Enchilada Recipes

By request I am posting the enchilada recipes that I have. Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, etc.

I have 2 recipes for enchiladas, one is what I call the easy way and the other is considered more authentic and takes some time and talent.

Notes:
#1 – If you want the enchiladas spicier you should roast the chilies in the oven. To do this get out a cookie sheet (ungreased), pre-heat the oven to around 500 degrees roast for 5-10 minutes until the chilies start to look limp or the color starts to change – do not let them get charred (you can also use a grill on medium heat or the broiler on medium heat to roast the chilies). Once you have roasted the chilies let them cool a bit then slice them open, remove and discard the seeds (seeds make a bitter taste), then gently scrap the chili pulp out of the inside of the chili (if you get some of the outside with it no big deal). Put the chili pulp in a slightly above room temperature bowl of chicken broth to soak for 15 minutes, then remove from the broth, and set aside. If you want to freeze the chilies for later use skip the soaking part, place in a freezer safe container like a small Ziplock freezer bag, squeeze all the air out, and roll the bag before placing in the freezer. If you freeze the chilies, when you take the chilies out of the freezer soak them in a bowl of warm (should feel like hot bath water) chicken broth for 20-30 minutes. If you roast the chilies consider reducing the amount of chilies that you use because roasting does make the flavor of the chilies stand out so the more you use the hotter it gets.

#2 – The chilies do make a difference, if you want the enchiladas hotter you should use hotter chilies, similarly if you want them milder use milder chilies. Both recipes I have here include a medium to mild spiciness. If you like really spicy stuff I suggest adding 1 (yes 1) Habanero pepper or fresh Chipotles (1-3) to either recipe.

#3 – To cut fat and calories use low-fat products when possible (i.e. sour cream, cheese, tortillas, etc).

#4 – These recipes are scalable so just multiply or divide to get the right portions you want.

#5 – If you need to make these in a rush or with leftovers you can use chicken from a roast, from the can (although I suggest straining it and seasoning it very well), etc.

#6 - If you want a side dish I suggest cilantro lime rice or Spanish rice; you can also go simple and do chips and salsa.

#7 – You can purchase Chipotle chili powder at Word Market also known as Cost Plus, most Hispanic specialty stores, or at gourmet grocery stores.

The Easy Recipe: - Makes 10 enchiladas
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 medium to large sized Anaheim chilies
1 medium sized Poblano chili
1 small jalapeño chili (optional)
2 Serrano chilies (optional)
1 small onion or ½ of a medium onion (white or yellow depends on the flavor you want)
2 green onions (optional)
1 small green pepper
2 small tomatoes (I suggest roma or beefsteak)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 cups of sour cream
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of minced or fresh garlic
1 teaspoon of parsley
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon of Chipolte chili powder (omit if you add fresh, add more if you want a little more spice)
1 tablespoon of dried or fresh cilantro
Dusting of fresh cracked black pepper (dust over chicken breasts prior to cooking or before adding to sauce if you are using leftovers or canned)
1 ½ to 2 cups of cheese – Mexican blend or Colby and Jack blend
Tortillas (taco sized – if you have burrito size get out a salad or bread plate, put it face down on the tortilla, then take a pizza cutter and trace the place onto the tortilla to cut off the extra)

Cooking:
Step 1 - Dust the chicken breasts with fresh cracked black pepper, then grill until done. If you want to pan cook these cut the chicken into pieces then add ½ cup chicken broth to the pan to help retain moisture and prevent the skin from getting too tough, and cook on medium heat. When chicken is done let it cool briefly then shred the chicken, I suggest using 2 forks to pull the chicken apart. If you hate shredding chicken you can use the food chopper or processor but be very careful so that you do not cut it up too small.

Step 2 – Chop up the onion (white or yellow), chilies, and green pepper. Heat a large pan on medium-low on the stove, add the chopped vegetables and garlic, stir to combine, and cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally (you do not want the stuff to stick to the pan).

Step 3 – in a medium size pot add the cream of chicken soup and sour cream, stir to blend, and cook on medium-low to low-high. Once the soup and sour cream begin to blend add the following spices: oregano, Cayenne Pepper, paprika, parsley, red pepper flakes, and Chipolte chili powder. Stir in the spices and allow mixture to simmer on low-high for approximately 3-5 minutes.

