Happy Birtthday DAD!

This past weekend was a ton of fun! We had a blast having a Botany Birthday for my Dad. Botany is the the science of plants; the branch of biology that deals with plant life. My Dad loves, loves, loves plants. Everyone wore green to the party and I made name tags for everyone with their real name, scientific plant/flower name (I picked silly ones), and the common name of the plant/flower. We played 3 games: "How well do you know botanist Dad?", a plant identification game, and pin the bee on the flower. Dinner was chicken enchiladas with GREEN tomatillo sauce, salad, and mexican rice... YUMMY! As requested (by y'all) below is the recipe for the enchiladas. We had birthday pies, ice cream, and green jello for dessert choices. Also, we had a great time playing with the Mickelsens' Wii that they brought with them- THANKS Mickelsens! To see all the pictures from the Botany Birthday then click here. To see videos from Dad's Botany Party then click here and view recent video clips.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 lb. tomatillos

1 bunch of cilantro

1 green bell pepper

½ tsp. minced garlic (more or less by preference)

½ cup heavy whipping cream (more of less by preference)

4-6 small limes – the juice only

Corn tortillas

Canoloa Oil (use basting brush to apply)

Preheat oven to 350

Salsa prep

• Peel outer layer off of tomatillos and then wash them
• Bring pan of water to boil & then place sliced green pepper and whole tomatillos in boiling water… cook until soft but don’t let them turn brown- they should remain green
• Put all the following ingredients in blender and puree: cooked tomatillos, green pepper, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice (from fresh limes)
• Do not add whipping cream to sauce until you are ready to pour it over the enchiladas- you can just stir it into sauce when ready

Chicken prep

• Boil chicken with chicken bouillon cubes (sorry I can’t tell you how much chicken because you choose this by how many pans of enchiladas you wish to make/ how many people you are serving)
• Chop up chicken to very small pieces

Corn Tortillas prep and Assembly

• Use baste brush and put one coat of canola oil on them
• Place plate of 15 or so oiled tortillas in microwave for 1 min. to soften tortillas
• Roll chicken in tortillas and place in 9x13 pan
• Pour tomatillo sauce on top of all the enchiladas and sprinkle cheese on top

-Bake at 350 uncovered for 20 minutes (if salsa and chicken are still warm)

OR Bake at 350 uncovered for 40 minutes if sauce and chicken are cold (like if you prep the sauce and chicken the night before and store in fridge)

**I double the above tomatillo sauce recipe because I like to have extra on the side to pour over the baked enchiladas once they are on my plate.** ENJOY!