"Leftover" Burritos and a late happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I got up the nerve to make some more tortillas this afternoon, and they actually turned out to be pretty good (I tried a new recipe :) and I went down on my time!!!  Instead of 3 hours, it only took me 30 minutes! I figured out the trick...don't use a wooden rolling pin to role them out.  Also, I figured that if I really wanted to learn how to make them, I'd have to fish around for different recipes, and then practice, practice, practice.
...yet another thing I found helpful this go around - don't make tortillas for Lunch (until you are good at it that is,) ...much better to make them in your free time when you're not starving :D
Anyways, I did make the tortillas for Lunch today and ended up eating at 2:30 (better than 3:00 I guess), but that was just because I was making a "leftover" burrito.

{picture from google}

For me, the basic components of a good burrito are:
Some kind of meat (I like chicken or hamburger the best)
Cheese
Onions
Beans and/or rice (if I have them, which I usually don't)
Some sort of sauce or salsa.
I haven't been able to find a good recipe for sauce online yet, so I'm in the process of coming up with one myself.  I'll post it if I can figure one out.  Otherwise, I just use salsa instead of sauce.
We usually don't have anything fancy in the fridge for most lunches, and eating a plain old ham 'n' cheese or PBnJ is almost a crime, so I decided to cram anything I could find into a tortilla to make a burrito.

We had turkey from last night's supper (I try to avoid turkey as much as I can, but this time it turned out ...not so bad... with LOTS of seasoning), so I heated some of that, onions, cilantro, taco seasoning and salsa in a skillet.
Then I spread some sour cream and more salsa on a large tortilla, put my turkey skillet stuff on top of that, and made a thick cheese sauce out of cheese, sour cream, butter and milk to pour over it all . . . . Wrapped my bundle of joy up and cooked it on a griddle until both sides were golden brown.  Um, um good stuffs!
...Really though, you can throw just about anything into a tortilla and it will come out delicious :)
Happy experimenting, and hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving this past week!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I was just thinking about all of the things that I have to be thankful for -but mainly for grace.  Without the grace of Jesus Christ, where would I be right now?  what kinds of things would I be all caught up in that have absolutely no value in the end? ... I wonder ....
Because of his grace, I can fully understand what it is to be truly thankful for anything and everything that I've received.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  {a bit late}

{Picture from google}

A "Hodge-Podge" of Randoms

Have you ever done this? - Written a hodge-podge of things in your journal just to catch yourself up on everything that you've done in the last couple of days?? . . . I find myself doing it all the time!!

7.11.12 - (10:24 pm)

Caelen and Dad are in Haiti; Mom got back from CO on Monday, (today is Wednesday) and Nathan is turning 15 on Saturday.  

I finished "Bonhoeffer - Pastor, Martyr, Spy" on Tuesday, and checked out "The Count of Monte Cristo" from the library this evening. 

We ate stir fry for supper, and worked in the rain today.  

Ben has a cold, and I have been giving him warm water with 2 drops of Wintergreen, 2 drops of Eucalyptus Radiata, and 5 drops of Lemon Young Living Essential Oils to gargle to help soothe his throat.  It works like magic!!  :)

I made Homemade Ice Cream in 10 minutes yesterday, and it turned out to be DELICIOUS!!!

I got my mocha brown Lenovo IdeaPad laptop last week, and love it with all of my <3

Am memorizing 2 verses on Kindness for this week - 1 Thessalonians 5:15 & 2 Timothy 2:24.  {Why does memorizing things come so difficultly for me??}

It has been a regular rain forest here lately, and OH!!!  I forgot to mention!!  . . . I (finally) got my permit the other week!!!   YAY!!!

Yours ever, but not always so faithfully,

Hannah

Easy and Quick Blueberries/Blackberries Muffins Recipe

It's one of those rainy, wet days when your dog is looking pitifully at you, on the other side of the door, 

when you feel like curling up with a book in a cozy little nook somewhere, 

and waking your little bro up to go pick blackberries in the pouring rain way out in the pasture . . . 

one of those kind of days, you know???

~ ~ ~

With all of these soggy blackberries that Ben and I collected, I have decided to make my favorite muffin recipe this morning.  It is from a Kid's Recipe Book that Caelen got when she turned 10, but I guess that's why I like this recipe so much . . . because it is simple and tastes SO GOOD!!!  =D

Recipe for blueberry/blackberry muffins:

Ingredients:

1/2 stick (1 stick) butter

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1 cup white, and 1 cup wholewheat just to make it more healthy)

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbl baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries (of course, I used blackberries, and the muffins were great!)

