Since I knew I was going to be out of town I knew I needed to get some things done before I left. Besides cleaning and arranging I finally got the nursery completed. Now, when I talk about the whole nursery I mean only half. We are using Ryan’s office and splitting it in half and making it half a nursery. It was at first hard to envision placing a crib and trying to make it baby-friendly.
Let’s talk about inspiration. It feels like I have lost all inspiration or creativity since getting pregnant. I have been so indecisive and changed themes, colors, and many other things but after several trips to different stores I FINALLY was inspired. Ryan was able to give his 2 cents an really helped.
I have always liked greens and yellows and I thought that would be a unique color for my little girl but the more I kept on looking at magazines,outfits and such I really was drawn more to pink. I have never really been a pink person, but a soft pink with brown sounded nice. Then I realized I like the Parisian theme but I did not want to make the baby’s room too serious or more like an adult’s room.
I am finally happy with the final product and I cannot wait to have our little girl enjoy her room, even though she will be in a bassinet toward the begining.
The other task at hand was completing a recipe for a contest. Remember I promised an enchilada recipe back in July? I am so bad with keeping up and following through with recipes but I get caught up. I decided to use this contest to make a NEW recipe.
Marx foods sent me an invitation to be part of a recipe contest called the Blogger Chile Recipe Challenge. I happily accepted even though I knew I would have to pop in some TUMS after eating my own dish. Ha ha ha. They sent me 6 different types of chiles and I decided to use 3 of them in a recipe that would combine well.
In Mexico there is a traditional dish called molé that is made with chicken and served with tortillas and white rice. Sometimes you can serve it as a sauce and place it on enchiladas. I decided to make a different recipe taking the traditional chilaquiles, which are fried corn tortilla chips usually served with tomato sauce, shredded chicken or eggs, with cheese and cream, and make a healthier version and richer in flavor by subsituting it with a molé sauce.
Molé sauce is typically different in every region of Mexico. My sauce is all vegan and is tomato and chile based with very simple ingredients but robust flavors.
Instead of frying the corn tortillas, I pan-fried them with little oil to crisp them up. The tortillas are left out to dry for a day so they do not soak up too much oil.
Instead of the shredded chicken I used fresh veggies and sauteed them in olive oil, garlic and oregano. In a dish placed the crisp tortillas, topped it with molé sauce and added the fresh veggies and then drizzled it with sour cream and cotija cheese. The dish is completely vegan using vegan sour cream but vegetarian if using cotija cheese. All in all this dish was so filling and delicious.
Thanks Marx Foods!
For Molé Sauce:
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, whole, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Fry the veggies until the chilies finish soaking and the veggies are roasted. Drain the chilies with a slotted spoon but KEEP the chile water. Add the chilies to the pan and continue frying the chilies with the veggies for another 5 minutes.
Assembly:
