Happy New Year

Have a healthy and happy 2011!

Enchilada Casserole

This is a post I did back in 2008 on my old blog.  I was looking through it to find something to make for dinner that I haven't made in a while.  This might fit the bill:

Enchilada Casserole


I recently tried a new recipe from this book. We had some friends taste test it with us and they thought it was pretty good. (At least I think they thought it tasted fine.) Adam asked me to make it again, which gives the recipe high marks in my book. He likes the addition of corn chips sprinkled on top for some added crunch.







The recipe is given for a 2-quart casserole or a 3-quart casserole. I will show the ingredient amounts for the 3-quart recipe in red.



Bean and Beef Enchilada Casserole


8oz (12oz) 90% lean ground beef
1/2 cup (3/4 cup) chopped onion
1 tea (1 1/2 tea) chili powder
1/2 tea (3/4 tea) ground cumin
1 15oz can (2 cans) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 4oz can (2 cans) diced green chile peppers, undrained
8oz (1 1/2 cups) sour cream
2 Tbs (3 Tbs) all-purpose flour
1/4 tea (1/2 tea) garlic powder
8 6-inch (12) corn tortillas
1 10oz can (2 cans) enchilada sauce
3/4 cup (1 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro and sliced red chiles for garnish (optional)


1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain off fat. Stir in chili powder and cumin; cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in pinto beans and uundrained chile peppers into meat mixture; set aside. In a small bowl stir together sour cream, flour and garlic powder; set aside.

2. Place half of the tortillas in the bottom of a lightly greased 2-quart (3-quart) rectangular baking dish, cutting to fit and overlapping as necessary. Top with half of the meat mixture, half of the sour cream mixture and half of the enchilada sauce. Repeat layers.

3. Bake, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake about 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. If desired, garnish with cilantro and fresh chile peppers.


This is so yummy on a cool fall night. The second time I made it we had it with hot buttered corn on the side- scrumptious!

Grandma's Raspberry Sauce

My Mother-in-Law asked me to make a cheesecake for her annual Christmas Eve soiree.  (My favorite cheesecake recipe comes from The Best Make-Ahead Recipes cookbook.)  She also entrusted me to make her famous raspberry sauce this year, from a recipe that she received from her mother-in-law.  It is a wonderful sauce for cheesecake; the bright, tart flavor cuts through the dense richness of the cheesecake.  As I'm not planning on becoming a mother-in-law anytime soon, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Grandma's Raspberry Sauce:

Thaw one 10-oz package of frozen, unsweetened  raspberries in the refrigerator overnight.  Put the thawed raspberries in a medium saucepan and crush with a potato masher.  Add 1/2 cup currant jelly and 1 Tbsp cornstarch to the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until thickened, then for an additional minute.  Off heat, stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice and a dash of salt.  Strain out seeds and cool.  Place waxed paper directly on the sauce and refrigerate until chilled.

I poured the whole amount over my cheesecake and let it run down the sides.  Then I topped it all with fresh raspberries.

Random Stuff I've Been Up To

I had to bake a cheesecake tonight for my Mother-in-Law's annual Christmas Eve party.  I got started a bit late, and now I need something to do to keep me awake until it cools enough to be put in the refrigerator.  Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought that maybe I should go through my pictures and see what I've been up to for the past month. 

I crocheted a hat for my friend, Bee, over at Bee's Hive o' Drama.  Not only is she a supastar paper crafter, she's wicked funny, to boot.  She also looks really cute in hats.  Sweetpea modeled it for me:

I followed the Color-it-Beautiful hat pattern from the Nov/Dec '08 issue of Crochet Today.  The flower is from the Wrapped Wreath pattern in the same issue.  I've made two more of these, but haven't gotten around to the photography yet.  Here are my ravelry.com links for the hat above:

Hat

Flower

I knit a basic beanie for Sugarbear's teacher.  He happens to be a BIG USC Trojans fan:

Sugarbear was my model this time:

I made Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows for Sugarbear's class holiday party:

I just speared some marshmallows on lollipop sticks, dipped them in melted CandiQuik, and sprinkled some Christmas sugar flotsam on them.  Can't get any easier than that.

I made some Christmas lounge pants for the kids.  Sugarbear wanted nothing to do with them. 

At least Sweetpea liked hers.  And I got to test run my new serger (Juki MO-644D) before hubby made me put it back in the box so he could wrap it for me for Christmas/my birthday. 

The kids made their annual gingerbread houses.  Thank goodness for the wonderful kits they have available these days.  They are a bit chintzy on the candy, though, so I made sure to supplement the stash.

I can't believe that I've done hardly any baking this month.  I did make this Cinnamon Bread, and it was yummy, but mostly I've just been in a sewing/knitting/crochet mood lately.  I guess that's better for my waistline anyways.