friday food post : floating tacos

this is a family favorite:
FLOATING TACOS from Liz Christensen (thanks liz!)
1 lb. hamburger
1 onion (chopped)
6 oz. tomato paste
8 oz. tomato sauce
24 oz. water
2 T. sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. each: accent, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and salt
1 c. cooked rice
brown hamburger and onion.  drain.  then add everything else except rice.  simmer for 40 minutes and then add rice.  while simmering, make sauce (below).
ranch sauce: 
4 oz. cream cheese
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo
1/2 tsp. each: salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
whip ingredients together and full speed and refrigerate for the remainder of the simmer time for the meat.
serve meat sauce over corn chips and topped with whatever taco toppings you desire (such as, but not limited to: lettuce, cheese, olives, and tomato) and then the ranch sauce.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

friday food post : chicken enchiladas

this was my first recipe i collected from someone other than my mom.  and it was from a complete stranger.  at a hispanic food store.  a hispanic stranger...
my purpose was to get an authentic mexican enchilada recipe.  at that point i had never had an enchilada before, authentic or not.  we didn't eat much mexican food growing up. 
over the past 10 years (or so), i have perFECTed it.  i'll write down what she wrote down for me as the recipe, but add my little "i'm dumb, so i have to spell it out for myself" notes that i didn't get from her pretty clear instructions.  they were good the first time i messed them up, but this last time i made them i actually got the recipe out and made sense of it and they were the best. 
AUTHENTIC MEXICAN ENCHILADAS
cook chicken - boil.  season with garlic, cumin, peppar (i've bbq'd the chicken most of the time to get that yummy bbq flavor... but finally this last time, i diced it up as small as i could while it was raw, and fried it up with a little water and lots of these seasonings --since they're all watered down---)
drain chicken set aside (i just spooned out the chicken and left all the seasoned broth for the sauce -below.  when i bbq'd the chicken, i'd let it cool and then dice it up.)
for enchilada sauce - heat skillet with oil.  optional add flour -about 2 teaspoons.  brown.  add california chili powder.  brown.  add garlic and salt to taste.  add water.  (my biggest problem was the enchilada sauce... 'cause it's homemade.  and i had never seen, nor tasted the canned kind.  so i didn't know what i was aiming for.  i should have known it was a sauce (from the name), rather than a paste... but well, i'm dumb, so i have to spell it out for myself sometimes.  so i took the broth from the chicken and added a bunch --like 2 Tbsp-- of chili powder.  then i added 2 tsp. of flour and mixed it around as if i was making gravy.  since my broth was already seasoned, i didn't have to add as much garlic and salt... but i still had to add some.  you don't want it TOO flavorful, but it needs some flavor.)
dip tortilla in sauce -> add chicken to tortilla.  wrap.  sprinkle with cheese.  put in oven and let cheese melt.  (the more cheese, the better!  i usually open up a can of mild green chilis and add them to the chicken, but they're not necessary.  'nother note: i had extra sauce when i actually made it into sauce this last time instead of paste.  i poured the extra sauce over the cheese-sprinkled enchiladas and baked them for about 20 minutes.  it really helped moisten them up.  otter pop exclaimed that they didn't even need any ranch --or sour cream and salsa is how i like them.  delish!)
here you are.  with some pictures too. (but i guess they'll come later, because it seems i haven't uploaded them yet.)