Directions:

1.  Put butter in the microwave until completely melted.  Set aside.

2.  Preheat oven to 375 F and put paper liners into 12 muffin cups (or you can spray down the muffin pan with non-stick spray)

3.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well.

4.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, and vanilla.  Using the same fork, beat until well blended. 

5.  Add the milk mixture, melted butter, and blueberries (or blackberries) into the flour mixture.  Using a spatula, stir gently until the ingredients are just blended.  

6.  Spoon equal amounts of the batter into the muffin cups.  

7.  Bake the muffins until they are golden and have risen nicely, 18-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and place it on the cooling rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

Enjoy!

13 Days!!!

Yeah!  We started to sing Christmas songs in church today!!!  They had a great combination of 'Joy to the World' and 'Rise' -Big Daddy Weave, that was really good, but I must say that 'In Christ Alone' almost made me cry.  Already knowing the words to the song made it so much easier to look away from the lyrics screen and be able to think about who and what I am singing about.  I know that I can kind of get all caught up in the music and never even think about the meaningful lyrics to the song that I am singing . . . it is just too easy to do, but I think that going into worship with a foreknowledge of all the words just helps me to listen to what I am saying to my heavenly father.  To say the least, I had a very sweet time in worship this morning.
~
Yet another Christmas recipe that always appears during the month of December is Lady Finger Cookies.  Dad's Mom always makes them when we go over to her house for Christmas and they are usually gone within the first hour of our arrival . . . ok, that's questionable . . . but you get the point.  They are super good!!!  Here is the recipe for goodness!  Happy baking!

Nutty Fingers

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 5 Tablespoons of  powdered sugar
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 – 1 cup chopped pecans

Mix all the ingredients together.  Shape into small balls or fingers.  Place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Roll in powdered sugar.  After cooled roll in sugar again.

I can tell you these are not going to last very long on the cooling rack.  

{Picture from google}

When the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia) came out in December, Mom and Dad took Caelen and I to see it on Christmas Eve.  From then on, it became one of our family Christmas movies.  NOT the BBC version you understand!  (though we do like watching that one just to make fun of it :)

VS

Hahaha :)

You've got to love it!!!
Favorite Quote: (*from the new one*) "It is finished." ~ and ~  "I'm cranky now!"
Favorite Quote: (*from the old BBC one*) Mrs. Beaver {who sits in her huge fluffy trash bag of a costume} : "I don't suppose the sewing machine is too heavy to take?"

*************
Only 13 days, 9 hours, and 15 minutes until Christmas!!!!

14 More Days!!!

Only 14 more days until CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?  I sure can't!  

A few mornings ago, it was so nice to get up early and decorate our perfectly shaped Christmas tree with Dad before he left for work.  We were all so cozy and warm while we each took turns trying to fix the burned out lights in the long strand and then put our boxful of ornaments on the tree.  

I made almost a 1/2 gallon of hot cocoa mix, but it turned out to be absolutely awful!  I think that some of the ingredients that I used were 10 years old or something. . . I know, about time to go to the store, huh?  For our family night, we watched 'The Polar Express'!!!  One of our most favorite animated Christmas movies :)

{Picture from google}

Favorite quote: "I didn't do it! *Scratch* I didn't do it!  *Scratch* I didn't do it . . ."  

(If you've watched the movie, you'll know which part I'm talking about.)

I think that it would have been sooo neat to have watched The Polar Express in theaters 3D!  

~

Another of my favorite recipes is the homemade Reeses peanut butter candy.  

I guess you could say that I sort of made up the recipe :)

~Homemade Reese's Cups without the "cup"~

Ingredients:
*1 ½ cups chocolate chips (dark chocolate tastes really good)
*2 tablespoons shortening (Butter works as well)
*½ (1 stick) cup butter
*½ cup peanut butter
*1 cup confectioner’s sugar
*2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (I completely ground them into powderJ)
*Sheets of wax paper
*A plastic bag
How to make them:
1) In a saucepan, combine chocolate chips and shortening (or butter)
2) Cook over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth (about 2-3 minutes)
3) Set aside until you are ready to use it
4) In a medium sized sauce pan, combine butter and peanut butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring until melted. (about 2 minutes)
5) Stir in confectioner’s sugar and graham cracker crumbs.
6) Let it cool for about 2-4 minutes, then spoon out a teaspoon’s worth (or however much peanut butter filling you want) onto the wax paper in little balls until the whole “concoction” is in little balls on to the wax paper.