Step 4 – Reduce the heat to the large pan to medium low or low-high (depends on your stove). Add the sauce blend and shredded chicken to the pan with the vegetables then stir to combine. Dice the tomatoes and add to the pan, stirring to combine. Allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Step 5 – Lightly grease your baking dish (I suggest using glass but you can use metal). Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Warm the tortillas slightly (either in the microwave or on the stove top), just until they are soft and easy to work with. Fill the tortillas with the enchilada filling from the pan; 2-2 1/2 big spoon-fulls should do the trick, but try one out and make them as big as you want, your tortilla size will determine a lot. Once you have the enchilada filling in the tortilla roll it tightly, without squeezing the filling out and place in the greased pan. Once you have all of the tortillas filled spread the cheese over top along with the cilantro and diced green onions. Cook the enchiladas for 5-7 minutes, you want the cheese melted but not burned.

Step 6 – Time to eat! I suggest serving with sour cream and either pico de gallo or salsa.


The more involved “authentic recipe” – this is typically medium spicy, it is not mild by any means
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 ½ pound of skinless boneless chicken
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
4 teaspoons minced or fresh garlic
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of parsley
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon of Chipolte chili powder (omit if you add fresh, add more if you want a little more spice)
1 tablespoon of dried or fresh cilantro
1 medium red onion
1 cup of corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
5 whole green chilies
1 28oz can of stewed tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup cheddar and jack cheeses
16 corn tortillas
1 ½ cups enchilada sauce (separate recipe below)
Chopped cilantro, scallions, and fresh tomatoes to cover top of dish
Sour cream to serve with

Sauce ingredients:
3 ancho chili peppers
3 pasilla chili peppers
Water to cover chilies
2 cloves of crushed or miced garlic
1 onion (white or yellow)
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of all purpose flour
3 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste (I omit this)

To make sauce:
Step 1 – Roast chilies (until you can smell them –see advice above), remove from heat, split open, remove and discard seeds, place in water for 30 minutes, then scrap out the pulp, and discard skin then return the pulp to the water until you are ready to use.

Step 2 – In a large saucepan over medium heat sauté garlic and onion in the butter for 5 minutes then add flour, stir to thicken, then add chicken stock, stir, then allow to thicken. Add chili pulps, oregano, and cumin to thickened sauce mix.

Step 3 – Remove the mixture from the pan and place in a blender, blend until smooth and season with salt to taste.

Filling:
Step 1- Season chicken with salt and pepper, brown chicken on a grill or in a pan, then add cumin, ½ or the garlic, all of the oregano, Cayenne pepper, paprika, parsley, red pepper flakes, and chipotle chili powder. Continue to cook chicken until done. **If you are cooking chicken in a pan I suggest that you cut the chicken into pieces and add some chicken stock to the pan, like ½ cup to keep the chicken moist. If you are cooking on a grill then you might consider marinating the chicken in the spice mix prior to grilling, the longer you let it marinate the more flavorful the chicken will be. Once chicken is cooked, remove from the pan, leaving the dippings. Place chicken on a clean cutting board to shred.

Step 2 – Saute onion and garlic in chicken dippings until tender, then add corn, chilies, and tomatoes; stir well and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes.

Step 3 – Shred chicken, I suggest using two forks to accomplish this task. Add shredded chicken to sauté pan where vegetables are cooking, sprinkle flour over to help thicken and set up the mixture, continue to cook for 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally. Heat the mixture on low until you are ready to fill the enchiladas.

Step 4 – Lightly grease a baking pan (I suggest glass but you can use metal). Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Step 5 - Pour enchilada sauce into a bowl big enough to place your tortillas in easily. Dip the tortillas in the enchilada sauce, then fill with the enchilada mixture, roll, and place in baking dish. Once dish is full cover the rolled enchiladas with remaining enchilada sauce, cheese, chopped cilantro, scallions, and fresh tomatoes then place in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove the dish when the cheese is melted but not burned.

Step 6 – Serve with sour cream, pico de gallo, or salsa.

99 Enchiladas?

99 Days of Pregnancy Left, take one down, pass it around….

Wow – as of today I only have 99 days left of pregnancy I can hardly believe it! I am sure that time will fly even faster over the next few months….and years.

So that’s 99 days left to find a name for this baby…other than Bean. Wish me luck or send ideas. :)

Enchiladas

Ryan and I made chicken and green chili enchiladas on Monday. For the first time ever I let Ryan help (I am so proud of myself and him). Ryan loves enchiladas so I make a huge batch (well not the biggest I have ever made but for 2 people it is huge) that will last most of the week (this time they lasted 3 days). Here are some pictures of our fun cooking adventure.