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

friday food post : christmas sweetness galore

there was a gal on facebook looking to expand her christmas baking.  besides pointing her in the direction of this most treasured blog, i also emailed her a list of some of my favorite recipes.  then, i found some more.  and then i found a little book with a few pages tagged down for me to try this year.  so this fantastic friday food post will be all of them! 
all my christmas baking goodness:  (in no particular order)
CARMELS:
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp. butter
1 c. canned milk
cook to still ball stage (when you drop a drop in a small glass of water it turns to a ball as it sinks, when you pour out the water and pick up the ball, it is stiff) & pour in a small buttered baking sheet or pan to cool.
optional: spread nuts on bottom of pan before pouring in carmel. --i think putting nuts down helps it to be not so sticky... but that could just be me.
EASY FUDGE (none easier than this):
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cube of butter
1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
bag of chopped walnuts (however much or little as you like)
mix together (no cooking) and pour into a loaf pan and refridgerate until solid.
PEANUT BRITTLE:
2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
2 c. raw spanish peanuts (you can get these in bulk at winco, i think)
1 T. butter
1 tsp. baking soda
heat and stir sugar, syrup, and 1 c. water in heavy 3 qt. saucepan 'till sugar dissolves. cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (when you drop a drop in a small glass of water it turns to a ball, but when you feel it... it's soft still, not hard like the carmel ball. or 234 degrees if you have a candy thermometer). add nuts and 1/2 tsp. salt. cook to hard crack stage (305 degrees --sorry no ball note), stirring often; remove from heat. quickly stir in butter and soda. pour at once onto 2 well buttered 15-1/2 X 10-1/2 X 1" pans, spreading with a spatula. if desired, cool slightly and pull with forks to stretch thin. break up when cold. this will make 1-1/2 pounds.
OREO BALLS:
1 pkg. of regular oreo cookies
1 pkg. (8oz.) of cream cheese.
break/mash up the oreos and then put in the cream cheese (i use my cuisanart to chop up the oreos and then to mix in the cream cheese). mix together until it's a big black mash. if you have a 1" cookie scoop that works great, if not, roll them into about 1" balls and put them on a cookie sheet and refridgerate.
these are by far the BEST with the amount of work to make them! you can also use a package of nutter butter cookies instead of oreos if you like. i made both last year. they're so good!
to make them look pretty/fancy, you can melt white chocolate (in winco's bulk they sell melting chips) and drizzle it over the balls before you refridgerate them.
SODA CRACKER TOFFEE:
soda crackers (saltines)
semi-sweet chocolate chips
crushed walnuts
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. butter
line a baking sheet with foil and then oil the foil well. mix the sugar and butter together in a small saucepan until it boils, stirring constantly (be careful, it boils up and boils over easily.)  lay the crackers down one right next to the other on the sheet. pour the carmel sauce (sugar and butter) over the crackers and sprinkle some chocolate chips over the top.  place the sheet in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes.  take it out and take a butter knife to spread the chocolate out evenly. sprinkle as much or as little walnuts over the top and then refridgerate. break apart to serve.
this is another totally easy one and probably my families very favorite. we have a girl that's allergic to nuts, so i make a little section without nuts for her. she LOVES it too, so if you don't like nuts, you don't have to use them at all.
NO-BAKE COOKIES (without peanut butter!):
2 c. sugar
2-1/2 T cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
2-1/2 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
combine the first 4 ingredients (sugar, cocoa, milk, and butter) in saucepan and boil for 1 minute.  take off heat and mix in the oatmeal.  then add the vanilla, coconut, and walnuts.  drop by spoonful on sheet of waxed paper and let cook completely.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BARS:
heat oven to 350 degrees.  spread cookie dough* in ungreased 13 X 9" pan.  bake 19-21 minutes or until golden brown.  sprinkle with 2 c. semisweet chocolate chips.  bake 2 min. or until chocolate melts.  spread with metal spatula.
*this came from a package of pre-made choc. chip. cookie dough, so i'll insert in my favorite chocolate chip recipe as a bonus.
EXTRAORDINARY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: (bonus recipe)
1-1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened (to room temperature)
1-1/4 c. granulated sugar
1-1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 T vanilla
2 eggs
4 c gold medal unbleached all-purpose flour (you guessed it.  i got this from the back of this type of flour.)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bag (24 oz. OR 4 c.) semisweet choclate chips
heat oven to 350 degrees.  in large bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs on medium speed or with spoon until light and fluffy.  stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (cough will be stiff).  stir in choclate chips. 
on ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by tablespoonfuls or #40 cookie/ice cream scoop, 2 inches apart.  flatten slightly. 
bake 11-13 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft).  cool 1-2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
CHOLATE CRINKLES:
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
4 eggs
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. powdered sugar
mix sugar, oil, vanilla, and chocolate in large bowl.  stir in eggs, one at a time.  stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.  cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
heat oven to 350 degrees.  grease cookie sheet.  drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll in sugar to coat.  shape dough into balls.  place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
bake 10-12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched.  remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  top these just-baked cookies with a chocolate kiss for an extra-rich treat.
PRALINE PUFFS:
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter or margarine
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. pecan halves, toasted* and coarsely ground
4 eggs
praline cream filling (below)
caramel topping, if desired
finely chopped pecans, if desired
heat oven to 400 degrees.  heat water and butter to rolling boil in 2 qt. saucepan.  stir in flour and ground pecans.  stir vigorously over low heat about 1 min. or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat.  beat in eggs, all at once, with spoon; continue beating until smooth.
drop dough by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls about 2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  bake 18-20 minutes or until puffede and golden.  cool completely on wire rack. 
cut off tops of puffs with sharp knife; remove any filaments of soft dough.  fill puffs with praline cream filling (below) ; replace tops.  serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 3 hours.  just before serving, add topping and chopped pecans.
praline cream filling:
1-1/2 c. heavy wipping cream
1/4 c. caramel topping
15 oval-shaped hard carmel candies, unwrapped and crushed. 
beat whipping cream and caramel topping in chilled large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff.  fold in crushed candies.
CARMEL PECAN TARTS:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 T butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly abused
carmel topping (below)
heat oven to 350 degrees.  mix flour, 1/2 c. butter and powdered sugar.  devide dough into 24 equal pieces.  press each piece in botom and up side of ungreased small muffin cup, 1-3/4 X 1", or line with foil or paper baking cups.
mix remaining ingredients except caramel topping.  spoon slightly less than 1 T. mixture into each cup.
bake about 20 minutes or until filling is set and crust is light brown.  cool slightly; loosen from cups with tip of knife.  remove from pan to wire rack.  cool completely.  spoon caramel topping (below) onto tarts.
caramel topping:
12 vanilla caramels, unwrapped
1 T. milk
heat caramels and milk in 1 qt. saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth.
GRASSHOPPER BARS:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 c. flour
1/2 c. baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. butter or margarine, softened
2 T. green creme de menthe (or 1/4 c. milk plus 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract for the liqueurs)
2 T. white creme de cacao (or the above substitute if you're substituting)
1-1/2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
heat oven to 350 degrees.  grease square pan, 8 X 8 X 2".  beat sugar, 1/2 c. butter, the vanilla, and eggs in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or stir with spoon.  stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  spread in pan.
bake 25-30 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; cool 15 min.  mix remaining ingredients except chocolate; spread over brownies.  refrigerate 15 min.
heat chocolate over low heat until melted; spread evenly over powdered sugar mixture.  refigerated at least 3 hours.  for bars, cut into 5 rows by 5 rows.  cut each bar diagonally in half to form triangles.