{Picture from google}

7) Put the chocolate that you melted, into a plastic bag. Set the bag into a small straight sided bowl or large glass and roll the sides of the bag over the sides of the container to make filling easier. The container will support the bag while spooning the chocolate into it. Only fill the bag about 1/3 to 1/2 ways full and then use a twist tie to seal the bag closed tightly.
Use clean scissors to cut a small corner (about 1/8 inch) off the lower corner of the bag. Make a small cut first and try it out. It is always possible make the cut slightly larger if needed but it is very easy to make the hole too large. Just squeeze the bag to get the chocolate to flow out.

 {Picture from google}

8) Squeeze the chocolate onto the peanut butter balls. I made swirls and different designs on mine ;-)
9) Put the finished balls into the freezer for about an hour, and then…..Voil`a! You have Reece’s cup-like candies….with a homemade twist!

{Picture from google}

Psssssstttt . . . (I wouldn't go exactly by this picture, I would try to make it to where you completely cover the peanut butter ball with the chocolate.  Just a friendly suggestion :)

As you can probably tell, Christmas is a BIG thing for our family, and we try to make as much of the season as we can.  Another one of our favorite traditions is to go to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville NC to look at all of the gingerbread houses.  We still haven't done that yet, but it is sure to come up soon, and when it does, I'm sure there will be lots of pictures.  

I mean, who doesn't love the 'beautifulness' of gingerbread houses in the winter time????

Well goodnight, and sweet dreams to all of my friends in the Eastern Standard Time Zone ;)
Love, Hannah
--Remember who is the true reason for this wonderful season!!!

First Day of December!!!

Its the first day of December, and that means . . . *drum roll* there are only 25 more days until Christmas!!!!  This Christmas, like I have already mentioned in a previous post, our family is trying focus more on the real reason for this season . . . Christ's coming into this world!!!  We are planning on caroling for the nursing home up in Black Mountain, baking goodies for the neighbors, and showing more hospitality this year.  I am soooo excited!  It really makes Christmas so much more special and meaningful by celebrating it in this way.

I have decided to write a special Christmas post every week including one of our favorite holiday recipes and one of our traditional Christmas movies until the big day itself.  To start off, I figured that 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' just had to be first in the favorite Christmas movies.

*Favorite quote from the movie: - "I wan't to be a dentist." :)
Ever noticed how Rudolph sounds like he has a bad cold through the whole film?  :D

********

For my first holiday recipe of the season, how about cheese pennies!

{picture from google}

These are one of my dad's favorite snacks for the winter.  They are quick, easy, and taste really good :)

Ingredients:

*2 sticks butter

*1/2 lb grated cheese (sharp)

*2 cups flour (sifted)

*1 tsp salt

*3/4 tsp cyanne pepper

*3 cups rice krispies

Directions:

*Mix butter & cheese at room temp, along with cyanne pepper.  

*Mix in flour & salt .

*Mix in the rice krispies.  

*Roll up into very small balls & flatten with a fork on an ungreased cookie sheet.  

*Cook at 400 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, but be careful not to burn the bottoms!

*Makes 90 pennies.

Hope you enjoy!   I look forward to sharing more of our family traditions and recipes with you this Christmas!  

Love,

Hannah 

Decorating for Christmas already!

NOTE:  This post was written BEFORE Thanksgiving!

Yes, that's right, we have gone completely nuttish!  My family is decorating for Christmas already!  5 or 6 Christmas stations are playing on the radio and honestly, I think it is still WAY too early for all of this!  In my house, I am known as scrooge because I have firmly stated that all festive music must be terminated until after Thanksgiving.  Oh well, they have a point in that we are going out of town for the holidays and it will be nice to come back to a decorated house.
Potpourri is burning and the Christmas lights are blinking. . . I think we have a weak light in the link.  Mom is telling us how she always cries when she hears Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas'.  Caelen is looking forward to her leftover Mexican food from the amazing Las Salsas in Morganton while the rest of us drool over it and ask for a bite.  We are listening to Big Daddy Weave on Pandora sing 'Christ is Come'.

Anyways, you get the picture of our afternoon.  We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  Don't worry.  I won't stay a scrooge the whole time, just until after Thanksgiving :)

LOVE,
Hannah

Oh!  By the way!  The absolute best way to make good potpourri is to fill a pot with water, dump a whole bunch of cinnamon into it and some orange peels and . . . Voilà!  Just heat it up on low and let it simmer for hours to make your house smell like Christmas.  Just add more water when it gets low and reuse the potpourri for days.  Enjoy!!!

Recipe for gooey chocolate butter brownies

Here is a recipe that I made up a few days ago when I had a hankering for something sweet, but couldn't find anything satisfying in the cookbooks:

Ingredients :

*1 stick of butter (softened)

*2 small pinches of salt

*1 cup of sugar

*1 tsp vanilla

*2 Tbl cocoa powder

*1 egg

*1 1/2 cup self rising flour

*3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

____________________________________________

Directions:

*pre-heat oven to 350 and grease and 8 x 11" pan

*Mix sugar, butter, and salt in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer

*Stir in vanilla & cocoa powder

*Add egg and mix in

*Mix (or stir) flour in

*Stir in chocolate chips

*Put batter in greased pan and place in oven for about 35 minutes

*Take out when it is still a little underdone (but not uncooked) and wait to cool for about 10 minutes.