Here’s Ryan cutting up all the yummy goodness…..(yes he made a weird face on purpose)

Here’s the yummy goodness getting cooked…
Here’s the sauce…
Here’s me trying to make sure it all turns out as yummy goodness and not too hot or too bland
Here’s the yummy goodness cooking
All rolled up and no place to go
Some cheese and cilantro to top it off
All baked up and ready to eat!

Bad blogger - busy bee

I feel like I have been a bad blogger….then again when I wait so long to blog I guess there is plenty to say.

Pregnancy

As of 3-27-09 I am officially 25 weeks pregnant – I feel HUGE, as I am sure most pregnant women feel. I know I will continue to get bigger and I am sure in a few weeks I will look back and say, “oh I wasn’t that big” – this will of course be because I am bigger than HUGE. LOL. For those of you interested in seeing the “Bean Bump” I have included a picture.

I was also recently thinking, man there are some things I love and some things I could do without during pregnancy; I thought I would share so that for those who don’t know you can beware and for those who do know, well you can feel my pain.

Things I could do without:

• Round ligament pains – okay, so when God created woman he gave us a womb right, well apparently when that womb stretches aka its’ sole purpose, it cause incredibly painful sensations similar to being torn apart from the inside, although I am sure labor will put this into perspective
• Being sick to your stomach – so for the first 4 months I spent way too much time getting to know my very small bathroom, I have now decided that when I buy a house I want a big bathroom that is pleasantly decorated, mine started to get boring really fast
• Food looking disgusting – I love to cook, well I should put that in past tense, I used to love cooking, I am just now getting the strength back up to look at raw food, let alone handle it and want to prepare it; raw chicken still grosses me out as does cooked grilled chicken on occasion, yuck (normally I like chicken)
• Smells – on the rare occasion that I can actually smell stuff it is intensified 100 fold, so to those in the grocery store who don’t wear deodorant I want to direct them to the personal hygiene aisle, thankfully I have been able to control myself and don’t leave the house very much
• Stuffy noses and bloody noses – need I say more, who wants a defective nose? I think I am supporting a small Kleenex factory, hopefully someone got to keep their job because of me, that would be a good thing
• Heartburn/acid reflux – okay Tums has become one of my best friends but come on they don’t taste that great there is only so much I can manage to choke down
• Leg and foot cramps – ouch, ouch, and ouch; yes I drink water, yes I am eating bananas – still ouch – I especially hate it when the bottom of my foot cramps, I could really do without that sensation
• Dry skin – so here I am drinking lots of water and I feel like I have to take a bath in lotion, maybe this is just the unpleasantly cold Utah weather, we’ll split the responsibility for this one 50% baby, 50% weather
• Lowered immune system – so here you are cooking a baby, highly susceptible to things going wrong if you aren’t healthy and you get sick easier than ever before, I spent weeks 17-23 sick with various colds, I literally thought it would never end so I locked myself in the house for 2 weeks straight and refused to be near anyone but Ryan in fear that I might get another cold!

Cool things about pregnancy, my very short list:

• #1 has got to be feeling the baby move, what an amazing thing to feel life moving and growing inside of you!
• Hair and nail growth, wow, have my hair and nails grown rapidly and I will say that my hair has grown nicely (thank you Bean!)
• Knowing that I will be a parent and can share this amazing experience with my awesome hubby! (Still scares the living daylights out of me to be a parent, there is a lot I could mess up – but it is exciting)
• Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Bean – what will he look like, what kind of personality will he have, will he be more like Ryan or me……
• Trying out names – this is both incredibly frustrating and fun, I never imagined that it would be so hard for me to pick out a first and middle name that I liked that flows with our last name
  

Trip to AZ

Last weekend Ryan had his “big” spring break – a whole 2 days off! We decided that we needed to go on a trip so Thursday night/Friday morning we called my in-laws and asked if we could stay with them for a few days, they were nice enough to say yes and Courtney (Ryan’s little sister) was nice enough to let us use her room (thank you!!!!). Friday afternoon we headed down for a short 3 ½ day visit. We got to do way more than we ever thought – it was a very nice surprise! Ryan got to ride quads, something he hasn’t done in months because of course it is freezing cold here. We got to eat LOTS of yummy food (thank you to Kevin, Ryan’s dad and Mike, Emily’s hubby…our friends). We even got to start a fire and roast smores – smore please! I also went and got my hair cut like 7 inches shorter on Monday, I has having a frustrating time trying to work so I decided to take a few hours and spoil myself.

