Creativity

Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe

August 14, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

We love enchiladas at our house. Well, more accurately we love all Mexican food. Enchiladas, tacos, flautas, fajitas, gorditas. Yum. I make this chicken enchilada casserole often, because it is fast to put together, it’s easy and it’s good. And leftovers are just as good, or even better.

Why a chicken enchilada casserole and not rolled enchiladas?

Well, that’s simple. It’s easier and faster. No rolling the individual enchiladas, however, this recipe will easily adapt to rolling those tortillas like a real enchilada. And it’s quite tasty that way too.

Even better, this recipe is flexible. Don’t have Colby-Jack cheese? Use Cheddar. Don’t like canned chicken? No problem, you can use any kind of chicken you want. Rotisserie chicken works great, as does left over baked chicken. Don’t want chicken? Substitute spinach, shrimp, even pork or beef, though you might want to consider changing the green sauce to red for beef. Just a suggestion. Don’t like onions? Leave them out. You can add a can of green chilies for more flavor, or jalapenos for heat.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 8

Author: flightyandcreative.com

Ingredients

18 Corn tortillas for a 9x13 pan
2-3 cups Colby-Jack cheese, shredded use more or less cheese depending on your taste
1 can Green enchilada sauce spicy or mild, it's up to you
1 1/2 lbs Shredded cooked chicken or two 12.5 oz cans chicken breast
1 Small onion, chopped optional
1 can Green chilies, mild or hot optional
Toppings of your choice - sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, etc.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Open and drain the cans of chicken, and break up with a fork, or alternately, shred any other type of chicken. Place chicken in a bowl. Add about 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese, and the chopped onion and green chilies if using. Mix it up and pour in about a few tablespoons of the enchilada sauce. You want the mixture to be wet but not soupy.
Spray your pan with nonstick cooking spray so nothing sticks to the bottom. Pour a little of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan and then line it with six corn tortillas. They will overlap. Pour on a little more of the sauce and spread it over the tortillas. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the tortillas and top with a little more sauce, and then a layer of cheese. Add another layer of six tortillas, sauce, meat mixture, sauce and cheese. Top with one more layer of tortillas, the rest of the sauce and the rest of the cheese.
Bake for about 30-45 minutes, covered, or until the casserole is hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted. You can remove the cover for the last 10-15 minutes if you’d like for the cheese to get a little crusty.
Remove from oven, and let cool slightly before cutting. Serve with the toppings of your choice.
ENJOY!

Hopefully you enjoy this chicken enchilada casserole recipe. Contact me or let me know in the comments if you find a great variation.

Check out my boards on Pinterest for more recipes.

Vendor Events: Tips to Set Up a Booth that Rocks

August 14, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

Have you ever been to vendor events and noticed that a lot of vendors simply lay their products on a table and sit behind it? They may have great products, but the booth set up just doesn’t catch your attention and welcome you in. Now, have you seen a both that made you say, “Wow!” That’s probably one booth you want to visit again.

One. Consider your product.

What is your product and main focus? Small items that need to sit on tables? Clothes that need to hang on racks? Food that must be individually wrapped and/or kept warm? Craft demos that require space to work? This will dictate what fixtures you need and how to set them up.

Two. Choose your fixtures.

If you need tables, find out if the venue supplies them, or if you need to and then make sure you have enough. For hanging clothes, you can buy or make racks to hold your clothes, but make sure you have some mannequins to style some outfits and grab the attention of the potential customers walking by your booth. For small items or food, you’ll need tables of course, but baskets and pretty boxes to hold items will keep your display from being boring. If you will be giving demos or will have customers doing “make and takes,” make sure you have enough chairs, and that those chairs are not horribly uncomfortable.

Three. Remember that details matter.

Vendor events are like a collection of mini boutiques. This is the feeling you want to give potential customers when they’re walking by, so pay attention to the details.

Put some thought into your decorations and color scheme. Don’t just throw any old tablecloths on your tables. Make sure they’re clean (of course), and that they coordinate with the booth decor and/or your branding. Tablecloths should also be long enough to cover anything you have stashed under the tables as well as ugly legs (table legs, not people legs). Branding on your tablecloths is also a good idea.

