Enchilada Casserole

   The other night I made a family favorite. I've had a couple people ask for the recipe, so here it is!

   Keep in mind, I always make a lot of food. I never know how much my growing  boys will eat, and I like left overs for lunch. I don't really have exact measurements and you can change the amounts to how much your family will eat.

   I like putting tortillas, meat, rice, corn, refried beans and cheese in my casserole. Here's how I do it.

   I start the rice first since it takes the longest. I used 4 cups water, 2 cups of rice. I add chicken tomato bullion (1 tsp per cup of water) instead of salt and I add a little garlic. I think this gives the rice a nice flavor.

   Next I cook the meat. I usually use hamburger but you can use what you like. This time I used a pound of hamburger, half of an onion, a can of green chilies, pepper, season salt, and cumin. I don't measure any of it. Just add however much you like. Cook it all together and drain it if needed.

 

   Warm up the refried beans if you are using them. It makes it a lot easier to spread. Plus this way it doesn't take as long to warm it all up at the end. I used a big can of refried beans, it was 31oz.

   Cook/warm up the corn. I used a pound of frozen corn.

   Get your tortillas and cut them into squares. I'm sure you can do strips or just cut them to fit in the pan. I like squares because it's easier to scoop it out.

   Take your casserole dish and pour in just enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom. I had a 21oz can of green sauce.

   Lay out the tortillas to cover the bottom.

   Spread out the meat over the tortillas

 

   Carefully add the beans. They will stick to the spoon and take the meat with it.

   Spread out the rice.

 

   Spread the corn.

   Add another layer of tortilla

   Pour the rest of the sauce carefully over the top

   Sprinkle cheese on top.

   Put in a 350* oven. Since everything is already cooked, you are mostly just heating it through and melting the cheese. I believe it took about 20-30 minutes since it was a lot of food. Once it's heated through, take it out of the oven and enjoy! You can top with sour cream, salsa or whatever you like on your enchiladas.

   This is one of the few meals that everyone (besides my picky 3 year old that reminds me every night that he "hates dinner" and doesn't want it) will eat a lot of. Most things there is someone that doesn't like it. I know when I make this, I won't be hearing complaints about not wanting it for dinner. They also like helping me make it. They lay out the tortillas while I'm cooking everything up. They enjoy helping out in the kitchen and dinner time is a great time to teach them how to cook.

   I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! What is your family favorite?

This is literature? A 2 year old could have written this! -Gru

   One of my favorite things to do while watching TV is crocheting. I haven't been crocheting for long. Just over a year or so. I learned the basics when I was a younger and then forgot about it.
 
   I have a friend that crochets so I asked her if she would teach me. I went over, sat down and we began. I already knew how to hold the hook so she basically showed me a couple stitches and I went on my merry way.

   I quickly realized one thing. I am awful at doing squares. I've tried. I've made a friend a baby blanket which was by no means straight around the edges, even though I started over a few times.

   But then I found my place in the crocheting world. Hats. I am really good at doing things that don't need a straight edge. I found I can crochet in a round like nobody's business. My first hats I made I gave to my boys. One got a blue angry bird and the other a red. I'm kind of embarrassed about them now and have debated making them new ones. The problem with that? I keep getting hat orders for these little guys.

   Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that people enjoy my work and I'm happy to use my talent to make people happy. (So if you'd like a hat, feel free to let me know) Plus, how cute are these?

   First, make sure you have the yarn colors you want. For these you would need a bright yellow, black, white, grey and whatever color you want for the bottom. I like using red heart super saver yarn, but whatever you prefer, I'm sure will be fine. Just be careful if you are using a thin yarn. They stretch out faster.

   The pattern I use for most of my hats, I found here. They add in an extra row I don't use (round 6). I also usually use a double crochet instead of a half double.

   When I size the hats, I use my kids for sizes. I have measured their head with a piece of yarn, so when I'm checking to see if the hat is the right size, I lay out the circle and put the yarn around the outside of it to see if it would fit. Remember, always go bigger rather than smaller. Kids will grow before they shrink.

    For the kids hats I do 10 rounds of yellow for the top. For adults I do 11.

   Changing colors can be tricky. I don't have any awesome trick to use when changing. When I get to the point you need to do a round or two in a different color, I slip stitch color A closed. Take your hook and place it through where your next stitch would go.

 I take the loop of color A and slide my hook through that as well. 

   Take color B and pull it through. Make sure you leave a tail. 

   Chain 2 with color B, which can be easier said than done. 

   Do your double that goes next to the chain and then pull color A tight. 

   I like to take the tail from color B and before I do the yarn over to pull through the stitch, I twist it once with the yarn I'm using. This helps hold the tail in tight so it won't come out. I'm sure you could probably do it a different way as well, but that's how I do it. 

   Do two rows of black. 

   Add 3 more rows of yellow. 4 for an adult. 

  2 rows of your bottom color. If you don't want the ear flaps and braids, you can add a single crochet round here to finish off your hat. If you want them, please continue. (Don't forget to weave in your yarn ends.)

   For the ear flaps, I chain 13 and then double crochet in each one starting in the third one from the hook. This will give you 11 stitches. When you get to the end, chain 2 and flip. Then double crochet two together, double crochet in the next 7 then double crochet the last two together. Chain 2 and flip. Continue the pattern until you have 3 stitches left and tie it off. Make 2 of these. If you're making it for an adult, I add 2 more to the chain so it's a little bigger.