Here’s a picture of my nephew that my mom snapped, I got to see him for the first time in months (like 8) while we were down for our visit. He is 19 months old and just a solid little guy, well he really isn’t all that little as you can tell. Thanks Che, I had an awesome time watching you “digga dig” in the sand and squeal while we pushed you on the swings and took you down the slide.

We are so happy that we got to see so many of our friends while we were down – we miss you so much!


Temple Dedication

The Friday morning before we left to go to AZ Julia (me) got to go to the first session of the Draper Temple dedication – it was AWESOME! It was so cool to sit in the Temple, see President Monson as well as Elders Eyring and Packard in their Temple clothes cracking jokes, sharing spiritual thoughts, and dedicating a house unto the Lord. The Draper Temple is gorgeous and I can honestly say that all who walk its halls should feel the presence of the Lord in his house, it was created for him and under his direction. I can’t wait to see the temple when spring decides to show up because the grounds will be beautiful. **This temple is about 2.5 miles from our house – up the street and over a bit. At night when we look out our window we can see five temples: the Salt Lake Temple (on a clear night, just the top), the Jordan River Temple, the Draper Temple, the Mount Timpanogos Temple, and the Oquirrh Utah Temple. I do love living on the mountain!

Baby Registry Adventure

About 2 weeks ago I was trying to get my registry set up. Now there are just some things that you can register for online and other things that you really need to go to the store and try out, especially when you don’t have a lot of experience buying baby stuff. So I talked Ryan into taking me to Babies R US to look at strollers, pack-n-plays, and cribs. We drove to the store in Provo (like 25 minutes away), when we got there I commenced testing everything out. I shook the cribs, tried to scuff them up, tried imagining baby bedding in them, etc. Next I was onto the pack-n-plays I wanted to know how high they went up, how durable they were, and if the features were worth having – let me just say I don’t know why companies recently feel the need to add music to like everything, bouncers, pack-n-plays, swings, etc – hello people if you are going to add music make it desirable able to listen to. Okay so all is going well, we go over to the strollers, I push the first one around, I collapse it and pull it back up, same with the second, the third one I push it around, play with the car seat and the little tray thing, then I collapse it, no problem, then I go to pull it back up – wham, I hit myself in the belly, I was leaning into the stroller trying to get it up and the spring decided to work and hit me full force – holy cow did that hurt! So that is my adventurous story about comparison shopping for baby goods, apparently shopping is dangerous.

Meet "Bean"

In September Ryan started asking me what I wanted for my birthday (in October). As many of you who know me are aware, I am horrible (typically) at deciding what I want for gifts. This year I told Ryan I wanted a baby for my birthday. Of course we had the laughs about buying one, having one materialize out of thin air, etc. I had decided though that is what I wanted for my birthday, a baby.

Setting out on a quest for what seemed at the time nearly impossible to accomplish we remained hopeful, even if a bit skeptical. Towards the end of October (birthday time) we became a little suspicious that I might be getting exactly what I wanted. I was very cautious because we had a few months of “fake outs” as I like to refer to them.

On November 4th (yes, election day) we took the “test” and found out that we were expecting a little one! I must say that I really like the digital pregnancy tests much more than the traditional line or plus sign tests. When we took the test it took seconds for the little “Pregnant” result to flash onto the screen – I just stared at it for what seemed an eternity (10 minutes or so) in disbelief.

When we found out that we were pregnant we read online about how big our baby was and how things should be developing. According to what we read at the time, our baby was the size of a bean – so we began calling our baby “Bean” – hence the title of this post “Meet Bean.”

Yesterday we had the pleasure of getting our official ultrasound. We got to see our little Bean move around, kick, and show off. One thing Bean really wanted to show off was his parts – yes I did say “his” – when the ultrasound technician went to go see what gender Bean was he spread his legs wide open and gave us a peep show. The tech laughed and said, wow, baby isn’t shy! When the specialist (maternal and fetal doctor) came in to go over our ultrasound and check for various things he asked if we knew the gender, we said “yes, but we know it is just a guess” – well apparently he wanted proof, he made sure he zoomed in and printed us out a picture – he laughed and said (in a very funny way) “Now I am not a betting man but I would put money on the fact that this is a boy” – then he handed us a picture – needless to say we are believers.