*Cut into squares and ENJOY!!!

CAUTION!!!  This is a fattening recipe and after looking over the ingredients again, I can't believe that we didn't all roll over and die of heart attacks!  But. . . if it is something sweet you crave, then this is the right recipe for you :)

Pudding fail

Pudding just didn't like me tonight!  I wanted something simple, but delicious to satisfy our sweet tooths :) It didn't go so well. . .

This is what happens when you accidentally put baking powder into the pudding instead of cornstarch. :{ . . . Yes! It did get very messy!

After cleaning up the last mess, I managed to make a spill while trying to do the right version of this pudding :P

Finally I got everything to work out.  This is what it is supposed to look like. . .

Though I totally messed this up tonight, it is a wonderful recipe for pudding~

*****Ingredients for homemade vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

*****Directions

In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat milk until bubbles form at edges. In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into hot milk, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into serving dishes. Chill before serving.

*Recipe for vanilla pudding~

Homemade Quesadilla

Ok.....we were having hot dogs for lunch, and I am not much for hot dogs!!!! So I got out my ingredients, and whipped up a quick and easy, but scrumptious quesadilla;

Recipe:

Saute thinly sliced onions in butter until golden brown. Set aside.

Prepare quesadilla by spreading cheese on tortilla, (preferably mozzarella cheese =)

Add fresh cilantro and sauted onions, and place another tortilla on top.

Grill until the top and bottom are both golden brown.

Lastly.......ENJOY!!!!!!

(quesadilla pic from google)

Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies

I got a hankering for butter cookies today.....not just any kind of butter cookies, but Gooey/delicious/amazing/mouth watering butter cookies. They are the best things that you could put in your mouth!!!!!

"Gooey Butter Cookies"
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 c. powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in egg and vanilla. Add cake mix & stir until well blended. Powder sugar your hands well. Roll balls into 1" or 2" and roll balls thoroughly in powdered sugar. Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave on cookie sheet for 3 minutes or more before removing to cool on wire racks.

link to the recipe

I NEVER, EVER have yellow cake mix on hand, so here is a recipe for it.

How to make Homemade Yellow Cake Mix:
(This is the standard size mix for recipes calling for an 18.25 ounce mix.)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and non-fat dry milk. Store in an airtight container or baggie. Keeps well in the pantry for months!

Use only 2 and ¼ cups of the mix in for the cookies. Store the rest.

Link to this recipe

ENJOY!!!!

(Picture from google)

Homemade Reese's cups with out the "cup" :)

Mine VS. Reese's

~Homemade Reese's Cups without the "cup"~

Ingredients:

*1 ½ cups chocolate chips (dark chocolate tastes really good)

*2 tablespoons shortening (Butter works as well)

*½ (1 stick) cup butter

*½ cup peanut butter

*1 cup confectioner’s sugar

*2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (I completely ground them into powderJ)

*Sheets of wax paper

*A plastic bag

How to make them:

1) In a saucepan, combine chocolate chips and shortening (or butter)

2) Cook over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth (about 2-3 minutes)

3) Set aside until you are ready to use it

4) In a medium sized sauce pan, combine butter and peanut butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring until melted. (about 2 minutes)

5) Stir in confectioner’s sugar and graham cracker crumbs.

6) Let it cool for about 2-4 minutes, then spoon out a teaspoon’s worth (or however much peanut butter filling you want) onto the wax paper in little balls until the whole “concoction” is in little balls on to the wax paper.

7) Put the chocolate that you melted, into a plastic bag. Set the bag into a small straight sided bowl or large glass and roll the sides of the bag over the sides of the container to make filling easier. The container will support the bag while spooning the chocolate into it. Only fill the bag about 1/3 to 1/2 ways full and then use a twist tie to seal the bag closed tightly.

Use clean scissors to cut a small corner (about 1/8 inch) off the lower corner of the bag. Make a small cut first and try it out. It is always possible make the cut slightly larger if needed but it is very easy to make the hole too large. Just squeeze the bag to get the chocolate to flow out.

8) Squeeze the chocolate onto the peanut butter balls. I made swirls and different designs on mine ;-)

9) Put the finished balls into the freezer for about an hour, and then…..Voil`a! You have Reece’s cups like candies….with a homemade twist!

(pictures from google)