Happy Halloween!!

It's been a fun month building up to Halloween!  Then, it turns out to be really wet and rainy, so may not get to trick or treat today, but we will still have some Halloween FUN!

First, I had fun with my finger nails this month!  I wasn't able to get them "done" so I just painted my own natural nails, as short as they are.  :(

 

 

We also enjoyed some Fall fun at 7 acre woods in Conroe, TX.  It is great outdoor fun for a almost 3 yr old, and they had pumpkin patch for pictures.  It was great!

We then had to do our pumpkins for the big day!  Jake and I painted a pumpkin red and blue, then I carved it up.  The next one we didn't paint, but we did "gut it" together.  He didn't like that as much and decided playing with Mickey would be better.

And, the big reveal.  Jake's Halloween Costume is...

CLARK KENT!!

I actually CANNOT believe I got this photo!  He was in NO MOOD to obey this morning (all over toothpaste).  But, in the end, and with a promise to show him the picture after I took it, he did what I asked, which, lets' face it, such a MONEY SHOT!

I said "Say Cheese".  He stuck out his tongue.  He is SOOOOO much like his Daddy!

So, I hope everybody has a safe, hopefully dry, and 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The many faces of Jake

Jake likes to play with our phones.  ESPECIALLY the camera part.  On Dean's phone, he has about 500 pictures, almost ALL of them are from Jake, which mostly are extreme close ups of his nose and some of Daddy's feet!

However, every now and again, I manage to get him to let ME take the pictures with my phone.
Here's a few...

 

 

Have a great Day!

I don Like En La Das!

Last night I made one of my favorite dishes.  Sorta.  I've had an EASY and YUMMY enchilada recipe I've been using for years!  It's adapted from a skillet enchiladas recipe, that's not really enchiladas, but yummy all the same.  Okay, so I just did the sauce idea from the skillet enchiladas.  What the heck, I'll include both recipes.

Back to what I was going to post in the first place.

I decided to make my life easier last nice, and make a healthier version of enchiladas than usual.  I usually do the flash fry of the corn tortillas thing to make sure the tortillas roll instead of tear, which of course makes the dish yummy, but greasy.  Instead of rolling, I stacked.  So, essentially, I made Enchilada Lasagna.  Or as I'm going to call it Enchilada Casserole!  I served up a nice chilled (since he doesn't like hot food) plate for Jake, which included rice, his favorite thing to eat other than cookies or fruit snacks.  So, I ask him to take a bite.  He says OK and picks up a piece with a fork, and put it to his mouth, made a FUNNY FACE and said "I don Like En La Das!".  Oh well.  Maybe Next time.

Here's my take on Enchilada Casserole that Jake did not like.

Enchilada Casserole

1 small package corn tortillas (white or yellow, whichever you either have or like) I think there were about 20 in the package.  Used all but 2 of them.

2 cans MILD (for the boy which didn't matter anyway) Enchilada sauce

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Shredded cheese - I used Fiesta blend

Green onions, chopped - Optional (can use white, but I like the green onions better)

Cilantro - Optional (neither one of my guys like it, but I LOVE IT so, I put it on part of it.

In a large bowl, mix the 2 cans of enchilada sauce and 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not add water or milk).  Place a thin layer of sauce in bottom of 9x13 baking dish.  Layer tortillas, then cover in sauce and part of the cheese.  Repeat layering until all tortillas are gone, then top with sauce and cheese and onions and cilantro.

You can also add a layer (or two) of ground beef or shredded chicken or even pulled pork if you want!

Bake at 400 until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly!  Serve with Rice and Beans or a small salad with sour cream  YUMMY!

Yummy Cheesy Layers instead of individual wrapped Enchiladas

Tasted the same! Easier to make!  

The Skillet Enchiladas are so easy too!

1 lb ground beef

1 small finely chopped onion

2 cans MILD Enchilada sauce

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 cups crushed tortilla chips (thick makes it really taste like enchiladas)

Shredded cheese - I used Fiesta blend

Green onions, chopped - Optional 

Cilantro - Optional 

In a large skillet, saute onions in a little olive oil.  Add Beef and cook.  In a large bowl, mix the 2 cans of enchilada sauce and 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not add water or milk). Add sauce to skillet, mix well and heat through.  Turn off heat, and gently add chips and mix.  top with Cheese, cover and let the cheese melt.  THAT'S IT!  YUMMY!  