   When I sew the flaps on, I close the hat so the seam is on one fold. Put the ear flap in the middle, chain side up and sew it on using whatever color yarn that part of your hat is. 

    Flip the hat and sew the other one on the other side. 

  

   Once both of the ear flaps are on, I single crochet all the way around to help hold the ear flaps on as well as giving it a little better finish. 

   

   For the eyes, I use the same pattern I use for the top of the hat. I do a round of black, two rounds of white and then a grey single crochet around for round 4.  Leave a nice long tail when finishing it off. 

   Now have a little fun with the eyes. What good is a hobby, if you don't have fun with it?

   Open your hat with the ear flaps on both sides and center your eye(s) however you like. Use the tail to sew the eye to the hat. 

   The braid is pretty simple. Decide how long you want the braids. Add a little extra. Now add a little more. When you braid, it will get shorter, plus it takes some yarn when you tie it on. You also need a little extra to be able to trim the ends after. I find something that is about the size I want the yarn and wrap it around. I always make 12 yellow and 24 of the matching color. Each piece of yarn is going to be folded in half, so when it's open, it should be twice as long as you need it. (Hi Jessie!)

   Sort your yarn. You can try mixing it up a bit. So the braid has both colors throughout. 

    Now fold the yarn in half and put your finger through the loop so the yarn is draped over your finger. 

    Put your crochet hook through the middle space on the last row of double crochet on the ear flap. 

    Carefully pull the yarn through. I like to pull it from the outside of the hat to inside so when you loop the ends through, the loop is on the inside. 

   Put your fingers through the loop and pull the ends of the yarn back through.

   Carefully tighten it down. Be careful not to stretch out your hat.

    Braid the yarn and use a piece of yarn to tie the end off.

   I always line up my braids so they are the same length. After you tie them off, check to find a shorter piece of yarn and use that as a guide of where to trim the ends so they match. 

   And now you have a super cute minion hat for your little minions!

   If there is anything you would like to see on my blog, a game to play, a recipe, a pattern, feel free to leave me a comment and I will see what I can do. 

   If you would like to order a hat like this one or another crochet item, feel free to leave a comment below, contact me on Twitter, or order through my Facebook page.

Takenoko Review

   I had plans for over the holidays. Fun activities to do with your kids. Things my own kids enjoy doing. I was going to take pictures and do step by step directions. Instead, we were sick. We couldn't seem to stay healthy for very long at all. This seems to happen about every year. You'd think I would learn.

   For Christmas we got a bunch of games. We decided the kids had more than enough toys to make a mess with. Instead of giving them more stuff for me to clean up, we got games we can play together. I don't know about you, but my family LOVES playing games. I can't tell you how often my 3 year old will come up to me and say "Mom, I want to play something with somebody." Which usually means he wants to play a game with me while his brothers are at school.

Our new Christmas games

One of the games we got is called Takenoko. I have to say, I kinda love this game! The instruction booklet starts out like a comic. There is a panda given to the Japanese from the Chinese to show their appreciation of a kind welcome and to help seal an alliance.
  

It has a cute little panda bear that you have to feed while the gardener is trying to grow bamboo on tiles that you lay out and irrigate.

To start your turn, you roll a weather die. It has different things you can do. The lightning scares the panda and you can put him anywhere you'd like. The sun lets you take an extra action. Rain grows a bamboo piece on any tile. Wind lets you do the same action twice. Clouds let you pick an improvement tile. The ? lets you pick one.

Every player has their own individual board. After you roll the die, you get to take your two actions. You can either pick three tiles and play one. Take an irrigation channel and either play it or save it for later. Move the gardener and grow bamboo. Move the panda and eat one bamboo. Or you can draw a card. The individual player cards have nice little spots to keep everything you take off of the board and for things you can take and save for later.

The gardener can only move in a straight line. He grows a bamboo on the tile he lands on and every adjacent tile of the same color as long as it is irrigated. The panda also has to move in a straight line and can eat one bamboo off of the tile he lands on.

These are the improvement tokens. They either fertilize, keep the panda from eating the bamboo or irrigate it. The fertilizer makes it so two bamboo can be grown at once. The water one makes it so you don't have to get the irrigation to it. It's already watered. Some of the tiles already have the improvements on them, so you can't play these on them. Only one per tile.

You draw cards that have different goals to achieve. There's laying out tile patterns, growing a certain number of bamboo on a certain tile(s), or eating bamboo. When you complete one, you lay the card out in front of you. Each card has a point value that you will add up at the end of the game. Once someone completes a certain amount of cards, which depends on the number of players, everyone else gets one last turn and the game is over.

Whoever finishes first, makes the emperor happy and receives this card for 2 extra points.

    You add up your points at the end. Whoever has the most, wins! I love this game! It's fun and lighthearted. Plus, you get to be a little panda, and who doesn't love a panda? You can play it with 2-4 players. We have done both and had a great time! It's not a very long game, taking less than an hour to play.

   If you would like watch it being played, you can do that here. We love watching Table Top. It's hosted by Wil Wheaton and he has other celebrity guests on with him and they play games. We have found many of our games this way.