Light King Ranch Chicken Casserole Makes 8 servings Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 5 minutes Bake: 35 minutes 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green bell pepper vegetable cooking spray 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast 1 (10 ounce) can fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted 1 (10 ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes (with green chiles, if desired) 1 tsp chili powder ½ tsp pepper ¼ tsp garlic powder 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas 1 (8 ounce) block of reduced fat Cheddar cheese, shredded SAUTE onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. STIR in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat. TEAR tortillas into 1” pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice. BAKE at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly. NOTE: Freeze casserole up to 1 month, if desired. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake as directed. *Have had but not “light” version and using regular diced tomatoes (no green chiles). Very good, even as a leftover.

Long Time Coming...

So I've been away. Tax time, start of soccer season, spring time chores starting up. But I don't want April to get away without posting something. And so, that's to the reader's benefit because it'll be briefer than normal.

Let's see...on the iPod recently, Iz "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World". You might remember the haunting version by the very large late Hawaiian singer/guitarist used in a toy commercial a few years back. Jason Castro did a pretty good version recently on American Idol (and now you know something else about me...I watch American Idol...and The Apprentice...and Survivor...and Hell's Kitchen).

Recent movie..."Sweeney Todd"...Depp does great musical. Lot's of blood, though. Put the kiddies to bed.

Cooking...gonna try giving you a recipe through Google docs. Let's see if it works. Light King Chicken Ranch Casserole

Also going to try to get to one of the other reasons for the blog...to post up some writing and get some feedback from any and all. So here goes. First a short that was really an exercise in a writing class to tell a story through only dialogue. The Father.

Something I learned -- Wilbur McLean has the dubious honor of being the only man who can say that the Civil War began in his back yard and ended on his front porch. He and his family decided to move from their homestead in the Bull Run area of Manassas, Virginia when the first major battle took place behind his home. He moved to a building in Appomattox that had been the courthouse. Robert E. Lee eventually surrendeded, you guessed it, at the Courthouse at Appomattox.

Something I'm proud of...being pressed into service as head coach of my son's soccer team and by gosh we won the first game and my son did real well at forward despite his tendency to hide back in defense. I'm proud of his stepping out of the comfort zone, even as I was.

And a happy moment...finishing an article that just would not get finished at work.

And something on communications...well, I keep seeing references to the "value of podcasts" or the "value of blogs" or the "value of social media" in business. But those topics are too broad to give any one answer on value. It all depends (there you go, Shel, one for you) on how the podcast, blog, or other social media is being used. In fact, I dare say that the most value in the business environment might come from these technologies or platforms when they're used behind the scenes and the user isn't even aware they're using a blog platform or participating in a traditional podcast. The idea here is the importance and value don't come from the technology but the fact that the communications effort reaches its audience effectively, engages them in an appropriate way and elicits the desired response or action. That could be said of press releases, brochures, ads, or any other communication medium.

Thoughts?