We are so excited to be so blessed to be pregnant and this far along (fingers still crossed that everything will go okay). I love being able to feel the baby move (it is so neat)! We hope that we will be blessed to have a healthy baby in a few months and we are so thankful for the prayers that we have had said on our behalf over the past two years. We hope that each of you knows that your well being is in our prayers as well and that we are incredibly thankful for your help with achieving and sustaining this miracle of a blessing!

Here are some pictures of our little Bean....

"I am far from shy!"

Arms - Yep I can already snap my fingers and hit my mom....


Profile - See my spine? I am breathing too - cool huh?

Face...."No, I will not hold still!"

Random Thoughts

I thought I would write a little random post (I am known for having random chats so why not posts too?). So here goes:

Favorite Student Emails:
Teaching adults is always fairly interesting and for some reason I find a lot of humor in things my students say to me. Recently I have had an onslaught of students taking a week or more off then telling me he or she is going to make up the work. Of course my response is always per my late policy you have a grace period of x number of days (4 for freshmen and 3 for my juniors) to submit work after the due date unless you have a substantiated and legitimate emergency (those are super rare).

This past month I have had 3 students wanting excused absences for a week or more – now none of these students contacted me until after their alleged emergencies. Here are their stories:

Student 1: “My wife had a baby and I want to take 2 weeks off during a 9 week class.” My response – according to your biography your wife was due during our class, so congratulations but you should have scheduled around this event if you wanted time off. The student then tells me that I am being unfair and totally unrealistic oh and that I am a disappointing instructor. This situation was fantastic - I am disappointing – wow a new high.

Student 2: “My wife’s father died and we had to fly out of state to plan and take care of his funeral.” My response – I am sorry to hear about your loss, can you email me a scanned or faxed copy of your flight itinerary and either the death certificate or funeral program? – The student told me that he couldn’t provide those items but he demanded an excused absence. Huh, so you can’t prove your eligibility but you “demand” an excused absence – I wish I had that kind of power or guts.

Student 3: After being out of class for a little over 2 weeks I get an email claiming the student has had major surgery and illness and is now ready to “catch up.” Now I am no dummy I have worked in healthcare and taken plenty of science courses so when students pull the illness card I know what to ask. So I asked for a note from the student’s doctor or a copy of the hospital admissions form – nothing with healthcare info just admission and discharge date complete with student’s name as well as doctor’s name and phone number – similar to what you would need to qualify for FMLA at a workplace. This is my favorite response: “I can’t believe you aren’t trusting me, this is ridiculous! I am an adult, my word should be sufficient! Also I never said my surgery was an emergency.” Okay so let’s take this one step at a time (1) you have to have an emergency for excused absences, (2) the type of surgery being claimed is ONLY performed on an emergency basis – otherwise the illness is treated with broad spectrum antibiotics by IV for 3 days then a month 2-5 times a day orally, (3) hospitals have phones, obviously you had to call your employer so why didn’t I get a call, (4) I have yet to meet someone with a decent job who can take off more than 2 weeks of sick time from work without proof of illness, and my favorite (5) I have met plenty of adults who lie, in fact, many think they are above the law or reprisal when it comes to lying.
Hopefully you too can find the humor in these situations.

Fishing
Ryan has been ice fishing a few times this winter with his friend Brett (from school). During his last fishing trip he caught a fish so big that it wouldn’t fit through the fishing hole and ended up breaking his fishing line. Ryan said that he reeled the fish in and when it was at the opening of the hole in the ice that he could just see the fish’s huge mouth. I can’t say that I would have wanted him to bring it home – gutting fish is nasty but a picture would have been fun.

Silly Pharmaceutical Commercials
I don’t know how many of you have watch the commercials about plaque psoriasis treatments but if you get a chance listen closely they go something like this “can help to clear your mild to moderate plaque psoriasis (this is a skin disorder by the way it makes your skin look icky and feel icky too) – side effects include death, major infections, TB, and pretty much any horrible side effect you can drum up- but hey you get clearer skin.” Ummm……okay so how do you weight those kinds of side effects?


The Superbowl
We were so proud to see the AZ Cardinals make it to the big game and it was awesome that they proved they could hold their own against a team like the Steelers – so even though they didn’t win we are still proud of them, maybe next year!

Doe a Deer a Female Deer- No really Deer!

So everyone has been telling us to watch out for these deer on the roads at night…..we thought oh cool there are deer by our house, of course we can see all the signs that say drive slow dummy, there are deer! Well we haven’t seen any deer near our house except one dead one down the street. That is until today – Ryan and I were returning from a walk this afternoon and I looked up on the mountain and saw deer – tons of them! When we got home I got out my camera and of course some lettuce, hey if I am going to stare and will at least pay…lol!