Place your items on your tables in groupings and at different heights. You can place wooden blocks or packing boxes under your table cloth as risers to set your items on. Or you can use scarves, quilts, burlap or some other fabric pieces to lay over the risers. Just ensure everything is coordinated and presents a unified picture.

Style your mannequins with a complete outfit by including jewelry and other accessories if possible. Use scarves or fabric pieces to drape over the ends of racks, and find ways to hang items separately from the racks in order to catch the customer’s eye.

Wrap your food items in pretty coordinating packaging, such as cute branded bags or boxes. Make sure any samples are distributed in a way that keeps fingers off of the remainder of the product, but also make sure those containers are pretty and pleasing to the eye.

Four. Don’t forget your signage.

Use cute wooden chalk signs to announce sales, designate sizes, or identify flavors or colors, or print your signs on card stock in a pretty font and laminate them. Make sure that you’re consistent in the presentation by using all the same style, colors and fonts.

Five. Where’s the cash register?

Many people at vendor events put their cash register, or check out area if you don’t have a register, at the back of the booth. This is perfectly fine, but then you’re stuck at the back if you have several people. If you’re working the booth alone, who is watching the front and thus ensuring any questions can be quickly answered? You can also place your register at the front to one side of the booth. This allows you to keep an eye on the booth, and answer questions even when you are checking out customers.

Six. Follow the rules.

Many vendor events have specific rules regarding sales, signage, how the booth must be set up or even how to handle theft. Be sure that you know the rules and follow them to the letter. You certainly want to be invited back in the future, and being a good vendor who follows the rules is a good way to ensure you will be.

Seven. Vendor events are a lot of work, but can be lots of fun too.

There is a ton of work that goes into preparing for, setting up, and working vendor events. However, it can be a fun and profitable experience.

Contact me or leave a comment if you have any other tips for vendor events you’d like to share.

Check out my Pinterest boards for lots of ideas.

Give Great Swag to Promote Your Brand

August 14, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

Everyone loves swag, or those promotional items you receive at an event or from a business. Usually the item is printed with the company’s name and logo, or the name of the event and date. The purpose of swag for a business is to get your attention and be a positive reminder of that company. Next time you need the type of product or service offered by that company, the hope is that you will remember them and contact them first.

So what is good swag?

Good swag is something that the recipient keeps and uses. Not so good swag is something that the recipient throws away or leaves behind. That might get your brand in their hands, but why bother if it’s not going to stay there? Your promotional items say a lot about you. Buy cheap plastic crap (official promotional product industry term) and you won’t impress your customer. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t think badly about you because everyone loves free stuff. But they won’t be wowed by your gift either. And swag with the wow factor doesn’t have to be expensive.

What’s in a pen?

Let’s take pens for example. Everybody uses pens. Many people steal pens. If you’re promoting your business using pens, choose a really cool pen that your customer will want to steal, and then let them. Encourage them to. Choose a pen that writes well, is comfortable to hold and has an eye-catching design in a color that matches your branding, or a color that catches their attention. And put your logo and contact info or website on it.

Way back when I became a consultant for my first direct sales company, I was taught to buy red pens for customers to use when filling out their order forms at home parties. The reasoning was that they would be less likely to steal the pens if they wrote in red ink, and that made sense back then. Replacing the pens is an expense. However, now I know that’s crazy talk! Choose good pens with your info on them. Allow and encourage your customers to take them. Keep those pens in their hands and they’ll be reminded of you every time they use them. And when they are ready to buy again, they’ll think of you first.

So many products, so little time.

The promotional products industry is huge. HUGE. There are a lot of products. And when I say a lot, I do mean a lot. If you want a number, we’ll say it’s over 800,000 specific promotional products. But I think that’s low. Really, anything can be a promotional product if you put your logo on it and give it to someone. It can be overwhelming to find just the right product to fit your requirement just right. But that perfect product is out there. Do you need a hot pink travel mug with glitter? It not only exists, but there are choices. The trick is to find the right one and keep it within your budget, but that can be done with the help of a promotional products professional.

Contact me for some great swag ideas for your business. I can help you wow your customer within your budget.

Check out my latest pins here.

6 Tips We Learned When Remodeling our Kitchen

August 13, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

We inherited my grandmother’s small house, and it subsequently had a large addition added on to it before we actually took possession 20+ years later. That’s a long boring story that we can just skip. Anyway, once we finally were ready to move “back home” and into our house, it needed a lot of work. And we have done a lot of work. In this post, I’ll focus on the kitchen, though the remodeling project included more than just the kitchen. I do have some tips to share that we learned along the way.