I can't remember where I got this one, I think it was in a ground beef cook booklet I bought as an impulse at the grocery story when I was first married so I could learn to cook for two instead of "college food".

Happy Eating!

Pinterest WIN!!!

Okay, so Dean and I have been trying to plan our meals better to make grocery shopping easier, and its a way for him to help me for our busy schedules.  So, this week, I wanted to try something different.  When I usually want something different, it's usually pork.  We eat a lot of ground beef (tacos, spaghetti), steak, and OMG a ton of Chicken, as well as pizza (cause the boy likes Pizza!).  So, Pork is different for us.

When I do buy pork, it's usually either pork chops (duh!) or a pork loin/roast and I do the crock pot thing.  I wanted to do something REALLY different this time, so I found a pinterest idea for a pork loin wrapped in bacon and roasted for 40 min or so.  YUM!

Pinterest Link Here

Looks Good, YES!  Very simple, marinate (or buy already marinated) pork loin, wrap in bacon, and roast at 375 until internal temp reaches 165.  Hey, I CAN DO THAT!

So, I bought a pork loin, followed instructions, and this is what it looked like before roasting

MMMMM Bacon

And, I did make a minor mistake.  I put the pork roast on top of the bacon, instead of just the ends and wrapping the top with the longest pieces.  And, we bought cheap bacon, so it was mostly FAT.  I also could not find my wire rack for my pan, so all the fat rendered from the bacon needed to be poured out half way through the cooking.  It also took longer than 40 minutes.  It took about an hour, but I think it was because it was a bigger roast.

So, this is how it turned out...

The bacon all unwrapped from the top. 

 It's not tight and pretty like the one on Pinterest.

HOWEVER, even though it did not look picture perfect, it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and oh so tender!!!  Wow!  Even Dean said it was restaurant quality!  :)  Jake didn't eat much of it, but that's ok.  He ate all his rice and peas and a few bites of pork.

And, since this pork roast is big, and we are only three people, I was able to make a "Round 2" recipe I found on Food Network for a Open Faced Roasted Pork Sandwich!

Open Faced Roasted Pork Sandwich

with Cole Slaw

Food Network version

I didn't follow this one, but I was inspired by it.

I took some sour dough bread slices, lightly veggie oiled them and grilled the on my grill pan.  Then, I chopped up a potato (kinda small) and onion and boiled them with a lot of salt and a little pepper.  Then, chopped the pork roast (bacon and all) and mixed it all together, then topped the bread, then topped with cheese and threw them in the broiler until the cheese melted.  No mustard, mayo or dressing, just the salty sweet pork and potatoes!

Again, Dean complimented me by saying this was BETTER than anything we could get at a restaurant, it tastes like it's from Panera!  I had to agree, it was AWESOME and very hearty.  SCORE!!!  Even Jake liked it this time!  Well, he thought he was eating potatoes, but he din't like the cole slaw.

Cannot WAIT to try more Pinterest Food Ideas!  I pin so many I forget to look sometimes.  And, most of the time, those ideas just don't work out.  But this one was a HUGE success!

The official name of the Truck is...

So, after much discussion of what to name this manly truck we now have, we have come up with a perfect name!  I actually suggested this name when we were first looking at trucks.  Then, our nephew, Andy, suggested the name again on Facebook!

And the name of the truck is...

Our truck may not Transform into an AWESOME ROBOT with GREAT FIREPOWER, but the name fits.  Check this out, this is from Wikipedia, so you never know what's completely true, but this is another reason the name fits so well.  

According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ironhide was named after the television series Ironside. 

If you don't know, Ironside was a 60s and 70s TV show about a police detective in a wheelchair.  NBC is doing a remake this fall staring Blair Underwood.  We shall give it a try!

TRANSFORMING for Dean!

We are SO going to get one of these!

Chevrolet Transformers Autobot Hitch Cover