Joy in the Kitchen!

Yummy Enchilada taste for a family without the fuss!  It seems that this casserole  fixes up a bit different each time because I often use up a few left over or lonely items that are nearing their life expectancy. ;)  It is ALWAYS good though and easy to do.    Tonight I am using hamburger and black beans.  I usually use the burger, but sometimes the beans are kidney beans or small red beans... whatever I have on hand and catches my fancy when I'm cooking.   Tonight I used shredded cheddar cheese, but if I had some jack cheese or whatnot, I'd make a blend.  Right now my only variety to blend would be mozzarella and I have plans for that later this week.   It's easy to add in a few chopped veggies as well...  use your best judgement.... in addition to the onion I've enjoyed finely diced potato, summer squash, corn, and spinach or chard finely shredded.  Not all of those at once though - the kids get suspicious when they notice too...

I've been wanting to make cupcakes for a while now.  Seems like I think I have to wait for a special occasion for some silly reason.  My special occasion for these are twofold....  two of the sisters I visit teach have birthday's this week (Happy Birthday SteviKay and Lorraine!) AND Valentines Day is coming up next week. I used a basic no egg cake recipe... it is more dense and holds up better with a load of frosting on top.  I used my Whacky Cake recipe .  For the frosting, I used the Creamy Chocolate Frosting recipe on my blog for the base under the yellow flower cupcakes, and a Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting for the Valentine cupcakes.  That's the recipe I'll post here.  I thought they turned out fairly tasty. :)  Wesley, who is 3, really loves them.  He only wants to eat half though..... the TOP half.  Funny boy. Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting 4 C. powdered sugar 1 C. softened butter 4 oz softened cream chee...

  Living in the middle of potato country, we eat a LOT of potatoes.  One of our favorite ways to eat them is mashed with gravy.  Once in a while we have leftover mashed potatoes.  I don't enjoy them reheated as much as fresh since they are often dry, but this recipe using leftover (or fresh) mashed potatoes is so tasty I purposely make extra mashed potatoes now so we can have this later in the week!  I love all the delicious toppings on a baked potato, and that is what I added to create this dish.  I think chives would be good on it as well - but we'll try that in the summer when my chives are growing and fresh. "Real" mashed potatoes are best.... but in a pinch you could use instant.  Here in Idaho it's just a shame to not use fresh potatoes though.  Loaded Mashed Potatoes 3 C. mashed potatoes (leftover or freshly mashed) 1/4 C. melted butter 1 C. sour cream 1 1/2 C. shredded cheese, reserving 1/2 C. 1/4 C. fried & crumbled bacon, more i...

My Dad grows leeks in his garden.  I am a happy recipient of a few of those leeks!  Now I have to be honest with you, I doubt I would have seen these in the produce section of the store and longed to buy some... at least not until Mom brought me some of her Cream of Leek Soup!  YUM!  Today the family enjoyed this soup so much they suggested we grow our own leeks this year so we could have this soup more often! In case you aren't already familiar with leeks, they are a member of the onion/garlic family.  They have a thick stalk and very little "bulb", unlike the large bulb and small top of a regular onion.  They have a very mild onion flavor.   Cream of Leek Soup is a wonderful first course soup, or with a side of crusty bread, would be a nice main dish soup. Cream of Leek Soup 4-6 medium leeks 6 T. margarine or butter 3 T. flour 2 tsp. chopped chives, optional 1/2 tsp. salt 6 C. milk or light cream 6 cubes or 6 tsp. of chicken bouillon  ...

We love Alfredo Sauce on noodles, however, right now I've got a bunch of potatoes stored that need to be used.  I figured we could do our usual alfredo sauce and some chicken tenders and settle that over some real mashed potatoes for a nice potato bowl.  It turned out terrific! You could use a bottled alfredo sauce, but it's really pretty easy to make your own if you have the ingredients on hand. Easy Alfredo Sauce 2 C. half & half or a mix of heavy cream and milk OR 2 C. of evaporated milk 1 C. milk 2 T. butter 3 T. flour 1 clove of garlic, minced 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated salt and pepper to taste Saute the garlic in the 2 T. of butter until it softens.  Mix in flour and make a roux.  Add milk and cream slowly, stirring constantly over medium heat until all milk is added and sauce starts to thicken.  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until it's melted and blended in.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The sauce thickens as it cools.  If it's thi...

Last week we let the children (who still live here at home) suggest their ideas for family goals for the year.  I was pretty impressed with the ideas they came up with!  In fact, there were so many good ones, we decided to have 3 goals.   The goal connected with the picture posted above is last (but not least).... but I'm going to list all of our goals and be accountable to more than my family at home. 1.   Get up 10 minutes earlier so we can read scriptures in the morning.  (evenings are sometimes hectic and we were struggling to be together to read) .... This would not have been my choice for a goal!  I have a hard time getting up in time to wake the kids for school as it is!  However, the past week the kids have popped right out of bed and gathered in the living room to read.  AWESOME!  2.   Have a Family Home Evening Chart.  We're pretty good at having FHE, but I tend to give the lessons & choose the treat and onl...

Okay....  so this treat platter hardly constitutes repast, however, we ate enough of it to count it as a meal a few times.   This was a fun year for cookies and candy.  I had a lot of help from Dave and the kids.  Dave is the Fudge King around here.  I've never made a batch in my life... he does a fabulous job!   The caramels are a recipe from Dave's Grandpa.  They turned out soft and chewy, just as I like them! Going around clockwise - starting at "12"... and not counting the caramel chocolate dipped pretzel sticks... Divinity Christmas Sugar Cookies Cracker Toffee Caramels Chocolate Nut and Craisin Clusters Peanut Butter Fudge Snowballs (better known as Mexican Wedding Cookies) Pralines Dave's fudge was done in a mini pie tin and is in the center of the tray wrapped in red cellophane.  This was my first year having success with pralines.  They were FABULOUS if I DO say so myself. (and I DO!)  We also made pinwhe...