Bean & Beef Enchiladas

sooo yummy & easy!

You need:

1 lb hamburger meat

2 cups Mexican mix cheese

1 onion

10 flour tortillas

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 can chili beans

1 can enchilada sauce

Pre-heat oven at 350. Dice onion and brown with hamburger meat. Drain grease.

Add chili powder

Add paprika.

Add garlic salt

Add can on beans and 1/8th of can of enchilada sauce.

Mix in 1 cup of cheese still until melted.

Spoon in tortillas.

Place seam side down in well greased pan

Top with remaining enchilada sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Take off foil and top with remaining cheese. Bake an additional 10.

Top with favorite Mexican condiments. I love mine with sour cream.

My little sister Kassy came to visit us from Oregon. I was so excited to see her. It's been 3 years since the last time and that was when I got married. I was kind of busy then so I did not really get to hang and relax.

We went Bricktown to walk around the canal and took in some shops. She said a lot of it had changed since she lived here.

It was just us girls, the sisters and my oldest daughter. GIRL POWER!

We ate dinner at Chelinos since poor Kassy was queso deprived. She said for some reason the Mexican restaurants in Oregon don't serve it there.

Then we headed back to Guthrie to hang out with the boys (and the big boy toys!)

Even Chris got in on the action.

Great Day!

I love these new, faux fur blankets they have come out with. My husband got me this one from Target. It was so warm soft and fuzzy we had to get one more since we didn't want to share. Then we had to get yet another for youngest. Watching TV all toasty underneath one is just bliss!

The kitty cats agree. Stormy loves to snuggle up in them.

purr

Spring Break

I took off a couple of days of work to enjoy it with my kiddos. So far the weather has not cooperated. It's rained, a lot. I had planned on doing a lot of outside stuff, hiking and checking out some parks.

That did not work out too well.

So we ended up getting our nails done instead. Then did a little shopping.

We went and saw 'Journey 2, The Mysterious Island'. It was pretty good. I like the first one too though. I'm easy to please.

Berry Blessings

This is one of my favorite desserts. It's very easy to make and it looks so beautiful!

You need:

1 angel food cake

2 pints heavy whipping cream

2 packages of vanilla pudding

3 carton of berries

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon almond extract

Mix the milk, pudding and almond extract until smooth.

Whisk in the cream then chill in the fridge while you cut up the berries.

You can use pretty much any kind that is in season. I used here 2 cartons of strawberries and 1 of raspberries

Slice the angel food cake into pieces.

Start layering in your trifle bowl starting with the cake on the bottom, then pudding, and then the fruit. Repeat until the bowl is full ending with fruit on the top.

Let it set in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

Enjoy and bask in the complements you'll get for serving such a pretty dessert.

Homecoming!

I am so proud of my brother-in-law Michael.
He just got back this morning from a tour in Afghanistan.

For all hardships he endured.

For the friends he has lost.

 

For the new friends he left behind. 

For the holidays, birthdays, and bed time stories he missed.

For my sister for lending her country her husband.

For their son's and the time they spent wishing their dad.

For the longing he felt for missing them.

For all the prayers that helped keep him safe.

For my parents and the support that they gave while he was gone.

Words can't convey the gratitude that I feel in my heart.

Thank you for what you did for our country.

TV theme songs.

You tube is one of the best inventions ever. I have been looking at TV theme songs from when I was a kid and I think this was one of my favorite.

And of course who could forget:

This was a classic.

This one was catchy.

This one was played during the rolling credits.

It's such a sad song but all I did was sit there and wonder what the heck did he keep in his bag? Was it a tooth brush, undies, pj's or plaid pearl button shirts? Surely he needed a bigger bag since he kept busting out of the clothes he was wearing.

The drive.

Sometimes I take different ways home.

Sometimes it's because I need a change of scenery. Sometimes I want to see where a certain road takes me. I hate to be one of those many, mindless, robot people stuck in traffic on the freeway... just because that is what everyone does.

 I found this delightful smooth stretch of road with a slalom in it. What person wouldn't be able to resist a grin when you turn the wheel and put your foot down on the gas petal into that first curve? I got to see fields of new, green crops, cows sunning themselves and have a spring breeze blow thru my hair.

Everyone should step out of their box every now and again. Don't be one of those people crawling in traffic, breathing in someone else's exhaust.

In those famous words by Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

"I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"

Chili

Since I proclaimed today Chili day I decided I would share my chili recipe with you.

You need:

• 1lb of hamburger meat
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of ketchup (not pictured)
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash chili pepper flakes

First dice your onion and brown it with the hamburger meat. Drain the grease.

Dump all the cans including the liquid into your crock pot. Then add in your meat and onions to the mixture.

Add in all your seasonings and the ketchup.

Stir everything up.

Set on low for 8 hours or high 4.

Enjoy! I top mine off with saltines, cheese and sour cream.