there's still 3 more, but i'm getting tired of copying and typing.  maybe later.  maybe tomorrow.  probalby another post though.  i don't think i'll make all of these... that's A LOT of sweets!!!

gratituesday : friends

i have several true friends.  i don't know if every woman can say that.  i am so thankful that God has placed individuals throughout my life to lift me up, to support me, for me to lean on, that i can help, that i can lift up and support... individuals that take my hand as i walk through life. 
my husband is a great friend and i really love him deeply, but i'm specifically referring about some other friends.  don't get me wrong, i am SO EVERLY thankful for my wonderful husband!
i have several good and true friends.  i'm blessed that my family are also my friends (my little sister is my best), but again, i'm referring to non-relatives.  i have friends that have stayed with me for decades upon decades (but i'm only 29... so i can't exaggerate too many decades there.)  i am still friends with my best friend from 1st grade.  and by still friends, i could tell you about her current life and she could tell you some about mine.  i have a great friend from middle school who i can call or see at any time after lengthy no communication and it's like no time has passed at all.  and in high school i made several friends who i can't imagine i'll ever "break up" with.  friends who have grown in Christ with me.  and then we've grown up, with Christ. 
and now, as an adult, i have friends of many shapes and sizes.  i love them all the same.  there's nothing like having someone that i can call and cry my prayer requests to, knowing that when i hang up, they'll be on their knees for me.  there's also nothing like having accountability in friendships, someone that holds me to the standard that God has given me...
i love my friends.  i love my friends from way back when i was just a knee-high to a grasshopper.  i love my friends from middle school and the memories we have together.  and i love my friends from high school that have helped me grow in so many ways.  and i love my friends that i've only known for a couple years... but it seems like i was born next to them. 
God is so good.  i'm so glad he gives me instruction in friendship, so that i can return these friendships with love...  the love that God equipped me with...  His love.  1 Cor. 13.
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

let's double it up for menu this week

i'm doubling a lot of my meals this week for buttercup's arrival.  my freezer was (before i went shopping) starting to look sparse.  so, i'll get some fresh meals in there.

