "Jon & Kate Plus 8," "Little People, Big World," "Groomer Has It," "Split Ends," "Scott Baio is...", you name it, I'm probably watching it. I haven't gotten into the "Project Runway" type shows yet, thank goodness, but I've found all the other ones. I've even been reduced to the "My Fair Brady...Maybe Baby" show on VH-1. I know, I know, it's trash TV. But I get sucked into the lives of those people on "Celebrity Rehab" and I just have to know if Brigitte Nielson gets her life back together.

3. I sing along in the car. Loudly. And very badly. I can't sing for beans, but that doesn't stop me when I'm alone.

4. I have no natural rhythm. And when I say no, I mean ABSOLUTELY ZERO. I can't even clap along to a song. I have to follow other people and if I take my eyes off them for even a second, I'm a mess, clap-clapping in some weird other rhythm. I'm a musical mess. You can't take me anywhere ;-)

5. If I had my druthers, I'd buy a new pair of shoes every day of the week. I LOVE shoes. Love them in a way most people love chocolate. Okay, so I love chocolate, too. Hey, I'm a writer. I'm a passionate person.

6. I have become one of those people who takes her little dog everywhere and dresses her up. But Sophie is so darn cute, you can't help but do that. Yesterday at the coffee shop, two big, tough-as-nails Harley guys were cooing over her like she was a new baby. And that was when she had on her pink sailor dress and pink bow ;-).

And my tags are going to:

1. Melissa McClone
2. Linda Goodnight
3. Janet Dean
4. Diane McDilda
5. Trish Wylie
6. Holly Jacobs

I picked a pretty eclectic group of writers, so click on over to all their blogs! You'll find romantic comedy authors, hearth and home authors, a green living author, an inspirational author...something for everyone!

Shirley

Monica and Ben's Story: Read the Rest!

My Online Read is finished up, so if you are the type of person who likes to wait until the end to read the story, zip on over to eHarlequin and read it from start to finish! Then click on the link to participate in the discussion! And if you're interested, you can also order the Wedding Planners series from eHarlequin at a discounted price!

Shirley

Great Contest for Readers

You can win a really BIG prize over on our Wedding Planners blog. Zip on over, check it out and see what we're offering (there will be a new big prize every month, BTW).

I just got back from Massachusetts, from seeing Michael Buble in Providence, and hope to get caught up on my life in the next day or two :-)

Shirley