Anyways here are some pictures, if I could have scaled the fence in our backyard I would have gotten closer but zoom worked pretty well too. See how many you can find when they start looking more like the mountain and less like deer!

Our Trip to Arizona

We returned back to Utah after spending 2 weeks in warm, sunshine-drenched, lovely Arizona on January 2nd. We had a fantastic trip filled with family, friends, quad riding, and lots of fun activities.

Ryan enjoyed eating out with the boys at Losbetos (yes I likely spelled that incorrectly). He also went quading (ATV riding) with his dad and little brother several times, although he wanted to go more but the rain didn’t allow him to enjoy the terrain as much as he would have liked. Ryan also got to see lots of friends and hang-out/catch-up. Of course Ryan also enjoyed watching football, sleeping in, playing video games, not having to study, and most importantly not having to study!

Julia enjoyed shopping with her sister-in-law, Courtney, and mother-in-law, Claire, together we brought new meaning to “shop till you drop.” Julia also got to enjoy painting at Create It (in Mesa with Emily) and at As You Wish (in Mesa) with Courtney – Ryan now has his own candy bowl spouting a cautionary warning for any who might dare take his candy and we have a new picture frame. Julia also enjoyed seeing friends, getting together with old co-workers (thank you for the good laughs and fun lunch), seeing friends with their kiddos (yeah kiddos), and eating some great food! Of course Julia also enjoyed not freezing her butt off, not having to clean the house, and time off from teaching – breaks are AWESOME!

Together we got to spend time with Ryan’s family, going to movies, seeing the kids enjoy Christmas morning (and Santa), cooking, shopping, and relaxing. We also got to see friends we have missed dearly, and we even got to know a few new additions to our friends’ families (yeah – Kristal, baby David, etc). We also visited Julia’s mom, her boyfriend, and the puppies, welcome Bob, you are too cute (FYI Bob is an adorable 2 pound Pomeranian puppy that looks like a teddy bear) don’t worry Buddy we still love you too (Buddy is an English Springer Spaniel that joined the family last year).

We were very excited to hear about all of the developments back home, new babies, marriages, new jobs, new homes, etc. Most importantly we were happy to be there sharing time and the spirit of the season with our friends and family, we might not be there all the time but we cherish the time we get!

We hope that those whom we didn’t get to see know we missed them (and still do) and that we hope we get to see you next time we are down. For our new friends and old here in Utah we hope to see you soon. To all we hope you had terrific holiday seasons and that they were filled with joy, the spirit, and good people.

Gospel Miss-teachings

So the other day I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few craft and food items for my primary class’s Christmas party. Like a lost puppy with no clue where to go or what to do I was pacing up and down an aisle looking for a cheap craft that 9 year olds would dig but not destroy someone’s home making. Enter two 19-year old-ish girls, both are let’s say a little girlish. One girl was looking for a craft to make with her nieces and nephews, she was looking at various crafts and finally came to the conclusion that she would like to get something with a star shape. The other girl asked why she wanted a star shape to which the girl replied, because the star led the wise men to Jesus so it would be a cool craft to talk about Christmas. The other girl starts in saying, there was no star, the little drummer boy led the wise men to Jesus. The two girls actually got into a fight, yelling at each other about who was right. The girl who wanted the star asked why the other thought a drummer led the wise men, to which she replied, that is what they taught us in church and stormed off, yelling back, that she would be waiting in the car for her to get a craft that taught kids the wrong stories.

Now I was standing in the aisle the entire time, trying not to laugh out-loud or just intervene. So after the one girl stormed off, I looked at the girl left in the aisle and said “the star led the wise men to Jesus, it appeared in the night sky for the first time to mark his birth, while the drummer boy is just a nice Christmas carol.”

While the story is funny, here’s the kicker for me. So Saturday arrives and I am having fun with my little primary class, two of the kids brought 5 year old siblings, when posed with the question, “who or what led the wise men to Jesus” both 5 year olds screamed the North Star before the 9 year olds even “understood” the question.

Perhaps innocence has the ability to teach us that the gospel, including its hymns are true, while other songs and stories, are just that, nice songs and stories meant to entertain. If we could see things like a little child perhaps we might see the Angels on high watching over us, the North star pointing our way, wise men teaching us and ushering us through life – giving us spiritual gold, and Christ welcoming us as we welcome him.