• taco salad or floating tacos.  i bought tortilla chips though instead of fritos... so maybe it'll be a mixture.  i'm doubling the meat sauce for the freezer.
• bbq chicken (doubled) with rice and garlicky corn.
• hamburger ramen with green beans and perhaps fried rice, if i have some left over.  (it seemed like a lot of my meals went with rice, so that was a write in.)
• chicken enchiladas (doubled) with rice and refried beans.
• white chili (doubled) maybe with some cornbread.  has anyone of you readers made cornbread out of white cornmeal???
• chicken noodle soup with grillled cheese sandwiches.
• mulligan stew (doubled) with fresh bread and butter.
• sloppy joes (with my bbq sauce) with french fries (carried over from the last menu).

another reason why i'm doubling a lot of my meals is that i decided that i needed to have a plan b in case the placenta previa prevailed and i ended up on bed rest.  if you read my buttercup post, you found out that the placenta moved and i'm not high risk... but still, no one knows how to cook in my house except for me and loverboy (otter pop). 
i taught binkins how to make fried eggs last month and she's gotten up almost every morning since and asked if she could make them.  (SOOOOOO much healthier than the usual: cereal!)  wolfie knows how to make macaroni and cheese and oatmeal.  yeah... that wouldn't make a great week, much less month or more of meals!  so, off i venture do cover some bases that should've been covered YEARS ago!!!  it might be a challenge... or it might not... i'll let you know. 
however, before i do that i want to challenge you with young sweet daughters to teach them and train them while they're still sweet and young.  binkins is tickled with the idea.  wolfie, on the other hand ,was less than pleased with the decision.  she had several excuses why not to.  such as: "me and cooking just don't go together."  and "you know i have a fear of ovens..."  and then, "what benefits come with cooking the meals?  do i not have to eat everything on my plate now?" was a good one.  but come to find out, they're both as good as i am at it.  better maybe.  wolfie insisted on mashing up the meatloaf with her hands, which i've read makes the best meatloaf out there, but i've never done it.  well, it was a lot better than mine usually is and i LOVE my meatloaf.  and it was the same recipe.  so... i'm just giving it to her.  she did it!  well, she and binkins.  and the cornbread???  yeah... we poured it into muffin tins instead of a pan, and they were MUCH MUCH MUCH better than usual.  (usually we have about 3/4 of the pan as leftovers that a week later gets thrown out to the dog.  we had three leftover that got scarfed up for breakfast the next morning.  honey butter may or may not have been involved in the scarfing.)
anyway, these girls are going to cook up a storm with me this week. 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

it's time to decorate!

today we're spending the day cleaning and decorating (finally) for christmas.  i've been aching to get the tree up and the decorations for WEEKS!  even before thanksgiving i was yearning for christmas lights and songs!!!  seriously, it must be the weather or something. 
i L.O.V.E. the holiday season.  to me, the "holiday season" is thanksgiving, then christmas, then new years... it's glorious!  it's holy.  it's lovely.  i just love it.  ---mostly christmas. 

on a not so lovely note: we're missing our joseph.  someone said he might have cracked and broke... but our nativity looks kinda fatherless without him.  poor mary. 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

say hello to our sweet baby, buttercup

so, it was difficult to come up with all the names for all our chitlins for this blog.  two of which (adejay and aleemay) i don't really like and have since given them an aka name (wolfie and binkins.  --these are nicknames that they have in our home anyway).  jones was easy because for whatever reason anyone wants to think of, i've always called him jones.  boo was also pretty easy, because she's always reminded us of "boo" off of monsters inc.  she's just that cute!  and then starboy was also easy.  when he was still inside me, we couldn't finalize a name for him.  binkins (that's aleemay's new aka) wanted to be in on the process, as she likes to be in on everything... and decided that starboy was a PERFECT name for a little baby boy.  (and it is, right?  i mean, what little boy wouldn't want to be called starboy?!!!)  so starboy was our name in utero for him. 
well, now comes the story of our newest addition.  the one still inside me.  i mentioned that i thought she was a boy early in pregnancy.  the only one that thought she was a girl was boo.  and she didn't just think she was a girl... she knew.  jones had asked if we could call him "buttercup" because of some show or movie they had watched with a dinosaur named buttercup.  he thought buttercup was a very handsome name.  i didn't tell him yes or no, but he started referring to the baby boy as buttercup.  well, when we had the ultrasound and found out he was a she... boo of course knew and asked if we could still call her buttercup.  it was at that point that jones thought "hope" was a much more suitable name for a baby girl...  well, since "we" had been calling her buttercup all along, i only thought it appropriate for us to continue with it.  it's cute.  and it's a princess name.  and, well, it's not like i'll ever use it on anyone else! 
so, introducing our princess buttercup:

in other news.  -not really.  it's the same news.  it's about the ultrasound today.-  her placenta moved out of the way and is a good 3 cm away from the opening to my cervix.  so that's awesome.  thanks for the prayers!
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."