We love Mexican food. We eat some version of it at least once a week, whether we go out to our favorite restaurant or make tacos at home. Alexis has gotten to where she really likes enchiladas, so one night instead of tacos we decided to try our hand at home-made enchiladas. Our first try they came out way too spicy, and I ended up making Alexis something entirely different to eat, and I only ate one. We decided to try again, and the result was so good. So if your family likes Mexican food but you just can't do another taco night, try our Easy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe.

What You Need
2 Big Cans Chicken
1 Packet Fajita Seasoning (I used Old El Paso)
1 Block Cream Cheese
10 Soft Tortillas
1 Small Can Red Enchilada Sauce (I used mild Old El Paso)
1 Small Bag Shredded Taco Cheese


What You Do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix chicken (drained), cream cheese, fajita seasoning, and about a cup of shredded cheese together in a big bowl. It works best if you use your hands. (I tried using my handheld mixer. Big mistake.)


Spoon some of the filling into your tortillas and roll tightly. Place them on greased baking pan, seam side down. Cover with enchilada sauce and sprinkle the tops with remaining shredded cheese. For Alexis, we did a smaller pan without the enchilada sauce.


Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is starting to turn brown.

Once they're done, you can top them with sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes, and/or salsa.

Bonus: Because the chicken is cooked, the filling to these enchiladas can be eaten outside the tortilla. In fact, I think it'd be a fantastic chicken cheese ball.

Has your family fallen into the convenient but bad habit of not eating dinner together at the table? There are a lot of reasons why you should insist on family dinners. Statistics show that eating dinner together as a family leads to better academic performance, higher self-esteem, lowered risks of drug abuse, depression, eating disorders, and obesity.

As a working mom with a husband who does shift work, I know that getting everyone together at the same time can be challenging. A lot of nights Alexis and I eat dinner by ourselves. On those nights, we usually eat something simple, and more often than not we don't eat at the table. Instead we get out the TV trays and eat in the living room while we watch a show or movie. Whenever we eat together as a whole family, we eat at the table with the TV off.

Here are the major differences between those two scenarios in our house:
-When we eat at the table, the conversation is more focused. The TV isn't distracting us.
-Alexis eats better, if not slower, at the table. I'm more confident in knowing that she's full.
-The after-dinner clean-up is confined to one small area instead of the entire living room.

Whenever we get ready to sit down to eat, it never fails - Alexis is going to ask to eat in front of the TV. I can't blame her, really. At almost 4 years old, a cartoon or movie is more interesting than the dinner table...or is it? I believe there are simple things we can do to make dinner more fun so our kids will actually enjoy sitting down with mom and dad. Below are five tricks I've used with much success.

1. Put a New Spin on an Old Favorite
With smaller children, it's easy to fall into a dinner rut. Often times they'll only eat two or three types of meals, and if you're like me, you refuse to fix two separate dinners to compensate for it. Thankfully, Alexis is growing out of that stage so our weekly meals are getting more diverse, but for awhile all we ate was tacos, chili and spaghetti. So how do you change things up for such simple dishes? You can swap out tacos for cheesy chicken enchiladas (recipe to come), chili for chili mac, and add meatballs to plain old spaghetti.

2. Set the Table
Generally speaking, I fix our dinner plates in the kitchen and then carry them to the table. But every once in awhile, I set the table properly with all of our food in fun serving dishes. We always have flowers on the table (it's one of mine and Alexis's things), but sometimes if we're feeling fancy we'll light some candles.

3. Pull Out Your Nice Dinner Plates and/or Fancy Glasses
Most nights we eat on plain white, indestructible Corelle plates. They're easy to wash, and I don't have to worry about them getting dropped and broken. But I try to pull out our nicer stoneware plates at least once a week. They're more colorful and make dinner feel a little fancier. I usually only pull out my goblets when we have guests, and even then Alexis doesn't get one because of her age, but this is definitely something I'll do when she's older.

4. Have Dessert
For most dinners, we don't do dessert, so adding a dessert to our menu makes the meal seem a little more special, even if it's just a bowl of ice cream.

5. Let Your Little Ones Help
This may be the most important tip. Your kids will be more excited about eating a dinner they helped prepare. And you don't have to give them a big job. Alexis is happy if I let her pour in the ingredients of something I'm mixing or stirring a pot of something. But it is important that you let them know how much help they were. That way they'll want to keep helping in the future!

 I hope you like these tips and that they help make your family's dinner time more fun! Share ways you get your kids to the table fuss-free in the comments!

Have you ever wanted to look business casual but completely disregarded what you'd actually be doing that day? Cue this outfit, specifically my wedge sandals that are not made for lots of walking, which is exactly what I did this day. I always like to look put together and semi-professional whenever I deliver magazines to businesses. I mean, my picture is in every issue after all. But as cute as this outfit turned out, I wish I had some forethought to wear flats and save my feet from the giant blisters that showed up not even halfway through the mission.

I've had these pants for a little over a year now, and while I love them - the color and fit are both amazing - I have a hard time styling them. I think it's the material. They're not really dressy but they're not really casual either, and I struggle to hit the right note between casual and dressy. I don't think I did too badly with this outfit. I liked how the green pants pulled out the greens in the shirt's pattern. I have a couple more shirts with the same shade of green in them so I'll be pairing them with these pants in the future, although I'm not sure what shoes I'll wear.

For reference, I'm 5'2" with a short torso. I typically wear size 6/8 or S/M in clothing and size 7 in shoes.

Details
Shirt (old): The Limited (similar, similar)
Pants: Lila Ryan (via StitchFix)
Shoes: Marshall's

With each new season comes expectations of change. Now that we've officially sprang forward and the weather is trending away from freezing temperatures, it's time to start thinking about things to do with the kiddos now that we've got more hours of daylight. I've rounded up some fun activities for kids of all ages.

Visit a local park or playground. You can choose a new park/playground every weekend to keep things fresh.

Go for a walk or bike ride.

Have a bubble party. All you need is bubble mix and an assortment of wands. If you want to go all out, you can buy bubble guns or a bubble machine.

Decorate your driveway or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. You could even give small awards for the most creative drawings.

Set up a driveway obstacle course using hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, jump ropes...whatever you've got!

Grab a blanket, fill up a basket with yummy sandwiches and snacks, and go on a picnic. It can be as simple as your front yard or going to your favorite park.

Fly a kite.

Plant a garden. Whether it's vegetables or flowers, it's a constructive way to let your kids play in the dirt. Plus they'll love seeing their plants grow.

Mini golf is perfect for the entire family, and it's a great evening activity. Just remember the insect repellent,

Take a day trip. You could go to an amusement park or visit a zoo.

For those inevitable rainy weekends, you can spend a few hours at a trampoline park or arcade.

What are some things you and your family are looking forward to this spring?