Tip #1: Remodeling costs more than you think.

We planned for some extras that we really wanted, and did our homework before we started so we’d have a good idea of how much it would cost. That sentence makes me laugh now because we truly had no idea. I won’t tell you (honestly I don’t know) how much we went over our original budget. However, you don’t have to go over budget if you’re disciplined and plan better than we did. Lots better. Infinitely better. We did spend less on a few things than we planned for, but that didn’t make up for the areas where we spent more. Not even close.

Tip #2: You can have the items you really want if you are willing to look for deals and do your homework.

I was insistent that I wanted a 60″ Viking professional range. That was non-negotiable. So in our little spreadsheet, we budgeted the cost of a new one. I found one on eBay (yikes!) for less than half of the new price. Yes, I said eBay. It was used. It weighed over 800 lbs and had to be shipped from California to Texas. And it had to be converted from natural gas to propane. That was a hard purchase for me to make because I was afraid that the transaction would not turn out well. The seller kept us informed every step of the way and we received it from the freight company. But then we had to wait several months with it sitting in the garage because the room wasn’t ready for it. But it works well, and we love it. It was one of the best purchases we made.

Tip #3: Adding propane to an all electric house may not cost prohibitive, but it’s damn close.

See that stove up there? It is not electric. There was no gas in this house, propane or otherwise. Everything was electric and I hate cooking on an electric stove. Hate it. HATE it. Well, the original builder of this house (my uncle) told me that adding propane would be cost prohibitive. He said this with a chuckle that said, “Oh you are an idiot.” Well, we did it, but it is one of the things that seriously contributed to our going over budget. We had to dig trenches, that required a tractor implement that George had to buy (what a tragedy). And yes, I’m probably an idiot. That’s okay, because I now have my Viking gas range.

Tip #4: Removing load-bearing walls is possible, but it ain’t cheap.

This is another subject that amused my uncle, the builder. I’m sure he thought, “I have contributing to raising a complete moron.” He made it clear that this too was an unreasonable expectation. Well, we removed two load-bearing walls in the course of remodeling. The ceiling hasn’t collapsed. But we had a friend who owns a company with extensive knowledge and experience in this area. Thankfully, they were available and willing to take on the job.

Tip #5: You need nugget ice (AKA Sonic ice) in your kitchen. You just do.

A Scotsman nugget ice maker was on my list of must haves. But they are spendy (I am aware that’s not a proper word). Well refer back to tip #2. Keep looking. I managed to find a brand new one someone had bought and returned because it didn’t fit in their kitchen for about half the price. It works perfectly and we use it constantly. Ice cubes? No thanks!

Tip #6: Remodeling will take longer than expected.

We started this remodel in January of 2015. It’s now August of 2017. We are not quite finished, though we just completed the last big project. At least until we think of something else. We have lots of touch-ups and finishing work to do, but the big stuff is done – for now. Part of the reason it took so long is because it went so over budget. But you know, now that it’s all coming together, it doesn’t seem like it has been that bad. And remember we were doing much more than just the kitchen. More posts about everything else will be added soon, as well as some before and after pictures.

Many, many of the ideas that went into our remodel came from Pinterest, and I pinned most of them. Check out my boards by clicking here, and you can find those ideas and many more.

Contact me here if you want to share more tips.

Become a Blogger and Learn WordPress

August 13, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

First of all, let me just tell you right up front that I am no expert how to become a blogger. However, they tell me that if you have a blog, and you write posts, you’re a blogger. Maybe I am. Maybe I’m just muddling my way through this process and learning as I go. The reality is that I’m learning it as I screw stuff up and have to learn to fix it. Let’s call me a wannabe blogger – for now anyway.

Become a blogger with this secret weapon.

I do however, know a secret weapon in the process, and it’s the only reason that I know anything about it at all. It’s called Blogging Boot Camp and it has been invaluable to me, and I’m sure to a lot of other people learning this craziness as we go. Don’t worry, I will give directions at the end of this post so you can find this sanity-saving tool that will teach you the basics. But I have a few things to say about it first. Read if you want, or skip to the bottom. I’ll be okay either way.

When this session of Blogging Boot Camp (BBC for laziness) was announced, I was determined that I was going to sign up and attend. But yikes that price tag seemed steep, not only to me but also to the other person who would definitely notice that dip in the bank balance. Oh, but neither of us realized the true value of what we were purchasing. There’s a saying that you get what you pay for. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. And then sometimes you get much, much more than you pay for. This is one of those times.

Holy crap, I didn’t know anything about SEO or slugs or alt text or graphic sizes. Links can be pretty?? WordPress would have given me fits if I didn’t have someone holding my hand and telling me exactly where to put these crazy puzzle pieces, and how to make them fit into place. Well, to be honest, it still kind of did give me fits, and will likely continue to do so. But now I have a foundation to build on. And confidence that I didn’t have before. It’s not quite so intimidating anymore.

So what the heck is Blogging Boot Camp (otherwise nicknamed Bootleg Boxcar by my husband)?

BBC (Blogging Boot Camp, remember?) is an awesome class that can be found over at the Sassy Suite. BBC is only offered every few months, but there are other great social media classes available all the time. When you sign up for BBC, the awesome camp staff set up your blog foundation for you, but then they spend the next couple of months teaching you how to do all the other set up tasks. They don’t just build it and turn it over to you and say, “See you later.” I’m certainly better at learning as I’m doing, especially if I have detailed instructions. I can’t recommend this course enough if you want to learn how to become a blogger.

Throughout this process, there have been many things pulling me away from the blog such as graduate school, an ongoing house remodel, a family emergency, and our day-to-day business tasks. I must not forget the animals who like to be fed on a daily basis. Spoiled, I tell you. But not only have the BBC camp counselors been encouraging and helpful, all the other participants turn out to be your cheerleaders and your friends. You become a blogger at the same time they do.

Contact me if you have a question about Blogging Boot Camp.

This post contains an affiliate link. I honestly loved these classes (not just BBC) so much that I signed myself up to be an affiliate!

Promotional Product “Company Stores” for Direct Sellers

August 11, 2017 By Jennifer Evanko

What is a Company Store?

A company store is a site you set up with a promotional product company and choose logo items for your team or your customers to order and have shipped directly to them. You choose the products and imprint, and the vendor manages the site. You do not need to buy a collection of merchandise, store it and then ship it to your team or your customers. There is little to no investment involved in setting up a company store.

A Promotional Product Company Store Example

Let’s say you’re a consultant for a direct sales company, and you have built a team of consultants under you. You want to encourage team unity and excitement to keep them motivated. T-shirts are a great place to start to build your team brand, but you can also add jackets, caps, bags, writing instruments, lapel pins, lanyards, and an almost infinite number of other promotional products. Set up a company store, and select the t-shirts or other items you want to make available to your team. You can choose one style and color, or you can have several choices for them.

Everyone has different tastes and preferences, and needs different sizes or styles for their own best fit. You certainly don’t want to have to predict what each team member will choose and order a few of each size/style/color combination, then wait for them to send you payment before sending them the shirt. That would be a huge investment.

The promotional product company does not print the items until your team member or customer orders it, therefore there is no initial investment in quantities of products you aren’t sure you will need. You send the team member or customer the link, and they place their order. The company prints the item and sends it directly to them. You can change promotional products to keep the selection fresh, and add a variety of products that present a unified theme.

Team Incentives

You can use your company store to send incentives or gifts directly to your team members. Did someone promote or have exceptionally high sales one month? Your store can include specially selected promotional products designated for a specified occasion. You can order the product for your team member, or give them a code to order the item themselves. This will save you time and money, especially if you have a large team. No more going to the store or shopping online to find the right gift at an affordable price. And best of all, these items will be personalized with your team branding.

Customer Perks

Company stores are a great tool for sending your customers appreciation items or loyalty perks. For example, you may have a customer who orders from you on a regular basis, and you want to send them a small gift just to say thank you. Some great examples of thank you items include pens or reusable shopping bags. You may have specified products that you order and send directly to them, with a note to say, “Thank you for your business. We appreciate you!” Doesn’t everyone love a surprise gift they weren’t expecting? And with your contact information printed right on the item as a constant reminder of you and your business, your customers will think of you first.

Contact me to discuss the possibilities. We can design a company store program that will save you time and money.

Check out my Pinterest boards here.